,transcriber's note3 ,the spelling inconsistencies of the original are retained in this etext4 ,the ,profits of ,religion ,an ,essay in ,economic ,interpretation ,by ,,upton ,,sinclair ,,contents ,,new ,,york ,,vanguard ,,press ,,vanguard ,,printings ,first-,january1 #aibg ,second-,april1 #aibg ,third-,june1 #aibh ,,printed ,,in ,,the ,,united ,,states ,,of ,,america ,,offertory ,this book is a study of ,supernaturalism from a new point of view--as a ,source of ,income and a ,shield to ,privilege4 ,i have searched the libraries through1 and no one has done it before4 ,if you read it1 you will see that it needed to be done4 ,it has meant twenty-five years of thought and a year of investigation4 ,it contains the facts4 ,i publish the book myself1 so that it may be available at the lowest possible price4 ,i am giving my time and energy1 in return for one thing which you may give me--the joy of speaking a true word and getting it heard4 ,note to fifth edition1 #aibf3 ,the ,profits of ,religion was first published early in #aiag4 ,the present edition represents a sale of over #fj1jjj copies1 without counting a dozen translations4 ,in this edition a few errors have been corrected1 but otherwise the book has not been changed4 ,the reader will understand that references to the ,world ,war are of the date #aiag1 prior to ,america's entrance4 ,this book is the first of a series of volumes1 an economic interpretation of culture1 which now includes ,the ,brass ,check1 ,the ,goose-step1 ,the ,goslings1 and ,mammonart4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,contents ,introductory ,bootstrap-lifting ,religion ,book ,one3 ,the ,church of the ,conquerors ,the ,priestly ,lie ,the ,great ,fear ,salve ,regina6 ,fresh ,meat ,priestly ,empires ,prayer-wheels ,the ,butcher-,gods ,the ,holy ,inquisition ,hell-fire ,book ,two3 ,the ,church of ,good ,society ,the ,rain ,makers ,the ,babylonian ,fire-,god ,the ,medicine-men ,the ,canonization of ,incompetence ,gibson's ,preservative ,the ,elders ,church ,history ,land and ,livings ,graft in ,tail ,bishops and ,beer ,anglicanism and ,alcohol ,dead ,cats ,suffer ,little ,children ,the ,court-circular ,horn-blowing ,trinity ,corporation ,spiritual ,interpretation ,book ,three3 ,the ,church of the ,servant ,girls ,charity ,god's ,armor ,thanksgivings ,the ,holy ,roman ,empire ,temporal ,power ,knights of ,slavery ,priests and ,police ,the ,church ,militant ,the ,church ,triumphant ,god in the ,schools ,the ,menace ,king ,coal ,the ,unholy ,alliance ,secret ,service ,tax ,exemption ,holy ,history ,das ,centrum ,book ,four3 ,the ,church of the ,slavers ,the ,face of ,caesar ,deutschland ueber ,alles ,der ,tag ,king ,cotton ,witches and ,women ,moth and ,rust ,to ,lyman ,abbott ,the ,octopus ,the ,industrial ,shelley ,the ,outlook for ,graft ,clerical ,camouflage ,the ,jungle ,book ,five3 ,the ,church of the ,merchants ,the ,head ,merchant ,herr ,beeble ,holy ,oil ,rhetorical ,black-hanging ,the ,great ,american ,fraud ,riches in ,glory ,captivating ,ideals ,spook ,hunting ,running the ,rapids ,birth ,control ,sheep ,book ,six3 ,the ,church of the ,quacks ,tabula ,rasa ,the ,book of ,mormon ,holy ,rolling ,bible ,prophecy ,koreshanity ,mazdaznan ,black ,magic ,mental ,malpractice ,science and ,wealth ,new ,nonsense ,dollars ,want ,me6 ,spiritual ,financiering ,the ,graft of ,grace ,book ,seven3 ,the ,church of the ,social ,revolution ,christ and ,caesar ,locusts and ,wild ,honey ,mother ,earth ,the ,soap ,box ,the ,church ,machine ,the ,church ,redeemed ,the ,desire of ,nations ,the ,knowable ,nature's ,insurgent ,son ,the ,new ,morality ,envoi 99 99 99 99 99 ,,introductory ,bootstrap-lifting ,bootstrap-lifting8 says the reader4 ,it is a vision ,i have seen3 upon a vast plain1 men and women are gathered in dense throngs1 crouched in uncomfortable and distressing positions1 their fingers hooked in the straps of their boots4 ,they are engaged in lifting themselves2 tugging and straining until they grow red in the face1 exhausted4 ,the perspiration streams from their foreheads1 they show every symptom of distress2 the eyes of all are fixed1 not upon each other1 nor upon their boot-straps1 but upon the sky above4 ,there is a look of rapture upon their faces1 and now and then1 amid grunts and groans1 they cry out with excitement and triumph4 ,i approach one and say to him1 ,friend1 what is this you are doing8 ,he answers1 without pausing to glance at me1 ,i am performing spiritual exercises4 ,see how ,i rise8 ,but1 ,i say1 you are not rising at all6 ,whereat he becomes instantly angry4 ,you are one of the scoffers6 ,but1 friend1 ,i protest1 don't you feel the earth under your feet8 ,you are a materialist6 ,but1 friend1 ,i can see-- ,you are without spiritual vision6 ,and so ,i move on among the sweating and groaning hordes4 ,being of a sympathetic turn of mind1 ,i cannot help being distressed by the prevalence of this singular practice among so large a portion of the human race4 ,how is it possible that none of them should suspect the futility of their procedure8 ,or can it really be that ,i am uncomprehending8 ,that in some way they are actually getting off the ground1 or about to get off the ground8 ,then ,i observe a new phenomenon3 a man gliding here and there among the bootstrap-lifters1 approaching from the rear and slipping his hands into their pockets4 ,the position of the spiritual exercisers greatly facilitates his work2 their eyes being cast up to heaven1 they do not see him1 their thoughts being occupied1 they do not heed him2 he goes through their pockets at leisure1 and transfers the contents to a bag he carries1 and then moves on to the next victim4 ,i watch him for a while1 and finally approach and ask1 ,what are you doing1 sir8 ,he answers1 ,i am picking pockets4 ,oh1 ,i say1 puzzled by his matter-of-course tone4 ,but--,i beg pardon--are you a thief8 ,oh1 no1 he answers1 smilingly1 ,i am the agent of the ,wholesale ,pickpockets' ,association4 ,this is ,prosperity4 ,i see1 ,i reply4 ,and these people let you-- ,it is the law1 he says4 ,it is also the gospel4 ,i turn1 following his glance1 and observe another person approaching--a stately figure1 clad in scarlet and purple robes1 moving with slow dignity4 ,ha gazes about at the sweating and grunting hordes2 now and then he stops and lifts his hands in a gesture of benediction1 and proclaims in rolling tones1 ,blessed are the ,bootstrap-lifters1 for theirs is the kingdom of ,heaven4 ,he moves on1 and after a bit stops and announces again1 ,man doth not live by bread alone1 but by every word that cometh out of the mouth of the prophets and priests of ,bootstrap-lifting4 ,watching a while longer1 ,i see this majestic one approach the agent of the ,wholesale ,pickpockets' ,association4 ,the agent greets him as a friend1 and proceeds to transfer to the pockets of his capacious robes a generous share of the loot which he has collected4 ,the majestic one does not cringe1 nor does he make any effort to hide what is going on4 ,on the contrary he cries aloud1 ,it is more blessed to give than to receive6 ,and again he cries1 ,the laborer is worthy of his hire6 ,and a third time he cries1 yet more sternly1 ,render unto ,caesar the things which are ,caesar's6 ,and the ,bootstrap-lifters pause long enough to answer3 ,lord have mercy upon us1 and incline our hearts to keep this law6 ,then they renew their straining and tugging4 ,i step up1 and in timid tones begin1 ,reverend sir1 will you tell me by what right you take this wealth8 ,instantly a frown comes upon his face1 and he cries in a voice of thunder1 ,blasphemer6 ,and all the ,bootstrap-lifters desist from their lifting1 and menace me with furious looks4 ,there is a general call for a policeman of the ,wholesale ,pickpockets' ,association2 and so ,i fall silent1 and slink away in the throng1 and thereafter keep my thoughts to myself4 ,over the vast plain ,i wander1 observing a thousand strange and incredible and terrifying manifestations of the ,bootstrap-lifting impulse4 ,there is1 ,i discover1 a regular propaganda on foot2 a long time ago--no man can recall how far back--the ,wholesale ,pickpockets made the discovery of the ease with which a man's pockets could be rifled while he was preoccupied with spiritual exercises1 and they began offering prizes for the best essays in support of the practice4 ,now their propaganda is everywhere triumphant1 and year by year we see an increase in the rewards and emoluments of the prophets and priests of the cult4 ,the ground is covered with stately temples of various designs1 all of which ,i am told are consecrated to ,bootstrap-lifting4 ,i come to where a group of people are occupied in laying the corner-stone of a new white marble structure2 ,i inquire and am informed it is the ,first ,church of ,bootstrap-lifters1 ,scientist4 ,as ,i stand watching1 a card is handed to me1 informing me that a lady will do my ,bootstrap-lifting at five dollars per lift4 ,i go on to another building1 which ,i am told is a library containing volumes in defense of the ,bootstrap-lifters1 published under the auspices of the ,wholesale ,pickpockets4 ,i enter1 and find endless vistas of shelves1 also several thousand current magazines and papers4 ,i consult these--for my legs have given out in the effort to visit and inspect all phases of the ,bootstrap-lifting practice4 ,i discover that hardly a week passes that some one does not start a new cult1 or revive an old one2 if ,i had a hundred life-times ,i could not know all the creeds and ceremonies1 the services and rituals1 the litanies and liturgies1 the hymns1 anthems and offertories of ,bootstrap-lifting4 ,there are the ,holy ,roman ,bootstrap-lifters1 whose priests are fed by ,transubstantiation2 the established ,anglican ,bootstrap-lifters1 whose priests live by livings2 the ,baptist ,bootstrap-lifters1 whose preachers practice total immersion in ,standard ,oil4 ,there are ,yogi ,bootstrap-lifters with flowing robes of yellow silk2 ,theosophist ,bootstrap-lifters with green and purple auras2 ,mormon ,bootstrap-lifters1 ,mazdaznan ,bootstrap-lifters1 ,spiritualist and ,spirit-,fruit1 ,millerite and ,dowieite1 ,holy ,roller and ,holy ,jumper1 ,come-to-glory negro1 ,billy ,sunday base-ball and ,salvation ,army bass-drum ,bootstrap-lifters4 ,there are the thousand varieties of ,new ,thought ,bootstrap-lifters2 the mystic and transcendentalist1 ,swedenborgian and ,jacob ,boehme ,bootstrap-lifters2 the ,elbert ,hubbard high-art ,bootstrap-lifters with half a million magazinelets at two bits apiece2 the uplift and optimist1 the ,ralph ,waldo ,trine and ,orison ,swett ,marden ,bootstrap-lifters with a hundred thousand volumes at one dollar per volume4 ,there are the ,platonist and ,hegelian and ,kantian professors of collegiate metaphysical ,bootstrap-lifting at several thousand dollars per year each4 ,there are the ,nietzschean ,bootstrap-lifters1 who lift themselves to the ,superman1 and the art-for-art's-sake1 neo-,pagan ,bootstrap-lifters1 who lift themselves down to the ,ape4 ,excepting possibly the last-mentioned group1 the priests of all these cults1 the singers1 shouters1 prayers and exhorters of ,bootstrap-lifting have as their distinguishing characteristic that they do very little lifting at their own bootstraps1 and less at any other man's4 ,now and then you may see one bend and give a delicate tug1 of a purely symbolical character3 as when the ,supreme ,pontiff of the ,roman ,bootstrap-lifters comes once a year to wash the feet of the poor2 or when the ,sunday-school ,superintendent of the ,baptist ,bootstrap-lifters shakes the hand of one of his ,colorado mine-slaves4 ,but for the most part the priests and preachers of ,bootstrap-lifting walk haughtily erect1 many of them being so swollen with prosperity that they could not reach their bootstraps if they wanted to4 ,their role in life is to exhort other men to more vigorous efforts at self-elevation1 that the agents of the ,wholesale ,pickpockets' ,association may ply their immemorial role with less chance of interference4 ,religion ,the reader1 offended by this raillery1 asks if ,i mean to impugn the sincerity of all who preach the supremacy of the soul4 ,no2 ,i admit the honesty of the heroes and madmen of history4 ,all ,i ask of the preacher is that he shall make an effort to practice his doctrine4 ,let him be tormented like ,don ,quixote2 let him go mad like ,nietzsche2 let him stand upon a pillar and be devoured by worms like ,simeon ,stylites--on these terms ,i grant to any dreamer the right to hold himself above economic science4 ,man is an evasive beast1 given to cultivating strange notions about himself4 ,he is humiliated by his simian ancestry1 and tries to deny his animal nature1 to persuade himself that he is not limited by its weaknesses nor concerned in its fate4 ,and this impulse may be harmless1 when it is genuine4 ,but what are we to say when we see the formulas of heroic self-deception made use of by unheroic self-indulgence8 ,what are we to say when we see asceticism preached to the poor by fat and comfortable retainers of the rich8 ,what are we to say when we see idealism become hypocrisy1 and the moral and spiritual heritage of mankind twisted to the knavish purposes of class-cruelty and greed8 ,what ,i say is--,bootstrap-lifting6 ,it is the fate of many abstract words to be used in two senses1 one good and the other bad4 ,morality means the will to righteousness1 or it means ,anthony ,comstock2 democracy means the rule of the people1 or it means ,tammany ,hall4 ,and so it is with the word ,religion4 ,in its true sense ,religion is the most fundamental of the soul's impulses1 the impassioned love of life1 the feeling of its preciousness1 the desire to foster and further it4 ,in that sense every thinking man must be religious2 in that sense ,religion is a perpetually self-renewing force1 the very nature of our being4 ,in that sense ,i have no thought of assailing it1 ,i would make clear that ,i hold it beyond assailment4 ,but we are denied the pleasure of using the word in that honest sense1 because of another which has been given to it4 ,to the ordinary man ,religion means1 not the soul's longing for growth1 the hunger and thirst after righteousness1 but certain forms in which this hunger has manifested itself in history1 and prevails today throughout the world2 that is to say1 institutions having fixed dogmas and revelations1 creeds and rituals1 with an administering caste claiming supernatural sanction4 ,by such institutions the moral strivings of the race1 the affections of childhood and the aspirations of youth are made the prerogatives and stock in trade of ecclesiastical hierarchies4 ,it is the thesis of this book that ,religion in this sense is a source of income to parasites1 and the natural ally of every form of oppression and exploitation4 ,if by my jesting at ,bootstrap-lifting ,i have wounded some dear prejudice of the reader1 let me endeavor to speak in a more persuasive voice4 ,i am a man who has suffered1 and has seen the suffering of others2 ,i have devoted my life to analyzing the causes of the suffering1 to find out if it be necessary and fore-ordained1 or if by any chance there be a way of escape for future generations4 ,i have found that the latter is the case2 the suffering is needless1 it can with ease and certainty be banished from the earth4 ,i know this with the knowledge of science--in the same way that the navigator of a ship knows his latitude and longitude1 and the point of the compass to which he must steer in order to reach the port4 ,come1 reader1 let us put aside prejudice1 and the terrors of the cults of the unknown4 ,the power which made us has given us a mind1 and the impulse to its use2 let us see what can be done with it to rid the earth of its ancient evils4 ,and do not be troubled if at the outset this book seems to be entirely destructive4 ,i assure you that ,i am no crude materialist1 ,i am not so shallow as to imagine that our race will be satisfied with a barren rationalism4 ,i know that the old symbols came out of the heart of man because they corresponded to certain needs of the heart of man4 ,i know that new symbols will be found1 corresponding more exactly to the needs of our time4 ,if here ,i set to work to tear down an old and ramshackle building1 it is not from blind destructfulness1 but as an architect who means to put a new and sounder structure in its place4 ,before we part company ,i shall submit the blue print of that new home of the spirit4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,book ,,one ,the ,church of the ,conquerors ,i saw the ,conquerors riding by ,with trampling feet of horse and men3 ,empire on empire like the tide ,flooded the world and ebbed again2 ,a thousand banners caught the sun1 ,and cities smoked along the plain1 ,and laden down with silk and gold ,and heaped up pillage groaned the wain4 ,kemp4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,priestly ,lie ,when the first savage saw his hut destroyed by a bolt of lightning1 he fell down upon his face in terror4 ,he had no conception of natural forces1 of laws of electricity2 he saw this event as the act of an individual intelligence4 ,to-day we read about fairies and demons1 dryads and fauns and satyrs1 ,wotan and ,thor and ,vulcan1 ,freie and ,flora and ,ceres1 and we think of all these as pretty fancies1 play-products of the mind2 losing sight of the fact that they were originally meant with entire seriousness--that not merely did ancient man believe in them1 but was forced to believe in them1 because the mind must have an explanation of things that happen1 and an individual intelligence was the only explanation available4 ,the story of the hero who slays the devouring dragon was not merely a symbol of day and night1 of summer and winter2 it was a literal explanation of the phenomena1 it was the science of early times4 ,men imagined supernatural powers such as they could comprehend4 ,if the lightning god destroyed a hut1 obviously it must be because the owner of the hut had given offense2 so the owner must placate the god1 using those means which would be effective in the quarrels of men--presents of roast meats and honey and fresh fruits1 of wine and gold and jewels and women1 accompanied by friendly words and gestures of submission4 ,and when in spite of all things the natural evil did not cease1 when the people continued to die of pestilence1 then came the opportunity for hysterical or ambitious persons to discover new ways of penetrating the mind of the god4 ,there would be dreamers of dreams and seers of visions and hearers of voices2 readers of the entrails of beasts and interpreters of the flight of birds2 there would be burning bushes and stone tablets on mountain-tops1 and inspired words dictated to aged disciples on lonely islands4 ,there would arise special castes of men and women1 learned in these sacred matters2 and these priestly castes would naturally emphasize the importance of their calling1 would hold themselves aloof from the common herd1 endowed with special powers and entitled to special privileges4 ,they would interpret the oracles in ways favorable to themselves and their order2 they would proclaim themselves friends and confidants of the god1 walking with him in the night-time1 receiving his messengers and angels1 acting as his deputies in forgiving offenses1 in dealing punishments and in receiving gifts4 ,they would become makers of laws and moral codes4 ,they would wear special costumes to distinguish them1 they would go through elaborate ceremonies to impress their followers1 employing all sensuous effects1 architecture and sculpture and painting1 music and poetry and dancing1 candles and incense and bells and gongs ,and storied windows richly dight1 ,casting a dim religious light4 ,there let the pealing organ blow1 ,to the full-voiced choir below1 ,in service high and anthem clear1 ,as may with sweetness through mine ear ,dissolve me into ecstacies1 ,and bring all heaven before mine eyes4 ,so builds itself up1 in a thousand complex and complicated forms1 the ,priestly ,lie4 ,there are a score of great religions in the world1 each with scores or hundreds of sects1 each with its priestly orders1 its complicated creed and ritual1 its heavens and hells4 ,each has its thousands or millions or hundreds of millions of true believers2 each damns all the others1 with more or less heartiness--and each is a mighty fortress of ,graft4 ,there will be few readers of this book who have not been brought up under the spell of some one of these systems of ,supernaturalism2 who have not been taught to speak with respect of some particular priestly order1 to thrill with awe at some particular sacred rite1 to seek respite from earthly woes in some particular ceremonial spell4 ,these things are woven into our very fibre in childhood2 they are sanctified by memories of joys and griefs1 they are confused with spiritual struggles1 they become part of all that is most vital in our lives4 ,the reader who wishes to emancipate himself from their thrall will do well to begin with a study of the beliefs and practices of other sects than his own--a field where he is free to observe and examine without fear of sacrilege4 ,let him look into ,madame ,blavatsky's ,secret ,doctrine1 or her ,isis ,unveiled--encyclopedias of the fantastic inventions which terror and longing have wrung out of the tortured soul of man4 ,here are mysteries and solemnities1 charms and spells1 illuminations and transmigrations1 angels and demons1 guides1 controls and masters--all of which it is permissible to refuse to support with gifts4 ,let the reader then go to ,james ,freeman ,clarke's ,ten ,great ,religions1 and realize how many billions of humans have lived and died in the solemn certainty that their welfare on earth and in heaven depended upon their accepting certain ideas and practicing certain rites1 all mutually exclusive and incompatible1 each damning the others and the followers of the others4 ,so gradually the realization will come to him that the test of a doctrine about life and its welfare must be something else than the fact that one was born to it4 ,the ,great ,fear ,it was not the fault of primitive man that he was ignorant1 nor that his ignorance made him a prey to dread4 ,the traces of his mental suffering will inspire in us only pity and sympathy2 for ,nature is a grim school-mistress1 and not all her lessons have yet been learned4 ,we have a right to scorn and anger only when we see this dread being diverted from its true function1 a stimulus to a search for knowledge1 and made into a means of clamping down ignorance upon the mind of the race4 ,that this has been the deliberate policy of institutionalized ,religion no candid student can deny4 ,the first thing brought forth by the study of any religion1 ancient or modern1 is that it is based upon ,fear1 born of it1 fed by it--and that it cultivates the source from which its nourishment is derived4 ,the fear of divine anger1 says ,prof4 ,jastrow1 runs as an undercurrent through the entire religious literature of ,babylonia and ,assyria4 ,in the words of ,tabi-utul-,enlil1 ,king of ancient ,nippur3 ,who is there that can grasp the will of the gods in heaven8 ,the plan of a god is full of mystery--who can understand it8 ,he who is still alive at evening is dead the next morning4 ,in an instant he is cast into grief1 in a moment he is crushed4 ,and that cry might be duplicated from almost any page of the ,hebrew scriptures3 the only difference being that the ,hebrews combined all their fears into one ,great ,fear4 ,the fear of the ,lord is the beginning of wisdom1 we are told by ,solomon of the thousand wives2 and the ,psalmist repeats it4 ,dominion and fear are with ,him1 cries ,job4 ,how then can any man be just before ,god8 ,or how can he be clean that is born of a woman8 ,behold1 even the moon hath no brightness1 and the stars are not pure in ,his sight3 ,how much less man1 that is a worm8 ,and the son of man1 which is a worm8 ,he goes on1 in his lyrical rapture1 ,sheol is naked before ,him1 and ,destruction hath no covering4444 ,the pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at ,his rebuke4 444 ,the thunder of ,his power who can understand8 ,that all this is some of the world's great poetry does not in the least alter the fact that it is an abasement of the soul1 an hysterical perversion of the facts of life1 and a preparation of the mind for the seeds of ,priestcraft4 ,the ,book of ,job has been called a ,wisdom-drama3 and what is the denouement of this drama1 what is ancient ,hebrew wisdom's last word about life8 ,wherefore ,i abhor myself1 says ,job1 and repent in dust and ashes4 ,the poor fellow has done nothing2 we have been told at the beginning that he was perfect and upright1 and one that feared ,god1 and eschewed evil4 ,but the ,sabeans and the ,chaldeans rob him1 and the fire of ,god falls from heaven and burns up his sheep and his servants1 and a great wind from the wilderness kills his sons and daughters2 and then his body becomes covered with boils--a phenomenon caused in part by worry1 and the consequent nervous indigestion1 but mainly by excess of starch and deficiency of mineral salts in the diet4 ,job1 however1 has never heard of the fasting cure for disease1 and so he takes him a potsherd to scrape himself withal1 and he sits among the ashes--a highly unsanitary procedure enforced by his religious ritual4 ,so naturally he feels like a worm1 and abhors himself1 and cries out3 ,i know that ,thou canst do all things1 and that no purpose of ,thine can be restrained4 ,by which utter1 unreasoning humility he succeeds in appeasing the ,great ,fear1 and his friends make a sacrifice of seven bullocks and seven rams--a feast for a whole templeful of priests--and then the ,lord gave ,job twice as much as he had before4444 ,and after this ,job lived an hundred and forty years1 and saw his sons and his sons' sons1 even four generations4 ,you do not have to look very deeply into this ,wisdom-drama to find out whose wisdom it is4 ,confess your own ignorance and your own impotence1 abandon yourself utterly1 and then we1 the sacred ,caste1 the ,keepers of the ,holy ,secrets1 will secure you pardon and respite--in exchange for fresh meat4 ,here are verses from a psalm of the ancient ,babylonians1 which heathen chant is identical in spirit and purpose with the utterances of ,job3 ,the ,sin that ,i have wrought1 ,i know not2 ,the unclean that ,i have eaten1 ,i know not2 ,the offense into which ,i have walked1 ,i know not4444 ,the lord1 in the wrath of his heart1 hath regarded me2 ,the god1 in the anger of his heart1 hath surrounded me2 ,a goddess1 known or unknown1 hath wrought me sorrow4444 ,i sought for help1 but no one took my hand2 ,i wept1 but no one harkened to me4444 ,the feet of my goddess ,i kiss1 ,i touch them2 ,to the god1 known or unknown1 ,i utter my prayer2 ,o god1 known or unknown1 turn thy countenance1 accept my sacrifice2 ,o goddess1 known or unknown1 look mercifully on me1 accept my sacrifice6 ,salve ,regina6 ,and now let the reader leap three thousand years of human history1 of toil and triumph of the intellect of man2 and instead of a ,hebrew manuscript or a ,babylonian brick there confronts him a little publication1 printed on a modern rotary press in the capital of the ,united ,states of ,america1 bearing the date of ,october1 #aiad1 and the title ,salve ,regina4 ,in it we find a beautiful prayer1 composed by the late cardinal ,rampolla2 we are told that ,pius ,x attached to it an indulgence of #ajj days1 each time it is piously recited1 applicable to the souls in purgatory4 ,o ,blessed ,virgin1 ,mother of ,god1 cast a glance from ,heaven1 where thou sittest as ,queen1 upon this poor sinner1 your servant4 ,though conscious of his unworthiness4444 he blesses and exalts thee from his whole heart as the purest1 the most beautiful and the most holy of creatures4 ,he blesses thy holy name4 ,he blesses thy sublime prerogatives as real ,mother of ,god1 ever ,virgin1 conceived without stain of sin1 as co-,redemptress of the human race4 ,he blesses the ,eternal ,father who chose you1 etc4 ,he blesses the ,incarnate ,word1 etc4 ,he blesses the ,divine ,spirit1 etc4 ,he blesses1 exalts and thanks the most august ,trinity1 etc4 ,o ,virgin1 holy and merciful4444 be pleased to accept this little homage of your servant1 and obtain for him also from your divine ,son pardon for his sins1 ,amen4 ,and then1 looking more closely1 we discover the purpose of this beautiful prayer1 and of the neat little paper which prints it4 ,salve ,regina is raising funds for the ,national ,shrine of the ,immaculate ,conception1 a home for more priests1 and ,catholic ladies who desire to collect for it may receive little books which they are requested to return within three months4 ,pius ,x writes a letter of warm endorsement1 and sets an example by giving four hundred dollars out of his poverty--or1 to be more precise1 out of the poverty of the pitiful peasantry of ,italy4 ,there is included in the paper a form of bequest for devoted clients of ,our ,blessed ,mother1 and at the top of the editorial page the most alluring of all baits for the loving hearts of the flock--that the names of deceased relatives and friends may be written in the collection books1 and will be transferred to the records of the ,shrine1 and these persons will share in all its spiritual benefits4 ,in the days of ,job it was with threats of boils and poverty that the ,priestly ,lie maintained itself2 but in the case of this blackest of all ,terrors1 transplanted to our free ,republic from the heart of the ,dark ,ages1 the wretched victims see before their eyes the glare of flames1 and hear the shrieks of their loved ones writhing in torment through uncounted ages and eternities4 ,fresh ,meat ,in the days when ,i was experimenting with vegetarianism1 ,i sought earnestly for evidence of a non-meat-eating race2 but candor compelled me to admit that man was like the monkey and the pig and the bear--he was vegetarian when he could not help it4 ,the advocates of the reform insist that meat as a diet causes muddy brains and dulled nerves2 but you would certainly never suspect this from a study of history4 ,what you find in history is that all men crave meat1 all struggle for it1 and the strongest and cleverest get it4 ,everywhere you find the subject classes living in the midst of animals which they tend1 but whose flesh they rarely taste4 ,even in modern ,america1 sweet land of liberty1 our millions of tenant farmers raise chickens and geese and turkeys1 and hardly venture to consume as much as an egg1 but save everything for the summer-boarder or the buyer from the city4 ,it would not be too much to say of the cultural records of early man that they all have to do1 directly or indirectly1 with the reserving of fresh meat to the masters4 ,in ,j4,t4 ,trowbridge's cheerful tale of the adventures of ,captain ,seaborn1 we are told by the cannibal priest how idol-worship has ameliorated the morals of the tribe-- ,for though some warriors of renown ,continue anthropophagous1 ',tis rare that human flesh goes down ,the low-caste man's aesophagus6 ,i suspect that we should have to go back to the days of the cave-man to find the first lover of the flesh-pots who put a taboo upon meat1 and promised supernatural favors to all who would exercise self-control1 and instead of consuming their meat themselves1 would bring it and lay it upon the sacred griddle1 or altar1 where the god might come in the night-time and partake of it4 ,certainly1 at any rate1 there are few religions of record in which such devices do not appear4 ,the early laws of the ,hebrews are more concerned with delicatessen for the priests than with any other subject whatever4 ,here1 for example1 is the way to make a ,nazarite3 ,he shall offer his offering up to the ,lord1 one he lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt offering1 and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin offering1 and one ram without blemish for peace offerings1 and a basket of unleavened bread1 cakes of fine flour mingled with oil1 and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil1 and their meat offerings4 ,and the law goes on to instruct the priests to take certain choice parts and wave them for a wave offering before the ,lord3 this is holy for the priest4 ,what was done with the other portions we are not told2 but earlier in this same ,book of ,numbers we find the general law that ,every offering of all the holy things of the children of ,israel1 which they bring unto the priest1 shall be his4 ,and every man's hallowed things shall be his3 whatsoever any man giveth to the priest1 it shall be his4 ,in the same way we are told by ,viscount ,amberley that the priests of ,ceylon first present the gifts to the god1 and then eat them4 ,among the ,parsees1 when a man dies1 the relatives must bring four new robes to the priests2 if they do this1 the priests wear the robes2 if they fail to do it1 the dead man appears naked before the judgment-throne4 ,the devotees are instructed that he who performs this rite succeeds in both worlds1 and obtains a firm footing in both worlds4 ,among the ,buddhists1 the followers give alms to the monks1 and are told specifically what advantages will thereby accrue to them4 ,in the ,aitareyo ,brahmanam of the ,rig-,veda we read ,he who1 knowing this1 sacrifices according to this rite1 is born from the womb of ,agni and the offerings1 participates in the nature of the ,rik1 ,yajus1 and ,saman1 the ,veda 7sacred knowledge71 the ,brahma 7sacred element7 and immortality1 and is absorbed into the deity4 ,among the ,parsees the priest eats the bread and drinks the haoma1 or juice of a plant1 considered to be both a plant and a god4 ,among the ,episcopalians1 a contemporary ,christian sect1 the sacred juice is that of the grape1 and the priest is not allowed to throw away what is left of it1 but is ordered reverently to consume it4 ,in as much as the priest is the sole judge of how much good sherry wine he shall consecrate previous to the ceremony1 it is to be expected that the priests of this cult should be lukewarm towards the prohibition movement1 and should piously refuse to administer their sacrament with unfermented and uninteresting grape-juice4 ,priestly ,empires ,in every human society of which we have record there has been one class which has done the hard and exhausting work1 the hewers of wood and drawers of water2 and there has been another1 much smaller class which has done the directing4 ,to belong to this latter class is to work also1 but with the head instead of the hands2 it is also to enjoy the good things of life1 to live in the best houses1 to eat the best food1 to have choice of the most desirable women2 it is to have leisure to cultivate the mind and appreciate the arts1 to acquire graces and distinctions1 to give laws and moral codes1 to shape fashions and tastes1 to be revered and regarded--in short1 to have ,power4 ,how to get this ,power and to hold it has been the first object of the thoughts of men from the beginning of time4 ,the most obvious method is by the sword2 but this method is uncertain1 for any man may take up a sword1 and some may succeed with it4 ,it will be found that empires based upon military force alone1 however cruel they may be1 are not permanent1 and therefore not so dangerous to progress2 it is only when resistance is paralyzed by the agency of ,superstition1 that the race can be subjected to systems of exploitation for hundreds and even thousands of years4 ,the ancient empires were all priestly empires2 the kings ruled because they obeyed the will of the priests1 taught to them from childhood as the word of the gods4 ,thus1 for instance1 ,prescott tells us3 ,terror1 not love1 was the spring of education with the ,aztecs4444,such was the crafty policy of the priests1 who1 by reserving to themselves the business of instruction1 were enabled to mould the young and plastic mind according to their own wills1 and to train it early to implicit reverence for religion and its ministers4 ,the historian goes on to indicate the economic harvest of this teaching3 ,to each of the principal temples1 lands were annexed for the maintenance of the priests4 ,the estates were augmented by the policy or devotion of successive princes1 until1 under the last ,montezuma1 they had swollen to an enormous extent1 and covered every district of the empire4 ,and this concerning the frightful system of human sacrifices1 whereby the priestly caste maintained the prestige of its divinities3 ,at the dedication of the temple of ,huitzilopochtli1 in #adhf1 the prisoners1 who for some years had been reserved for the purpose1 were ranged in files1 forming a procession nearly two miles long4 ,the ceremony consumed several days1 and seventy thousand captives are said to have perished at the shrine of this terrible deity4 ,the same system appears in ,professor ,jastrow's account of the priesthood of ,babylonia and ,assyria3 ,the ultimate source of all law being the deity himself1 the original legal tribunal was the place where the image or symbol of the god stood4 ,a legal decision was an oracle or omen1 indicative of the will of the god4 ,the power thus lodged in the priests of ,babylonia and ,assyria was enormous4 ,they virtually held in their hands the life and death of the people4 ,and of the business side of this vast religious system3 ,the temples were the natural depositories of the legal archives1 which in the course of centuries grew to veritably enormous proportions4 ,records were made of all decisions2 the facts were set forth1 and duly attested by witnesses4 ,business and marriage contracts1 loans and deeds of sale were in like manner drawn up in the presence of official scribes1 who were also priests4 ,in this way all commercial transactions received the written sanction of the religious organization4 ,the temples themselves--at least in the large centres--entered into business relations with the populace4 ,in order to maintain the large household represented by such an organization as that of the temple of ,enlil of ,nippur1 that of ,ningirsu at ,lagash1 that of ,marduk at ,babylon1 or that of ,shamash at ,sippar1 large holdings of land were required which1 cultivated by agents for the priests1 or farmed out with stipulations for a goodly share of the produce1 secured an income for the maintenance of the temple officials4 ,the enterprise of the temples was expanded to the furnishing of loans at interest--in later periods1 at #bj--to barter in slaves1 to dealings in lands1 besides engaging labor for work of all kinds directly needed for the temples4 ,a large quantity of the business documents found in the temple archives are concerned with the business affairs of the temple1 and we are justified in including the temples in the large centres as among the most important business institutions of the country4 ,in financial or monetary transactions the position of the temples was not unlike that of national banks4444 ,and so on4 ,we may venture the guess that the learned professor said more in that last sentence than he himself intended1 for his lectures were delivered in that temple of plutocracy1 the ,university of ,pennsylvania1 and paid out of an endowment which specifies that all polemical subjects shall be positively excluded6 ,prayer-wheels ,these priestly empires exist in the world today4 ,if we wish to find them we have only to ask ourselves3 ,what countries are making no contribution to the progress of the race8 ,what countries have nothing to give us1 whether in art1 science1 or industry8 ,for example1 ,gervaise tells us of the ,talapoins1 or priests of ,siam1 that they are exempted from all public charges1 they salute nobody1 while everybody prostrates himself before them4 ,they are maintained at the public expense4 ,in the same way we read of the negroes of the ,caribbean islands that their priests and priestesses exercise an almost unlimited power4 ,miss ,kingsley1 in her ,west ,african ,studies1 tells us that if we desire to understand the institutions of this district1 we must study the native's religion4 ,for his religion has so firm a grasp upon his mind that it influences everything he does4 ,it is not a thing apart1 as the religion of the ,europeans is at times4 ,the ,african cannot say1 ,oh1 that is all right from a religious point of view1 but one must be practical4 ,to be practical1 to get on in the world1 to live the day and night through1 he must be right in the religious point of view1 namely1 must be on working terms with the great world of spirits around him4 ,the knowledge of this spirit world constitutes the religion of the ,african1 and his customs and ceremonies arise from his idea of the best way to influence it4 ,or consider ,henry ,savage ,lander's account of ,thibet3 ,in ,lhassa and many other sacred places fanatical pilgrims make circumambulations1 sometimes for miles and miles1 and for days together1 covering the entire distance lying flat upon their bodies4444 ,from the ceiling of the temple hang hundreds of long strips1 katas1 offered by pilgrims to the temple1 and becoming so many flying prayers when hung up--for mechanical praying in every way is prominent in ,thibet4444 ,thus instead of having to learn by heart long and varied prayers1 all you have to do is to stuff the entire prayer-book into a prayer-wheel1 and revolve it while repeating as fast as you can four words meaning1 ,o ,god1 the gem emerging from the lotus-flower4 444 ,the attention of the pilgrims is directed to a large box1 or often a big bowl1 where they may deposit whatever offerings they can spare1 and it must be said that their religious ideas are so strongly developed that they will dispose of a considerable portion of their money in this fashion4444 ,the ,lamas are very clever in many ways1 and have a great hold over the entire country4 ,they are ninety per cent of them unscrupulous scamps1 depraved in every way and given to every sort of vice4 ,so are the women ,lamas4 ,they live and sponge on the credulity and ignorance of the crowds2 it is to maintain this ignorance1 upon which their luxurious life depends1 that foreign influence of every kind is strictly kept out of the country4 ,the ,butcher-,gods ,in this last sentence we have summed up the fundamental fact about institutionalized religion4 ,wherever belief and ritual have become the means of livelihood of a class1 all innovation will of necessity be taken as an attack upon that class2 it will be literally a crime-robbing the priests of their age-long privileges4 ,and of course they will oppose the robber--using every weapon of terrorism1 both of this world and the next4 ,they will require the submission1 not merely of their own people1 but of their neighbors1 and their jealousy of rival priestly castes will be a cause of wars4 ,the story of the early days of mankind is a sickening record of torture and slaughter in the name of ten thousand butcher-gods4 ,thus1 for example1 we read in the ,hebrew religious records how the priests were engaged in establishing the prestige of a fetish called the ark2 and how the people of one tribe violated this fetish and wakened the wrath of ,jehovah1 the god4 ,and he smote the men of ,beth-shemesh1 because they had looked into the ark of the ,lord1 even he smote of the people fifty thousand and three score and ten men2 and the people lamented1 because the ,lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter4 ,and the men of ,beth-shemesh said1 ,who is able to stand before this holy ,lord ,god8 ,this terrible old ,hebrew divinity said of himself that he was a jealous god4 ,throughout the time of his sway he issued through his ministers precise instructions for the most revolting cruelties1 the extermination of whole nations of men1 women and children1 whose sole offense was that they did not pay tribute to ,jehovah's priests4 ,thus1 for example1 the chief of his prophets1 ,moses1 called the people together1 and with all solemnity1 and with many warnings1 handed down ten commandments graven upon stone tablets2 he went on to set forth how the people were to set upon and rob their neighbors1 and gave them these blood-thirsty instructions3 ,when the ,lord thy ,god shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it1 and hath cast out many nations before thee1 the ,hittites1 and the ,girgashites1 and the ,amorites1 and the ,canaanites1 and the ,perizzites1 and the ,hivites1 and the ,jebusites1 seven nations greater and mightier than thou2 ,and when the ,lord thy ,god shall deliver them before thee2 thou shalt smite them1 and utterly destroy them2 thou shalt make no covenant with them1 nor shew mercy unto them3 444 ,but thus shall ye deal with them2 ye shall destroy their altars1 and break down their images1 and cut down their groves1 and burn their graven images with fire4 ,for thou art a holy people unto the ,lord thy ,god3 the ,lord thy ,god hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself1 above all people that are upon the face of the earth4 ,the records of this ,jehovah are full of similar horrors4 ,he sent his chosen people out to destroy the ,midianites1 and they slew all the males1 but this was not sufficient1 and ,moses was wroth1 and commanded them to kill all the married women1 and to take the single women for themselves4 ,we are told that sixteen thousand single women were spared1 of whom the ,lord's tribute was thirty and two6 ,in the ,book of ,joshua we read that he had an interview with a supernatural personage called the captain of the ,lord's host1 and how this captain had given to him a magic spell which would destroy the city of ,jericho4 ,the city should be accursed1 even it and all that are therein1 to the ,lord2 every living thing except one traitor-harlot was to be slaughtered1 and all the wealth of the city reserved to the priestly caste4 ,this was carried out to the letter1 except that ,achan1 the son of ,carmi1 the son of ,zabdi1 the son of ,zerah1 of the tribe of ,judah1 took of the accursed thing--that is1 he hid some gold and silver in his tent2 whereupon the army met with a defeat1 and everybody knew that something was wrong1 and ,joshua rent his clothes and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the ,lord1 and got another message from ,jehovah1 to the effect that the guilty man should be burned with fire1 he and all that he hath4 ,and ,joshua1 and all ,israel with him1 took ,achan the son of ,zerah1 and the silver1 and the garment1 and the wedge of gold1 and his sons1 and his daughters1 and his oxen1 and his asses1 and his sheep1 and his tent1 and all that he had3 and they brought them unto the ,valley of ,achor4 ,and ,joshua said1 ,why hast thou troubled us8 the ,lord shall trouble thee this day4 ,and all ,israel stoned him with stones1 and burned them with fire1 after they had stoned him with stones4 ,we have no means of knowing what was the character of the unfortunate inhabitants of the city of ,jericho1 nor of the ,hittites and the ,girgashites and the ,amorites and all the rest of the victims of ,jehovah4 ,to be sure1 we are told by the ,hebrew priests that they sacrificed their children to their gods2 but then1 consider what we should believe about the ,hebrew religion1 if we took the word of rival priestly castes6 ,consider1 for example1 that in this twentieth century we saw an orthodox ,jew tried in a ,russian court of law for having made a sacrifice of ,christian babies2 nevertheless we know that the ,jews represent a considerable part of the intelligence and idealism of ,russia4 ,we know in the same way that the ,moors had most of the culture and all of the scientific knowledge of ,spain1 that the ,huguenots had most of the conscience and industry of ,france2 and we know that they were massacred or driven out to death by the priestly castes of the ,middle ,ages4 ,the ,holy ,inquisition ,let us have one glimpse of the conditions in those mediaeval times1 so that we may know what we ourselves have escaped4 ,in the fifteenth century there was established in ,europe the cult of a three-headed god1 whose priests had won lordship over a continent4 ,they were enormously wealthy1 and unthinkably corrupt2 they sold to the rich the license to commit every possible crime1 and they held the poor in ignorance and degradation4 ,among the comparatively intelligent and freedom-loving people of ,bohemia there arose a great reformer1 ,john ,huss1 himself a priest1 protesting against the corruptions of his order4 ,they trapped him into their power by means of a safe-conduct--which they repudiated because no promise to a heretic could have validity4 ,they found him guilty of having taught the hateful doctrine that a priest who committed crimes could not give absolution for the crimes of others2 and they held an auto de fe--which means a sentence of faith4 ,as we read in ,lea's ,history of the ,inquisition3 ,the cathedral of ,constance was crowded with ,sigismund 7the ,emperor7 and his nobles1 the great officers of the empire with their insignia1 the prelates in their splendid robes4 ,while mass was sung1 ,huss1 as an excommunicate1 was kept waiting at the door2 when brought in he was placed on an elevated bench by a table on which stood a coffer containing priestly vestments4 ,after some preliminaries1 including a sermon by the ,bishop of ,lodi1 in which he assured ,sigismund that the events of that day would confer on him immortal glory1 the articles of which ,huss was convicted were recited4 ,in vain he protested that he believed in transubstantiation and in the validity of the sacrament in polluted hands4 ,he was ordered to hold his tongue1 and on his persisting the beadles were told to silence him1 but in spite of this he continued to utter protests4 ,the sentence was then read in the name of the council1 condemning him both for his written errors and those which had been proven by witnesses4 ,he was declared a pertinacious and incorrigible heretic who did not desire to return to the ,church2 his books were ordered to be burned1 and himself to be degraded from the priesthood and abandoned to the secular court4 ,seven bishops arrayed him in priestly garb and warned him to recant while yet there was time4 ,he turned to the crowd1 and with broken voice declared that he could not confess the errors which he never entertained1 lest he should lie to ,god1 when the bishops interrupted him1 crying that they had waited long enough1 for he was obstinate in his heresy4 ,he was degraded in the usual manner1 stripped of his sacerdotal vestments1 his fingers scraped2 but when the tonsure was to be disposed of1 an absurd quarrel arose among the bishops as to whether the head should be shaved with a razor or the tonsure be destroyed with scissors4 ,scissors won the day1 and a cross was cut in his hair4 ,then on his head was placed a conical paper cap1 a cubit in height1 adorned with painted devils and the inscription1 ,this is the heresiarch4 ,the place of execution was a meadow near the river1 to which he was conducted by two thousand armed men1 with ,palsgrave ,louis at their head1 and a vast crowd1 including many nobles1 prelates1 and cardinals4 ,the route followed was circuitous1 in order that he might be carried past the episcopal palace1 in front of which his books were burning1 whereat he smiled4 ,pity from man there was none to look for1 but he sought comfort on high1 repeating to himself1 ,christ ,jesus1 ,son of the living ,god1 have mercy upon us6 and when he came in sight of the stake he fell on his knees and prayed4 ,he was asked if he wished to confess1 and said that he would gladly do so if there were space4 ,a wide circle was formed1 and ,ulrich ,schorand1 who1 according to custom1 had been providently empowered to take advantage of final weakening1 came forward1 saying1 ,dear sir and master1 if you will recant your unbelief and heresy1 for which you must suffer1 ,i will willingly hear your confession2 but if you will not1 you know right well that1 according to canon law1 no one can administer the sacrament to a heretic4 ,to this ,huss answered1 ,it is not necessary3 ,i am not a mortal sinner4 ,his paper crown fell off and he smiled as his guards replaced it4 ,he desired to take leave of his keepers1 and when they were brought to him he thanked them for their kindness1 saying that they had been to him rather brothers than jailers4 ,then he commenced to address the crowd in ,german1 telling them that he suffered for errors which he did not hold1 and he was cut short4 ,when bound to the stake1 two cartloads of fagots and straw were piled up around him1 and the palsgrave and vogt for the last time adjured him to abjure4 ,even yet he could save himself1 but only repeated that he had been convicted by false witnesses on errors never entertained by him4 ,they clapped their hands and then withdrew1 and the executioners applied the fire4 ,twice ,huss was heard to exclaim1 ,christ ,jesus1 ,son of the living ,god1 have mercy upon me6 then a wind springing up and blowing the flames and smoke into his face checked further utterances1 but his head was seen to shake and his lips to move while one might twice or thrice recite a paternoster4 ,the tragedy was over2 the sorely-tried soul had escaped from its tormentors1 and the bitterest enemies of the reformer could not refuse to him the praise that no philosopher of old had faced death with more composure than he had shown in his dreadful extremity4 ,no faltering of the voice had betrayed an internal struggle4 ,palsgrave ,louis1 seeing ,huss's mantle on the arm of one of the executioners1 ordered it thrown into the flames lest it should be reverenced as a relic1 and promised the man to compensate him4 ,with the same view the body was carefully reduced to ashes and thrown into the ,rhine1 and even the earth around the stake was dug up and carted off2 yet the ,bohemians long hovered around the spot and carried home fragments of the neighboring clay1 which they reverenced as relics of their martyr4 ,the next day thanks were returned to ,god in a solemn procession in which figured ,sigismund and his queen1 the princes and nobles1 nineteen cardinals1 two patriarchs1 seventy-seven bishops1 and all the clergy of the council4 ,a few days later ,sigismund1 who had delayed his departure for ,spain to see the matter concluded1 left ,constance1 feeling that his work was done4 ,hell-,fire ,if such a scene could be witnessed in the world today1 it would only be in some remote and wholly savage place1 such as the mountains of ,hayti1 or the ,solomon ,islands4 ,it could no longer happen in any civilized country2 the reason being1 not any abatement of the pretensions of the priesthood1 but solely the power of science1 embodied in the physical arm of a secular ,state4 ,the advance of that arm the church has fought systematically1 in every country1 and at every point4 ,to quote ,buckle3 ,a careful study of the history of religious toleration will prove that in every ,christian country where it has been adopted1 it has been forced upon the clergy by the authority of the secular classes4 ,the wolf of superstition has been driven into its lair1 but it has backed away snarling1 and it still crouches1 watching for a chance to spring4 ,the ,church which burned ,john ,huss1 which burned ,giordano ,bruno for teaching that the earth moves round the sun--that same church1 in the name of the same three-headed god1 sent out ,francesco ,ferrer to the firing-squad2 if it does not do the same thing to the author of this book1 it will be solely because of the police4 ,not being allowed to burn me here1 the clergy will vent their holy indignation by sentencing me to eternal burning in a future world which they have created1 and which they run to suit themselves4 ,it is a fact1 the significance of which cannot be exaggerated1 that the measure of the civilization which any nation has attained is the extent to which it has curtailed the power of institutionalized religion4 ,those peoples which are wholly under the sway of the priesthood1 such as ,thibetans and ,koreans1 ,siamese and ,caribbeans1 are peoples among whom the intellectual life does not exist4 ,farther in advance are ,hindoos and ,turks1 who are religious1 but not exclusively4 ,still farther on the way are ,spaniards and ,irish2 here1 for example1 is a flashlight of the ,irish peasantry1 given by one of their number1 ,patrick ,mac,gill3 ,the merchant was a great friend of the parish priest1 who always told the people if they did not pay their debts they would burn for ever and ever in hell4 ,the fires of eternity will make you sorry for the debts that you did not pay1 said the priest4 ,what is eternity8 he would ask in a solemn voice from the altar steps4 ,if a man tried to count the sands on the sea-shore and took a million years to count every single grain1 how long would it take him to count them all8 ,a long time1 you'll say4 ,but that time is nothing to eternity4 ,just think of it6 ,burning in hell while a man1 taking a million years to count a grain of sand1 counts all the sand on the sea-shore4 ,and this because you did not pay ,farley ,mc,keown his lawful debts1 his lawful debts within the letter of the law4 ,that concluding phrase1 within the letter of the law1 struck terror into all who listened1 and no one1 maybe not even the priest himself1 knew what it meant4 ,there is light in ,ireland to-day1 and hope for an ,irish culture2 the thing to be noted is that it comes from two movements1 one for agricultural co-operation and the other for political independence--both of them definitely and specifically non-religious4 ,this same thing has been true of the movements which have helped on happier nations1 such as the republics of ,france and ,america1 which have put an end to the power of the priestly caste to take property by force1 and to dominate the mind of the child without its parents' consent4 ,this is as far as any nation has so far gone2 it has apparently not yet occurred to any legislature that the ,state may owe a duty to the child to protect its mind from being poisoned1 even though it has the misfortune to be born of poisoned parents4 ,it is still permitted that parents should terrify their little ones with images of a personal devil and a hell of eternal brimstone and sulphur2 it is permitted to found schools for the teaching of devil-doctrines2 it is permitted to organize gigantic campaigns and systematically to infect whole cities full of men1 women and children with hell-fire phobias4 ,in the ,american city where ,i write one may see gatherings of people sunk upon their knees1 even rolling on the ground in convulsions1 moaning1 sobbing1 screaming to be delivered from such torments4 ,i open my morning paper and read of the arrest of five men and seven women in ,los ,angeles1 members of a sect known as the ,church of the ,living ,god1 upon a charge of having disturbed the peace of their neighbors4 ,the police officers testified that the accused claimed to be possessed of the divine spirit1 and that as signs of this possession they crawled on the floor1 grunted like pigs and barked like dogs4 ,there were other acts1 even more startling1 about which the newspapers did not go into details4 ,and again1 a week or two later1 ,i read how a woman has been heard screaming1 and found tied to a bed-post1 being whipped by a man4 ,she belonged to a religious sect which had found her guilty of witchcraft4 ,another woman was about to shoot her1 but this woman's nerve failed1 and the high priest was called in1 who decreed a whipping4 ,the victim explained to the police that she would have deserved to be whipped had she really been a witch1 but a mistake had been made--it was another woman who was the witch4 ,and again in the ,los ,angeles ,times ,i read a perfectly serious news item1 telling how a certain man awakened one morning1 and found on his pillow where his head had lain a perfect reproduction of the head of ,christ with its crown of thorns4 ,he called in his neighbors to witness the miracle1 and declared that while he was not superstitious1 he knew that such a thing could not have happened by chance1 and he knew what it was intended to signify--he would buy more ,liberty ,bonds and be more ardent in his support of the war6 ,and this is the world in which our scientists and men of culture think that the battle of the intellect is won1 and that it is no longer necessary to spend our energies in fighting ,religion6 99 99 99 99 99 ,,book ,,two ,the ,church of ,good ,society ,within the ,house of ,mammon his priesthood stands alert ,by mysteries attended1 by dusk and splendors girt1 ,knowing1 for faiths departed1 his own shall still endure1 ,and they be found his chosen1 untroubled1 solemn1 sure4 ,within the ,house of ,mammon the golden altar lifts ,where dragon-lamps are shrouded as costly incense drifts-- ,a dust of old ideals1 now fragrant from the coals1 ,to tell of hopes long-ended1 to tell the death of souls4 ,sterling4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,rain ,makers ,i begin with the ,church of ,good ,society1 because it happens to be the ,church in which ,i was brought up4 ,heading this statement1 some of my readers suspected me of snobbish pride4 ,i search my heart2 yes1 it brings a hidden thrill that as far back as ,i can remember ,i knew this atmosphere of urbanity1 that twice every ,sunday those melodious and hypnotizing incantations were chanted in my childish ears6 ,i take up the book of ritual1 done in aristocratic black leather with gold lettering1 and the old worn volume brings me strange stirrings of recollected awe4 ,but ,i endeavor to repress these vestigial emotions and to see the volume--not as a message from ,god to ,good ,society1 but as a landmark of man's age-long struggle against myth and dogma used as a source of income and a shield to privilege4 ,in the beginning1 of course1 the priest and the magician ruled the field4 ,but today1 as ,i examine this ,book of ,common ,prayer1 ,i discover that there is at least one spot out of which he has been cleared entirely2 there appears no prayer to planets to stand still1 or to comets to go away4 ,the ,church of ,good ,society has discovered astronomy6 ,but if any astronomer attributes this to his instruments with their marvelous accuracy1 let him at least stop to consider my economic interpretation of the phenomenon--the fact that the heavenly bodies affect the destinies of mankind so little that there has not been sufficient emolument to justify the priest in holding on to his job as astrologer4 ,but when you come to the field of meteorology1 what a difference6 ,has any utmost precision of barometer been able to drive the priest out of his prerogatives as rainmaker8 ,not even in the most civilized of countries2 not in that most decorous and dignified of institutions1 the ,protestant ,episcopal ,church of ,america6 ,i study with care the passage wherein the clergyman appears as controller of the fate of crops4 ,i note a chastened caution of phraseology2 the church will not repeat the experience of the sorcerer's apprentice1 who set the demons to bringing water1 and then could not make them stop6 ,the spell invokes moderate rain and showers2 and as an additional precaution there is a counter-spell against excessive rains and floods3 the weather-faucet being thus under exact control4 ,i turn the pages of this ,book of ,common ,prayer1 and note the remnants of magic which it contains4 ,there are not many of the emergencies of life with which the priest is not authorized to deal2 not many natural phenomena for which he may not claim the credit4 ,and in case anything should have been overlooked1 there is a blanket order upon ,providence3 ,graciously hear us1 that those evils which the craft or subtilty of the devil or man worketh against us1 be brought to nought6 ,i am reminded of the idea which haunted my childhood1 reading fairy-stories about the hero who was allowed three wishes that would come true4 ,i could never understand why the hero did not settle the matter once for all--by wishing that everything he wished might come true6 ,most of these incantations are harmless1 and some are amiable2 but now and then you come upon one which is sinister in its implications4 ,the volume before me happens to be of the ,church of ,england1 which is even more forthright in its confronting of the ,great ,magic4 ,many years ago ,i remember talking with an ,english army officer1 asking how he could feel sure of his soldiers in case of labor strikes2 did it never occur to him that the men had relatives among the workers1 and might some time refuse to shoot them8 ,his answer was that he was aware of it1 the military had worked out its technique with care4 ,he would never think of ordering his men to fire upon a mob in cold blood2 he would first start the spell of discipline to work1 he would march them round the block1 and get them in the swing1 get their blood moving to military music2 then1 when he gave the order1 in they would go4 ,i have never forgotten the gesture1 the animation with which he illustrated their going--,i could hear the grunting of bayonets in the flesh of men4 ,the social system prevailing in ,england has made necessary the perfecting of such military technique2 also1 you discover1 ,english piety has made necessary the providing of a religious sanction for it4 ,after the job has been done and the bayonets have been wiped clean1 the company is marched to church1 and the officer kneels in his family pew1 and the privates kneel with the parlor-maids1 and the clergyman raises his hands to heaven and intones3 ,we bless thy ,holy ,name1 that it hath pleased ,thee to appease the seditious tumults which have been lately raised up among us6 ,and sometimes the clergyman does more than bless the killers--he even takes part in their bloody work4 ,in the ,home ,office ,records of the ,british ,government ,i read 7vol4 #dj1 page #ag7 how certain miners were on strike against low wages and the truck system1 and the ,vicar of ,abergavenny put himself at the head of the yeomanry and the ,greys4 ,he wrote the ,home ,office a lively account of his military operations4 ,all that remained was to apprehend certain of the strikers1 and then ,i shall be able to return to my ,clerical duties4 ,later he wrote of the sinister influences which kept the miners from returning to their work1 and how he had put half a dozen of the most obstinate in prison4 ,the ,babylonian ,fire-god ,so we come to the most important of the functions of the tribal god1 as an ally in war1 an inspirer to martial valour4 ,when in ancient ,babylonia you wished to overcome your enemies1 you went to the shrine of the ,fire-god1 and with awful rites the priest pronounced incantations1 which have been preserved on bricks and handed down for the use of modern churches4 ,pronounce in a whisper1 and have a bronze image therewith1 commands the ancient text1 and runs on for many strophes in this fashion3 ,let them die1 but let me live6 ,let them be put under a ban1 but let me prosper6 ,let them perish1 but let me increase6 ,let them become weak1 but let me wax strong6 ,o1 fire-god1 mighty1 exalted among the gods1 ,thou art the god1 thou art my lord1 etc4 ,this was in heathen ,babylon1 some three thousand years ago4 ,since then1 the world has moved on-- ,three thousand years of war and peace and glory1 ,of hope and work and deeds and golden schemes1 ,of mighty voices raised in song and story1 ,of huge inventions and of splendid dreams-- ,and in one of the world's leading nations the people stand up and bare their heads1 and sing to their god to save their king and punish those who oppose him-- ,o ,lord our ,god1 arise1 ,scatter his enemies1 ,and make them fall2 ,confound their politics1 ,frustrate their knavish tricks1 ,on him our hopes we fix1 ,god save us all4 ,recently1 ,i understand1 it has become the custom to omit this stanza from the ,english national anthem2 but it is clear that this is because of its crudity of expression1 not because of objection to the idea of praying to a god to assist one nation and injure others2 for the same sentiment is expressed again and again in the most carefully edited of prayer-books3 ,abate their pride1 assuage their malice1 and confound their devices4 ,defend us1 ,thy humble servants1 in all assaults of our enemies4 ,strengthen him 7the ,king7 that he may vanquish and overcome all his enemies4 ,there is none other that fighteth for us1 but only ,thou1 ,o ,god4 ,prayers such as these are pronounced in every so-called civilized nation today4 ,behind every battle-line in ,europe you may see the priests of the ,babylonian ,fire-god with their bronze images and their ancient incantations2 you may see magic spells being wrought1 magic standards sanctified1 magic bread eaten and magic wine drunk1 fetishes blessed and hoodoos lifted1 eternity ransacked to find means of inciting soldiers to the mood where they will go in4 ,throughout all civilization1 the phobias and manias of war have thrown the people back into the toils of the priest1 and that church which forced ,galileo to recant under threat of torture1 and had ,ferrer shot beneath the walls of the fortress of ,montjuich1 is rejoicing in a rebirth of religion4 ,the ,medicine-men ,andrew ,d4 ,white tells us that ,it was noted that in the #adth century1 after the great plague1 the ,black ,death1 had passed1 an immensely increased proportion of the landed and personal property of every ,european country was in the hands of the ,church4 ,well did a great ecclesiastic remark that pestilences are the harvests of the ministers of ,god4 ,and so naturally the clergy hold on to their prerogative as banishers of epidemics4 ,who knows what day the ,lord may see fit to rebuke the upstart teachers of impious and atheistical inoculation1 and scourge the people back into ,his fold as in the good old days of ,moses and ,aaron8 ,viscount ,amberley1 in his immensely learned and half-suppressed work1 ,the ,analysis of ,religious ,belief1 quotes some missionaries to the ,fiji islanders1 concerning the ideas of these benighted heathen on the subject of a pestilence4 ,it was the work of a disease-maker1 who was burning images of the people with incantations2 so they blew horns to frighten this disease-maker from his spells4 ,the missionaries undertook to explain the true cause of the affliction--and thereby revealed that they stood upon the same intellectual level as the heathen they were supposed to instruct6 ,it appeared that the natives had been at war with their neighbors1 and the missionaries had commanded them to desist2 they had refused to obey1 and ,god had sent the epidemic as punishment for savage presumption6 ,and on precisely this same ,fijian level stands the ,book of ,common ,prayer of our most decorous and cultured of churches4 ,i remember as a little child lying on a bed of sickness1 occasioned by the prevalence in our home of the ,southern custom of hot bread three times a day2 and there came an amiable clerical gentleman and recited the service proper to such pastoral calls3 ,take therefore in good part the visitation of the ,lord6 ,and again1 when my mother was ill1 ,i remember how the clergyman read out in church a prayer for her1 specifying all sickness1 in mind1 body or estate4 ,i was thinking only of my mother1 and the meaning of these words passed over my childish head2 ,i did not realize that the elderly plutocrat in black broadcloth who knelt in the pew in front of me was invoking the aid of the ,almighty so that his tenements might bring in their rentals promptly2 so that his little flyer in cotton might prove successful2 so that the children in his mills might work with greater speed4 ,somebody asked ,voltaire if you could kill a cow by incantations1 and he answered1 ,yes1 if you use a little strychnine with it4 ,and that would seem to be the attitude of the present-day ,anglican church-member2 he calls in the best physician he knows1 he makes sure that his plumbing is sound1 and after that he thinks it can do no harm to let the ,lord have a chance4 ,it makes the women happy1 and after all1 there are a lot of things we don't yet know about the world4 ,so he repairs to the family pew1 and recites over the venerable prayers1 and contributes his mite to the maintenance of an institution which1 fourteen ,sundays every year1 proclaims the terrifying menaces of the ,athanasian ,creed3 ,whoever will be saved1 before all things it is necessary that he hold the ,catholick faith4 ,which faith1 except one do keep whole and undefiled2 without doubt he shall perish everlastingly4 ,for the benefit of the uninitiated reader1 it may be explained that the ,catholick faith here referred to is not the ,roman ,catholic1 but that of the ,church of ,england and the ,protestant ,episcopal ,church of ,america4 ,this creed of the ancient ,alexandrian lays down the truth with grim and menacing precision--forty-four paragraphs of metaphysical minutiae1 closing with the final doom3 ,this is the ,catholick faith3 which except a man believe faithfully1 he cannot be saved4 ,you see1 the founders of this august institution were not content with cultured complacency2 what they believed they believed really1 with their whole hearts1 and they were ready to act upon it1 even if it meant burning their own at the stake4 ,also1 they knew the ceaseless impulse of the mind to grow2 the terrible temptation which confronts each new generation to believe that which is reasonable4 ,they met the situation by setting out the true faith in words which no one could mistake4 ,they have provided1 not merely the ,creed of ,athanasius1 but also the ,thirty-nine ,articles--which are thirty-nine separate and binding guarantees that one who holds orders in the ,episcopal ,church shall be either a man of inferior mentality1 or else a sophist and hypocrite4 ,how desperate some of them have become in the face of this cruel dilemma is illustrated by the tale which is told of ,dr4 ,jowett1 of ,balliol ,college1 ,oxford3 that when he was required to recite the ,apostle's ,creed in public1 he would save himself by inserting the words used to between the words ,i believe1 saying the inserted words under his breath1 thus1 ,i used to believe in the ,father1 the ,son1 and the ,holy ,ghost4 ,perhaps the eminent divine never did this2 but the fact that his students told it1 and thought it funny1 is sufficient indication of their attitude toward their ,religion4 ,the son of ,william ,george ,ward tells in his biography how this leader of the ,tractarian ,movement met the problem with cynicism which seems almost sublime3 ,make yourself clear that you are justified in deception2 and then lie like a trooper6 ,the ,canonization of ,incompetence ,the supreme crime of the church to-day is that everywhere and in all its operations and influences it is on the side of sloth of mind2 that it banishes brains1 it sanctifies stupidity1 it canonizes incompetence4 ,consider the power of the ,church of ,england and its favorite daughter here in ,america2 consider their prestige with the press and in politics1 their hold upon literature and the arts1 their control of education and the minds of children1 of charity and the lives of the poor3 consider all this1 and then say what it means to society that such a power must be1 in every new issue that arises1 on the side of reaction and falsehood4 ,so it was in the beginning1 is now1 and ever shall be1 runs the church's formula2 and this per se and a priori1 of necessity and in the nature of the case4 ,turn over the pages of history and read the damning record of the church's opposition to every advance in every field of science1 even the most remote from theological concern4 ,here is the ,reverend ,edward ,massey1 preaching in #aggb on ,the ,dangerous and ,sinful ,practice of ,inoculation2 declaring that ,job's distemper was probably confluent small-pox2 that he had been inoculated doubtless by the devil2 that diseases are sent by ,providence for the punishment of sin2 and that the proposed attempt to prevent them is a diabolical operation4 ,here are the ,scotch clergy of the middle of the nineteenth century denouncing the use of chloroform in obstetrics1 because it is seeking to avoid one part of the primeval curse on woman4 ,here is ,bishop ,wilberforce of ,oxford anathematizing ,darwin3 ,the principle of natural selection is absolutely incompatible with the word of ,god2 it contradicts the revealed relation of creation to its creator2 it is inconsistent with the fulness of ,his glory2 it is a dishonoring view of nature4 ,and the ,bishop settled the matter by asking ,huxley whether he was descended from an ape through his grandmother or grandfather4 ,think what it means1 friends of progress1 that these ecclesiastical figures should be set up for the reverence of the populace1 and that every time mankind is to make an advance in power over ,nature1 the pioneers of thought have to come with crow-bars and derricks and heave these figures out of the way6 ,and you think that conditions are changed to-day8 ,but consider syphilis and gonorrhea1 about which we know so much1 and can do almost nothing2 consider birth-control1 which we are sent to jail for so much as mentioning6 ,consider the divorce reforms for which the world is crying--and for which it must wait1 because of ,st4 ,paul6 ,realize that up to date it has proven impossible to persuade the ,english ,church to permit a man to marry his deceased wife's sister6 ,that when the war broke upon ,england the whole nation was occupied with a squabble over the disestablishment of the church of ,wales6 ,only since #ahhh has it been legally possible for an unbeliever to hold a seat in ,parliament2 while up to the present day men are tried for blasphemy and convicted under the decisions of ,lord ,hale1 to the effect that it is a crime either to deny the truth of the fundamental doctrines of the ,christian religion or to hold them up to contempt or ridicule4 ,said ,mr4 ,justice ,horridge1 at the ,west ,riding ,assizes1 #aiaa3 ,a man is not free in any public place to use common ridicule on subjects which are sacred4 ,the purpose1 as outlined by the public prosecutor in ,london1 is to preserve the standard of outward decency4 ,and you will find that the one essential to prosecution is always that the victim shall be obscure and helpless2 never by any chance is he a duke in a drawing-room4 ,i will record an utterance of one of the obscure victims of the ,british standard of outward decency1 a teacher of mathematics named ,holyoake1 who presumed to discuss in a public hall the starvation of the working classes of the country4 ,a preacher objected that he had discussed our duty to our neighbor and neglected our duty to ,god2 whereupon the lecturer replied3 ,our national ,church and general religious institutions cost us1 upon accredited computation1 about twenty million pounds annually4 ,worship being thus expensive1 ,i appeal to your heads and your pockets whether we are not too poor to have a ,god4 ,while our distress lasts1 ,i think it would be wise to put deity upon half pay4 ,and for that utterance the unfortunate teacher of mathematics served six months in the common ,gaol at ,gloucester6 ,while men were being tried for publishing the ,free-thinker1 the ,premier of ,england was ,william ,ewart ,gladstone4 ,and if you wish to know what an established church can do by way of setting up dullness in high places1 get a volume of this ,grand ,old ,man's writings on theological and religious questions4 ,read his ,juventus ,mundi1 in the course of which he establishes a mystic connection between the trident of ,neptune and the ,christian ,trinity6 ,read his efforts to prove that the writer of ,genesis was an inspired geologist6 ,this writer of ,genesis points out in ,nature a grand1 fourfold division1 set forth in an orderly succession of times3 ,first1 the water population2 secondly1 the air population2 thirdly1 the land population of animals2 fourthly1 the land population consummated in man4 ,and it seems that this division and sequence is understood to have been so affirmed in our time by natural science that it may be taken as a demonstrated conclusion and established fact4 ,hence we must conclude of the writer of ,genesis that his knowledge was divine6 ,consider that this was actually published in one of the leading ,british monthlies1 and that it was necessary for ,professor ,huxley to answer it1 pointing out that so far is it from being true that a fourfold division and orderly sequence of water1 air and land animals has been affirmed in our time by natural science1 that on the contrary1 the assertion is directly contradictory to facts known to everyone who is acquainted with the elements of natural science4 ,the distribution of fossils proves that land animals originated before sea-animals1 and there has been such a mixing of land1 sea and air animals as utterly to destroy the reputation of both ,genesis and ,gladstone as possessing a divine knowledge of ,geology4 ,gibson's ,preservative ,i have a friend1 a well-known scholar1 who permits me the use of his extensive library4 ,i stand in the middle and look about me1 and see in the dim shadows walls lined from floor to ceiling with decorous and grave-looking books1 bound for the most part in black1 many of them fading to green with age4 ,there are literally thousands of such1 and their theme is the pseudo-science of divinity4 ,i close my1 eyes1 to make the test fair1 and walk to the shelves and put out my hand and take a book4 ,it proves to be a modern work1 ,a ,history of the ,english ,prayer-book in ,relation to the ,doctrine of the ,eucharist4 ,i turn the pages and discover that it is a study of the variations of one minute detail of church doctrine4 ,this learned divine--he has written many such works1 as the advertisements inform us--fills up the greater part of his pages with foot-notes from hundreds of authorities1 arguments and counter-arguments over supernatural subtleties4 ,i will give one sample of these footnotes--asking the reader to be patient3 ,i add the following valuable observation1 of ,dean ,goode3 7,on ,eucharist1 ,,ii p #geg4 ,see also ,archbishop ,ware in ,gibson's ,preservative1 vol4 ,n1 ,chap ,,ii7 ,one great point for which our divines have contended1 in opposition to ,romish errors1 has been the reality of that presence of ,christ's ,body and ,blood to the soul of the believer which is affected through the operation of the ,holy ,spirit notwithstanding the absence of that ,body and ,blood in ,heaven4 ,like the ,sun1 the ,body of ,christ is both present and absent2 present1 really and truly present1 in one sense--that is1 by the soul being brought into immediate communion with--but absent in another sense--that is1 as regards the contiguity of its substance to our bodies4 ,the authors under review1 like the ,romanists1 maintain that this is not a ,real ,presence1 and assuming their own interpretation of the phrase to be the only true one1 press into their service the testimony of divines who1 though using the phrase1 apply it in a sense the reverse of theirs4 ,the ambiguity of the phrase1 and its misapplication by the ,church of ,rome1 have induced many of our divines to repudiate it1 etc4 ,realize that of the work from which this valuable observation is quoted1 there are at least two volumes1 the second volume containing not less than #geg pages ,i ,realize that in ,gibson's ,preservative there are not less than ten volumes of such writing6 ,realize that in this twentieth century a considerable portion of the mental energies of the world's greatest empire is devoted to that kind of learning6 ,i turn to the date upon the volume1 and find that it is #aiaj4 ,i was in ,england within a year of that time1 and so ,i can tell what was the condition of the ,english people while printers were making and papers were reviewing and book-stores were distributing this work of ecclesiastical research4 ,i walked along the ,embankment and saw the pitiful wretches1 men1 women and sometimes children1 clad in filthy rags1 starved white and frozen blue1 soaked in winter rains and shivering in winter winds1 homeless1 hopeless1 unheeded by the doctors of divinity1 unpreserved by ,gibson's ,preservative4 ,i walked on ,hampstead ,heath on ,easter day1 when the population of the slums turns out for its one holiday2 ,i walked1 literally trembling with horror1 for ,i had never seen such sights nor dreamed of them4 ,these creatures were hardly to be recognized as human beings2 they were some new grotesque race of apes4 ,they could not walk1 they could only shamble2 they could not laugh1 they could only leer4 ,i saw a hand-organ playing1 and turned away--the things they did in their efforts to dance were not to be watched4 ,and then ,i went out into the beautiful ,english country2 cultured and charming ladies took me in swift1 smooth motor-cars1 and ,i saw the pitiful hovels and the drink-sodden1 starch-poisoned inhabitants--slum-populations everywhere1 even on the land6 ,when the newspaper reporters came to me1 ,i said that ,i had just come from ,germany1 and that if ever ,england found herself at war with that country1 she would regret that she had let the bodies and the minds of her people rot2 for which expression ,i was severely taken to task by more than one ,british divine4 ,the bodies--and the minds2 the rot of the latter being the cause of the former4 ,all over ,england in that year of #aiaj1 in thousands of schools1 rich and poor1 and in the greatest centres of learning1 men like ,dean ,goode were teaching boys dead languages and dead sciences and dead arts2 sending them out to life with no more conception of the modern world than a monk of the ,middle ,ages2 sending them out with minds made hard and inflexible1 ignorant of science1 indifferent to progress1 contemptuous of ideas4 ,and then suddenly1 almost overnight1 this terrified people finds itself at war with a nation ruled and disciplined' by modern experts1 scientists and technicians4 ,the awful muddle that was in ,england during the first two years of the war has not yet been told in print2 but thousands know it1 and some day it will be written1 and it will finish forever the prestige of the ,british ruling caste4 ,they rushed off an expedition to ,gallipoli1 and somebody forgot the water-supply1 and at one time they had ninety-five thousand cases of dysentery6 ,they always muddle through1 they tell you2 that is the motto of their ruling caste4 ,but this time they did not muddle through--they had to come to ,america for help4 ,as ,i write1 our ,congress is voting billions and tens of billions of dollars1 and a million of the best of our young manhood are being taken from their homes--because in #aiaj the mind of ,england was occupied with ,dean ,goode ,on ,eucharist1 and the ten volumes of ,gibson's ,preservative4 ,the ,elders ,what the ,church means in human affairs is the rule of the aged4 ,it means old men in the seats of authority1 not merely in the church1 but in the law-courts and in ,parliament1 even in the army and navy4 ,for a test ,i look up the list of bishops of the ,church of ,england in ,whitaker's ,almanac2 it appears that there are #dj of these functionaries1 including the archbishops1 but not the suffragans2 and that the total salary paid to them amounts to more than nine hundred thousand dollars a year4 ,this1 it should be understood1 does not include the pay of their assistants1 nor the cost of maintaining their religious establishments2 it does not include any private incomes which they or their wives may possess1 as members of the privileged classes of the ,empire4 ,i look up their ages in ,who's ,who1 and ,i find that there is only one below fifty-three2 the oldest of them is ninety-one1 while the average age of the goodly company is seventy4 ,there have been men in history who have retained their flexibility of mind1 their ability to adjust themselves to new circumstances at the age of seventy1 but it will always be found that these men were trained in science and practical affairs1 never in dead languages and theology4 ,one of the oldest of the ,english prelates1 the ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 recently stated to a newspaper reporter that he worked seventeen hours a day1 and had no time to form an opinion on the labor question4 ,and now--here is the crux of the argument--do these aged gentlemen rule of their own power8 ,they do not6 ,they do literally nothing of their own power2 they could not make their own episcopal robes1 they could net even cook their own episcopal dinners4 ,they have to be maintained in all their comings and goings4 ,who supports them1 and to what end8 ,the roots of the ,english ,church are in the ,english land system1 which is one of the infamies of the modern world4 ,it dates from the days of ,william the ,norman1 who took possession of ,britain with his sword1 and in order to keep possession for himself and his heirs1 distributed the land among his nobles and prelates4 ,in those days1 you understand1 a high ecclesiastic was a man of war1 who did not stoop to veil his predatory nature under pretense of philanthropy2 the abbots and archbishops of ,william wore armor and had their troops of knights like the barons and the dukes4 ,william gave them vast tracts1 and at the same time he gave them orders which they obeyed4 ,says the ,english chronicler1 ,stark he was4 ,bishops he stripped of their bishopricks1 abbots of their abbacies4 ,green tells us that the dependence of the church on the royal power was strictly enforced4 ,homage was exacted from bishop as from baron4 ,and what was this homage8 ,the bishop knelt before ,william1 bareheaded and without arms1 and swore3 ,hear my lord1 ,i become liege man of yours for life and limb and earthly regard1 and ,i will keep faith and loyalty to you for life and death1 ,god help me4 ,the lands which the church got from ,william the ,norman1 she has held1 and always on the same condition--that she shall be liege man for life and limb and earthly regard4 ,in this you have the whole story of the church of ,england1 in the twentieth century as in the eleventh4 ,the balance of power has shifted from time to time2 old families have lost the land and new families have gotten it2 but the loyalty and homage of the church have been held by the land1 as the needle of the compass is held by a mass of metal4 ,some two hundred and fifty years ago a popular song gave the general impression-- ,for this is law that ,i'll maintain ,until my dying day1 sir3 ,that whatsoever king shall reign ,i'll still be vicar of ,bray1 sir6 ,so1 wherever you take the ,anglican clergy1 they are ,tories and ,royalists1 conservatives and reactionaries1 friends of every injustice that profits the owning class4 ,and always among themselves you find them intriguing and squabbling over the dividing of the spoils2 always you find them enjoying leisure and ease1 while the people suffer and the rebels complain4 ,one can pass down the corridor of ,english history and prove this statement by the words of ,englishmen from every single generation4 ,take the fourteenth century2 the ,good ,parliament declares that ,unworthy and unlearned caitiffs are appointed to benefices of a thousand marks1 while the poor and learned hardly obtain one of twenty4 ,god gave the sheep to be pastured1 not to be shaven and shorn4 ,and a little later comes the poet of the people1 ,piers ,plowman-- ,but now is ,religion a rider1 a roamer through the streets1 ,a leader at the love-day1 a buyer of the land1 ,pricking on a palfrey from manor to manor1 ,a heap of hounds at his back1 as tho he were a lord2 ,and if his servant kneel not when he brings his cup1 ,he loureth on him asking who taught him courtesy4 ,badly have lords done to give their heirs' lands ,away to the ,orders that have no pity2 ,money rains upon their altars4 ,there where such parsons be living at ease ,they have no pity on the poor2 that is their charity4 ,ye hold you as lords2 your lands are too broad1 ,but there shall come a king and he shall shrive you all ,and beat you as the bible saith for breaking of your ,rule4 ,another step through history1 and in the early part of the sixteenth century here is ,simon ,fish1 addressing ,king ,henry the ,eighth1 in the ,supplicacyon for the ,beggars1 complaining of the strong1 puissant and counterfeit holy and ydell which are now increased under your sight1 not only into a great nombre1 but ynto a kingdome4 ,they have begged so importunatly that they have gotten ynto their hondes more than a therd part of all youre ,realme4 ,the goodliest lordshippes1 maners1 londes1 and territories1 are theyres4 ,besides this1 they have the tenth part of all the corne1 medowe1 pasture1 grasse1 wolle1 coltes1 calves1 lambes1 pigges1 gese and chikens4 ,ye1 and they looke so narowly uppon theyre proufittes1 that the poore wyves must be countable to thym of every tenth eg1 or elles she gettith not her rytes at ester1 shal be taken as an heretike4444 ,is it any merveille that youre people so compleine of povertie8 ,the ,turke nowe1 in your tyme1 shulde never be abill to get so moche grounde of christendome4444 ,and whate do al these gredy sort of sturdy1 idell1 holy theves8 ,these be they that have made an hundredth thousand idell hores in your realme4 ,these be they that catche the pokkes of one woman1 and here them to an other4 ,the petitioner goes on to tell how they steal wives and all their goods with them1 and if any man protest they make him a heretic1 so that it maketh him wisshe that he had not done it4 ,also they take fortunes for masses and then don't say them4 ,if the ,abbot of west-minster shulde sing every day as many masses for his founders as he is bounde to do by his foundacion1 #ajjj monkes were too few4 ,the petitioner suggests that the king shall tie these holy idell theves to the cartes1 to be whipped naked about every market towne till they will fall to laboure6 ,church ,history ,king ,henry did not follow this suggestion precisely1 but he took away the property of the religious orders for the expenses of his many wives and mistresses1 and forced the clergy in ,england to forswear obedience to the ,pope and make his royal self their spiritual head4 ,this was the beginning of the ,anglican ,church1 as distinguished from the ,catholic2 a beginning of which the ,anglican clergy are not so proud as they would like to be4 ,when ,i was a boy1 they taught me what they called church history1 and when they came to ,henry the ,eighth they used him as an illustration of the fact that the ,lord is sometimes wont to choose evil men to carry out ,his righteous purposes4 ,they did not explain why the ,lord should do this confusing thing1 nor just how you were to know1 when you saw something being done by a murderous adulterer1 whether it was the will of the ,lord or of ,satan2 nor did they go into details as to the motives which the ,lord had been at pains to provide1 so as to induce his royal agent to found the ,anglican ,church4 ,for such details you have to consult another set of authorities--the victims of the plundering4 ,when ,i was in college my professor of ,latin was a gentleman with bushy brown whiskers and a thundering voice of which ,i was often the object--for even in those early days ,i had the habit of persisting in embarrassing questions4 ,this professor was a devout ,catholic1 and not even in dealing with ancient ,romans could he restrain his propaganda impulses4 ,later on in life he became editor of the ,catholic ,encyclopedia1 and now when ,i turn its pages1 ,i imagine that ,i see the bushy brown whiskers1 and hear the thundering voice3 ,mr4 ,sinclair1 it is so because ,i tell you it is so6 ,i investigate1 and find that my ex-professor knows all about ,king ,henry the ,eighth1 and his motives in founding the ,church of ,england2 he is ready with an economic interpretation1 as complete as the most rabid muckraker could desire6 ,it appears that the king wanted a new wife1 and demanded that the ,pope should grant the necessary permission2 in his efforts to browbeat the ,pope into such betrayal of duty1 ,king ,henry threatened the withdrawal of the annates and the ,peter's pence4 ,later on he forced the clergy to declare that the ,pope was only a foreign bishop1 and in order to stamp out overt expression of disaffection1 he embarked upon a veritable reign of terror4 ,in ,anglican histories1 you are assured that all this was a work of religious reform1 and that after it the ,church was the pure vehicle of ,god's grace4 ,there were no more holy idell theves1 holding the land of ,england and plundering the poor4 ,but get to know the clergy1 and see things from the inside1 and you will meet some one like the ,archbishop of ,cashell1 who wrote to one of his intimates3 ,i conclude that a good bishop has nothing more to do than to eat1 drink and grow fat1 rich and die2 which laudable example ,i propose for the remainder of my days to follow4 ,if you say that might be a casual jest1 hear what ,thackeray reports of that period1 the eighteenth century1 which he knew with peculiar intimacy3 ,i read that ,lady ,yarmouth 7my most religious and gracious ,king's favorite7 sold a bishopric to a clergyman for #efjj pounds4 7,she betted him the #ejjj pounds that he would not be made a bishop1 and he lost1 and paid her47 ,was he the only prelate of his time led up by such hands for consecration8 ,as ,i peep into ,george ,,ii's ,st4 ,james1 ,i see crowds of cassocks pushing up the back-stairs of the ladies of the court2 stealthy clergy slipping purses into their laps2 that godless old king yawning under his canopy in his ,chapel ,royal1 as the chaplain before him is discoursing4 ,discoursing about what8--,about righteousness and judgment8 ,whilst the chaplain is preaching1 the king is chattering in ,german and almost as loud as the preacher2 so loud that the clergyman actually burst out crying in his pulpit1 because the defender of the faith and the dispenser of bishoprics would not listen to him6 ,land and ,livings ,and how is it in the twentieth century8 ,have conditions been much improved8 ,there are great ,englishmen who do not think so4 ,i quote ,robert ,buchanan1 a poet who spoke for the people1 and who therefore has still to be recognized by ,english critics4 ,he writes of the ,new ,rome1 by which he means present-day ,england3 ,the gods are dead1 but in their name ,humanity is sold to shame1 ,while 7then as now67 the tinsel'd priest ,sitteth with robbers at the feast1 ,blesses the laden1 blood-stained board1 ,weaves garlands round the butcher's sword1 ,and poureth freely 7now as then7 ,the sacramental blood of ,men6 ,you see1 the land system of ,england remains--the changes having been for the worse4 ,william the ,conqueror wanted to keep the ,saxon peasantry contented1 so he left them their commons2 but in the eighteenth century these were nearly all filched away4 ,we saw the same thing done within the last generation in ,mexico1 and from the same motive--because developing capitalism needs cheap labor1 whereas people who have access to the land will not slave in mills and mines4 ,in ,england1 from the time of ,queen ,anne to that of ,william and ,mary1 the parliaments of the landlords passed some four thousand separate acts1 whereby more than seven million acres of the common land were stolen from the people4 ,it has been calculated that these acres might have supported a million families2 and ever since then ,england has had to feed a million paupers all the time4 ,as an old song puts the matter3 ,why prosecute the man or woman ,who steals a goose from off the common1 ,and let the greater felon loose ,who steals the common from the goose8 ,in our day the land aristocracy is rooted like the native oak in ,british soil3 some of them direct descendants of the ,normans1 others children of the court favorites and panders who grew rich in the days of the ,tudors and the unspeakable ,stuarts4 ,seven men own practically all the land of the city and county of ,london1 and collect tribute from seven millions of people4 ,the estates are entailed--that is1 handed down from father to oldest son automatically2 you cannot buy any land1 but if you want to build1 the landlord gives you a lease1 and when the lease is up1 he takes possession of your buildings4 ,the tribute which ,london pays is more than a hundred million dollars a year4 ,so absolute is the right of the land-owner that he can sue for trespass the driver on an aeroplane which flies over him2 he imposes on fishermen a tax upon catches made many hundred of yards from the shore4 ,and in this graft1 of course1 the church has its share4 ,each church owns land--not merely that upon which it stands1 but farms and city lots from which it derives income4 ,each cathedral owns large tracts2 so do the schools and universities in which the clergy are educated4 ,the income from the holdings of a church constitutes what is called a living2 these livings1 which vary in size1 are the prerogatives of the younger sons of the ruling families1 and are intrigued and scrambled for in exactly the fashion which ,thackeray describes in the eighteenth century4 ,about six thousand of these livings are in the gift of great land owners2 one noble lord alone disposes of fifty-six such plums2 and needless to say1 he does not present them to clergymen who favor radical land-taxes4 ,he gives them to men like himself--autocratic to the poor1 easy-going to members of his own class1 and cynical concerning the grafts of grace4 ,in one ,english village which ,i visited the living was worth seven hundred pounds1 with the use of a fine mansion2 as the incumbent had a large family1 he lived there4 ,in another place the living was worth a thousand pounds1 and the incumbent hired a curate1 himself appearing twice a year1 on ,christmas day and on the ,king's birth-day1 to preach a sermon2 the rest of the time he spent in ,paris4 ,it is worth noting that in #ahjh a law was proposed compelling absentee pluralists--that is1 clergymen holding more than one living--to furnish curates to do their work2 it might be interesting to note that this law met with strenuous clerical opposition1 the house of ,bishops voting against it without a division4 ,thus we may understand the sharp saying of ,karl ,marx1 that the ,english clergy would rather part with thirty-eight of their thirty-nine articles than with one thirty-ninth of their income4 ,there is always a plentiful supply of curates in ,england4 ,they are the sons of the less influential ruling families1 and of the clergy2 they have been trained at ,oxford or ,cambridge1 and possess the one essential qualification1 that they are gentlemen4 ,their average price is two hundred and fifty pounds a year2 their function was made clear to me when ,i attended my first ,english tea-party4 ,there was a wicker table1 perhaps a foot and a half square1 having three shelves1 one below the other--on the top layer the plates and napkins1 on the next the muffins1 and on the lowest the cake4 ,said the hostess1 ,will you pass the curate1 please8 ,i looked puzzled1 and she pointed4 ,we call that the curate1 because it does the work of a curate4 ,graft in ,tail ,as one of ,america's head muck-rakers1 ,i found that ,i was popular with the ,british ruling classes2 they found my books useful in their campaigns against democracy1 and they were surprised and disconcerted when they found ,i did not agree with their interpretation of my writings4 ,i had told of corruption in ,american politics2 surely ,i must know that in ,england they had no such evils6 ,i explained that they did not have to2 their graft1 to use their own legal phrase1 was in tail2 the grafters had1 as a matter of divine right1 the things which in ,america they had to buy4 ,in ,america1 for instance1 we had a ,senate1 a ,millionaire's ,club1 for admission to which the members paid in cash2 but in ,england the same men came to the same position as their birth-right4 ,political corruption is not an end in itself1 it is merely a means to exploitation2 and of exploitation ,england has even more than ,america4 ,when ,i explained this1 my popularity with the ,british ruling classes vanished quickly4 ,as a matter of fact1 ,england is more like ,america than she realizes2 her ,british reticence has kept her ignorant about herself4 ,i could not carry on my business in ,england1 because of the libel laws1 which have as their first principle the greater the truth1 the greater the libel4 ,englishmen read with satisfaction what ,i write about ,america2 but if ,i should turn my attention to their own country1 they would send me to jail as they sent ,frank ,harris4 ,the fact is that the new men in ,england1 the lords of coal and iron and shipping and beer1 have bought their way into the landed aristocracy for cash1 just as our ,american senators have done2 they have bought the political parties with campaign gifts1 precisely as in ,america2 they have taken over the press1 whether by outright purchase like ,northcliffe1 or by advertising subsidy--both of which methods we ,americans know4 ,within the last decade or two another group has been coming into control2 and not merely is this the same class of men as in ,america1 it frequently consists of the same individuals4 ,these are the big money-lenders1 the international financiers who are the fine and final flower of the capitalist system4 ,these gentlemen make the world their home--or1 as ,shakespeare puts it1 their oyster4 ,they know how to fit themselves to all environments2 they are ,catholics in ,rome and ,vienna1 country gentlemen in ,london1 bons vivants in ,paris1 democrats in ,chicago1 ,socialists in ,petrograd1 and ,hebrews wherever they are4 ,and of course1 in buying the ,english government1 these new classes have bought the ,english ,church4 ,skeptics and men of the world as they are1 they know that they must have a ,religion4 ,they have read the story of the ,french revolution1 and the shadow of the guillotine is always over their thoughts2 they see the giant of labor1 restless in his torment1 groping as in a nightmare for the throat of his enemy4 ,who can blind the eyes of this giant1 who can chain him to his couch of slumber8 ,there is but one agent1 without rival--the ,keeper of the ,holy ,secrets1 the ,deputy of the ,almighty ,awfulness1 the ,giver and ,withholder of ,eternal ,life4 ,tremble1 slave6 ,fall down and bow your forehead in the dust6 ,i can see in my memory the sight that thrilled my childhood--my grim old ,bishop1 clad in his gorgeous ceremonial robes1 stretching out his hands over the head of the new priest1 and pronouncing that most deadly of all the ,christian curses3 ,whose sins thou dost forgive1 they are forgiven2 and whose sins thou dost retain1 they are retained6 ,bishops and ,beer ,for example1 the ,international ,shylocks wanted the diamond mines of ,south ,africa--wanted them more firmly governed and less firmly taxed than could be arranged with the ,old ,man of the ,boers4 ,so the armies of ,england were sent to subjugate the country4 ,you might think they would have had the good taste to leave the lowly ,jesus out of this affair--but if so1 you have missed the essential point about established religion4 ,the bishops1 priests1 and deacons are set up for the populace to revere1 and when the robber-classes need a blessing upon some enterprise1 then is the opportunity for the bishops1 priests and deacons to earn their living4 ,during the ,boer war the blood-lust of the ,english clergy was so extreme that writers in the dignified monthly reviews felt moved to protest against it4 ,when the pastors of ,switzerland issued a collective protest against cruelties to women and children in the ,south ,african concentration-camps1 it was the ,right ,reverend ,bishop of ,winchester who was brought forward to make reply4 ,nowadays all ,england is reading ,bernhardi1 and shuddering at ,prussian glorification of war2 but no one mentions ,bishop ,welldon of ,calcutta1 who advocated the ,boer war as a means of keeping the nation virile2 nor ,archbishop ,alexander1 who said that it was ,god's way of making noble natures4 ,the ,british ,god had other ways of improving nations--for example1 the opium traffic4 ,the ,british traders had been raising the poppy in ,india and selling its juice to the ,chinese4 ,they had made perhaps a hundred million noble natures by this method2 and also they were making a hundred million dollars a year4 ,the ,chinese1 moved by their new virility1 undertook to destroy some opium1 and to stop the traffic2 whereupon it was necessary to use ,british battle-ships to punish and subdue them4 ,was there any difficulty in persuading the established church of ,jesus to bless this holy war8 ,there was not6 ,lord ,shaftesbury1 himself the most devout of ,anglicans1 commented with horror upon the attitude of the clergy1 and wrote in his diary3 ,i rejoice that this cruel and debasing opium war is terminated4 ,we have triumphed in one of the most lawless1 unnecessary1 and unfair struggles in the records of history2 and ,christians have shed more heathen blood in two years1 than the heathens have shed of ,christian blood in two centuries4 ,that was in #ahdc2 for seventy years thereafter pious ,england continued to force the opium traffic upon protesting ,china1 and only in the last two or three years has the infamy been brought to an end4 ,throughout the long controversy the attitude of the church was such that ,li ,hung ,chang was moved to assert in a letter to the ,anti-,opium ,society3 ,opium is a subject in the discussion of which ,england and ,china can never meet on a common ground4 ,china views the whole question from a moral standpoint1 ,england from a fiscal4 ,and just as the ,chinese people were poisoned with opium1 so the ,english people are being poisoned with alcohol4 ,both in town and country1 labor is sodden with it4 ,scientists and reformers are clamoring for restriction2--and what prevents8 ,head and front of the opposition for a century1 standing like a rock1 has been the ,established ,church4 ,the ,rev4 ,dawson ,burns1 historian of the early temperance movement1 declares that among its supporters ,i cannot recall one ,church of ,england minister of influence4 ,when ,asquith brought in his bill for the restriction of the traffic in beer1 he was confronted with petitions signed by members of the clergy1 protesting against the act4 ,and what was the basis of their protest8 ,that beer is a food and not a poison8 ,yes1 of course2 but also that there was property invested in brewing it4 ,three hundred and thirty-two clergy of the diocese of ,peterborough declared3 ,we do strongly protest against the main provisions of the present bill as creating amongst our people a sense of grave injustice as amounting to a confiscation of private property1 spelling ruin for thousands of quite innocent people1 and provoking deep and widespread resentment1 which must do harm to our cause and hinder our aims4 ,i have come upon references to another and even more plainspoken petition1 signed by #a1bhj clergymen2 but war-time facilities for research have not enabled me to find the text4 ,in ,prof4 ,henry ,c4 ,vedder's ,jesus ,christ and the ,social ,question1 we read3 ,it was authoritatively stated a short time ago that ,mr4 ,asquith's temperance bill was defeated in ,parliament through the opposition of clergymen who had invested their savings in brewery stock1 the profits of which might have been lessened by the bill4 ,also the power of the clergy1 combined with the brewer1 was sufficient to put through ,parliament a provision that no prohibition legislation should ever be passed without providing for compensation to the owners of the industry4 ,today1 all over ,america1 appeals are being made to the people to eat less grain2 the grain is being shipped to ,england1 some of it to be made into beer2 and a high ,anglican prelate1 his ,grace the ,archbishop of ,york1 comes to ,america to urge us to increased sacrifices1 and in his first newspaper interview takes occasion to declare that his church is not in favor of prohibition as a measure of war-time economy6 ,anglicanism and ,alcohol ,this partnership of ,bishops and ,beer is painfully familiar to ,british radicals2 they see it at work in every election--the publican confusing the voters with spirits1 while the parson confuses them with spirituality4 ,there are two powerful societies in ,england employing this deadly combination--the ,anti-,socialist ,union and the ,liberty and ,property ,defense ,league4 ,if you scan the lists of the organizers1 directors and subsidizers of these satanic institutions1 you find ,tory politicians and landlords1 prominent members of the higher clergy1 and large-scale dealers in drunkenness4 ,i attended in ,london a meeting called by the ,liberty and ,property ,defense ,league1 to listen to a denunciation of ,socialism by ,w4,h4 ,mallock1 a master sophist of ,roman ,catholicism2 upon the platform were a bishop and half a dozen members of the ,anglican clergy1 together with the secretary of the ,federated ,brewers' ,association1 the ,secretary of the ,wine1 ,spirit1 and ,beer ,trade ,association1 and three or four other alcoholic magnates4 ,in every public library in ,england and many in ,america you will find an assortment of pamphlets published by these organizations1 and scholarly volumes endorsed by them1 in which the stock misrepresentations of ,socialism are perpetuated4 ,some of these writings are brutal--setting forth the ethics of exploitation in the manner of the ,rev4 ,thomas ,malthus1 the ,english clergyman who supplied for capitalist depredation a basis in pretended natural science4 ,said this shepherd of ,jesus3 ,a man who is born into a world already possessed1 if he cannot get subsistence from his parents1 and if society does not ,want his labor1 has no claim of right to the smallest portion of food1 and in fact has no business to be where he is4 ,at ,nature's mighty feast there is no cover for him4 ,she tells him to be gone1 and will quickly execute her own orders4 ,such was the tone of the ruling classes in the nineteenth century2 but it was found that for some reason this failed to stop the growth of ,socialism1 and so in our time the clerical defenders of ,privilege have grown subtle and insinuating4 ,they inform us now that they have a deep sympathy with our fundamental purposes2 they burn with pity for the poor1 and they would really and truly wish happiness to everyone1 not merely in ,heaven1 but right here and now4 ,however1 there are so many complications--and so they proceed to set out all the anti-,socialist bug-a-boos4 ,here for example1 is the ,rev4 ,james ,stalker1 ,d4,d41 expounding ,the ,ethics of ,jesus1 and admonishing us extremists3 ,efforts to transfer money and property from one set of hands to another may be inspired by the same passions as have blinded the present holders to their own highest good1 and may be accompanied with injustice as extreme as has ever been manifested by the rich and powerful4 ,and again1 the ,rev4 ,w4 ,sanday1 ,d4,d41 an especially popular clerical author1 gives us this sublime utterance of religion on wage-slavery3 ,the world is full of mysteries1 but some clear lines run through them1 of which this is one4 ,where ,god has been so patient1 it is not for us to be impatient4 ,and again1 ,professor ,robert ,flint1 of ,edinburgh ,university1 a clergyman1 author of a big book attacking ,socialism1 and bringing us back to the faith of our fathers3 ,the great bulk of human misery is due1 not to social arrangements1 but to personal vices4 ,i study ,professor ,flint's volume in the effort to find just what1 if anything1 he would have the church do about the evils of our time4 ,i find him praising the sermons of ,dr4 ,westcott1 ,bishop of ,durham1 as being the proper sort for clergymen to preach4 ,bishop ,westcott1 whether he is talking to a high society congregation1 or to one of workingmen1 shows an exquisite sense of knowing always where to stop4 ,so ,i consulted the ,bishop's volume1 ,the ,social ,aspects of ,christianity and ,i see at once why he is popular with the anti-,socialist propagandists--neither ,i or any other man can possibly discover what he really means1 or what he really wants done4 ,i was fascinated by this ,westcott problem2 ,i thought maybe if ,i kept on the good ,bishop's trail1 ,i might in the end find something a plain man could understand2 so ,i got the beautiful two-volume ,life of ,brooke ,westcott1 by his ,son--and there ,i found an exposition of the social purposes of bishops6 ,in the year #ahib there was a strike in ,durham1 which is in the coal country2 the employers tried to make a cut in wages1 and some ten thousand men walked out1 and there was a long and bitter struggle1 which wrung the episcopal heart4 ,there was much consultation and correspondence on episcopal stationery1 and at last the masters and men were got together1 with the ,bishop as arbitrator1 and the dispute was triumphantly settled--how do you suppose8 ,on the basis of a ten per cent reduction in wages6 ,i know nothing quainter in the history of ,english graft than the ,,naivet with which the ,bishop's biographer and son tells the story of this episcopal venture into reality4 ,the prelate came out from the conference all smiles1 and well satisfied with the result of his day's work4 ,as for his followers1 they were in ecstacies2 they seized and waltzed one another around on the carriage drive as madly as ever we danced at a flower show ball4 ,hats and caps are thrown into the air1 and we cheer ourselves hoarse4 ,the ,bishop proceeds to his palace1 and sends one more communication on episcopal stationery--an order to all his clergy to offer their humble and hearty thanks to ,god for our happy deliverance from the strife by which the diocese has been long afflicted4 ,strange to say1 there were a few varlets in ,durham who did not appreciate the services of the bold ,bishop1 and one of them wrote and circulated some abusive verses1 in which he made reference to the ,bishop's comfortable way of life4 ,the biographer then explains that the ,bishop was so tender-hearted that he suffered for the horses who drew his episcopal coach1 and so ascetic that he would have lived on tea and toast if he had been permitted to4 ,a curious condition in ,english society1 where the ,bishop would have lived on tea and toast1 but was not permitted to2 while the working people1 who didn't want to live on tea and toast1 were compelled to6 ,dead ,cats ,for more than a hundred years the ,anglican clergy have been fighting with every resource at their command the liberal and enlightened men of ,england who wished to educate the masses of the people4 ,in #ahjg the first measure for a national school-system was denounced by the ,archbishop of ,canterbury as derogatory to the authority of the ,church4 ,as a counter-measure1 his supporters established the ,national ,society for ,promoting the ,education of the ,poor in the ,doctrines of the ,established ,church2 and the founder of the organization1 a clergyman1 advocated a barn as a good structure for a school1 and insisted that the children of the workers should not be taught beyond their station4 ,in #ahdj a ,committee of the ,privy ,council on ,education was appointed1 but bowed to the will of the ,archbishops1 setting forth the decree of their lord-ships that the first purpose of all instruction must be the regulation of the thoughts and habits of the children by the doctrine and precepts of revealed religion4 ,in #ahej a bill for secular education was denounced as presenting to the country a choice between ,heaven or ,hell1 ,god or the ,devil4 ,in #ahgj1 ,forster1 author of the still unpassed bill1 wrote that while the parsons were disputing1 the children of the poor were growing into savages4 ,as with ,education1 so with ,social ,reform4 ,during the struggle to abolish slavery in the ,british colonies1 some enthusiasts endeavored to establish the doctrine that ,christian baptism conferred emancipation upon negroes who accepted it2 whereupon the ,bishop of ,london laid down the formula of exploitation3 ,christianity and the embracing of the gospel do not make the least alteration of civil property4 ,gladstone1 who was a democrat when he was not religious1 spoke of the cultured classes of ,england3 ,in almost every one1 if not every one1 of the greatest political controversies of the last fifty years1 whether they affected the franchise1 whether they affected commerce1 whether they affected religion1 whether they affected the bad and abominable institution of slavery1 or what subject they touched1 these leisured classes1 these educated classes1 these titled classes have been in the wrong4 ,the ,great ,commoner did not add these religious classes 1 for he belonged to the religious classes himself2 but a study of the record will supply the gap4 ,the ,church opposed all the reform measures which ,gladstone himself put through4 ,it opposed the ,reform ,bill of #ahcb4 ,it opposed all the social reforms of ,lord ,salisbury4 ,this noble-hearted ,englishman complained that at first only a single minister of religion supported him1 and to the end only a few4 ,he expressed himself as distressed and puzzled to find support from infidels and non-professors2 opposition or coldness from religionists or declaimers4 ,and to our own day it has been the same4 ,in #ahid the ,house of ,bishops voted solidly against the ,employers' ,liability ,law4 ,the ,house of ,bishops opposed ,home ,rule1 and beat it2 ,the ,house of ,bishops opposed ,womans' ,suffrage1 and voted against it to the end4 ,concerning this establishment ,lord ,salisbury1 himself the most devout of ,englishmen1 used the vivid phrase3 ,this vast aquarium full of cold-blooded life4 ,he told the ,bishops that he would give up preaching to them about ecclesiastical reform1 because he knew that they would never begin4 ,another member of the ,british aristocracy1 the ,hon4 ,geo4 ,russel1 has written of their record and adventures3 ,they were defenders of absolutism1 slavery1 and the bloody penal code2 they were the resolute opponents of every political or social reform2 and they had their reward from the nation outside parliament4 ,the ,bishop of ,bristol had his palace sacked and burnt2 the ,bishop of ,london could not keep an engagement to preach lest the congregation should stone him4 ,the ,bishop of ,litchfield barely escaped with his life after preaching at ,st4 ,bride's1 ,fleet ,street4 ,archbishop ,howley1 entering ,canterbury for his primary visitation1 was insulted1 spat upon1 and only brought by a circuitous route to the ,deanery1 amid the execrations of the mob4 ,on the #eth of ,november the ,bishops of ,exeter and ,winchester were burnt in effigy close to their own palace gates4 ,archbishop ,howley's chaplain complained that a dead cat had been thrown at him1 when the ,archbishop--a man of apostolic meekness--replied3 ,you should be thankful that it was not a live one4 ,the people had reason for this conduct--as you will always find they have1 if you take the trouble to inquire4 ,let me quote another member of the ,english ruling classes1 ,mr4 ,conrad ,noel1 who gives an instance1 of the procedure of ,church and ,state about this period3 ,in #ahcb six agricultural labourers in ,south ,dorsetshire1 led by one of their class1 ,george ,loveless1 in receipt of #is4 a week each1 demanded the #ajs4 rate of wages usual in the neighbourhood4 ,the result was a reduction to #hs4 ,an appeal was made to the chairman of the local bench1 who decided that they must work for whatever their masters chose to pay them4 ,the parson1 who had at first promised his help1 now turned against them1 and the masters promptly reduced the wage to #gs41 with a threat of further reduction4 ,loveless then formed an agricultural union1 for which all seven were arrested1 treated as convicts1 and committed to the assizes4 ,the prison chaplain tried to bully them into submission4 ,the judge determined to convict them1 and directed that they should be tried for mutiny under an act of ,george ,,iii1 specially passed to deal with the naval mutiny at the ,nore4 ,the grand jury were landowners1 and the petty jury were farmers2 both judge and jury were churchmen of the prevailing type4 ,the judge summed up as follows3 ,not for anything that you have done1 or that ,i can prove that you intend to do1 but for an example to others ,i consider it my duty to pass the sentence of seven years' penal transportation across ,his ,majesty's high seas upon each and every one of you4 ,suffer ,little ,children ,the founder of ,christianity was a man who specialized in children4 ,he was not afraid of having ,his discourses disturbed by them1 ,he did not consider them superfluous4 ,of such is the ,kingdom of ,heaven1 ,he said2 and ,his ,church is the inheritor of this tradition--feed my lambs4 ,there were children in ,great ,britain in the early part of the nineteenth century1 and we may see what was done with them by turning to ,gibbin's ,industrial ,history of ,england3 ,sometimes regular traffickers would take the place of the manufacturer1 and transfer a number of children to a factory district1 and there keep them1 generally in some dark cellar1 till they could hand them over to a mill owner in want of hands1 who would come and examine their height1 strength1 and bodily capacities1 exactly as did the slave oweners in the ,american markets4 ,after that the children were simply at the mercy of their oweners1 nominally as apprentices1 but in reality as mere slaves1 who got no wages1 and whom it was not worth while even to feed and clothe properly1 because they were so cheap and their places could be so easily supplied4 ,it was often arranged by the parish authorities1 in order to get rid of imbeciles1 that one idiot should be taken by the mill owener with every twenty sane children4 ,the fate of these unhappy idiots was even worse than that of the others4 ,the secret of their final end has never been disclosed1 but we can form some idea of their awful sufferings from the hardships of the other victims to capitalist greed and cruelty4 ,the hours of their labor were only limited by exhaustion1 after many modes of torture had been unavailingly applied to force continued work4 ,children were often worked sixteen hours a day1 by day and by night4 ,in the year #ahai an act of ,parliament was proposed limiting the labor of children nine years of age to fourteen hours a day4 ,this would seem to have been a reasonable provision1 likely to have won the approval of ,christ2 yet the bill was violently opposed by ,christian employers1 backed by ,christian clergymen4 ,it was interfering with freedom of contract1 and therefore with the will of ,providence2 it was anathema to an established ,church1 whose function was in #ahai1 as it is in #aiah1 and was in #aiah ,b4,c41 to teach the divine origin and sanction of the prevailing economic order4 ,anu and ,baal called me1 ,hammurabi1 the exalted prince1 worshipper of the gods 444 so begins the oldest legal code which has come down to us1 from #bbej ,b4,c42 and the coronation service of the ,english church is made whole out of the same thesis4 ,the duty of submission1 not merely to divinely chosen ,king1 but to divinely chosen ,landlord and divinely chosen ,manufacturer1 is implicit in the church's every ceremony1 and explicit in many of its creeds4 ,in the ,litany the people petition for increase of grace to hear meekly ,thy ,word2 and here is this ,word1 as little children are made to learn it by heart4 ,if there exists in the world a more perfect summary of slave ethics1 ,i do not know where to find it4 ,my duty towards my neighbour is 444 ,to honour and obey the ,king1 and all that are put in authority under him2 ,to submit myself to all my governours1 teachers1 spiritual pastors1 and masters3 ,to order myself lowly and reverently to all my betters4444 ,not to covet nor desire other men's goods2 ,but to learn and labour truly to get mine own living1 and to do my duty in that state of life1 unto which it shall please ,god to call me4 ,a hundred years ago one of the most popular of ,british writers was ,hannah ,more4 ,she and her sister ,martha went to live in the coal-country1 to teach this catechism to the children of the starving miners4 ,the ,mendip ,annals is the title of a book in which they tell of their ten years' labors in a village popularly known as ,little ,hell4 ,in this place two hundred people were crowded into nineteen houses4 ,there is not one creature in it that can give a cup of broth if it would save a life4 ,in one winter eighteen perished of a putrid fever1 and the clergyman could not raise a six-pence to save a life4 ,and what did the pious sisters make of all this8 ,from cover to cover you find in the ,mendip ,annals no single word of social protest1 not even of social suspicion4 ,that wages of a shilling a day might have anything to do with moral degeneration was a proposition beyond the mental powers of ,england's most popular woman writer4 ,she was perfectly content that a woman should be sentenced to death for stealing butter from a dealer who had asked what the woman thought too high a price4 ,when there came a famine1 and the children of these mine-slaves were dying like flies1 ,hannah ,more bade them be happy because ,god had sent them her pious self4 ,in suffering by the scarcity1 you have but shared in the common lot1 with the pleasure of knowing the advantage you have had over many villages in your having suffered no scarcity of religious instruction4 ,and in another place she explained that the famine was caused by ,god to teach the poor to be grateful to the rich6 ,let me remind you that probably that very scarcity has been permitted by an all-wise and gracious ,providence to unite all ranks of people together1 to show the poor how immediately they are dependent upon the rich1 and to show both rich and poor that they are all dependent upon ,himself4 ,it has also enabled you to see more clearly the advantages you derive from the government and constitution of this country--to observe the benefits flowing from the distinction of rank and fortune1 which has enabled the high to so liberally assist the low4 ,it appears that the villagers were entirely convinced by this pious reasoning2 for they assembled one ,saturday night and burned an effigy of ,tom ,paine6 ,this proceeding led to a tragic consequence1 for one of the common people1 known as ,robert1 was overtaken by liquor1 and was unable to appear at ,sunday ,school next day4 ,this fall from grace occasioned intense remorse in ,robert4 ,it preyed dreadfully upon his mind for many months1 records ,martha ,more1 and despair seemed at length to take possession of him4 ,hannah had some conversation with him1 and read him some suitable passages from ,the ,rise and ,progress4 ,at length the ,almighty was pleased to shine into his heart and give him comfort4 ,nor should you imagine that this saintly stupidity was in any way unique in the ,anglican establishment4 ,we read in the letters of ,shelley how his father tormented him with ,archdeacon ,paley's ,evidences as a cure for atheism4 ,this eminent churchman wrote a book1 which he himself ranked first among his writings1 called ,reasons for ,contentment1 addressed to the ,labouring ,classes of the ,british ,public4 ,in this book he not merely proved that religion smooths all inequalities1 because it unfolds a prospect which makes all earthly distinctions nothing2 he went so far as to prove that1 quite apart from religion1 the ,british exploiters were less fortunate than those to whom they paid a shilling a day4 ,some of the conditions which poverty 7if the condition of the labouring part of mankind must be so called7 imposes1 are not hardships1 but pleasures4 ,frugality itself is a pleasure4 ,it is an exercise of attention and contrivance1 which1 whenever it is successful1 produces satisfaction4444 ,this is lost among abundance4 ,and there was ,william ,wilberforce1 as sincere a philanthropist as ,anglicanism ever produced1 an ardent supporter of ,bible societies and foreign missions1 a champion of the anti-slavery movement1 and also of the ruthless ,combination ,laws1 which denied to ,british wage-slaves all chance of bettering their lot4 ,wilberforce published a ,practical ,view of the ,system of ,christianity1 in which he told unblushingly what the ,anglican establishment is for4 ,in a chapter which he described as the basis of all politics1 he explained that the purpose of religion is to remind the poor ,that their more lowly path has been allotted to them by the hand of ,god2 that it is their part faithfully to discharge its duties1 and contentedly to bear its inconveniences2 that the objects about which worldly men conflict so eagerly are not worth the contest2 that the peace of mind1 which ,religion offers indiscriminately to all ranks1 affords more true satisfaction than all the expensive pleasures which are beyond the poor man's reach2 that in this view the poor have the advantage2 that if their superiors enjoy more abundant comforts1 they are also exposed to many temptations from which the inferior classes are happily exempted2 that1 having food and raiment1 they should be therewith content1 since their situation in life1 with all its evils1 is better than they have deserved at the hand of ,god2 and finally1 that all human distinctions will soon be done away1 and the true followers of ,christ will all1 as children of the same ,father1 be alike admitted to the possession of the same heavenly inheritance4 ,such are the blessed effects of ,christianity on the temporal well-being of political communities4 ,,the ,,court ,,circular ,the ,anglican system of submission has been transplanted intact to the soil of ,america4 ,when ,king ,george the ,third lost the sovereignty of the colonies1 the bishops of his divinely inspired church lost the control of the clergy across the seas2 but this revolution was purely one of ,church politics--in doctrine and ritual the ,protestant ,episcopal ,church of ,america remained in every way ,anglican4 ,the little children of our free republic are taught the same slave-catechism1 to order myself lowly and reverently to all my betters4 ,the only difference is that instead of being told to honour and obey the ,king1 they are told to honour and obey the civil authority4 ,it is the ,church of ,good ,society in ,england1 and it is the same in ,boston1 ,new ,york1 ,philadelphia1 ,baltimore1 ,washington1 ,charleston4 ,just as our ruling classes have provided themselves with imitation ,english schools and imitation ,english manners and imitation ,english clothes--so in their ,heaven they have provided an imitation ,english monarch4 ,i wonder how many ,americans realize the treason to democracy they are committing when they allow their children to be taught a symbolism and liturgy based upon absolutist ideas4 ,i take up the hymn-book--not the ,english1 but the sturdy1 independent1 democratic ,american hymn-book4 ,i have not opened it for twenty years1 yet the greater part of its contents is as familiar to me as the syllables of my own name4 ,i read3 ,holy1 holy1 holy6 ,all the saints adore ,thee1 ,casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea2 ,cherubim and seraphim bowing down before ,thee1 ,which wert1 and art1 and ever more shall be6 ,one might quote a hundred other hymns made thus out of royal imagery4 ,i turn at random to the part headed ,general1 and find that there is hardly one hymn in which there is not king1 throne1 or some image of homage and flattery4 ,the first hymn begins-- ,ancient of days1 ,who sittest1 throned in glory2 ,to ,thee all knees are bent1 all voices pray4 ,and the second-- ,christ1 whose glory fills the skies-- ,and the third-- ,lord of all being1 throned afar1 ,thy glory flames from sun and star4 ,there is a court in ,heaven above1 to which all good ,britons look up1 and about which they read with exactly the same thrills as they read the ,court ,circular4 ,the two courts have the same ethical code and the same manners2 their ,sovereigns are jealous1 greedy of attention1 self-conscious and profoundly serious1 punctilious and precise2 their existence consisting of an endless round of ceremonies1 and they being incapable of boredom4 ,no member of the ,royal ,family can escape this regime even if he wishes2 and no more can any member of the ,holy ,family--not even the meek and lowly ,jesus1 who chose a carpenter's wife for his mother1 and showed all his earthly days a preference for low society4 ,this unconventional ,son lived obscurely2 he never carried weapons1 he could not bear to have so much as a human ear cut off in his presence4 ,but see how he figures in the ,court ,circular3 ,the ,son of ,god goes forth to war1 ,a kingly crown to gain3 ,his blood-red banner streams afar3 ,who follows in ,his train8 ,this carpenter's son was one of the most unpretentious men on earth2 utterly simple and honest--he would not even let anyone praise him4 ,when some one called him good ,master1 he answered1 quickly1 ,why callest thou me good8 ,there is none good save one1 that is1 ,god4 ,but this simplicity has been taken with deprecation by his church1 which persists in heaping compliments upon him in conventional1 courtly style3 ,the company of angels ,are praising ,thee on high2 ,and mortal men1 and all things ,created1 make reply3 ,all ,glory1 laud and honour1 ,to ,thee1 ,redeemer1 ,king4444 ,the impression a modern man gets from all this is the unutterable boredom that ,heaven must be4 ,can one imagine a more painful occupation than that of the saints--casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea--unless it be that of the ,triumvirate itself1 compelled to sit through eternity watching these saints1 and listening to their mawkish and superfluous compliments6 ,but one can understand that such things are necessary in a monarchy2 they are necessary if you are going to have ,good ,society1 and a ,good ,society church4 ,for ,good ,society is precisely the same thing as ,heaven2 that is1 a place to which only a few can get admission1 and those few are bored4 ,they spend their time going through costly formalities--not because they enjoy it1 but because of its effect upon the populace1 which reads about them and sees their pictures in the papers1 and now and then is allowed to catch a glimpse of their physical ,presences1 as at the horse-show1 or the opera1 or the coaching-parade4 ,horn-blowing ,i know the ,church of ,good ,society in ,america1 having studied it from the inside4 ,i was an extraordinarily devout little boy2 one of my earliest recollections--,i cannot have been more than four years of age--is of carrying a dust-brush about the house as the choir-boy carried the golden cross every ,sunday morning4 ,i remember asking if ,i might say the ,lord's prayer in this fascinating play2 and my mother's reply3 ,if you say it reverently4 ,when ,i was thirteen1 ,i attended service1 of my own volition and out of my own enthusiasm1 every single day during the forty days of ,lent2 at the age of fifteen ,i was teaching ,sunday-school4 ,it was the ,church of the ,holy ,communion1 at ,sixth ,avenue and ,twentieth ,street1 ,new ,york2 and those who know the city will understand that this is a peculiar location--precisely half way between the homes of some of the oldest and most august of the city's aristocracy1 and some of the vilest and most filthy of the city's slums4 ,the aristocracy were paying for the church1 and occupied the best pews2 they came1 perfectly clad1 aus dem ,ei gegossen1 as the ,germans say1 with the manner they so carefully cultivate1 gracious1 yet infinitely aloof4 ,the service was made for them--as all the rest of the world is made for them2 the populace was permitted to occupy a fringe of vacant seats4 ,the assistant clergyman was an ,englishman1 and a gentleman2 orthodox1 yet the warmest man's heart ,i have ever known4 ,he could not bear to have the church remain entirely the church of the rich2 he would go persistently into the homes of the poor1 visiting the old slum women in their pitifully neat little kitchens1 and luring their children with entertainments and ,christmas candy4 ,they were corralled into the ,sunday-school1 where it was my duty to give them what they needed for the health of their souls4 ,i taught them out of a book of lessons2 and one ,sunday it would be ,moses in the ,bulrushes1 and next ,sunday it would be ,jonah and the ,whale1 and next ,sunday it would be ,joshua blowing down the walls of ,jericho4 ,these stories were reasonably entertaining1 but they seemed to me futile1 not to the point4 ,there were little morals tagged to them1 but these lacked relationship to the lives of little slum-boys4 ,be good and you will be happy1 love the ,lord and all will be well with you2 which was about as true and as practical as the procedure of the ,fijians1 blowing horns to drive away a pestilence4 ,i had a mind1 you see1 and ,i was using it4 ,i was reading the papers1 and watching politics and business4 ,i followed the fates of my little slum-boys--and what ,i saw was that ,tammany ,hall was getting them4 ,the liquor-dealers and the brothel-keepers1 the panders and the pimps1 the crap-shooters and the petty thieves--all these were paying the policeman and the politician for a chance to prey upon my boys2 and when the boys got into trouble1 as they were continually doing1 it was the clergyman who consoled them in prison--but it was the ,tammany leader who saw the judge and got them out4 ,so these boys got their lesson1 even earlier in life than ,i got mine--that the church was a kind of amiable fake1 a pious horn-blowing2 while the real thing was ,tammany4 ,i talked about this with the vestrymen and the ladies of ,good ,society2 they were deeply pained1 but ,i noticed that they did nothing practical about it2 and gradually1 as ,i went on to investigate1 ,i discovered the reason--that their incomes came from real estate1 traction1 gas and other interests1 which were contributing the main part of the campaign expenses of the corrupt ,tammany machine1 and of its equally corrupt rival4 ,so it appeared that these immaculate ladies and gentlemen1 aus dem ,ei gegossen1 were themselves engaged1 unconsciously1 perhaps1 but none the less effectively1 in spreading the pestilence against which they were blowing their religious horns6 ,so little by little ,i saw my beautiful church for what it was and is3 a great capitalist interest1 an integral and essential part of a gigantic predatory system4 ,i saw that its ethical and cultural and artistic features1 however sincerely they might be meant by individual clergymen1 were nothing but a bait1 a device to lure the poor into the trap of submission to their exploiters4 ,and as ,i went on probing into the secret life of the great ,metropolis of ,mammon1 and laying bare its infamies to the world1 ,i saw the attitude of the church to such work2 ,i met1 not sympathy and understanding1 but sneers and denunciation--until the venerable institution which had once seemed dignified and noble became to me as a sepulchre of corruption4 ,trinity ,corporation ,there stands on the corner of ,broadway and ,wall ,street a towering brown-stone edifice1 one of the most beautiful and most famous churches in ,america4 ,as a child ,i have walked through its church yard and read the quaint and touching inscriptions on its grave-stones2 when ,i was a little older1 and knew ,wall ,street1 it seemed to me a sublime thing that here in the very heart of the world's infamy there should be raised1 like a finger of warning1 this symbol of ,eternity and ,judgment4 ,its great bell rang at noon-time1 and all the traders and their wage-slaves had to listen1 whether they would or no6 ,such was ,old ,trinity to my young soul2 and what is it in reality8 ,the story was told some ten years ago by ,charles ,edward ,russell4 ,trinity ,corporation is the name of the concern1 and it is one of the great landlords of ,new ,york4 ,in the early days it bought a number of farms1 and these it has held1 as the city has grown up around them1 until in #aijh their value was estimated at anywhere from forty to a hundred million dollars4 ,the true amount has never been made public2 to quote ,russell's words3 ,the real owners of the property are the communicants of the church4 ,for #id years none of the owners has known the extent of the property1 nor the amount of the revenue therefrom1 nor what is done with the money4 ,every attempt to learn even the simplest fact about these matters has been baffled4 ,the management is a self perpetuating body1 without responsibility and without supervision4 ,and the writer goes on to describe the business policy of this great corporation1 which is simply the ,english land system complete4 ,it refuses to sell the land1 but rents it for long periods1 and the tenant builds the house1 and then when the lease expires1 the ,corporation takes over the house for a nominal sum4 ,thus it has purchased houses for as low as #bjj1 and made them into tenements1 and rented them to the swarming poor for a total of fifty dollars a month4 ,the houses were not built for tenements1 they have no conveniences1 they are not fit for the habitation of animals4 ,the article1 in ,everybody's ,magazine for ,july1 #aijh1 gives pictures of them1 which are horrible beyond belief4 ,to quote the writer again3 ,decay1 neglect and squalor seem to brood wherever ,trinity is an owner4 ,gladly would ,i give to such a charitable and benevolent institution all possible credit for a spirit of improvement manifested anywhere1 but ,i can find no such manifestation4 ,i have tramped the ,eighth ,ward day after day with a list of ,trinity properties in my hand1 and of all the tenement houses that stand there on ,trinity land1 ,i have not found one that is not a disgrace to civilization and to the ,city of ,new ,york4 ,it happens that ,i once knew the stately prelate who presided over this ,corporation of ,corruption4 ,i imagine how he would have shivered and turned pale had some angel whispered to him what devilish utterances were some day to proceed from the lips of the little cherub with shining face and shining robes who acted as the bishop's attendant in the stately ceremonials of the ,church6 ,truly1 even into the goodly company of the elect1 even to the most holy places of the temple1 ,satan makes his treacherous way6 ,even under the consecrated hands of the bishop6 ,for while the bishop was blessing me and taking me into the company of the sanctified1 ,i was thinking about what the papers had reported1 that the bishop's wife had been robbed of fifty thousand dollars worth of jewels6 ,it did not seem quite in accordance with the doctrine of ,jesus that a bishop's wife should possess fifty thousand dollars worth of jewels1 or that she should be setting the bloodhounds of the police on the train of a human being4 ,i asked my clergyman friend about it1 and remember his patient explanation--that the bishop had to know all classes and conditions of men3 his wife had to go among the rich as well as the poor1 and must be able to dress so that she would not be embarrassed4 ,the ,bishop at this time was making it his life-work to raise a million dollars for the beginning of a great ,episcopal cathedral2 and this of course compelled him to spend much time among the rich6 ,the explanation satisfied me2 for of course ,i thought there had to be cathedrals--despite the fact that both ,st4 ,stephen and ,st4 ,paul had declared that the ,lord dwelleth not in temples made with hands4 ,in the twenty-five years which have passed since that time the good ,bishop has passed to his eternal reward1 but the mighty structure which is a monument to his visitations among the rich towers over the city from its vantage-point on ,morningside ,heights4 ,it is called the ,cathedral of ,st4 ,john the ,divine2 and knowing what ,i know about the men who contributed its funds1 and about the general functions of the churches of the ,metropolis of ,mammon1 it would not seem to me less holy if it were built1 like the monuments of ancient ravagers1 out of the skulls of human beings4 ,spiritual ,interpretation ,there remains to say a few words as to the intellectual functions of the ,fifth ,avenue clergy4 ,let us realize at the outset that they do their preaching in the name of a proletarian rebel1 who was crucified as a common criminal because1 as they said1 ,he stirreth up the people4 ,an embarrassing ,savior for the church of ,good ,society1 you might imagine2 but they manage to fix him up and make him respectable4 ,i remember something analogous in my own boyhood4 ,all day ,saturday ,i ran about with the little street rowdies1 ,i stole potatoes and roasted them in vacant lots1 ,i threw mud from the roofs of apartment-houses2 but on ,saturday night ,i went into a tub and was lathered and scrubbed1 and on ,sunday ,i came forth in a newly brushed suit1 a clean white collar and a shining tie and a slick derby hat and a pair of tight gloves which made me impotent for mischief4 ,thus ,i was taken and paraded up ,fifth ,avenue1 doing my part of the duties of ,good ,society4 ,and all church-members go through this same performance2 the oldest and most venerable of them steal potatoes and throw mud all week--and then take a hot bath of repentance and put on the clean clothing of piety4 ,in this same way their ministers of religion are occupied to scrub and clean and dress up their disreputable ,founder--to turn him from a proletarian rebel into a stained-glass-window divinity4 ,the man who really lived1 the carpenter's son1 they take out and crucify all over again4 ,as a young poet has phrased it1 they nail him to a jeweled cross with cruel nails of gold4 ,come with me to the ,new ,golgotha and witness this crucifixion2 take the nails of gold in your hands1 try the weight of the jeweled sledges6 ,here is a sledge1 in the form of a dignified and scholarly volume1 published by the exclusive house of ,scribner1 and written by the ,bishop of my boyhood1 the ,bishop whose train ,i carried in the stately ceremonials3 ,the ,citizen in ,his ,relation to the ,industrial ,situation1 by the ,right ,reverend ,henry ,codman ,potter1 ,d4,d41 ,l4,l4,d41 ,d4,c4,l4--a course of lectures delivered before the sons of our predatory classes at ,yale ,university1 under the endowment of a millionaire mining king1 founder of the ,phelps-,dodge corporation1 which the other day carried out the deportation from their homes of a thousand striking miners at ,bisbee1 ,arizona4 ,says my ,bishop3 ,christ did not denounce wealth any more than he denounced pauperism4 ,he did not abhor money2 he used it4 ,he did not abhor the company of rich men2 he sought it4 ,he did not invariably scorn or even resent a certain profuseness of expenditure4 ,and do you think that the late ,bishop of ,j4,p4 ,morgan and ,company stands alone as an utterer of scholarly blasphemy1 a driver of golden nails8 ,in the course of this book there will march before us a long line of the clerical retainers of ,privilege1 on their way to the ,new ,golgotha to crucify the carpenter's son3 the ,rector of the ,money ,trust1 the ,preacher of the ,coal ,trust1 the ,priest of the ,traction ,trust1 the ,archbishop of ,tammany1 the ,chaplain of the ,millionaires' ,club1 the ,pastor of the ,pennsylvania ,railroad1 the ,religious ,editor of the ,new ,haven1 the ,sunday-school ,superintendent of ,standard ,oil4 ,we shall try the weight of their jewelled sledges--books1 sermons1 newspaper-interviews1 after-dinner speeches--wherewith they pound their golden nails of sophistry into the bleeding hands and feet of the proletarian ,christ4 ,here1 for example1 is ,rev4 ,f4,g4 ,peabody1 ,professor of ,christian ,morals at ,harvard ,university4 ,prof4 ,peabody has written several books on the social teachings of ,jesus2 he quotes the most rabid of the carpenter's denunciations of the rich1 and says3 ,is it possible that so obvious and so limited a message as this1 a teaching so slightly distinguished from the curbstone rhetoric of a modern agitator1 can be an adequate reproduction of the scope and power of the teaching of ,jesus8 ,the question answers itself3 ,of course not6 ,for ,jesus was a gentleman2 he is the head of a church attended by gentlemen1 of universities where gentlemen are educated4 ,so the ,professor of ,christian ,morals proceeds to make a subtle analysis of ,jesus' actions2 demonstrating therefrom that there are three proper uses to be made of great wealth3 first1 for almsgiving--,the poor ye have always with you62 second1 for beauty and culture--buying wine for wedding-feasts1 and ointment-boxes and other objets de vertu2 and third1 stewardship1 trusteeship--which in plain ,english is ,big ,business4 ,i have used the illustration of soap and hot water2 one can imagine he is actually watching the scrubbing process1 seeing the proletarian ,founder emerging all new and respectable under the brush of this capitalist professor4 ,the professor has a rule all his own for reading the scriptures2 he tells us that when there are two conflicting sayings1 the rule of interpretation is that the more spiritual is to be preferred4 ,thus1 one gospel makes ,jesus say3 ,blessed are ye poor4 ,another puts it3 ,blessed are the poor in spirit4 ,the first one is crude and literal2 obviously the second must be what ,jesus meant6 ,in other words1 the professor and his church have made for their economic masters a treacherous imitation virtue to be taught to wage-slaves1 a quality of submissiveness1 impotence and futility1 which they call by the name of spirituality4 ,this virtue they exalt above all others1 and in its name they cut from the record of ,jesus everything which has relation to the realities of life6 ,so here is our ,professor ,peabody1 sitting in the ,plummer chair at ,harvard1 writing on ,jesus ,christ and the ,social ,question1 and explaining3 ,the fallacy of the ,socialist program is not in its radicalism1 but in its externalism4 ,it proposes to accomplish by economic change what can be attained by nothing less than spiritual regeneration4 ,and here is ,the ,churchman1 organ of the ,episcopalians of ,new ,york1 warning us3 ,it is necessary to remember that something more than material and temporal considerations are involved4 ,there are things of more importance to the purposes of ,god and to the welfare of humanity than economic readjustments and social amelioration4 ,and again3 ,without doubt there is a strong temptation today1 bearing upon clergy and laity alike1 to address their religious energies too exclusively to those tasks whereby human life may be made more abundant and wholesome materially4444 ,we need constantly to be reminded that spiritual things come first4 ,there come before my mental eye the elegant ladies and gentlemen for whom these comfortable sayings are prepared3 the vestrymen and pillars of the ,church1 with black frock coats and black kid gloves and shiny tophats2 the ladies of ,good ,society with their ,easter costumes in pastel shades1 their gracious smiles and their sweet intoxicating odors4 ,i picture them as ,i have seen them at ,st4 ,george's1 where that aged wild boar1 ,pierpont ,morgan1 the elder1 used to pass the collection plate2 at ,holy ,trinity1 where they drove downtown in old-fashioned carriages with grooms and footmen sitting like twin statues of insolence2 at ,st4 ,thomas'1 where you might see all the ,four ,hundred on exhibition at once2 at ,st4 ,mary the ,virgin's1 where the choir paraded through the aisles1 swinging costly incense into my childish nostrils1 the stout clergyman walking alone with nose upturned1 carrying on his back a jewelled robe for which some adoring female had paid sixty thousand dollars4 ,spiritual things come first8 ,ah1 yes6 ,seek first the kingdom of ,god1 and the jewelled robes shall be added unto you6 ,and it is so dreadful about the ,french and ,german ,socialists1 who1 as the ,churchman reports1 make a creed out of materialism4 ,but then1 what is this ,i find in one issue of the organ of the ,church of ,good ,society8 ,business men contribute to the ,y4,m4,c4,a4 because they realize that if their employes are well cared for and religiously influenced1 they can be of greater service in business6 ,who let that material cat out of the spiritual bag8 99 99 99 99 99 ,,book ,,three ,the ,church of the ,servant-girls ,was it for this--that prayers like these ,should spend themselves about thy feet1 ,and with hard1 overlabored knees ,kneeling1 these slaves of men should beat ,bosoms too lean to suckle sons ,and fruitless as their orisons8 ,was it for this--that men should make ,thy name a fetter on men's necks1 ,poor men made poorer for thy sake1 ,and women withered out of sex8 ,was it for this--that slaves should be-- ,thy word was passed to set men free8 ,swinburne4 99 99 99 99 99 ,charity ,as everyone knows1 the society lady is not an independent and self-sustaining phenomenon4 ,for every one of these exquisite1 sweet-smelling creatures that you meet on ,fifth ,avenue1 there must be at home a large number of other women who live sterile and empty lives1 and devote themselves to cleaning up after their luckier sisters4 ,but these domestics also are human beings2 they have emotions--or1 in religious parlance1 souls2 it is necessary to provide a discipline to keep them from appropriating the property of their mistresses1 also to keep them from becoming enceinte4 ,so it comes about that there are two cathedrals in ,new ,york3 one1 ,st4 ,john the ,divine1 for the society ladies1 and the other1 ,st4 ,patrick's1 for the servant-girls4 ,the latter is located on ,fifth ,avenue1 where its towering white spires divide with the homes of the ,vanderbilts the interest of the crowds of sight-seers4 ,now1 early every ,sunday morning1 before ,good ,society has opened its eyes1 you may see the devotees of the ,irish snake-charmer hurrying to their orisons1 each with a little black prayer-book in her hand4 ,what is it they do inside8 ,what are they taught about life8 ,this is the question to which we have next to give attention4 ,some years ago ,mr4 ,thomas ,f4 ,ryan1 traction and insurance magnate of ,new ,york1 favored me with his justification of his own career and activities4 ,he mentioned his charities1 and1 speaking as one man of the world to another1 he said3 ,the reason ,i put them into the hands of ,catholics is not religious1 but because ,i find they are efficient in such matters4 ,they don't ask questions1 they do what you want them to do1 and do it economically4 ,i made no comment2 ,i was absorbed in the implications of the remark--like ,agassiz when some one gave him a fossil bone1 and his mind set to work to reconstruct the creature4 ,when a man is drunk1 the ,catholics do not ask if it was long hours and improper working-conditions which drove him to desperation2 they do not ask if police and politicians are getting a rake-off from the saloon1 or if traction magnates are using it as an agency for the controlling of votes2 they do not plunge into prohibition movements or good government campaigns--they simply take the man in1 at a standard price1 and the patient slave-sisters and attendants get him sober1 and then turn him out for society to make him drunk again4 ,that is charity1 and it is the special industry of ,roman ,catholicism4 ,they have been at it for a thousand years1 cleaning up loathsome and unsightly messes--plague1 pestilence and famine1 battle and murder and sudden death4 ,yet--puzzling as it would seem to anyone not religious--there were never so many messes1 never so many different kinds of messes1 as now at the end of the thousand years of charitable activity6 ,but the ,catholics go on and on2 like the patient spider1 building and rebuilding his web across a door-way2 like soldiers under the command of a ruling class with a muddling through tradition-- ,theirs not to reason why1 ,theirs but to do and die4 ,and so of course all magnates and managers of industry who have messes to be cleaned up1 human garbage-heaps to be carted away quickly and without fuss1 turn to the ,catholic ,church for this service1 no matter what their personal religious beliefs or lack of beliefs may be4 ,somewhere in the neighborhood of every steel-mill1 every coal-mine or other place of industrial danger1 you will find a ,catholic hospital1 with its slave-sisters and attendants4 ,once when ,i was muck-raking near ,pittsburgh1 ,i went to one of these places to ask information as to the frequency of industrial accidents and the fate of the victims4 ,the ,mother ,superior received me with a look of polite dismay4 ,these concerns pay us6 she said4 ,you must see that as a matter of business it would not do for us to talk about them4 ,obey and keep silence3 that is the ,catholic law4 ,and precisely as it is with the work of nursing and almsgiving1 so it is with the work of vote-getting1 the elaborate system of policemen and saloon-keepers and ward-heelers which the ,catholic machine controls4 ,this industry of vote-getting is a comparatively new one2 but the ,church has been handling the masses for so many centuries that she quickly learned this new way of democracy1 and has established her supremacy over all rivals4 ,she has the schools for training the children1 the confessional for controlling the women2 she has the intellectual machinery1 the purgatory and the code of slave-ethics4 ,she has the supreme advantage that the rank and file of her mighty host really believe what she teaches2 they do not have to listen to table-rappings and flounder through swamps of automatic writings in order to bolster their hope of the survival of personality after death6 ,so it comes about that our captains of industry and finance have been driven to a more or less reluctant alliance with the ,papacy4 ,the ,church is here1 and her followers are here1 before the war several hundred thousand of them pouring into the country every year4 ,it is no longer possible to do without ,catholics in ,america2 not merely do ditches have to be dug1 roads graded1 coal mined1 and dishes washed1 but franchises have to be granted1 tariff-schedules adjusted1 juries and courts manipulated1 police trained and strikes crushed4 ,under our native political system1 for these purposes millions of votes are needed2 and these votes belong to people of a score of nationalities--,irish and ,german and ,italian and ,french-,canadian and ,bohemian and ,mexican and ,portuguese and ,polish and ,hungarian4 ,who but the ,catholic ,church can handle these polyglot hordes8 ,who can furnish teachers and editors and politicians familiar with all these languages8 ,considering how complex is the service1 the price is extremely moderate--the mere actual expenses of the campaign1 the cost of red fire and torch-lights1 of liquor and newspaper advertisements4 ,the rest may come out of the public till1 in the form of exemption from taxation of church buildings and lands1 a share of the public funds for charities and schools1 the control of the police for saloon-keepers and district leaders1 the control of police-courts and magistrates1 of municipal administrations and boards of education1 of legislatures and governors2 with a few higher offices now and then1 to flatter our sacred self-esteem1 a senator or a justice on the ,supreme ,court ,bench2 and on state occasions1 to keep up our necessary prestige1 some cabinet-members and legislators and justices to attend ,high ,mass1 and be blessed in public by ,catholic prelates and dignitaries4 ,you think this is empty rhetoric--you comfortable1 easy-going1 ultra-cultured ,americans8 ,you professors in your classic shades1 absorbed in the passionless pursuit of passionless intelligence--while the world about you slides down into the pit6 ,you ladies of ,good ,society1 practicing your sweet little charities1 pursuing your dear little ideals1 raising your families of one or two lovely children--while ,irish and ,french-,canadians and ,italians and ,portuguese and ,hungarians are breeding their dozens and scores1 and preparing to turn you out of your country6 ,god's ,armor ,you remember ,bishop ,blougram's ,apology1 ,browning's study of the psychology of a modern ,catholic ecclesiastic4 ,he is not unaware of modern thought1 this bishop2 he is a man of culture1 who wants to have beauty about him1 to be a cabin passenger3 ,there's power in me and will to dominate ,which ,i must exercise1 they hurt me else2 ,in many ways ,i need mankind's respect1 ,obedience1 and the love that's born of fear4 ,he wishes that he had faith--faith in anything2 he understands that faith is all-important-- ,enthusiasm's the best thing1 ,i repeat4 ,but you cannot get faith just by wishing for it-- ,but paint a fire1 it will not therefore burn6 ,he tries to imagine himself going on a crusade for truth1 but he asks what there would be in it for him-- ,state the facts1 ,read the text right1 emancipate the world-- ,the emancipated world enjoys itself ,with scarce a thank-you4 ,blougram told it first ,it could not owe a farthing1--not to him ,more than ,st4 ,paul6 ,so the bishop goes on with his role1 but uneasily conscious of the contempt of intellectual people4 ,i pine among my million imbeciles 7,you think7 aware some dozen men of sense ,eye me and know me1 whether ,i believe ,in the last winking virgin as ,i vow1 ,and am a fool1 or disbelieve in her1 ,and am a knave4 ,but1 as he says1 you have to keep a tight hold upon the chain of faith1 that is what ,gives all the advantage1 makes the difference1 ,with the rough1 purblind mass we seek to rule4 ,we are their lords1 or they are free of us1 ,just as we tighten or relax that hold4 ,so he continues1 but not with entire satisfaction1 in his role of shepherd to those whom he calls ,king ,bomba's lazzaroni1 and ragamuffin saints4 ,i wander into a ,catholic bookstore and look to see what ,bishop ,blougram is doing with his lazzaroni and his ragamuffin saints here in this new country of the far ,west4 ,it is easy to acquire the information1 for the saleswoman is polite and the prices fit my purse4 ,america is going to war1 and ,catholic boys are being drafted to be trained for battle2 so for ten cents ,i obtain a firmly bound little pamphlet called ,god's ,armor1 a ,prayer ,book for ,soldiers4 ,it is marked ,copyright by the ,g4,r4,c4 ,central-,verein1 and bears the ,nihil ,obstat of the ,censor ,theolog4 and the ,imprimatur of ,johannes ,josephus1 ,archiepiscopus ,sti4 ,ludovici--which last you may at first fail to recognize as a well-known city on the ,mississippi ,river4 ,do you not feel the spell of ancient things1 the magic of the past creeping over you1 as you read those ,latin trade-marks8 ,such is the ,dead ,hand1 and its cunning1 which can make even ,st4 ,louis sound mysterious6 ,in this booklet ,i get no information as to the commercial causes of war1 nor about the part which the clerical vote may have played throughout ,europe in supporting military systems4 ,i do not even find anything about the sacred cause of democracy1 the resolve of a self-governing people to put an end to feudal rule4 ,instead ,i discover a soldier-boy who obeys and keeps silent1 and who1 in his inmost heart1 is in the grip of terrors both of body and soul4 ,poor1 pitiful soldier-boy1 marking yourself with crosses1 performing genuflexions1 mumbling magic formulas in the trenches--how many billions of you have been led out to slaughter by the greeds and ambitions of your religious masters1 since first this accursed ,antichrist got its grip upon the hearts of men6 ,i quote from this little book3 ,start this day well by lifting up your heart to ,god4 ,offer yourself to ,him1 and beg grace to spend the day without sin4 ,make the sign of the cross4 ,most ,holy ,trinity1 ,father1 ,son1 and ,holy ,ghost1 behold me in ,thy ,divine ,presence4 ,i adore ,thee and give ,thee thanks4 ,grant that all ,i do this day be for ,thy ,glory1 and for the salvation of my immortal soul4 ,during the day lift your heart frequently to ,god4 ,your prayers need not be long nor read from a book4 ,learn a few of these short ejaculations by heart and frequently repeat them4 ,they will serve to recall ,god to your heart and will strengthen you and comfort you4 ,you remember a while back about the prayer-wheels of the ,thibetans4 ,the ,catholic religion was founded before the ,thibetan1 and is less progressive2 it does not welcome mechanical devices for saving labor4 ,you have to use your own vocal apparatus to keep yourself from hell2 but the process has been made as economical as possible by kindly dispensations of the ,pope4 ,thus1 each time that you say ,my ,god and my all1 you get fifty days indulgence2 the same for ,my ,jesus1 mercy1 and the same for ,jesus1 my ,god1 ,i love ,thee above all things4 ,for ,jesus1 ,mary1 ,joseph1 you get three hundred days--which would seem by all odds the best investment of your spare breath4 ,and then come prayers for all occasions3 ,prayer before ,battle2 ,prayer for a ,happy ,death2 ,prayer in ,temptation2 ,prayer before and after ,meals2 ,prayer when on ,guard2 ,prayer before a long ,march2 ,prayer of ,resignation to ,death2 ,prayer for ,those in their ,agony--,i cannot bear to read them1 hardly to list them4 ,i remember standing in a cathedral somewhere in ,france during the celebration of some special ,big ,magic4 ,there was brilliant white light1 and a suffocating strange odor1 and the thunder of a huge organ1 and a clamor of voices1 high1 clear voices of young boys mounting to heaven1 like the hands of men in a pit reaching up1 trying to climb over the top of one another4 ,it sent a shudder into the depths of my soul4 ,there is nothing left in the modern world which can carry the mind so far back into the ancient nightmare of anguish and terror which was once the mental life of mankind1 as these ,roman ,catholic incantations with their frantic and ceaseless importunity4 ,they have even brought in the sex-spell2 and the poor1 frightened soldier-boy1 who has perhaps spent the night with a prostitute1 now prostrates himself before a holy ,woman-being who is lifted high above the shames of the flesh1 and who stirs the thrills of awe and affection which his mother brought to him in early childhood4 ,read over the phrases of this ,litany of the ,blessed ,virgin3 ,holy ,mary1 ,pray for us4 ,holy ,mother of ,god4 ,holy ,virgin of ,virgins4 ,mother of ,christ4 ,mother of divine grace4 ,mother most pure4 ,mother most chaste4 ,mother inviolate4 ,mother undefiled4 ,mother most amiable4 ,mother most admirable4 ,mother of good counsel4 ,mother of our ,creator4 ,mother of our ,savior4 ,virgin most prudent4 ,virgin most venerable4 ,virgin most renowned4 ,virgin most powerful4 ,virgin most merciful4 ,virgin most faithful4 ,mirror of justice4 ,seat of wisdom4 ,cause of our joy4 ,spiritual vessel4 ,vessel of honor4 ,singular vessel of devotion4 ,mystical rose4 ,tower of ,david4 ,tower of ivory4 ,house of gold4 ,ark of the covenant4 ,gate of heaven4 ,morning ,star4 ,health of the sick4 ,refuge of sinners4 ,comforter of the afflicted4 ,help of ,christians4 ,queen of ,angels4 ,queen of ,patriarchs4 ,queen of ,prophets4 ,queen of ,apostles4 ,queen of ,martyrs4 ,queen of ,confessors4 ,queen of ,virgins4 ,queen of all ,saints4 ,queen conceived without original sin4 ,queen of the most holy ,rosary4 ,queen of ,peace1 ,pray for us4 ,thanksgivings ,for another five cents--how cheaply a man of insight can obtain thrills in this fantastic world6--,i purchase a copy of the ,messenger of the ,sacred ,heart1 a magazine published in ,new ,york1 the issue for ,october1 #aiag4 ,there are pages of advertisements of schools and colleges with strange titles3 ,immaculata ,seminary1 ,holy ,cross ,academy1 ,holy ,ghost ,institute1 ,ladycliff1 ,academy of ,holy ,child ,jesus4 ,the leading article is by a ,jesuit1 on ,the ,spread of the ,apostleship of ,prayer among the ,young2 and then ,sister ,clarissa writes a poem telling us ,what are ,sorrows2 and then we are given a story called ,prayer for ,daddy2 and then another ,jesuit father tells us about ,the ,hills that ,jesus ,loved4 ,a third father tells us about the ,eucharistic ,propaganda2 and we learn that in ,july1 #aiag1 it distributed #aa1fii beads1 and caused the expenditure of #eg1gad hours of adoration2 and then the faithful are given a form of letter which they are to write to the ,honorable ,baker1 ,secretary of ,war1 imploring him to intimate to the ,french government that ,france should withdraw from one of her advances in civilization1 and join with mediaeval ,america in exempting priests from being drafted to fight for their country4 ,and then there is a ,question ,box--just like the ,hearst newspapers1 only instead of asking whether she should allow him to kiss her before he has told her that he loves her1 the reader asks what is the ,pauline ,privilege1 and what is the heroic ,act1 and is ,robert a saint's name1 and if food remains in the teeth from the night before1 would it break the fast to swallow it before ,holy ,communion4 7,no1 ,i am not inventing this47 ,i quoted the ,episcopal ,book of ,common ,prayer1 and pointed out how deftly the ,church has managed to slip in a prayer for worldly prosperity4 ,but the ,catholic ,church does not show any squeamishness in dealing with its million imbeciles1 its rough1 purblind mass4 ,there is a department of the little magazine entitled ,thanksgiving1 and a statement at the top that the total number of ,thanksgivings for the month is #b1adc1iaa4 ,i am suspicious of that1 as of ,german reports of prisoners taken2 but ,i give the statement as it stands1 not going through the list and picking out the crudest1 but taking them as they come1 classified by states3 ,,general ,,favors3 ,for many of these favors ,mass and publication were promised1 for others the ,badge of ,promoter's ,cross was used1 for others the prayers of the ,associates had been asked4 ,alabama--,jewelry found1 relief from pain1 protection during storm4 ,alaska--,safe return1 goods found4 ,arizona--,two recoveries1 suitable boarding place1 illness averted1 safe delivery4 ,british ,honduras--,successful operation4 ,california--,seventeen recoveries1 six situations1 two successful examinations1 house rented1 stocks sold1 raise in salary1 return to religious duties1 sight regained1 medal won1 ,baptism1 preservation from disease1 contract obtained1 success in business1 hearing restored1 ,easter duty made1 happy death1 automobile sold1 mind restored1 house found1 house rented1 successful journey1 business sold1 quarrel averted1 return of friends1 two successful operations4 ,and for all these miraculous performances the ,catholic machine is harvesting the price day by day--harvesting with that ancient fervor which the ,latin poet described as auri sacra fames4 ,as ,christopher ,columbus wrote from ,jamaica in #aejc3 ,gold is a wonderful thing4 ,by means of gold we can even get souls into ,paradise4 ,the ,holy ,roman ,empire ,the system thus self-revealed you admit is appalling in its squalor2 but you say that at least it is milder and less perilous than the ,church which burned ,giordano ,bruno and ,john ,huss4 ,but the very essence of the ,catholic ,church is that it does not change2 semper eadem is its motto3 the same yesterday1 today and forever--the same in ,washington as in ,rome or ,madrid--the same in a modern democracy as in the ,middle ,ages4 ,the ,catholic ,church is not primarily a religious organization2 it is a political organization1 and proclaims the fact1 and defies those who would shut it up in the religious field4 ,the ,rev4 ,s4,b4 ,smith1 a ,catholic doctor of divinity1 explains in his ,elements of ,ecclesiastical ,law3 ,protestants contend that the entire power of the ,church consists in the right to teach and exhort1 but not in the right to command1 rule1 or govern2 whence they infer that she is not a perfect society or sovereign state4 ,this theory is false2 for the ,church1 as was seen1 is vested ,jure divino with power1 7#a7 to make laws2 7#b7 to define and apply them 7potestas judicialis72 7#c7 to punish those who violate her laws 7potestas coercitiva74 ,and this is not one scholar's theory1 but the formal and repeated proclamation of infallible popes4 ,here is the ,syllabus of ,errors1 issued by ,pope ,pius ,,ix1 ,dec4 #hth1 #ahfd1 declaring in substance that ,the state has not the right to leave every man free to profess and embrace whatever religion he shall deem true4 ,it has not the right to enact that the ecclesiastical power shall require the permission of the civil power in order to the exercise of its authority4 ,then in the same ,syllabus the rights and powers of the ,church are affirmed in substance3 ,she has the right to require the state not to leave every man free to profess his own religion4 ,she has the right to exercise her power without the permission or consent of the state4 ,she has the right of perpetuating the union of church and state4 ,she has the right to require that the ,catholic religion shall be the only religion of the state1 to the exclusion of all others4 ,she has the right to prevent the state from granting the public exercise of their own worship to persons immigrating from it4 ,she has the power of requiring the state not to permit free expression of opinion4 ,you see1 the ,holy ,office is unrepentant and unchastened4 ,you1 who think that liberty of conscience is the basis of civilization1 ought at least to know what the ,catholic ,church has to say about the matter4 ,here is ,mgr4 ,segur1 in his ,plain ,talk ,about ,protestantism of ,today1 a book published in ,boston and extensively circulated by ,american ,catholics3 ,freedom of thought is the soul of ,protestantism2 it is likewise the soul of modern rationalism and philosophy4 ,it is one of those impossibilities which only the levity of a superficial reason can regard as admissable4 ,but a sound mind1 that does not feed on empty words1 looks upon this freedom of thought only as simply absurd1 and1 what is more1 as sinful4 ,you take the liberty of thinking1 nevertheless2 you feel safe because the ,law will protect you4 ,but do you imagine that this ,law applies to your ,catholic neighbors8 ,do you imagine that they are bound by the restraints that bind you8 ,here is ,pope ,leo ,,xiii1 in his ,encyclical of #ahij--;and please remember that ,leo ,,xiii was the beau ideal of our capitalist statesmen and editors1 as wise and kind and gentle-souled a pope as ever roasted a heretic4 ,he says3 ,if the laws of the state are openly at variance with the laws of ,god--if they inflict injury upon the ,church--or set at naught the authority of ,jesus ,christ which is vested in the ,supreme ,pontiff1 then indeed it becomes a duty to resist them1 a sin to render obedience4 ,and consider how many fields there are in which the laws of a democratic state do and forever must contravene the laws of ,god as interpreted by the ,catholic ,church4 ,consider for example1 that the ,pope1 in his decree ,ne ,temere1 has declared that ,catholics who are married by civil authorities or by ,protestant clergymen will be living in filthy concubinage6 ,consider1 in the same way1 the problems of education1 burial1 prison discipline1 blasphemy1 poor relief1 incorporation1 mortmain1 religious endowments1 vows of celibacy4 ,to the above list1 as given by ,gladstone1 one might add many issues1 such as birth control1 which have arisen since his time4 ,what the ,church means is to rule4 ,her literature is full of expressions of that intention1 set forth in the boldest and haughtiest and most uncompromising manner4 ,for example1 ,cardinal ,manning1 in the ,pro-,cathedral at ,kensington1 speaking in the name of the ,pope3 ,i acknowledge no civil power2 ,i am the subject of no prince2 ,i claim more than this--,i claim to be the supreme judge and director of the consciences of men--of the peasant that tills the field1 and of the prince that sits upon the throne2 of the household of privacy1 and the legislator that makes laws for kingdoms2 ,i am the sole1 last supreme judge of what is right and wrong4 ,temporal ,power ,what this means is1 that here in our ,american democracy the ,catholic ,church is a rebel2 a prisoner of war who bides his time1 watching for the moment to rise in revolt1 and meantime making no secret of his intentions4 ,the pious ,leo ,,xiii1 addressing all true believers in ,america1 instructed them as to their attitude in captivity3 ,the ,church amongst you1 unopposed by the ,constitution and government of your nation1 fettered by no hostile legislation1 protected against violence by the common laws and the impartiality of the tribunals1 is free to live and act without hindrance4 ,yet1 though all this is true1 it would be very erroneous to draw the conclusion that in ,america is to be sought the type of the most desirable status of the church1 or that it would be universally lawful or expedient for state and church to be1 as in ,america1 dissevered and divorced4 ,the fact that ,catholicity with you is in good condition1 nay1 is even enjoying a prosperous growth1 is by all means to be attributed to the fecundity with which ,god has endowed ,his ,church--,but she would bring forth more abundant fruits if1 in addition to liberty1 she enjoyed the favor of the laws and patronage of the public authority4 ,accordingly1 here is ,father ,phelan of ,st4 ,louis1 addressing his flock in the ,western ,watchman1 ,june #bg1aiac3 ,tell us we are ,catholics first and ,americans or ,englishmen afterwards2 of course we are4 ,tell us1 in the conflict between the church and the civil government we take the side of the church2 of course we do4 ,why1 if the government of the ,united ,states were at war with the church1 we would say tomorrow1 ,to hell with the government of the ,united ,states2 and if the church and all the governments of the world were at war1 we would say1 ,to hell with all the governments of the world4444,why is it that in this country1 where we have only seven per cent of the population1 the ,catholic church is so much feared8 ,she is loved by all her children and feared by everybody4 ,why is it that the ,pope has such tremendous power8 ,why1 the ,pope is the ruler of the world4 ,all the emperors1 all the kings1 all the princes1 all the presidents of the world1 are as these altar boys of mine4 ,the ,pope is the ruler of the world4 ,you recall what ,i said at the outset about ,power2 the ability to control the lives of other men1 to give laws and moral codes1 to shape fashions and tastes1 to be revered and regarded4 ,here is a man swollen to bursting with this ,power4 ,dressed in his holy robes1 with his holy incense in his nostrils1 and the faces of the faithful gazing up at him awe-stricken1 hear him proclaim3 ,the ,church gives no bonds for her good behavior4 ,she is the judge of her own rights and duties1 and of the rights and duties of the state4 ,and lest you think that an extreme example of ultramontanist arrogance1 listen to the ,boston ,pilot1 ,april #f1 #aiab1 speaking for ,cardinal ,o',connell1 whose official organ it is3 ,it must be borne in mind that even though ,cardinals ,farley1 ,o',connell and ,gibbons are at heart patriotic ,americans and members of an ,american hierarchy1 yet they are as cardinals foreign princes of the blood1 to whom the ,united ,states1 as one of the great powers of the world1 is under an obligation to concede the same honors that they receive abroad4 ,thus1 were ,cardinal ,farley to visit an ,american man-of-war1 he would be entitled to the salutes and to naval honors reserved for a foreign royal personage1 and at any official entertainment at ,washington the ,cardinal will outrank not merely every cabinet officer1 the speaker of the house and the vice-president1 but also the foreign ambassadors1 coming immediately next to the chief magistrate himself4 ,incidentally1 it may be mentioned that when a royal personage not of sovereign rank visits ,new ,york it is his duty to make the first call on ,cardinal ,farley4 ,knights of ,slavery ,such is the worldly station of these apostles of the lowly ,jesus4 ,and what is their attitude towards their brothers in ,god1 the rank and file of the membership1 whose pennies grease the wheels of the ecclesiastical machine8 ,his ,holiness1 the ,pope1 sent over a delegate to represent him in ,america1 and at a convention of the ,federation of ,catholic ,societies held in ,new ,orleans in ,november1 #aiaj1 this gentleman1 ,diomede ,falconio1 delivered himself on the subject of ,capital and ,labor4 ,we have heard the slave-code of the ,anglican disciples of ,jesus1 the revolutionary carpenter2 now let us hear the slave-code of his ,roman disciples3 ,human society has its origin from ,god and is constituted of two classes of people1 the rich and the poor1 which respectively represent ,capital and ,labor4 ,hence it follows that according to the ordinance of ,god1 human society is composed of superiors and subjects1 masters and servants1 learned and unlettered1 rich and poor1 nobles and plebeians4 ,and lest this should not be clear enough1 the ,pope sent a second representative1 ,mgr4 ,john ,bonzano1 who1 speaking at a general meeting of the ,german ,catholic ,central-,verein1 ,st4 ,louis1 #aiag1 declared3 ,one of the worst evils that may grow out of the ,european war is the spreading of the doctrine of ,socialism1 and the ,catholic ,church must be ready to counteract such doctrines4 ,we must be ready to prevent the spread of ,socialism and to work against it4 ,as ,i understand1 you have a society of wealthy people in ,st4 ,louis ready for such a campaign4 ,you have experienced leaders who are masters in their kind of work4 ,they are always insistent to show that this wealth was and is in close touch with the ,church1 and therefore it will not fail4 ,this1 you perceive1 is the complete thesis of the present book1 which therefore no doubt will be entitled to the ,nihil ,obstat of the ,censor ,theolog41 and the ,imprimatur of ,johannes ,josephus1 ,archiepiscopus ,sti4 ,ludovici4 ,no wonder that the experienced leaders of ,america1 our captains of industry and exploiters of labor1 are forced1 whatever their own faith may be1 to make use of this system of subjection4 ,a few years ago we read in our papers how a ,jewish millionaire of ,baltimore was presenting a fortune to the ,catholic ,church1 to be used in its war upon ,socialism4 ,the late ,mark ,hanna1 the shrewdest and most far-seeing man that ,big ,business ever brought into power1 said that in twenty years there would be two parties in ,america1 a capitalist and a socialist2 and that it would be the ,catholic church that would save the country from ,socialism4 ,that prophecy was widely quoted1 and sank into the souls of our steel and railway and money magnates2 from which time you might see1 if you watched political events1 a new tone of deference to the ,roman ,hierarchy on the part of our ruling classes4 ,today you cannot get an expression of opinion hostile to ,catholicism into any newspaper of importance4 ,the ,associated ,press does not handle news unfavorable to the ,church1 and from top to bottom1 the politician takes off his hat when the ,sacred ,host goes by4 ,said ,archbishop ,quigley1 speaking before the children of the ,mary ,sodality3 ,i'd like to see the politician who would try to rule against the church in ,chicago4 ,his reign would be short indeed4 ,priests and ,police ,and how is it in our national capital1 the palladium of our liberties8 ,as a means of demonstrating the power of the church and the subservience of our politicians1 the ,catholics have invented what they call the ,cardinal's ,day ,mass3 ,an elaborate procession of high ecclesiastics1 dressed in gorgeous robes and jewels1 through the streets of ,washington1 accompanied by a small army of policemen1 paid by non-,catholic taxpayers4 ,the ,cardinal seats himself upon a throne1 and our political rulers make obeisance before him4 ,on ,sunday1 ,january #ad1 #aiag1 there were present at this political mass the following personages3 ,four cabinet members and their wives2 the speaker of the ,house2 a large group of senators and representatives2 a general of the army and his wife2 an admiral of the navy and his wife2 the ,chief ,justice of the ,supreme ,court and his wife1 and another ,justice of the ,supreme ,court and his wife4 ,and understand that the church makes no secret of its purpose in conducting such public exhibitions4 ,here is the pious ,pope ,leo ,,xiii again1 in his ,encyclical of ,nov4 #a1 #ahhe3 ,all ,catholics must make themselves felt as active elements in daily political life in the countries where they live4 ,they must penetrate1 wherever possible1 in the administration of civil affairs2 must constantly exert the utmost vigilance and energy to prevent the usages of liberty from going beyond the limits fixed by ,god's law4 ,all ,catholics should do all in their power to cause the constitutions of states and legislation to be modeled on the principles of the true ,church4 ,and following these instructions1 the ,catholics are organized for political work4 ,there are the various ,catholic ,societies1 such as the ,knights of ,columbus1 secret1 oath-bound organizations1 the military arm of the ,papal ,power4 ,these societies boast some three million members1 and control not less than that many votes4 ,the one thing that you can be certain about these votes is that on every public question1 of whatever nature1 they will be cast on the side of ignorance and reaction4 ,thus1 it was the influence of the ,catholic ,societies which put upon our national statute books the infamous law providing five years imprisonment and five thousand dollars fine for the sending through the mail of information about the prevention of conception4 ,it is their influence which keeps upon the statute-books of ,new ,york state the infamous law which permits divorce only for infidelity1 and makes it collusion if both parties desire the divorce4 ,it is these societies which1 in every city and town in ,america1 are pushing and plotting to get ,catholics upon library boards1 so that the public may not have a chance to read scientific books2 to get ,catholics into the public schools and on school-boards1 so that children may not hear about ,galileo1 ,bruno1 and ,ferrer2 to have ,catholics in control of police and on magistrates benches1 so that priests who are caught in brothels may not be exposed or punished4 ,you are shocked at this1 you think it a vulgar jest1 perhaps2 but during a period of vice raids in ,new ,york ,i was told by a captain of police1 himself a ,catholic1 that it was a common thing for them to get priests in their net4 ,of course1 the official added1 good-naturedly1 we let them slip out4 ,i understood that he had to do that2 for the ,pope1 in his ,motu ,proprio decree1 has forbidden ,catholics to bring a priest into court for any civil crime whatsoever2 he has forbidden ,catholic policemen to arrest1 ,catholic judges to try1 and ,catholic law-makers to make laws affecting any priest of the ,church of ,rome4 ,and of course we know1 upon the authority of a cardinal1 that the ,pope is the sole1 last1 supreme judge of what is right and wrong4 ,he has held that position for a thousand years and more2 and wherever you consult the police records throughout the thousand years1 you find the same entries concerning ,catholic ecclesiastics4 ,i turn to ,riley's ,illustrations of ,london ,life from ,original ,documents1 and ,i find in the year #ache a certain chaplain1 whose name is considerately suppressed1 had a breviary stolen from him by a loose woman1 because he has not given her any money1 either on that night or the one previous4 ,in #acbj ,john de ,sloghtre1 a priest1 is put in the tower for being found wandering about the city against the peace1 and ,richard ,heyring1 a priest1 is indicted in the ward of ,farringdon and in the ward of ,crepelgate as being a bruiser and nightwalker4 ,that this has been going on for six hundred years is due1 not to any special corruption of the ,catholic heart1 but to the practice of clerical celibacy1 which is contrary to nature1 a transgression of fundamental instinct4 ,it should be noted that the purpose of this transgression1 which pretends to be spiritual1 is really economic2 it was the means whereby the church machine built up its power through the ,middle ,ages4 ,the priests had children then1 as they have them today2 but these children not being recognized1 the church machine remained the sole heir of the property of its clergy4 ,the ,church ,militant ,knowing what we know today1 we marvel that it was possible for ,germany to prepare through so many years for her assault on civilization1 and for ,england to have slept through it all4 ,in exactly the same way1 the historian of a generation from now will marvel that ,america should have slept1 while the ,new ,inquisition was planning to strangle her4 ,for we are told with the utmost explicitness precisely what is to be done4 ,we are to see wiped out these gains of civilization for which our race has bled and agonized for many centuries2 the very gains are to serve as the means of their own destruction6 ,have we not heard ,pope ,leo tell his faithful how to take advantage of what they find in ,america--our easy-going trust1 our quiet certainty of liberty1 our open-handed and open-homed and hail-fellow-well-met democracy8 ,we see the army being organized and drilled under our eyes2 and we can read upon its banners its purpose proclaimed4 ,just as the ,prussian military caste had its slogan ,deutschland ueber ,alles6 so the ,knights of ,slavery have their slogan3 ,make ,america ,catholic6 ,their attitude to democratic institutions is attested by the fact that none of their conventions ever fails in its resolutions to deeply deplore the loss of the temporal power of ,our ,father1 the ,pope4 ,their subjection to priestly domination is indicated by such resolutions as this1 bearing date of ,may #acth1 #aiad3 ,the ,knights of ,columbus of ,texas in annual convention assembled1 prostrate at the feet of ,your ,holiness1 present filial regards with assurances of loyalty and obedience to the ,holy ,see and request the ,papal blessing4 ,on ,june #ajth1 #aiab1 one ,t4,j4 ,carey of ,palestine1 ,texas1 wrote to ,archbishop ,bonzano1 the ,apostolic ,delegate3 ,must ,i1 as a ,catholic1 surrender my political freedom to the ,church8 ,and by this ,i mean the right to vote for the ,democratic1 ,socialist1 or ,republican parties when and where ,i please8 ,the answer was3 ,you should submit to the decisions of the ,church1 even at the cost of sacrificing political principles4 ,and to the same effect ,mgr4 ,preston1 in ,new ,york ,city1 ,jan1 #a1 #ahhh3 ,the man who says1 ',i will take my faith from ,peter1 but ,i will not take my politics from ,peter1' is not a true ,catholic4 ,such is the ,papal machine2 and not a day passes that it does not discover some new scheme to advance the ,papal glory2 a ,catholic battle-ship in the ,united ,states navy2 ,catholic chaplains on all ships of the navy2 ,catholic holidays--such as ,columbus ,day--to be celebrated by all ,protestants in ,america2 thirty million dollars worth of church property exempted from taxation in ,new ,york ,city2 mission bells to be set up at the expense of the state of ,california2 state support for parish schools--or1 if this cannot be had1 exemption of ,catholics from taxation for school purposes4 ,so on through the list which might continue for pages4 ,more than anything else1 of course1 the ,papal machine is concerned with education1 or rather1 with the preventing of education4 ,it was in its childish days that the race fell under the spell of the ,priestly ,lie2 it is in his childish days that the individual can be most safely snared4 ,suffer little children to come unto the ,catholic priest1 and he will make upon their sensitive minds an impression which nothing in after life can eradicate4 ,so the mainstay of the ,new ,inquisition is the parish-school1 and its deadliest enemy is the ,american school system4 ,listen to the ,rev4 ,james ,conway1 of the ,society of ,jesus1 in his book1 ,the ,rights of ,our ,little ,ones3 ,catholic parents cannot1 in conscience1 send their children to ,american public schools1 except for very grave reasons approved by the ecclesiastical authorities4 ,while state education removes illiteracy and puts a limited amount of knowledge within the reach of all1 it cannot be said to have a beneficial influence on civilization in general4 ,the state cannot justly enforce compulsory education1 even in case of utter illiteracy1 so long as the essential physical and moral education are sufficiently provided for4 ,and so1 at all times and in all places1 the ,catholic ,church is fighting the public school4 ,eternal vigilance is necessary2 as ,america1 the organ of the ,jesuits1 explains3 ,sometimes it is a new building code1 or an attempt at taxing the school buildings1 which creates hardships to the parochial and other private schools4 ,now it is the free text book law that puts a double burden on the ,catholics4 ,then again it is the unwise extension of the compulsory school age that forces children to be in school until they are #af to #ah years old4 ,and if you wish to know the purpose of the ,catholic schools1 hear ,archbishop ,quigley of ,chicago1 speaking before the children of the ,mary ,sodality in the ,holy ,name ,parish-,school3 ,within twenty years this country is going to rule the world4 ,kings and emperors will pass away1 and the democracy of the ,united ,states will take their place4 ,the ,west will dominate the country1 and what ,i have seen of the ,western parochial schools has proved that the generation which follows us will be exclusively ,catholic4 ,when the ,united ,states rules the world the ,catholic ,church will rule the world4 ,the ,church ,triumphant ,the question may be asked1 ,what of it8 ,what if the ,church were to rule8 ,there are not a few ,americans who believe that there have to be rich and poor1 and that rule by ,roman ,catholics might be preferable to rule by ,socialists4 ,before you decide1 at least do not fail to consider what history has to tell about priestly government4 ,we do not have to use our imaginations in the matter1 for there was once a ,golden ,age such as ,archbishop ,quigley dreams of1 when the power of the church was complete1 when emperors and princes paid homage to her1 and the civil authority made haste to carry out her commands4 ,what was the condition of the people in those times8 ,we are told by ,lea1 in his ,history of the ,inquisition that3 ,the moral condition of the laity was unutterably depraved4 ,uniformity of faith had been enforced by the ,inquisition and its methods1 and so long as faith was preserved1 crime and sin was comparatively unimportant except as a source of revenue to those who sold absolution4 ,as ,theodoric ,vrie tersely puts it1 hell and purgatory would be emptied if enough money could be found4 ,the artificial standard thus created is seen in a revelation of the ,virgin to ,st4 ,birgitta1 that a ,pope who was free from heresy1 no matter how polluted by sin and vice1 is not so wicked but that he has the absolute power to bind and loose souls4 ,there are many wicked popes plunged in hell1 but all their lawful acts on earth are accepted and confirmed by ,god1 and all priests who are not heretics administer true sacraments1 no matter how depraved they may be4 ,correctness of belief was thus the sole essential2 virtue was a wholly subordinate consideration4 ,how completely under such a system religion and morals came to be dissociated is seen in the remarks of ,pius ,,ii1 that the ,franciscans were excellent theologians1 but cared nothing about virtue4 ,this1 in fact1 was the direct result of the system of persecution embodied in the ,inquisition4 ,heretics who were admitted to be patterns of virtue were ruthlessly exterminated in the name of ,christ1 while in the same holy name the orthodox could purchase absolution for the vilest of crimes for a few coins4 ,when the only unpardonable offence was persistence in some trifling error of belief1 such as the poverty of ,christ2 when men had before them the example of their spiritual guides as leaders in vice and debauchery and contempt of sacred things1 all the sanctions of morality were destroyed and the confusion between right and wrong became hopeless4 ,the world has probably never seen a society more vile than that of ,europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries4 ,the brilliant pages of ,froissart fascinate us with their pictures of the artificial courtesies of chivalry2 the mystic reveries of ,rysbroek and of ,tauler show us that spiritual life survived in some rare souls1 but the mass of the population was plunged into the depths of sensuality and the most brutal oblivion of the moral law4 ,for this ,alvaro ,pelayo tells us that the priesthood were accountable1 and that1 in comparison with them1 the laity were holy4 ,what was that state of comparative holiness he proceeds to describe1 blushing as he writes1 for the benefit of confessors1 giving a terrible sketch of universal immorality which nothing could purify but fire and brimstone from heaven4 ,the chroniclers do not often pause in their narrations to dwell on the moral aspects of the times1 but ,meyer1 in his annals of ,flanders1 under date of #acgi1 tells us that it would be impossible to describe the prevalence everywhere of perjuries1 blasphemies1 adulteries1 hatreds1 quarrels1 brawls1 murder1 rapine1 thievery1 robbery1 gambling1 whoredom1 debauchery1 avarice1 oppression of the poor1 rape1 drunkenness1 and similar vices1 and he illustrates his statement with the fact that in the territory of ,ghent1 within the space of ten months1 there occurred no less than fourteen hundred murders committed in the bagnios1 brothels1 gambling-houses1 taverns1 and other similar places4 ,when1 in #acif1 ,jean sans ,peur led his ,crusaders to destruction at ,micopolis1 their crimes and cynical debauchery scandalized even the ,turks1 and led to the stern rebuke of ,bajazet himself1 who as the monk of ,st4 ,denis admits was much better than his ,christian foes4 ,the same writer1 moralizing over the disaster at ,agincourt1 attributes it to the general corruption of the nation4 ,sexual relations1 he says1 were an alternation of disorderly lust and of incest2 commerce was nought but fraud and treachery2 avarice withheld from the ,church her tithes1 and ordinary conversation was a succession of blasphemies4 ,the ,church1 set up by ,god as a model and protector of the people1 was false to all its obligations4 ,the bishops1 through the basest and most criminal of motives1 were habitual accepters of persons2 they annointed themselves with the last essence extracted from their flocks1 and there was in them nothing of holy1 of pure1 of wise1 or even of decent4 ,god in the ,schools ,but that1 you may say1 was a long time ago4 ,if so1 let us take a modern country in which the ,catholic ,church has worked its will4 ,until recently1 ,spain was such a country4 ,now the people are turning against the clerical machine2 and if you ask why1 turn to ,rafael ,shaw's ,spain ,from ,within3 ,on every side the people see the baleful hand of the ,church1 interfering or trying to interfere in their domestic life1 ordering the conditions of employment1 draining them of their hard-won livelihood by trusts and monopolies established and maintained in the interest of the ,religious ,orders1 placing obstacles in the way of their children's education1 hindering them in the exercise of their constitutional rights1 and deliberately ruining those of them who are bold enough to run counter to priestly dictation4 ,riots suddenly break out in ,barcelona2 they are instigated by the ,jesuits4 ,the country goes to war in ,morocco2 it is dragged into it solely in defense of the mines owned1 actually1 if not ostensibly1 by the ,jesuits4 ,the consumes cannot be abolished because the ,jesuits are financially interested in their continuance4 99 99 99 99 99 ,we have read the statement of a ,jesuit father1 that the state cannot justly enforce compulsory education1 even in case of utter illiteracy4 ,how has that doctrine worked out in ,spain8 ,there was an official investigation of school conditions1 the report appearing in the ,heraldo de ,madrid for ,november1 #aiji4 ,in #aheg there had been passed a law requiring a certain number of schools in each of the #gi provinces3 this requirement being below the very low standards prevailing at that time in other ,european countries4 ,yet in #aiji it was found that only four provinces had the required number of elementary schools1 and at the rate of increase then prevailing it would have taken #aej years to catch up4 ,seventy-five per cent of the population were wholly illiterate1 and #cj1jjj towns and villages had no government schools at all4 ,the government owed nearly a million and a half dollars in unpaid salaries to the teachers4 ,the private schools were nearly all nuns' schools1 which taught only needle-work and catechism2 the punishments prevailing in them were cruel and disgusting4 ,as to the location of the schools1 a report of the ,minister of ,education to the ,cortes1 the ,parliament of ,spain1 sets forth as follows3 ,more than #aj1jjj schools are on hired premises1 and many of these are absolutely destitute of hygienic conditions4 ,there are schools mixed up with hospitals1 with cemeteries1 with slaughter houses1 with stables4 ,one school forms the entrance to a cemetery1 and the corpses are placed on the master's table while the last responses are being said4 ,there is a school into which the children cannot enter until the animals have been sent out to pasture4 ,some are so small that as soon as the warm weather begins the boys faint for want of air and ventilation4 ,one school is a manure-heap in process of fermentation1 and one of the local authorities has said that in this way the children are warmer in winter4 ,one school in ,cataluna adjoins the prison4 ,another1 in ,andalusia1 is turned into an enclosure for the bulls when there is a bull-fight in the town4 ,these conditions excited the indignation of a ,spanish educator by the name of ,francesco ,ferrer4 ,he founded what he called a modern school1 in which the pupils should be taught science and common sense4 ,he drew1 of course1 the bitter hatred of the ,catholic hierarchy1 which saw in the spread of his principles the end of their mastery of the people4 ,when the ,barcelona insurrection took place1 they had ,ferrer seized upon a charge of having been its instigator2 they had him tried in secret before a military tribunal1 convicted upon forged documents1 and shot beneath the walls of the fortress of ,montjuich4 ,the case was thoroughly investigated by ,william ,archer1 one of ,england's leading critics1 a man of scrupulous rectitude of mind4 ,his conclusion is that ,ferrer was absolutely innocent of the charges against him1 and that his execution was the result of a clerical plot4 ,of ,ferrer's character ,archer writes3 ,fragmentary though they be1 the utterances which ,i have quoted form a pretty complete revelation4 ,from first to last we see in him an ardent1 uncompromising1 incorruptible idealist4 ,his ideals are narrow1 and his devotion to them fanatical2 but it is devoid1 if not of egoism1 at any rate of self-interest and self-seeking4 ,as he shrank from applying the money entrusted him to ends of personal luxury1 so also he shrank from making his ideas and convictions subserve any personal ambition or vanity4 ,the ,menace ,there are1 of course1 many people in ,america who will not rest idle while their country falls into the condition of ,spain4 ,there are anti-,catholic propaganda societies1 which send out lecturers to discuss the ,church and its records2 and this is exasperating to devout believers1 who regard the ,church as holy1 and any criticism of it as blasphemy4 ,so we have opportunity to observe the working out of the doctrine that the ,church is superior to the civil law4 ,on ,june #abth1 #aiac1 there came to the little town of ,oelwein1 ,iowa1 a former priest of the ,catholic ,church1 named ,jeremiah ,j4 ,crowley1 to deliver a lecture exposing the ,papal propaganda4 ,the ,catholics of the town made efforts to intimidate the owner of the place in which the lecture was to be given2 the priest of the town1 ,father ,o',connor1 preached a sermon furiously denouncing the lecturer2 and after the lecture the unfortunate ,crowley was surrounded by a mob of men1 women and boys1 and although he was six feet three in size1 he was beaten almost to death4 ,at the trial which followed it developed that ,father ,o',connor and also his brother1 a judge on the ,superior ,bench1 were accessories before the fact4 ,nor is this a solitary instance4 ,the ,catholic military societies1 with their uniforms and their armories1 are not maintained for nothing4 ,as ,archbishop ,quigley declared before the ,german ,catholic ,central ,verein3 ,we have well ordered and efficient organizations1 all at the beck and nod of the hierarchy and ready to do what the church authorities tell them to do4 ,with these bodies of loyal ,catholics ready to step into the breach at any time and present an unbroken front to the enemy we may feel secure4 ,and so1 on the evening of ,april #aeth1 #aiad1 a group of ,catholics entered the ,pierce ,hotel in ,denver1 ,colorado1 overpowered a police guard and seized the ,rev4 ,otis ,l4 ,spurgeon1 an anti-,catholic lecturer4 ,they bound and gagged him1 took him to a lonely woods1 and beat him to insensibility4 ,the same thing happened to the ,rev4 ,augustus ,barnett1 at ,buffalo2 the ,rev4 ,william ,black was killed at ,marshall1 ,texas4 ,in each case the assailants avowed themselves ,knights of ,columbus1 and efforts to punish them failed1 because no jury can be got to convict a ,catholic1 fighting for his ,pope against a godless state4 ,the most pious ,leo ,,xiii has laid down3 ,it is an impious deed to break the laws of ,jesus ,christ for the purpose of obeying the magistrates1 or to transgress the law of the ,church under the pretext of observing the civil law4 ,there are papers published to warn ,americans against the plotting of this political ,church4 ,one of them1 ,the ,menace1 has a circulation of more than a million2 and naturally the ,knights of ,slavery do not enjoy reading it4 ,year after year they have marshalled their power to have this paper barred from the mails--so far1 in vain4 ,they caused an obscenity prosecution1 which failed2 so finally the press rooms of the paper were blown up with dynamite4 ,at the present time there is a ,catholic ,truth ,society with a publication called ,truth1 to oppose the anti-,catholic campaign2 and that is all right1 of course--except when the agents who collect the two-dollar subscriptions to this publication make use of ,untruth in their labors--promising absolution and salvation to the families1 dead and living1 of those who come across with subscriptions4 ,in the ,bulletin of the ,american ,federation of ,catholic ,societies for ,september1 #aiae1 ,i find a record of the ceaseless plotting to bar criticism of the ,catholic ,church from the mails4 ,fitzgerald1 a ,tammany ,catholic congressman1 proposes a bill in ,washington2 and ,judge ,st4 ,paul1 of ,new ,orleans1 a member of the ,federation's law committee1 points out the difficulties in the way of such legislation4 ,you cannot pass a law against ridiculing religion1 because the ,catholics want to ridicule ,christian ,science1 ,mormonism1 and the ,holy ,ghost and ,us ,society6 ,the ,judge thinks the purpose of the ,papal plotters will be accomplished if they can slip into the present law the words scurrilous and slanderous2 he hopes that this much can be done without the ,american people catching on6 ,you read these things for the first time1 perhaps1 and you want to start an ,american ,kultur-kampf4 ,i make haste1 therefore1 to restate the main thesis of this book4 ,it is not the ,new ,inquisition which is our enemy today2 it is hereditary ,privilege4 ,it is not ,superstition1 but ,big ,business which makes use of ,superstition as a wolf makes use of sheep's clothing4 ,you remember how1 when ,americans first awakened to the universal corruption of our politics1 we used to attribute it to the ignorant foreign vote4 ,turn to ,lecky's ,democracy and ,liberty and you will see how reformers twenty years ago explained our political depravity4 ,but we probed deeper1 and discovered that the purely ,american communities1 such as ,rhode ,island1 were the most corrupt of all4 ,it dawned upon us that wherever there was a political boss paying bribes on election day1 there was a captain of industry furnishing the money for the bribes1 and taking some public privilege in return4 ,so we came to realize that political corruption is merely a by-product of ,big ,business4 ,and when we come to probe this problem of the spread of ,superstition in ,america1 this amazing renascence of ,romanism in a democracy1 we find precisely the same phenomenon4 ,it is not the poor foreigner who troubles us4 ,our human magic would win him--our easy-going trust1 our quiet certainty of liberty1 our open-handed and open-homed and hail-fellow-well-met democracy4 ,we should break down the ,catholic machine1 and not all the priests in the hierarchy could stop us--were it not for the ,steel ,trust and the ,coal ,trust and the ,beef ,trust1 the ,liquor ,trust and the ,traction ,trust and the ,money ,trust--those masters of ,america who do not want citizens1 free and intelligent and self-governing1 but who want the slave-hordes as they come1 ignorant1 inert1 physically1 mentally and morally helpless6 ,no1 do not let yourself be lured into a ,kultur-kampf4 ,it is not the pennies of the servant-girls which build the towering cathedrals2 it is not the two-dollar contributions for the salvation of souls which support the ,catholic ,truth ,society and the ,knights of ,columbus and the ,holy ,name ,society and the ,mary ,sodality and the ,national ,shrine of the ,immaculate ,conception and all the rest of the machinery of the ,papal propaganda4 ,these help1 of course2 but the main sources of growth are1 first1 the subsidies of industrial exploiters1 the majority of whom are non-,catholic1 and second1 the privilege of public plunder granted as payment for votes by politicians who are creatures and puppets of ,big ,business4 ,king ,coal ,the proof of these statements is written all over the industrial life of ,america4 ,i will stop long enough to present an account of one industry1 asking the reader to accept my statement that if space permitted ,i could present the same sort of proof for a dozen other industries which ,i have studied--the steel-mills of ,western ,pennsylvania1 the meat-factories of ,chicago1 the glass-works of ,southern ,jersey1 the silk-mills of ,paterson1 the cotton-mills of ,north ,carolina1 the woolen-mills of ,massachusetts1 the lumber-camps of ,louisiana1 the copper-mines of ,michigan1 the sweat-shops of ,new ,york4 ,in a lonely part of the ,rocky ,mountains lies a group of enormously valuable coal-mines owned by the ,rockefellers and other ,protestant exploiters4 ,the men who work these mines1 some twelve or fifteen thousand in number1 come from all the nations of ,europe and ,asia1 and their fate is that of the average wage-slave4 ,i do not ask anyone to take my word1 but present sworn testimony1 taken by the ,united ,states ,commission on ,industrial ,relations in #aiad4 ,here is the way the ,italian miners live1 as described in a doctor's report3 ,houses up the canyon1 so-called1 of which eight are habitable1 and forty-six simply awful2 they are disreputably disgraceful4 ,i have had to remove a mother in labor from one part of the shack to another to keep dry4 ,and here is the testimony of the ,rev4 ,eugene ,s4 ,gaddis1 former superintendent of the ,sociological ,department of the ,colorado ,fuel and ,iron ,company3 ,the ,c4,f4 ,i4 ,company now own and rent hovels1 shacks and dug-outs that are unfit for the habitation of human beings and are little removed from the pig-sty make of dwellings4 ,and the people in them live on the very level of a pig-sty4 ,frequently the population is so congested that whole families are crowded into one room2 eight persons in one small room was reported during the year4 ,and here is what this same clergyman has to say about the bosses whom the ,rockefellers employ3 ,the camp superintendents as a whole impressed me as most uncouth1 ignorant1 immoral1 and in many instances1 the most brutal set of men that ,i have ever met4 ,blasphemous bullies4 ,sometimes the miner grows tired of being robbed of his weights1 and applies for the protection which the law of the state allows him4 ,what happens then8 ,when a man asked for a checkweighman1 in the language of the super he was getting too smart4 ,and he got what8 ,he got it in the neck1 generally4 ,and when these wage-slaves1 goaded beyond endurance1 went on strike1 in the words of the ,commission's report3 ,five strikers1 one boy1 and thirteen women and children in the strikers' tent colony were shot to death by militiamen and guards employed by the coal companies1 or suffocated and burned to death when these militiamen and guards set fire to the tents in which they made their homes4 ,and now1 what is the position of education in such camps8 ,the ,rev4 ,james ,mc,donald1 a ,methodist preacher1 testified that the school building was dilapidated and unfit4 ,one year there were four teachers1 the next three1 and the next only two4 ,the teacher of the primary grade had a hundred and twenty children en-rolled1 ninety per cent of whom could not speak a word of ,english4 ,every little bench was seated with two or three4 ,it was over-crowded entirely1 and she could hardly get walking room around there4 ,and as to the political use made of this deliberately cultivated ignorance1 former ,united ,states ,senator ,patterson testified that the companies controlled all elections and all nominations3 ,election returns from the two or three counties in which the large companies operate show that in the precincts in which the mining camps are located the returns are nearly unanimous in favor of the men or measures approved by the companies1 regardless of party4 ,and now comes the all-important question4 ,what of the ,catholic ,church and these evils8 ,the majority of these mine-slaves are ,catholics1 it is this ,church which is charged with their protection4 ,there are priests in every town1 and in nearly every camp4 ,and do we find them lifting their voices in behalf of the miners1 protesting against the starving and torturing of thirty or forty thousand human beings8 ,do we find ,catholic papers printing accounts of the ,ludlow massacre8 ,do we find ,catholic journalists on the scene reporting it1 ,catholic lawyers defending the strikers1 ,catholic novelists writing books about their troubles8 ,we do not6 ,through the long agony of the fourteen months strike1 ,i know of just one ,catholic priest1 ,father ,le ,fevre1 who had a word to say for the strikers4 ,one of the first stories ,i heard when ,i reached the strike-field was of a priest who had preached on the text that ,idleness is the root of all evil1 and had been reported as a scab and made to shut up4 ,who made him8 ,i asked1 naively1 thinking of his1 church superiors4 ,my informant1 a union miner1 laughed4 ,we made him6 he said4 ,i talked with another priest who was prudently saving souls and could not be interested in questions of worldly greed4 ,max ,eastman1 reporting the strike in the ,masses1 tells of an interview with a ,catholic sister4 ,has the ,church done anything to try to help these people1 or to bring about peace8 we asked4 ,i consider it the most useless thing in the world to attempt it1 she replied4 ,the investigating committee of ,congress came to the scene1 and several clergymen of the ,protestant ,church appeared and bore testimony to the outrages which were being committed against the strikers2 but of all the ,catholic priests in the district not one appeared--not one6 ,several ,protestant clergymen testified that they had been driven from the coal-camps--not because they favored the unions1 but because the companies objected to having their workers educated at all2 but no one ever heard of the ,catholic ,church having trouble with the operators4 ,to make sure on this point ,i wrote to a former clergyman of ,trinidad who watched the whole strike1 and is now a first lieutenant in the ,first ,new ,mexico ,infantry4 ,he answered3 ,the ,catholic ,church seemed to get along with the companies very cordially4 ,the ,church was permitted in all the camps4 ,the impression was abroad that this was due to favoritism4 ,i honor what good the ,church does1 but ,i know of no instance1 during the ,colorado coal-strike or at any other time or place1 when the ,catholic ,church has taken any special interest in the cause of the laboring men4 ,many ,catholics1 especially the men1 quit the church during the coal-strike4 ,the ,unholy ,alliance ,everywhere throughout ,america today the ultimate source of all power1 political1 social1 and religious1 is economic exploitation4 ,to all other powers and all other organizations it speaks in these words3 ,help us1 and you will thrive2 oppose us1 and you will be destroyed4 ,it has spoken to the ,catholic ,church1 for sixteen hundred years the friend and servant of every ruling class2 and the ,church has hastened to fit itself into the situation1 continuing its pastoral role as shepherd to the wage-slave vote4 ,in ,new ,york and ,boston and ,chicago the ,church is ,democratic2 so in the ,elaine campaign it was possible for a ,republican clergyman to describe the issue as ,rum1 ,romanism and ,rebellion4 ,but the ,holy ,office was shrewd and socially ambitious1 and the ,grand ,old ,party was desperately in need of votes1 so under the regime of ,mark ,hanna1 the ,president-,maker1 there began a rapprochement between ,big ,business and the ,new ,inquisition4 ,under ,hanna the ,catholic ,church got representation in the ,cabinet2 under him the ,cardinal's ,mass became a government institution1 a ,catholic ,college came to the fore in ,washington1 and ,catholic prelates were introduced in the role of eminent publicists1 their reactionary opinions on important questions being quoted with grave solemnity by a prostitute press4 ,it was ,mark ,hanna himself who founded the ,national ,civic ,federation1 upon whose executive committee ,catholic cardinals and archbishops might work hand in glove with ,catholic labor-leaders for the chloroforming of the ,american working-class4 ,hanna's biographer naively calls attention to the ,president-maker's popularity among ,catholics1 high and low1 and the support they gave him4 ,archbishop ,ireland was in frequent correspondence with him1 and used his influence in ,mr4 ,hanna's behalf4 ,and this tradition1 begun under ,hanna1 was continued under ,roosevelt1 and reached its finest flower in the days of ,taft1 the most pliant tool of the forces of evil who has occupied the ,white ,house since the days of the ,slave ,power4 ,president ,taft was himself a ,unitarian2 yet it was under his administration that the ,catholic ,church achieved one of its dearest ambitions1 and broke into the ,supreme ,court4 ,why not8 ,we can imagine the powers of the time in conference4 ,it is desired to pack the ,court against the possibility of progress2 it is desired to find men who will stand like a rock against change--and who better than those who have been trained from childhood in the idea of a divine sanction for doctrine and morals8 ,after all1 what is it that ,hereditary ,privilege wants in ,america8 ,a ,roman ,catholic code of property rights1 with a supreme tribunal to play the part of an infallible ,pope6 ,under this ,taft administration the country was governed by the strangest legislative alliance our history ever saw2 a combination of the ,old ,guard of the ,republican ,party with the leaders of the ,tammany ,democracy of ,new ,york4 ,bloody shirt ,foraker1 senator from ,ohio1 voting with the sons of those ,irish ,catholic mob-leaders whom the ,federal troops shot down in the draft-riots6 ,by this unholy combination a pledge to reduce the tariff was carried out by a bill which greatly increased its burdens2 by this combination the public lands and resources of the country were fed to a gang of vultures by a thievish ,secretary of the ,interior4 ,and of course under such an administration the cause of ,religion made tremendous strides4 ,catholic officials were appointed to public office1 ,catholic ecclesiastics were accorded public honors1 and ,catholic favor became a means to political advancement4 ,you might see a hard-swearing old political pirate like ,uncle ,joe ,cannon1 taking his cigar out of the corner of his blasphemous mouth and betaking himself to the ,cardinal's ,day ,mass1 to bend his stiff knees and bow his hoary unrepentant head before a jeweled prelate on a throne4 ,you might see an emissary of the ,united ,states government proceeding to ,rome1 prostrating himself before the ,pope1 and paying over seven million dollars of our taxes for lands which the filthy and sensual friars of the ,philippine ,islands had filched from the wretched serfs of that country and which the wretched serfs had won back by their blood in a revolution4 ,secret ,service ,this ,taft administration1 urged on by the ,catholic intrigue1 made the most determined efforts to prevent the spread of radical thought4 ,because the popular magazines were opposing the plundering of the country1 a bill was introduced into ,congress to put them out of business by a prohibitive postal tax2 the ,president himself devoted all his power to forcing the passage of this bill4 ,at the same time the ,socialist press was handicapped by every sort of persecution4 ,i was at that time in intimate touch with the ,appeal to ,reason1 and ,i know that scarcely a month passed that the ,post ,office ,department did not invent some new regulation especially designed to limit its circulation4 ,i recall one occasion when ,i met the editor on his way to ,washington with a trunkful of letters from subscribers who complained that their postmasters refused to deliver the paper to them2 and later on this same editor was prosecuted by a ,catholic ,attorney ,general and sentenced to prison for seeking to awaken the people concerning the ,moyer-,haywood case4 ,from my personal knowledge ,i can say that under the administration of ,president ,taft t the ,roman ,catholic ,church and the ,secret ,service of the ,federal ,government worked hand in hand for the undermining of the radical movement in ,america4 ,catholic lecturers toured the country1 pouring into the ears of the public vile slanders about the private morality of ,socialists2 while at the same time government detectives1 paid out of public funds1 spent their time seeking evidence for these ,catholic lecturers to use4 ,i know one man1 a radical labor-leader1 whose morals happened to approach those of the average capitalist politician1 and who was prevented by threats of exposure and scandal from accepting the ,socialist nomination for ,president4 ,i know a dozen others who were shadowed and spied upon2 ,i know one case--myself--a man who was asking a divorce from his wife1 and whose mail was opened for months4 ,this subject is one on which ,i naturally speak with extreme reluctance4 ,i will only say that my opponent in the suit made no charge of misconduct against me2 but those in control of our political police evidently thought it likely that a man who was not living with his wife might have something to hide2 so for months my every move was watched and all my mail intercepted4 ,in such a case one might at first suspect one's private opponent2 but it soon became evident that this net was cast too wide for any private agency4 ,not merely was my own mail opened1 but the mail of all my relatives and friends--people residing in places as far apart as ,california and ,florida4 ,i recall the bland smile of a government official to whom ,i complained about this matter3 ,if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear4 ,my answer was that a study of many labor cases had taught me the methods of the agent provocateur4 ,he is quite willing to take real evidence if he can find it2 but if not1 he has familiarized himself with the affairs of his victim1 and can make evidence which will be convincing when exploited by the yellow press4 ,in my own case1 the matter was not brought to a test1 for ,i went abroad to live2 when ,i made my next attack on ,big ,business1 the ,taft administration had been repudiated at the polls1 and the ,secret ,service of the government was no longer at the disposal of the ,catholic machine4 ,tax ,exemption ,today the ,catholic ,church is firmly established and everywhere recognized as one of the main pillars of ,american capitalism4 ,it has some fifteen thousand churches1 fourteen million communicants1 and property valued at half a billion dollars4 ,upon this property it pays no taxes1 municipal1 state or national2 which means1 quite obviously1 that you and ,i1 who do not go to church1 but who do pay taxes1 furnish the public costs of ,catholicism4 ,we pay to have streets paved and lighted and cleaned in front of ,catholic churches2 we pay to have thieves kept away from them1 fires put out in them1 records preserved for them--all the services of civilization given to them gratis1 and this in a land whose constitution provides that ,congress 7which includes all state and municipal legislative bodies7 shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion4 ,when war is declared1 and our sons are drafted to defend the country1 all ,catholic monks and friars1 priests and dignitaries are exempted4 ,they are ministers of religion2 whereas we ,socialists may not even have the status of conscientious objectors4 ,we do not teach religion2 we only teach justice and humanity1 decency and truth4 ,in defense of this tax-exemption graft1 the stock answer is that the property is being used for purposes of education or charity4 ,it is a school1 in which children are being taught that liberty of conscience is a most pestiferous error1 from which arises revolution1 corruption1 contempt of sacred things1 holy institutions1 and laws4 7,pius ,,ix74 ,it is a ,house of ,refuge1 to which wayward girls are committed by ,catholic magistrates1 and in which they are worked twelve hours a day in a laundry or a clothing sweat-shop4 ,or it is a parish-house1 in which a celibate priest lives under the care of an attractive young house-keeper4 ,or it is a nunnery1 in which young girls are held against their will and fed upon the scraps from their sisters' plates to teach them humility1 and taught to lie before the altar1 prostrate in the form of a cross1 while their ,superiors walk upon their bodies to impress the religious virtues4 ,i was a teacher in the ,catholic schools up to a very recent period1 writes the woman friend who tells me of these customs1 and ,i know about the whole awful system which endeavors to throttle every genuine impulse of the human will4 ,concerning a large part of this church property1 the claim of religious use has not even the shadow of justification4 ,in every large city of ,america you will find acres of land owned by the ,catholic machine1 and supposed to be the future site of some institution2 but as time goes on and property values increase1 the church decides to build on a cheaper site1 and proceeds to cash in the profits of its investment1 precisely as does any other real estate speculator4 ,everywhere you turn in the history of ,romanism you find it at this same game1 doing business under the cloak of philanthropy and in the holy name of ,christ4 ,read the letter which the ,catholic ,bishop of ,mexico sent to the ,pope in #afdg1 complaining of the ,jesuit fathers and their boundless graft4 ,in ,mc,cabe's ,candid ,history of the ,jesuits appears a summary3 ,a remarkable account is given of the worldly property of the fathers4 ,they hold1 it seems1 the greater part of the wealth of ,mexico4 ,two of their colleges own #cjj1jjj sheep1 besides cattle and other property4 ,they own six large sugar refineries1 worth from half a million to a million crowns each1 and making an annual profit of #ajj1jjj crowns each1 while all the other monks and clergy of ,mexico together own only three small refineries4 ,they have immense farms1 rich silver mines1 large shops and butcheries1 and do a vast trade4 ,yet they continually intrigue for legacies--a woman has recently left them #gj1jjj crowns--and they refuse to pay the appointed tithe on them4 ,it is piquant to add to this authoritative description that the ,jesuit congregation at ,rome were still periodically forbidding the fathers to engage in commerce1 and ,jesuit writers still gravely maintain that the society never engaged in commerce4 ,it should be added that the missionaries were still heavily subsidized by the ,king of ,spain1 that there were 7the ,bishop says7 only five or six ,jesuits to each of their establishments1 and that they conducted only ten colleges4 ,holy ,history ,and if you think this tax-exemption privilege should be taken away from the church grafters1 let me suggest a course of procedure4 ,write a letter about it to your daily newspaper2 and if the letter is not published1 go and see the editor and ask why2 so you will learn something about the partnership between ,superstition and ,big ,business6 ,it is not too much to say that today no daily newspaper in any large ,american city dares to attack the emoluments of the ,catholic ,church1 or to advocate restrictions upon the ecclesiastical machine4 ,as ,i write1 they are making a new ,catholic bishop in ,los ,angeles1 and all the newspapers of that graft-ridden city herald it as an important social event4 ,each paper has the picture of the new prelate1 with his shepherd's crook upraised1 his empty face crowned with a rhomboidal fool's cap1 and enough upholstery on him to outfit a grand opera company4 ,the ,los ,angeles ,examiner1 the only paper in the city with a pretense to radicalism1 turns loose its star-writer--one of those journalist virtuosos who will describe you a ,wild ,west rodeo one day1 and a society elopement the next1 and a ,g4,o4,p4 convention the next2 and always with his picture1 one inch square1 at the head of his effusion4 ,he takes in the ,catholic festivity2 and does it phaze him8 ,it does not6 ,he is a newspaper man1 and if his city editor sent him to hell1 he would take the assignment and write like the devil4 ,to read him now you might think he had been reared in a convent2 his soul is uplifted1 and he bursts forth in pure spontaneous ecstacy3 ,solemnly magnificent1 every brilliant detail symbolically picturing the holy history of the ,roman ,catholic ,church in the inexorable progress of its immense structure1 which rises from the rock of ,peter1 with its beacons of faith and devotion piercing the fog of doubt and fear which surround the world and the worldly1 was the ceremony yesterday at the ,cathedral of ,st4 ,vibiana1 whereby ,bishop ,john ,j4 ,cantwell was installed in his diocese of ,monterey and ,los ,angeles4 ,and then1 a month later1 conies another occasion of state--the twenty-third ,annual ,banquet4 the ,merchants' and ,manufacturers' ,association of ,los ,angeles4 ,i should have to write a little essay to make clear the sociological significance of that function2 explaining first1 a nation-wide organization which has been proven by congressional investigation and by the publication of its secret documents to be a machine for the corruption of our political life2 and then exhibiting our ,city of the ,angels1 from which all ,angels have long since fled2 a city in the first crude stage of land speculation1 without order1 dignity or charm2 a city of real estate agents1 who exist by selling climate to new arrivals from the ,east2 a city whose intellectual life is boosting1 whose standards of truth are those of the horse-trade4 ,its newspapers publish a table of temperatures1 showing the daily contrast between ,southern ,california and the ,east4 ,this device is effective in the winter-time2 but last ,june1 when for five days the temperature went to over #aaj1 and several times #aad--the ,los ,angeles space was left empty6 ,in the same way1 there is a rule that our earth-quake shocks are never mentioned1 unless they destroy whole towns4 ,on the afternoon of ,jan4 #bfth1 #aiah1 a cyclone hit ,pasadena1 of violence sufficient to lift a barn over a church-steeple and deposit it in the pastor's front yard4 ,that evening a friend of mine in ,los ,angeles called up the office of the ,times to make inquiry2 and although they are only thirteen miles away1 and have a branch office and a special correspondent in ,pasadena1 the answer was that they had heard nothing about the cyclone6 ,and next morning ,i made a careful1 search of their columns4 ,on the front page ,i read3 ,fourth ,blizzard of ,season ,raging in ,east2 also3 ,another ,earthquake in ,guatemala4 ,but not a line about the ,pasadena cyclone4 ,that there was plenty of space in that issue1 you may judge from the fact that there were twenty headlines like the following--many of them representing full page and half page illustrated write-ups3 ,where ,spring is ,january2 ,wealth ,waits in ,california2 ,the ,bright ,side of ,sunshine ,land2 ,come to ,california3 ,southland's ,arms ,outstretched in ,cordial ,invitation to the ,east2 ,flower ,stands ,make ,gay ,city ,streets2 ,southland ,climate ,big ,manufacturing ,factor2 ,joy of ,life ,demonstrated in ,los ,angeles' ,beautiful ,homes2 ,nymphs ,knit and ,bathe at ,ocean's ,sunny ,beach2 etc4 ,now we are in the ,war and our business is booming1 we are making money hand over fist4 ,it is all the more delightful1 because we are putting our souls into it1 we are lending our money to the government and saving the world for ,democracy6 ,our labor unionists have been driven to other cities1 and our ,mexican agitators and ,i4,w4,w4's are in jail2 so1 in the gilt ball-room of our palatial six-dollar-a-day hotel the four hundred masters of our prosperity meet to pat themselves on the back1 and they invite the new ,catholic bishop to come and confer the grace of ,god upon their eating4 ,the ,bishop comes2 and ,i take up the ,times--the labor-hating1 labor-baiting1 fire-and-slaughter-breathing ,times--and here is the episcopal picture on the front page1 the arms stretched four columns wide in oratorical beneficence4 ,how the shepherd of ,jesus does love the ,merchants and ,manufacturers6 ,how his eloquence is poured out upon them6 ,you represent1 gentlemen1 the largest and the most civilizing secular body in the country4 ,you are the pioneers of ,american civilization4444 ,i am glad to be among you2 glad that my lines have fallen in this glorious land by the sunset sea1 and honored to meet in intimate acquaintance the big men who have raised here in a few years a city of metropolitan proportions4 ,and then1 bearing in mind his responsibilities as guardian of ,exploitation1 the ,bishop goes on to tell them about the coming class-war4 ,on the one side a statesman preaching patience and respect for vested rights1 strict observance of public faith2 on the other a demagog speaking about the tyranny of capitalists and usurers4 ,and then1 of course1 the inevitable religious tag3 ,how will men obey you1 if they believe not in ,god1 who is the author of all authority8 ,at which1 according to the ,times1 prolonged applause and cheers from the ,merchants and ,manufacturers6 ,the editor of the ,times goes back to his office1 and inspired by this episcopal eloquence writes a leader with the statement that3 ,we have no proletariat in ,america6 ,das ,centrum ,in order to see clearly the ultimate purpose of this ,unholy ,alliance1 this union of ,superstition and the ,merchants' and ,manufacturers' ,association1 we have to go to ,europe1 where the arrangement has been working for a thousand years4 ,in ,europe to-day we see the whole world in conflict with a band of criminals who have been able to master the minds and lives of a hundred million highly civilized people4 ,as ,i write1 the ,junker aristocracy is at bay1 and soon to have its throat cut2 but there comes a ,holy ,father to its rescue1 with the cross of ,jesus uplifted1 and a series of pleas for mercy1 written in ,vienna1 edited in ,berlin1 and sent out from ,rome4 ,the ,holy ,father loves all mankind with a tender and touching love2 his heart bleeds at the sight of bloodshed and suffering1 and he pleads the sacred cause of peace on earth and good-will toward men4 ,but what was the ,holy ,father doing through the forty-three years that the ,potsdam gang were preparing for their assault on the world8 ,how was the ,holy ,father manifesting his love of peace and good will8 ,he is1 you understand1 the sole1 last1 supreme judge of what is right and wrong1 and his followers obey him with the utmost promptness and devotion--they express themselves as prostrate at his feet4 ,and when the masters of ,prussia came to him and said3 ,give us the power to turn this nation into the world's greatest military empire--what did the ,roman ,church answer8 ,did it speak boldly for the gentle ,jesus1 and the cause of peace on earth and good-will towards men8 ,no1 it did not4 ,to ,bismarck in ,germany it said1 precisely as it said to ,mark ,hanna in ,america3 ,give us honors and prestige2 give us power over the minds of the young1 so that we may plunder the poor and build our cathedrals and feed fat our greed2 and in return we will furnish you with votes1 so that you may rule the state and do what you will4 ,you think there is exaggeration in that statement8 ,why1 we know the very names of the prelates with whom the master-cynic of the ,junkerthum made his deal4 ,he had tried the method of the ,kultur-kampf1 and had failed2 but before he repealed the anti-,catholic laws1 he made sure that the ,church had learned its lesson1 and would nevermore oppose the ,prussian ruling caste4 ,we know how this bargain was carried out2 we have the record of the ,centrum1 the ,catholic party of ,germany1 whose hundred deputies were the solid rock upon which the military regime of ,prussia was erected4 ,not a battle-ship nor a ,zeppelin was built for which the ,black ,terror did not vote the funds2 not a school-child was beaten in ,posen or ,alsace that the ,new ,inquisition did not shout its ,hoch6 ,the writer sat in the visitors' gallery of the ,reichstag when the ,socialists were protesting against the torturing of miserable ,herreros in ,africa1 and he heard the deputies of the ,holy ,father's political party screaming their rage like jaguars in a jungle night4 ,all over ,europe the ,catholic ,church organized fake labor unions1 the yellows1 as they were called1 to scab upon the workers and undermine the revolutionary movement4 ,the ,holy ,father himself issued precise instructions for the management of these agencies of betrayal4 ,hear the most pious and benevolent ,leo ,,xiii3 ,they must pay special and principal attention to piety and morality1 and their internal discipline must be directed precisely by these considerations2 otherwise they entirely lose their special character1 and come to be very little better than those societies which take no account of ,religion at all4 ,it is so hard1 you see1 to keep a man thinking about piety and morality while he is starving6 ,i am quoting from the ,encyclical ,letter on ,the ,condition of ,labor1 issued in #ahia1 and addressed to our ,venerable ,brethren1 all ,patriarchs1 ,primates1 ,archbishops and ,bishops of the ,catholic ,world in ,grace and ,communion with the ,apostolic ,see4 ,the purpose of the letter is to refute false teaching1 and the substance of its message is3 ,this great labor question cannot be solved except by assuming as a principle that private property must be held sacred and inviolable4 ,and again1 the purpose of churches proclaimed in language as frank as any used in the present book3 ,the chief thing to be secured is the safe-guarding1 by legal enactment and policy1 of private property4 ,most of all it is essential in these times of covetous greed1 to keep the multitude within the line of duty2 for if all may justly strive to benefit their condition1 yet neither justice nor the common good allows any one to seize that which belongs to another1 or1 under the pretext of futile and ridiculous equality1 to lay hands on other peoples' fortunes4 ,and this1 you understand1 in lands where rapine and conquest1 class-tyranny and priestly domination have been the custom since the dawn of history2 in which no property-right can possibly trace back to any other basis than force4 ,in ,austria1 for example--,austria1 the leader and guardian of the ,holy ,alliance--,austria1 which had no ,reformation1 no ,revolution1 no ,kultur-kampf--,austria1 in which the income of the ,catholic ,primate is #fbe1jjj a year6 ,in other words1 ,austria is still to a large extent a ,priestly ,empire2 and it was ,austria which began the war--began it in a religious quarrel1 with a ,slav people which does not acknowledge the ,holy ,father as the ruler of the world1 but persists in adhering to the ,eastern ,church4 ,so of course to-day1 when ,austria is learning the bitter lesson that they who draw the sword shall perish by the sword1 the heart of the ,holy ,father is wrung with grief1 and he sends out these eloquent peace-notes1 written in ,vienna and edited in ,berlin4 ,and at the same time his private chaplain is convicted and sentenced to prison for life as ,austria's ,master-,spy in ,rome6 ,it is a curious thing to observe--the natural instinct which1 all over the world1 draws ,superstition and ,exploitation together4 ,this war1 which is hailed as a war against autocracy1 might almost as accurately be described as a war against the clerical system4 ,wherever in the world you find the ,papal power strong1 there you find sympathy with the ,prussian infamy and there you find ,german intrigue4 ,in ,spain1 for example2 in ,ireland and ,quebec1 and in the ,argentine4 ,the treatment of ,belgium was a little too raw--too many priests were shot at the outset1 and so ,cardinal ,mercier denounces the ,germans2 but you notice that he pleads in vain with the ,vatican1 which stands firm by its beloved ,austria1 and against the godless kingdom of ,italy4 ,the ,kaiser allows the hope of restoration of the temporal power at the peace settlement2 and meantime the law forbidding the presence of the ,jesuits in ,germany has been repealed1 and all over the world the propagandists of this order are working for the ,kaiser4 ,sir ,roger ,casement was raised a ,catholic1 and so also ,jim ,larkin1 the ,irish labor-leader who is touring ,america denouncing the ,allies4 ,the ,catholic ,bishop of ,melbourne opposed and beat conscription in ,australia1 and it was ,catholic propaganda of treachery among the ignorant peasant-soldiers from ,sicily which caused the breaking of the ,italian line at ,tolmino4 ,so deeply has this instinct worked that1 in the fall of #aiag while the ,socialist party in ,new ,york was campaigning for immediate peace1 the ,catholic ,irish suddenly forgot their ancient horrors4 ,the ,catholic ,freeman's ,journal published nine articles favoring ,socialism in a single issue2 while even ,the ,tablet1 the diocesan paper1 began to discover that the ,socialists were not such bad fellows after all4 ,the same ,tablet which a few years ago allowed ,father ,belford to declare that ,socialists were mad dogs who should be stopped with a bullet6 ,p4 ,s4 ,the reader will be interested to know that for the statements on page #aee1 ,upton ,sinclair was described as a scoundrel by a former prime minister of the ,austrian ,empire1 and brought suit against the gentleman1 and after a court trial was awarded damages of #ejj1jjj crowns--about #g in ,american money4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,book ,,four ,the ,church of the ,slavers ,bee1 underneath the ,crown of ,thorn1 ,the eye-balls fierce1 the features grim6 ,and merrily from night to morn ,we chaunt his praise and worship him-- ,great ,christus-,jingo1 at whose feet ,christian and ,jew and ,atheist meet6 ,a wondrous god6 most fit for those ,who cheat on ',change1 then creep to prayer2 ,blood on his heavenly altar flows1 ,hell's burning incense fills the air1 ,and ,death attests in street and lane ,the hideous glory of his reign4 --,buchanan 99 99 99 99 99 ,face of ,caesar ,the thesis of this book is the effect of fixed dogma in producing mental paralysis1 and the use of this mental paralysis by ,economic ,exploitation4 ,from that standpoint the various ,protestant sects are better than the ,catholic1 but not much better4 ,the ,catholics stand upon ,tradition1 the ,protestants upon an ,inspired ,word2 but since this ,word is the entire literary product1 history and biography1 science and legislation1 poetry1 drama and fiction of a whole people for something like a thousand years1 it is possible by judicious selection of texts to prove anything you wish to prove and to justify anything you wish to do4 ,the ,holy ,book being full of polygamy1 slavery1 rape and wholesale murder1 committed by priests and rulers under the direct orders of ,god1 it was a very simple matter for the ,protestant ,slavers to construct a ,bible defense of their system4 ,they get poor ,jesus because he was given to irony1 that most dangerous form of utterance4 ,if he could come back to life1 and see what men have done with his little joke about the face of ,caesar on the ,roman coin1 ,i think he would drop dead4 ,as for ,paul1 he was a ,roman bureaucrat1 with no nonsense in his make-up2 when he ordered1 ,servants obey your masters1 he meant exactly what he said4 ,the ,roman official stamp which he put upon the gospel of ,jesus has been the salvation of the ,slavers from the ,reformation on4 ,in the time of ,martin ,luther1 the peasants of ,germany were suffering the most atrocious and awful misery2 ,luther himself knew about it1 he had denounced the princely robbers and the priestly land-exploiters with that picturesque violence of which he was a master4 ,but nothing had been done about it1 nothing ever is done about it--until at last the miserable peasants attempted to organize and win their own rights4 ,their demands do not seem to us so very criminal as we read them today2 the privilege of electing their own pastors1 the abolition of villeinage1 the right to hunt and fish and cut wood in the forest1 the reduction of exorbitant rents1 extra payment for extra labor1 and--that universal cry of peasant communes whether in ,russia1 ,england1 ,mexico or sixteenth century ,germany--the restoration to the village of lands taken by fraud4 ,but ,luther would hear nothing of slaves asserting their own rights1 and took refuge in the ,pauline sociology3 ,if they really wished to follow ,christ1 they would drop the sword and resort to prayer2 the gospel has to do with spiritual1 not temporal1 affairs2 earthly society cannot exist without inequalities1 etc4 ,and when the peasants went on in spite of this1 he turned upon them and denounced them to the princes2 he issued proclamations which might have been the instructions of ,mr4 ,john ,wanamaker to the police-force of his ,city of ,brotherly ,love3 ,one cannot answer a rebel with reason1 but the best answer is to hit him with the fist until blood flows from the nose4 ,he issued a letter3 ,against the ,murderous and ,thieving ,mob of ,peasants1 which might have come from the ,reverend ,woelfkin1 ,fifth ,avenue ,pastor of ,standard ,oil3 ,the ass needs to be beaten1 and the populace needs to be controlled with a strong hand4 ,god knew this well1 and therefore he gave the rulers1 not a fox's tail1 but a sword4 ,he implored these rulers1 after the fashion of ,methodist ,chancellor ,day of the ,university of ,syracuse3 ,do not be troubled about the severity of their repression1 for it will save many souls4 ,with such pious exhortations in their ears the princes set to work1 and slaughtered a hundred thousand of the miserable wretches2 they completely aborted the social hopes of the ,reformation1 and cast humanity into the pit of wage-slavery and militarism for four centuries4 ,as a church scholar1 ,prof4 ,rauschenbusch1 puts it3 ,the glorious years of the ,lutheran ,reformation were from #aeag to #aebe1 when the whole nation was in commotion1 and a great revolutionary tidal wave seemed to be sweeping every class and every higher interest one step nearer to its ideal of life4444 ,the ,lutheran ,reformation had been most truly religious and creative when it embraced the whole of human life and enlisted the enthusiasm of all ideal men and movements4 ,when it became religious in the narrow sense1 it grew scholastic and spiny1 quarrelsome1 and impotent to awaken high enthusiasm and noble life4 ,deutschland ueber ,alles ,as a result of ,luther's treason to humanity1 his church became the state church of ,prussia1 and ,bible-worship and ,devil-terror played their part1 along with the ,mass and the ,confessional1 in building up the ,junker dream4 ,a court official--the ,oberhofprediger--was set up1 and from that time on the ,hohenzollerns were the most pious criminals in ,europe4 ,frederick the ,great1 the ancestral genius1 was an atheist and a scoffer1 but he believed devoutly in religion for his subjects4 ,he said3 ,if my soldiers were to begin to think1 not one would remain in the ranks4 ,and ,carlyle1 instinctive friend of autocrats1 tells with jocular approval how he kept them from thinking3 ,he recognizes the uses of ,religion2 takes a good deal of pains with his ,preaching ,clergy2 will suggest texts to them2 and for the rest expects to be obeyed by them1 as by his ,sergeants and ,corporals4 ,indeed1 the reverend men feel themselves to be a body of ,spiritual ,sergeants1 ,corporals1 and ,captains1 to whom obedience is the rule1 and discontent a thing not to be indulged in by any means4 ,so the soldiers stayed in the ranks1 and ,frederick raided ,silesia and ,poland4 ,his successors ordered all the ,protestant sects into one1 so that they might be more easily controlled2 from which time the ,lutheran ,church has been a department of the ,prussian state1 in some cases a branch of the municipal authority4 ,in #ahdh1 when the people of various ,german states demanded their liberty1 it was an ultra-pious king of ,prussia who sent his troops and shot them down--precisely as ,luther had advised to shoot down the peasants4 ,at this time the future maker of the ,german ,empire rose in the ,landtag and made his bow before the world2 a young ,prussian land-magnate1 ,otto von ,bismarck by name1 he shook his fist in the face of the new ,german liberalism1 and incidentally of the new ,german infidelity3 ,christianity is the solid basis of ,prussia2 and no state erected upon any other foundation can permanently exist4 ,the present ,hohenzollern has diligently maintained this tradition of his line4 ,it was his custom to tour the ,empire in a train of blue and white cars1 carrying as many costumes as any stage favorite1 most of them military2 with him on the train went the ,prussian god1 and there was scarcely a performance at which this god did not appear1 also in military costume4 ,after the failure of the ,kultur-kampf1 the official ,lutheran religion was ordered to make friends with its ancient enemy1 the ,catholic ,church4 ,said the ,kaiser3 ,i make no difference between the adherents of the ,catholic and ,protestant creeds4 ,let them both stand upon the foundation of ,christianity1 and they are both bound to be true citizens and obedient subjects4 ,then the ,german people will be the rock of granite upon which our ,lord ,god can build and complete his work of ,kultur in the world4 ,and here is the oath required of the ,catholic clergy1 upon their admission to equality of trustworthiness with their ,protestant confreres3 ,i will be submissive1 faithful and obedient to his ,royal ,majesty1--and his lawful successors in the government1--as my most gracious ,king and ,sovereign2 promote his welfare according to my ability2 prevent injury and detriment to him2 and particularly endeavor carefully to cultivate in the minds of the people under my care a sense of reverence and fidelity towards the ,king1 love for the ,fatherland1 obedience to the laws1 and all those virtues which in a ,christian denote a good citizen2 and ,i will not suffer any man to teach or act in a contrary spirit4 ,in particular ,i vow that ,i will not support any society or association1 either at home or abroad1 which might endanger the public security1 and will inform ,his ,majesty of any proposal made1 either in my diocese or elsewhere1 which might prove injurious to the ,state4 ,and later on this heaven-guided ruler conceived the scheme of a ,berlin-,bagdad railway1 for which he needed one religion more2 he paid a visit to ,constantinople1 and made another debut and produced another god--with the result that millions of ,turks are fighting under the belief that the ,kaiser is a convert to the faith of ,mohammed6 ,der ,tag4 ,all this was1 of course1 in preparation for the great event to which all good ,germans looked forward--to which all ,german officers drank their toasts at banquets--the ,day4 ,this glorious day came1 and the field-gray armies marched forth1 and the ,pauline-,lutheran ,god marched with them4 ,the ,kaiser1 as usual1 acted as spokesman3 ,remember that the ,german people are the chosen of ,god4 ,on me1 the ,german emperor1 the spirit of ,god has descended4 ,i am ,his sword1 ,his weapon and ,his viceregent4 ,woe to the disobedient and death to cowards and unbelievers4 ,as to the ,prussian state religion1 its attitude to the war is set forth in a little book written by a high clerical personage1 the ,herr ,consistorialrat ,dietrich ,vorwerk1 containing prayers and hymns for the soldiers1 and for the congregations at home4 ,here is an appeal to the ,lord ,god of ,battles3 ,though the warrior's bread be scanty1 do ,thou work daily death and tenfold woe unto the enemy4 ,forgive in merciful long-suffering each bullet and each blow which misses its mark4 ,lead us not into the temptation of letting our wrath be too tame in carrying out ,thy divine judgment4 ,deliver us and our ally from the ,infernal ,enemy and his servants on earth4 ,thine is the kingdom1 the ,german land2 may we1 by the aid of ,thy steel-clad hand1 achieve the fame and the glory4 ,it is this ,herr ,consistorialrat who has perpetrated the great masterpiece of humor of the war--the hymn in which he appeals to that ,god who keeps guard over ,cherubim1 ,seraphim1 and ,zeppelins4 ,you have to say over the ,german form of these words in order to get the effect of their delicious melody--,cherubinen1 ,seraphinen1 ,zeppelinen6 ,and lest you think that this too-musical clergyman is a rara avis1 turn to the little book which has been published in ,english under the same title as ,herr ,vorwerk's ,hurrah and ,hallelujah4 ,here is the ,reverend ,s4 ,lehmann3 ,germany is the center of ,god's plans for the world4 ,germany's fight against the whole world is in reality the battle of the spirit against the whole world's infamy1 falsehood and devilish cunning4 ,and here is ,pastor ,k4 ,koenig3 ,it was ,god's will that we should will the war4 ,and ,pastor ,j4 ,rump3 ,our defeat would mean the defeat of ,his ,son in humanity4 ,we fight for the cause of ,jesus within mankind4 ,and here is an eminent theological professor3 ,the deepest and most thought-inspiring result of the war is the ,german ,god4 ,not the national ,god such as the lower nations worship1 but our ,god1 who is not ashamed of belonging to us1 the peculiar acquirement of our heart4 ,king ,cotton ,it is a cheap way to gain applause in these days1 to denounce the ,prussian system2 my only purpose is to show that ,bible-worship1 precisely as saint-worship or totem-worship1 delivers the worshipper up to the ,slavers4 ,this truth has held in ,america1 precisely as in ,prussia4 ,during the middle of the last century there was fought out a mighty issue in our free republic2 and what was the part played in this struggle by the ,bible-cults8 ,hear the testimony of ,william ,lloyd ,garrison3 ,american ,christianity is the main pillar of ,american slavery4 ,hear ,parker ,pillsbury3 ,we had almost to abolish the ,church before we could reach the dreadful institution at all4 ,in the year #ahah the ,presbyterian ,general ,assembly1 which represented the churches of the ,south as well as of the ,north1 passed by a unanimous vote a resolution to the effect that ,slavery is utterly inconsistent with the law of ,god1 which requires us to love our neighbor as ourselves4 ,but in a generation the views of the entire ,south1 including the ,presbyterian ,church1 had changed entirely4 ,what was the reason8 ,had the law of ,god been altered8 ,had some new revelation been handed down8 ,nothing of the kind2 it was merely that a ,yankee by the name of ,eli ,whitney had perfected a machine to take the seeds out of short staple cotton4 ,the cotton crop of the ,south increased from four thousand bales in #agia to four hundred and fifty thousand in #ahbj and five million1 four hundred thousand in #ahfj4 ,there was a new monarch1 ,king ,cotton1 and his empire depended upon slaves4 ,according to the custom of monarchs since the dawn of history1 he hired the ministers of ,god to teach that what he wanted was right and holy4 ,from one end of the ,south to the other the pulpits rang with the text3 ,cursed be ,canaan2 a servant to servants shall he be to his brethren4 ,the learned ,bishop ,hopkins1 in his ,bible ,view of ,slavery1 gave the standard interpretation of this text3 ,the ,almighty1 forseeing the total degredation of the ,negro race1 ordained them to servitude or slavery under the descendants of ,shem and ,japheth1 doubtless because he judged it to be their fittest condition4 ,i might fill the balance of this volume with citations from defenses of the peculiar institution in the name of ,jesus ,christ--and not only from the ,south1 but from the ,north4 ,for it must be understood that leading families of ,massachusetts and ,new ,york owed their power to ,slavery2 their fathers had brought molasses from ,new ,orleans and made it into rum1 and taken it to the coast of ,africa to be exchanged for slaves for the ,southern planters4 ,and after this trade was outlawed1 the slave-grown cotton had still to be shipped to the ,north and spun2 so the traders of the ,north must have divine sanction for the ,fugitive ,slave law4 ,here is the ,bishop of ,vermont declaring3 ,the slavery of the negro race appears to me to be fully authorized both in the ,old and ,new ,testaments4 ,here in the ,true ,presbyterian1 of ,new ,york1 giving the decision of a clerical man of the world3 ,there is no debasement in it4 ,it might have existed in ,paradise1 and it may continue through the ,millenium4 ,and when the slave-holding oligarchy of the ,south rose in arms against those who presumed to interfere with this divine institution1 the men of ,god of the ,south called down blessings upon their armies in words which1 with the proper change of names1 might have been spoken in ,berlin in ,august1 #aiad4 ,thus ,dr4 ,thornwell1 one of the leading ,presbyterian divines of the ,south3 ,the triumph of ,lincoln's principles is the death-knell of slavery4444 ,let us crush the serpent in the egg4 ,and the ,reverend ,dr4 ,smythe of ,charleston3 ,the war is a war against slavery1 and is therefore treasonable rebellion against the ,word1 ,providence and ,government of ,god4 ,i read in the papers1 as ,i am writing1 how the clergy of ,germany are thundering against ,president ,wilson's declaration that that country must become democratic4 ,here is a manifesto of the ,german ,evangelical ,league1 made public on the four hundredth anniversary of the ,reformation3 ,we especially warn against the heresy1 promulgated from ,america1 that ,christianity enjoins democratic institutions1 and that they are an essential condition of the kingdom of ,god on earth4 ,in exactly the same way the religious bodies of the entire ,south united in an address to ,christians throughout the world1 early in the year #ahfc3 ,the recent proclamation of the ,president of the ,united ,states1 seeking the emancipation of the slaves of the ,south1 is in our judgment occasion of solemn protest on the part of the people of ,god4 ,witches and ,women ,to whatever part of the world you travel1 to whatever page of history you turn1 you find the endowed and established clergy using the word of ,god in defense of whatever form of slave-driving may then be popular and profitable4 ,two or three hundred years ago it was the custom of ,protestant divines in ,england and ,america to hang poor old women as witches2 only a hundred and fifty years ago we find ,john ,wesley1 founder of ,methodism1 declaring that the giving up of witchcraft is in effect the giving up of the ,bible4 ,and if you investigate this witch-burning1 you will find that it is only one aspect of a blot upon civilization1 the ,christian ,mysogyny4 ,you see1 there were two ,hebrew legends--one that woman was made out of a man's rib1 and the other that she ate an apple2 therefore in modern ,england a wife must be content with a legal status lower than a domestic servant4 ,perhaps the most comical of the clerical claims is this--that ,christianity has promoted chivalry and respect for womanhood4 ,in ancient ,greece and ,rome the woman was the equal and helpmate of man2 we read in ,tacitus about the splendid women of the ,germans1 who took part in public councils1 and even fought in battles4 ,two thousand years before the ,christian era we are told by ,maspero that the ,egyptian woman was the mistress of her house2 she could inherit equally with her brothers1 and had full control of her property4 ,we are told by ,paturet that she was juridically the equal of man1 having the same rights and being treated in the same fashion4 ,but in present-day ,england1 under the common law1 woman can hold no office of trust or power1 and her husband has the sole custody of her person1 and of her children while minors4 ,he can steal her children1 rob her of her clothing1 and beat her with a stick provided it is no thicker than his thumb4 ,while ,i was in ,london the highest court handed down a decision on the law which does not permit a woman to divorce her husband for infidelity1 unless it has been accompanied by cruelty2 a man had brought his mistress into his home and compelled his wife to work for and wait upon her1 and the decision was that this was not cruelty in the meaning of the law6 ,and if you say that this enslavement of ,woman has nothing to do with religion--that ancient ,hebrew fables do not control modern ,english customs--then listen to the ,vicar of ,crantock1 preaching at ,st4 ,crantock's1 ,london1 ,aug4 #bgth1 #aije1 and explaining why women must cover their heads in church3 7#a7 ,man's priority of creation4 ,adam was first formed1 then ,eve4 7#b7 ,the manner of creation4 ,the man is not of the woman1 but the woman of the man4 7#c7 ,the purport of creation4 ,the man was not created for the woman1 but the woman for the man4 7#d7 ,results in creation4 ,the man is the image of the glory of ,god1 but woman is the glory of man4 7#e7 ,woman's priority in the fall4 ,adam was not deceived2 but the woman1 being deceived1 was in the transgression4 7#f7 ,the marriage relation4 ,as the ,church is subject to ,christ1 so let the wives be to their husbands4 7#g7 ,the headship of man and woman4 ,the head of every man is ,christ1 but the head of the woman is man4 ,i say there is no modern evil which cannot be justified by these ancient texts2 and there is nowhere in ,christendom a clergy which cannot be persuaded to cite them at the demand of ruling classes4 ,in the city where ,i write1 three clergymen are being sent to jail for six months for protesting against the use of the name of ,jesus in the wholesale slaughter of men4 ,now1 ,i am backing this war4 ,i know that it has to be fought1 and ,i want to see it fought as hard as possible2 but ,i want to leave ,jesus out of it1 for ,i know that ,jesus did not believe in war1 and never could have been brought to support a war4 ,i object to clerical cant on the subject2 and ,i note that an eminent theological authority1 ,billy ,sunday1 appears to agree with me2 for ,i find him on the front page of my morning paper1 assailing the three pacifist clergymen1 and making his appeal not to ,jesus1 but to the blood-thirsty tribal diety of the ancient ,hebrews3 ,i suppose they think they know more than ,god ,almighty1 who commanded the sun to stand still while ,joshua won the battle for the ,lord2 more than the ,god who made ,samson strong so he could slay thousands of his nation's enemies in a righteous cause4 ,right you are1 ,billy6 ,and if the capitalist system continues to develop unchecked1 we shall some day see it dawn upon the masters of the world how wasteful it is to permit the superannuated workers to perish by slow starvation4 ,so much more sensible to make use of them6 ,so we shall have a ,bible defense of cannibalism2 we shall hear our evangelists quoting ,leviticus3 ,they shall eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters4 ,or perhaps some of our leisure-class ladies might make the discovery that the flesh of working-class babies is relished by pomeranians and poodles4 ,if so1 the ,billy ,sundays of the twenty-first century may discover the text3 ,happy shall be he that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones4 ,moth and ,rust ,it is especially interesting to notice what happens when the ,bible texts work against the interests of the ,slavers and their clerical retainers4 ,then they are null and void--and no matter how precise and explicit and unmistakable they may be6 ,take for example the ,sabbath injunction3 ,six days shalt thou labor and do all that thou hast to do4 ,karl ,marx records of the pious ,england of his time that ,occasionally in rural districts a day-labourer is condemned to imprisonment for desecrating the ,sabbath by working in his front garden4 ,the same labourer is punished for breach of contract if he remains away from his metal1 paper or glass works on the ,sunday1 even if it be from a religious whim4 ,the orthodox ,parliament will hear nothing of ,sabbath-breaking if it occurs in the process of expanding capital4 ,or consider the attitude of the ,church in the matter of usury4 ,throughout ancient ,hebrew history the money-lender was an outcast2 both the law and the prophets denounced him without mercy1 and it was made perfectly clear that what was meant was1 not the taking of high interest1 but the taking of any interest whatsoever4 ,the early church fathers were explicit1 and the ,catholic ,church for a thousand years consigned money-lenders unhesitatingly to hell4 ,but then came the modern commercial system1 and the money-lenders became the masters of the world6 ,there is no more amusing illustration of the perversion of human thought than the efforts of the ,jesuit casuists to escape from the dilemma into which their ,heavenly ,guides had trapped them4 ,here1 for example is ,alphonso ,ligouri1 a ,spanish ,jesuit of the eighteenth century1 a doctor of the ,church1 now worshipped as ,st4 ,alphonsus1 presenting a long and elaborate theory of mental usury2 concluding that1 if the borrower pay interest of his own free will1 the lender may keep it4 ,in answer to the question whether the lender may keep what the borrower pays1 not out of gratitude1 but out of fear that otherwise loans will be refused to him in future1 ,ligouri says that to be usury1 it must be paid by reason of a contract1 or as justly due2 payment by reason of such a fear does not cause interest to be paid as an actual price4 ,again the great saint and doctor tells us that it is not usury to exact something in return for the danger and expense of regaining the principal6 ,could the house of ,j4 ,p4 ,morgan and ,company ask more of their ecclesiastical department8 ,the reader may think that such sophistications are now out of date2 but he will find precisely the same knavery in the efforts of present-day ,slavers to fit ,jesus ,christ into the system of competitive commercialism4 ,jesus1 as we have pointed out1 was a carpenter's son1 a thoroughly class-conscious proletarian4 ,he denounced the exploiters of his own time with ferocious bitterness1 he drove the money-changers out of the temple with whips1 and he finally died the death of a common criminal4 ,if he had forseen the whole modern cycle of capitalism and wage-slavery1 he could hardly have been more precise in his exortations to his followers to stand apart from it4 ,but did all this avail him8 ,not in the least6 ,i place upon the witness-stand an exponent of ,bible-,christianity whom all readers of our newspapers know well3 a scholar of learning1 a publicist of renown2 once pastor of the most famous church in ,brooklyn2 now editor of our most influential religious weekly2 a liberal both in theology and politics2 a modernist1 an advocate of what he calls industrial democracy4 ,his name is ,lyman ,abbott1 and he is writing under his own signature in his own magazine1 his subject being ,the ,ethical ,teachings of ,jesus4 ,several times ,i have tried to persuade people that the words ,i am about to quote were actually written and published by this eminent doctor of divinity1 and people have almost refused to believe me4 ,therefore ,i specify that the article may be found in the ,outlook1 the bound volumes of which are in all large libraries3 volume #id1 page #egf4 ,the words are as follows1 the bold face being ,dr4 ,abbott's1 not mine3 ,my radical friend declares that the teachings of ,jesus are not practicable1 that we cannot carry them out in life1 and that we do not pretend to do so4 ,jesus1 he reminds us1 said1 ',lay not up for yourself treasures upon earth2' and ,christians do universally lay up for themselves treasures upon earth2 every man that owns a house and lot1 or a share of stock in a corporation1 or a life insurance policy1 or money in a savings bank1 has laid up for himself treasure upon earth4 ,but ,jesus did not say1 ,lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth4 ,he said1 ,lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal4 ,and no sensible ,american does4 ,moth and rust do not get at ,mr4 ,rockefeller's oil wells1 nor at the ,sugar ,trust's sugar1 and thieves do not often break through and steal a railway or an insurance company or a savings bank4 ,what ,jesus condemned was hoarding wealth4 ,strange as it may sound to some of the readers of this book1 ,i count myself among the followers of ,jesus of ,nazareth4 ,his example has meant more to me than that of any other man1 and all the experiences of my revolutionary life have brought me nearer to him4 ,living in the great ,metropolis of ,mammon1 ,i have felt the power of ,privilege1 its scourge upon my back1 its crown of thorns upon my head4 ,when ,i read that article in the ,outlook1 ,i felt just as ,jesus himself would have felt2 and ,i sat down and wrote a letter-- ,to ,lyman ,abbott ,this discovery of a new method of interpreting the ,bible is one of such very great interest and importance that ,i cannot forbear to ask space to comment upon it4 ,may ,i suggest that ,dr4 ,abbott elaborate this exceedingly fruitful lea1 and write us another article upon the extent to which the teachings of the ,inspired ,word are modified by modern conditions1 by the progress of invention and the scientific arts8 ,the point of view which ,dr4 ,abbott takes is one which had never occurred to me before1 and ,i had therefore been completely mistaken as to the attitude of ,jesus on the question4 ,also ,i have1 like ,dr4 ,abbott1 many radical friends who are still laboring under error4 ,jesus goes on to bid his hearers3 ,consider the lilies of the field1 how they grow2 they toil not1 neither do they spin4 ,what an apt simile is this for the great mass of ,american wealth1 in ,dr4 ,abbott's portrayal of it6 ,it is serving the community1 he tells us2 it is building a railway to open a new country to settlement by the homeless2 it is operating a railway to carry grain from the harvests of the ,west to the unfed millions of the ,east1 etc4 ,incidentally1 it is piling up dividends for its pious owners2 and so everybody is happy--and ,jesus1 if he should come back to earth1 could never know that he had left the abodes of bliss above4 ,truly1 there should be a new school of ,bible interpretation founded upon this brilliant idea4 ,jesus says1 ,therefore when thou doest thine alms1 do not sound a trumpet before thee1 as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets1 that they may have glory of men4 ,verily not2 for of what avail are trumpets1 compared with the millions of copies of newspapers which daily go forth to tell of ,mr4 ,rockefeller's benefactions8 ,how transitory are they1 compared with the graven marble or granite which ,mr4 ,carnegie sets upon the front of each of his libraries6 ,there is the paragraph1 ,neither shalt thou swear by thy head1 because thou canst not make one hair white or black4 ,i have several among my friends who are ,quakers2 presumably ,dr4 ,abbott has also2 and he should not fail to point out to them the changes which scientific discovery has wrought in the significance of this command against swearing4 ,we can now make our hair either white or black1 or a combination of both4 ,we can make it a brilliant peroxide golden2 we could1 if pushed to an extreme1 make it purple or green4 ,so we are clearly entitled to swear all we please by our head4 ,nor should we forget to examine other portions of the ,bible according to this method4 ,look not upon the wine when it is red1 we are told4 ,thanks to the activities of that ,capitalism which ,dr4 ,abbott praises so eloquently1 we now make our beverages in the chemical laboratory1 and their color is a matter of choice4 ,also1 it should be pointed out that we have a number of pleasant drinks which are not wine at all--high-balls and gin rickeys and peppered punches2 also vermouthe and creme de menthe and absinthe1 which ,i believe1 are green in hue1 and therefore entirely safe4 ,then there are the ,ten ,commandments4 ,thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image4 ,see how completely our understanding of this command is changed1 so soon as we realize that we are free to make images of molten metal6 ,and that we may with impunity bow down to them and worship them and serve them--even1 for instance1 a ,golden ,calf6 ,the seventh day is the sabbath of the ,lord thy ,god2 in it thou shalt not do any work1 thou1 nor thy son1 nor thy daughter1 thy manservant1 nor thy maidservant1 nor thy cattle1 nor the stranger that is within thy gates4 ,this1 again1 it will be noted1 is open to new interpretations4 ,it specifies maidservants1 but does not prevent one's employing as many married women as he pleases4 ,it also says nothing about the various kinds of labor-saving machinery which we have now taught to work for us--sail-boats1 naptha launches1 yachts1 automobiles1 and private cars--all of which may be busily occupied during the seventh day of the week4 ,the men who run these machines--the guides1 boatmen1 stokers1 pilots1 chauffeurs1 and engineers--would all indignantly resent being regarded as-servants1 and so they do not come under the prohibition any more than the machines4 ,thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house1 thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife1 nor his manservant1 nor his maidservant1 nor his ox1 nor his ass1 nor anything that is thy neighbor's4 ,i read this paragraph over for the first time in quite a while1 and ,i came with a jolt to its last words4 ,i had been intending to point out that it said nothing about a neighbor's automobile1 nor a neighbor's oil wells1 sugar trusts1 insurance companies and savings banks4 ,the last words1 however1 stop one of-abruptly4 ,one is almost tempted to imagine that the ,divine ,intelligence must have foreseen ,dr4 ,abbott's ingenious method of interpretation1 and taken this precaution against him4 ,and this was a great surprise to me--for1 truly1 ,i had not supposed it possible that such an interpretation could have been foreseen1 even by ,omniscience itself4 ,i will conclude this communication by venturing the assertion that it could not have been foreseen by any other person or thing1 in the heavens above1 on the earth beneath1 or the waters under the earth4 ,dr4 ,abbott may accept my congratulations upon having achieved the most ingenious and masterful exhibition of casuistical legerdemain that it has ever been my fortune to encounter in my readings in the literatures of some thirty centuries and seven different languages4 ,and ,i will also add that ,i respectfully challenge ,dr4 ,abbott to publish this letter4 ,and ,i announce to him in advance that if he refuses to publish it1 ,i will cause it to be published upon the first page of the ,appeal to ,reason1 where it will be read by some five hundred thousand ,socialists1 and by them set before several million followers of ,jesus ,christ1 the world's first and greatest revolutionist1 whom ,dr4 ,lyman ,abbott has traduced and betrayed by the most amazing piece of theological knavery that it has ever been my fortune to encounter4 ,the ,octopus ,dr4 ,lyman ,abbott published this letter6 ,in his editorial comment thereon he said that he did not know which of two biblical injunctions to follow3 ,answer not a fool according to his folly1 lest thou be thought like unto him2 or ,answer a fool according to his folly1 lest he be wise in his own conceit4 ,i replied by pointing out a third text which the ,reverend ,doctor had possibly overlooked3 ,he that calleth his neighbor a fool shall be in danger of hell-fire4 ,but the ,reverend ,doctor took refuge in his dignity1 and ,i bided my time and waited for that revenge which comes sooner or later to us muck-rakers4 ,in this case it came speedily4 ,the story is such a perfect illustration of the functions of religion as oil to the machinery of graft that ,i ask the reader's permission to recite it at length4 ,for a couple of decades the political and financial life of ,new ,england has been dominated by a gigantic aggregation of capital1 the ,new ,york1 ,new ,haven and ,hartford ,railroad4 ,it is a ,morgan concern2 its popular name1 ,the ,new ,haven1 stands for all the railroads of six states1 nearly all the trolley-lines and steamship-lines1 and a group of the most powerful banks of ,boston and ,new ,york4 ,it is controlled by a little group of insiders1 who followed the custom of rail-road-wrecking familiar to students of ,american industrial life3 buying up new lines1 capitalizing them at fabulous sums1 and unloading them on the investing public2 paying dividends out of capital1 passing dividends as a means of stock manipulation1 accumulating surpluses and cutting melons for the insiders1 while at the same time crushing labor unions1 squeezing wages1 and permitting rolling-stock and equipment to go to wreck4 ,all these facts were perfectly well known in ,wall ,street1 and could not have escaped the knowledge of any magazine editor dealing with current events4 ,in eight years the ,new ,haven had increased its capitalization #aeja per cent2 and what that meant1 any office boy in the ,street could have told4 ,what attitude should a magazine editor take to the matter8 ,at that time there were still two or three free magazines in ,america4 ,one of them was ,hampton's1 and the story of its wrecking by the ,new ,haven criminals will some day serve in school text-books as the classic illustration of that financial piracy which brought on the ,american social revolution4 ,ben ,hampton had bought the old derelict ,broadway ,magazine1 with twelve thousand subscribers1 and in four years1 by the simple process of straight truth-telling1 had built up for it a circulation of #ddj1jjj4 ,in two years more he would have had a million2 but in ,may1 #aiaa1 he announced a series of articles dealing with the ,new ,haven management4 ,the articles1 written by ,charles ,edward ,russell1 were so exact that they read today like the reports of the ,interstate ,commerce ,commission1 dated three years later4 ,a representative of the ,new ,haven called upon the editor of ,hampton's with a proof of the first article--obtained from the printer by bribery--and was invited to specify the statements to which he took exception2 in the presence of witnesses he went over the article line by line1 and specified two minor errors1 which were at once corrected4 ,at the end of the conference he announced that if the articles were published1 ,hampton's ,magazine would be on the rocks in ninety days4 ,which threat was carried out to the letter4 ,first came a campaign among the advertisers of the magazine1 which lost an income of thousands of dollars a month1 almost over night4 ,and then came a campaign among the banks--the magazine could not get credit4 ,anyone familiar with the publishing business will understand that a magazine which is growing rapidly has to have advances to meet each month's business4 ,hampton undertook to raise the money by selling stock2 whereupon a spy was introduced into his office as bookkeeper1 his list of subscribers was stolen1 and a campaign was begun to destroy their confidence4 ,it happened that ,i was in ,hampton's office in the summer of #aiaa1 when the crisis came4 ,money had to be had to pay for a huge new edition2 and upon a property worth two millions of dollars1 with endorsements worth as much again1 it was impossible to borrow thirty thousand dollars in the city of ,new ,york4 ,bankers1 personal friends of the publisher1 stated quite openly that word had gone out that any one who loaned money to him would be broken4 ,i myself sent telegrams to everyone ,i knew who might by any chance be able to help2 but there was no help1 and ,hampton retired without a dollar to his name1 and the magazine was sold under the hammer to a concern which immediately wrecked it and discontinued publication4 ,the ,industrial ,shelley ,such was the fate of an editor who opposed the ,new ,haven4 ,and now1 what of those editors who supported it8 ,turn to ,the ,outlook1 a ,weekly ,journal of ,current ,events1 edited by ,lyman ,abbott--the issue of ,dec4 #beth1 nineteen hundred and nine years after ,christ came down to bring peace on earth and good-will toward ,wall ,street4 ,you will there find an article by ,sylvester ,baxter entitled ,the ,upbuilding of a ,great ,railroad4 ,it is the familiar slush article which we professional writers learn to know at a glance4 ,prodigious1 ,mr4 ,baxter tells us1 has been the progress of the ,new ,haven2 this was a masterstroke1 that was characteristically sagacious4 ,the road had made prodigious expenditures1 and to a noble end3 ,transportation efficiency epitomizes the broad aim that animated these expenditures and other constructive activities4 ,there are photographs of bridges and stations--vast terminal improvements1 a masterpiece of modern engineering1 the highest1 greatest and most architectural of bridges4 ,of the official under whom these miracles were being wrought--,president ,mellen--we read3 ,nervously organized1 of delicate sensibility1 impulsive in utterance1 yet with an extraordinarily convincing power for vividly logical presentation4 ,an industrial ,shelley1 or a ,milton1 you perceive2 and all this prodigious genius poured out for the general welfare6 ,to study out the sort of transportation service best adapted to these ends1 and then to provide it in the most efficient form possible1 that is the life-task that ,president ,mellen has set himself4 ,there was no less than sixteen pages of these raptures--quite a section of a small magazine like the ,outlook4 ,the ,new ,haven ramifies to every spot where industry flourishes1 where business thrives4 ,as a purveyor of transportation it supplies the public with just the sort desired4 ,here we have the new efficiency in a nutshell4 ,in short1 here we have what ,dr4 ,lyman ,abbott means when he glorifies the great mass of ,american wealth4 ,it is serving the community2 it is building a railway to open a new country to settlement by the homeless2 it is operating a railway to carry grain from the harvests of the ,west to the unfed millions of the ,east1 etc4 ,the unfed millions--my typewriter started to write underfed millions--are humbly grateful for these services1 and hasten to buy copies of the pious weekly which tells about them4 ,the ,outlook runs a column of current events in which it tells what is happening in the world2 and sometimes it is compelled to tell of happenings against the interests of the great mass of ,american wealth4 ,the cynical reader will find amusement in following its narrative of the affairs of the ,new ,haven during the five years subsequent to the publication of the ,baxter article4 ,first came the collapse of the road's service2 a series of accidents so frightful that they roused even clergymen and chambers of commerce to protest4 ,a number of the ,outlook's subscribers are ,new ,haven commuters1 and the magazine could not fail to refer to their troubles4 ,in the issue of ,jan4 #dth1 #aiac1 three years and ten days after the ,baxter rhapsody1 we read3 ,the most numerous accidents on a single road since the last fiscal year have been1 we believe1 those on the ,new ,haven4 ,in the opinion of the ,connecticut ,commission1 the ,westport wreck would not have occurred if the railway company had followed the recommendation of the ,chief ,inspector of ,safety ,appliances of the ,interstate ,commerce ,commission in its report on a similar accident at ,bridgeport a year ago4 ,and by ,june #bhth1 matters had gone farther yet2 we find the ,outlook reporting3 ,within a few hours of the collision at ,stamford1 the wrecked ,pullman car was taken away and burned4 ,is this criminal destruction of evidence8 ,this collapse of the railroad service started a clamor for investigation by the ,interstate ,commerce ,commission1 which of course brought terror to the bosoms of the plunderers4 ,on ,dec4 #bj1aiac1 we find the ,outlook putting the soft pedal on the public indignation4 ,it must not be forgotten that such a road as the ,new ,haven is1 in fact if not in terms1 a ,national possession1 and as it goes down or up1 public interests go down or up with it4 ,but in spite of all pious admonitions1 the ,interstate ,commerce ,commission yielded to the public clamor1 and an investigation was made--revealing such conditions of rottenness as to shock even the clerical retainers of ,privilege4 ,securities were inflated1 debt was heaped upon debt1 reports the horrified ,outlook2 and when its hero1 ,mr4 ,mellen--its industrial ,shelley1 nervously organized1 of delicate sensibility--admitted that he had no authority as to the finances of the road and no understanding of them1 but had taken all his orders from ,morgan1 the ,outlook remarks1 deeply wounded3 ,a pitiable position for the president of a great railway to assume4 ,a little later1 when things got hotter yet1 we read3 ,in the search for truth the ,commissioners had to overcome many obstacles1 such as the burning of books1 letters and documents1 and the obstinacy of witnesses1 who declined to testify until criminal proceedings were begun4 ,the ,new ,haven system has more than three hundred subsidiary corporations in a web of entangling alliances1 many of which were seemingly planned1 created and manipulated by lawyers expressly retained for the purpose of concealment or deception4 ,but do you imagine even that would sicken the pious jackals of their offal8 ,if so1 you do not know the sturdiness of the pious stomach4 ,a compromise was patched up between the government and the thieves who were too big to be prosecuted2 this bargain was not kept by the thieves1 and ,president ,wilson declared in a public statement that the ,new ,haven administration had broken an agreement deliberately and solemnly entered into1 in a manner to the ,president inexplicable and entirely without justification4 ,which1 of course1 seemed to the ,outlook dreadfully impolite language to be used concerning a ,national possession2 it hastened to rebuke ,president ,wilson1 whose statement was too severe and drastic4 ,a new compromise was made between the government and the thieves who were too big to be prosecuted1 and the stealing went on4 ,now1 as ,i work over this book1 the ,president takes the railroads for war use1 and reads to ,congress a message proposing that the securities based upon the ,new ,haven swindles1 together with all the mass of other railroad swindles1 shall be sanctified and secured by dividends paid out of the public purse4 ,new ,haven securities take a big jump2 and the ,outlook1 needless to say1 is enthusiastic for the ,president's policy4 ,here is a chance for the big thieves to baptize themselves--or shall we say to have the water in their stocks made holy8 ,says our pious editor1 for the government to take property without full compensation would be contrary to the whole spirit of ,america4 ,the ,outlook for ,graft ,anyone familiar with the magazine world will understand that such crooked work as this1 continued over a long period1 is not done for nothing4 ,any magazine writer would know1 the instant he saw the ,baxter article1 that ,baxter was paid by the ,new ,haven1 and that the ,outlook also was paid by the ,new ,haven4 ,generally he has no way of proving such facts1 and has to sit in silence2 but when his board bill falls due and his landlady is persistent1 he experiences a direct and earnest hatred of the crooks of journalism who thrive at his expense4 ,if he is a ,socialist1 he looks forward to the day when he may sit on a ,publications' ,graft ,commission1 with access to all magazine books which have not yet been burned6 ,in the case of the ,new ,haven1 we know a part of the price--thanks to the labors of the ,interstate ,commerce ,commission4 ,needless to say1 you will not find the facts recorded in the columns of the ,outlook2 you might have read it line by line from the palmy days of ,mellen to our own1 and you would have got no hint of what the ,commission revealed about magazine and newspaper graft4 ,nor would you have got much more from the great metropolitan dailies1 which systematically played down the expose1 omitting all the really damaging details4 ,you would have to go to the reports of the ,commission--or to the files of ,pearson's ,magazine1 which is out of print and not found in libraries6 ,according to the ,new ,haven's books1 and by the admission of its own officials1 the road was spending more than four hundred thousand dollars a year to influence newspapers and magazines in favor of its policies4 7,president ,mellen stated that this was relatively less than any other railroad in the country was spending74 ,there was a professor of the ,harvard ,law ,school1 going about lecturing to boards of trade1 urging in the name of economic science the repeal of laws against railroad monopolies--and being paid for his speeches out of railroad funds6 ,there was a swarm of newspaper reporters1 writing on railroad affairs for the leading papers of ,new ,england1 and getting twenty-five dollars weekly1 or two or three hundred on special occasions4 ,sums had been paid directly to more than a thousand newspapers--#c1jjj to the ,boston ,republic1 and when the question was asked ,why8 the answer was1 ,that is ,mayor ,fitzgerald's paper4 ,even the ultra-respectable ,evening ,transcript1 organ of the ,brahmins of culture1 was down for #add for typing1 mimeographing and sending out dope to the country press4 ,there was an item of #cha for #ae1jjj ,prayers2 and when asked about that ,president ,mellen explained that it referred to a pamphlet called ,prayers from the ,hills1 embodying the yearnings of the back-country people for trolley-franchises to be issued to the ,new ,haven4 ,asked why the pamphlet was called ,prayers1 ,mr4 ,mellen explained that there was lots of biblical language in it4 ,and now we come to the ,outlook2 after five years of waiting1 we catch our pious editors with the goods on them6 ,there appears on the pay-roll of the ,new ,haven1 as one of its regular press-agents1 getting sums like #ejj now and then--would you think it possible8--,sylvester ,baxter6 ,and worse yet1 there appears an item of #ich4fd to the ,outlook1 for a total of #i1gaf copies of its issue of ,dec4 #beth1 nineteen hundred and nine years after ,christ came to bring peace on earth and good will towards ,wall ,street6 ,the writer makes a specialty of fair play1 even when dealing with those who have never practiced it towards him4 ,he wrote a letter to the editor of the ,outlook1 asking what the magazine might have to say upon this matter4 ,the reply1 signed by ,lawrence ,f4 ,abbott1 ,president of the ,outlook ,company1 was that the ,outlook did not know that ,mr4 ,baxter had any salaried connection with the ,new ,haven1 and that they had paid him for the article at the usual rates4 ,against this statement must be set one made under oath by the official of the ,new ,haven who had the disbursing of the corruption fund--that the various papers which used the railroad material paid nothing for it1 and they all knew where it came from4 ,mr4 ,lawrence ,abbott states that the ,new ,haven ,railroad bought copies of the ',outlook' without any previous understanding or arrangement as anybody is entitled to buy copies of the ',outlook'4 ,i might point out that this does not really say as much as it seems to2 for the ,president of every magazine company in ,america knows without any previous understanding or arrangement that any time he cares to print an article such as ,mr4 ,baxter's1 dealing with the affairs of a great corporation1 he can sell ten thousand copies to that corporation4 ,the late unlamented ,elbert ,hubbard wrote a defense of the ,rockefeller slaughter of coal-miners1 published it in ,the ,fra1 and came down to ,new ,york and unloaded several tons at #bf ,broadway2 he did the same thing in the case of the copper strike in ,michigan1 and again in the case of ,the ,jungle--and all this without the slightest claim to divine inspiration or authority6 ,mr4 ,abbott answers another question3 ,we certainly did not return the amount to the railroad company4 ,well1 a sturdy conscience must be a comfort to its possessor4 ,the ,president of the ,outlook is in the position of a pawnbroker caught with stolen goods in his establishment4 ,he had no idea they were stolen2 and we might believe it1 if the thief were obscure4 ,but when the thief is the most notorious in the city--when his picture has been in the paper a thousand times8 ,and when the thief swears that the broker knew him8 ,and when the broker's shop is full of other suspicious goods8 ,why did the ,outlook practically take back ,mr4 ,spahr's revelations concerning the ,powder barony of ,delaware8 ,why did it support so vigorously the ,standard ,oil ticket for the control of the ,mutual ,life ,insurance ,company--and with ,james ,stillman1 one of the heads of ,standard ,oil1 president of ,standard ,oil's big bank in ,new ,york1 secretly one of its biggest stockholders6 ,also1 why does the magazine refuse to give its readers a chance to judge its conduct8 ,why is it that a search of its columns reveals no mention of the revelations concerning ,mr4 ,baxter--not even any mention of the #djj1jjj slush fund of its paragon of transportation virtues8 ,i asked that question in my letter1 and the president of the ,outlook ,company for some reason failed to notice it4 ,i wrote a second time1 courteously reminding him of the omission2 and also of another1 equally significant--he had not informed me whether any of the editors of the ,outlook1 or the officers or directors of the ,company1 were stockholders in the ,new ,haven4 ,his final reply was that the questions seem to him wholly unimportant2 he does not know whether the ,outlook published anything about the ,baxter revelations1 nor does he know whether any of the editors or officers or directors of the ,outlook ,company are or ever have been stockholders of the ,new ,york1 ,new ,haven and ,hartford ,railroad ,company4 ,the fact would not in the slightest degree affect either favorably or unfavorably our editorial treatment of that corporation4 ,caesar's wife1 it appears is above suspicion--even when she is caught in a brothel6 ,clerical ,camouflage ,i have seen a photograph from ,somewhere in ,france1 showing a wayside shrine with a statue of the ,virgin ,mary1 innocent and loving1 with her babe in her arms4 ,if you were a hostile aviator1 you might sail over and take pictures to your heart's content1 and you would see nothing but a saintly image2 you would have to be on the enemy's side1 and behind the lines1 to make the discovery that under the image had been dug a hole for a machine-gun4 ,when ,i saw that picture1 ,i thought to myself--there is capitalist ,religion6 ,you see1 if cannon and machine-guns are out in the open1 they are almost instantly spotted and put out of action2 and so with magazines like ,leslie's ,weekly1 or ,munsey's1 or the ,north ,american ,review1 which are frankly and wholly in the interest of ,big ,business4 ,if an editor wishes really to be effective in holding back progress1 he must protect himself with a camouflage of piety and philanthropy1 he must have at his tongue's end the phrases of brotherhood and justice1 he must be liberal and progressive1 going a certain cautious distance with the reformers1 indulging in carefully measured fair play--giving a dime with one hand1 while taking back a dollar with the other6 ,let us have an illustration of this clerical camouflage4 ,here are the wives and children of the ,colorado coal-miners being shot and burned in their beds by ,rockefeller gun-men1 and the press of the entire country in a conspiracy of silence concerning the matter4 ,in the effort to break down this conspiracy1 ,bouck ,white1 ,congregational clergyman1 author of ,the ,call of the ,carpenter1 goes to the ,fifth ,avenue ,church of ,standard ,oil and makes a protest in the name of ,jesus4 ,i do not wish to make extreme statements1 but ,i have read history pretty thoroughly1 and ,i really do not know where in nineteen hundred years you can find an action more completely in the spirit and manner of ,jesus than that of ,bouck ,white4 ,the only difference was that whereas ,jesus took a real whip and lashed the money-changers1 ,white politely asked the pastor to discuss with him the question whether or not ,jesus condemned the holding of wealth4 ,he even took the precaution to write a letter to the clergyman announcing in advance what he intended to do6 ,and how did the clergyman prepare for him8 ,with the sword of truth and the armor of the spirit8 ,no--but with two or three dozen strong-arm men1 who flung themselves upon the ,socialist author and hurled him out of the church4 ,so violent were they that several of ,white's friends1 also one or two casual spectators1 were moved to protest2 what happened then1 let us read in the ,new ,york ,sun1 the most bitterly hostile to radicalism of all the metropolitan newspapers4 ,says the ,sun's report3 ,a police billy came crunching against the bones of ,lopez's legs4 ,it struck him as hard as a man could swing it eight times4 ,a fist planted on ,lopez's jaw knocked out two teeth4 ,his lip was torn open4 ,a blow in the eye made it swell and blacken instantly4 ,a minute later ,lopez was leaning against the church with blood running to the doorsill4 ,and now1 what has the clerical camouflage to say on this proceeding8 ,does it approve it8 ,oh no6 ,it was a mistake1 the ,outlook protests2 it intensifies the hatred which these extremists feel for the church4 ,the proper course would have been to turn the disturber aside with a soft answer2 to give him some place1 say in a park1 where he could talk his head off to people of his own sort1 while good and decent ,christians continued to worship by themselves in peace1 and to have the children of their mine-slaves shot and burned in their beds4 ,says our pious editor3 ,the true way to repress cranks is not to suppress them2 it is to give them an opportunity to air their theories before any who wish to learn1 while forbidding them to compel those to listen who do not wish to do so4 ,or take another case4 ,twelve years ago the writer made an effort to interest the ,american people in the conditions of labor in their packing-plants4 ,it happened that incidentally ,i gave some facts about the bedevilment of the public's meat-supply1 and the public really did care about that4 ,as ,i phrased it at the time1 ,i aimed at the public's heart1 and by accident ,i hit it in the stomach4 ,there was a terrible clamor1 and ,congress was forced to pass a bill to remedy the evils4 ,as a matter of fact this bill was a farce1 but the public was satisfied1 and soon forgot the matter entirely4 ,the point to be noted here is that so far as concerned the atrocious miseries of the working-people1 it was not necessary even to pretend to do anything4 ,the slaves of ,packingtown went on living and working as they were described as doing in ,the ,jungle1 and nobody gave a further thought to them4 ,only the other day ,i read in my paper--while we are all making sacrifices in a ,war for ,democracy--that ,armour and ,company had paid a dividend of twenty-one per cent1 and ,swift and ,company a dividend of thirty-five per cent4 ,this prosperity they owe in good part to their clerical camouflage4 ,listen to our pious ,outlook1 engaged in countermining ,the ,jungle4 ,the ,outlook has no doubt that there are genuine evils in the packing-plants2 the conditions of the workers ought of course to be improved2 ,,but-- ,to disgust the reader by dragging him through every conceivable horror1 physical and moral1 to depict with lurid excitement and with offensive minuteness the life in jail and brothel--all this is to overreach the object4444 ,even things actually terrible may become distorted when a writer screams them out in a sensational way and in a high pitched key4444 ,more convincing if it were less hysterical4 ,don't you see what these clerical crooks are for8 ,the ,jungle ,a four years' war was fought in ,america1 a million men were killed and half a continent was devastated1 in order to abolish chattel slavery and put wage slavery in its place4 ,i have made a thorough study of both these industrial systems1 and ,i freely admit that there is one respect in which the lot of the wage slave is better than that of the chattel slave4 ,the wage slave is free to think2 and by squeezing a few drops of blood from his starving body1 he may possess himself of machinery for the distribution of his ideas4 ,taking his chances of the policeman's club and the jail1 he may found revolutionary organizations1 and so he has the candle of hope to light him to his death-bed4 ,but excepting this consideration1 and taking the circumstances of the wage slave from the material point of view alone1 ,i hold it beyond question that the average lot of the chattel slave of #ahfj was preferable to that of the modern slave of the ,beef ,trust1 the ,steel ,trust1 or the ,coal ,trust4 ,it was the ,southern master's real concern1 his business interest1 that the chattel slave should be kept physically sound2 but it is nobody's business to care anything about the wage slave4 ,the children of the chattel slave were valuable property1 and so they got plenty to eat1 and a happy outdoor life1 and medical attention if they fell ill4 ,but the children of the sweat-shop or the cotton-mill or the canning-factory are raised in a city slum1 and never know what it is to have enough to eat1 never know a feeling of security or rest-- ,we are weary in our cradles ,from our mother's toil untold2 ,we are born to hoarded weariness ,as some to hoarded gold4 ,the system of competitive commercialism1 of large-scale capitalist industry in its final flowering6 ,i quote from ,the ,jungle3 ,here in this city tonight1 ten thousand women are shut up in foul pens1 and driven by hunger to sell their bodies to live4 ,tonight in ,chicago there are ten thousand men1 homeless and wretched1 willing to work and begging for a chance1 yet starving1 and fronting with terror the awful winter cold6 ,tonight in ,chicago there are a hundred thousand children wearing out their strength and blasting their lives in the effort to earn their bread6 ,there are a hundred thousand mothers who are living in misery and squalor1 struggling to earn enough to feed their little ones6 ,there are a hundred thousand old people1 cast off and helpless1 waiting for death to take them from their torments6 ,there are a million people1 men and women and children1 who share the curse of the wage-slave2 who toil every hour they can stand and see1 for just enough to keep them alive2 who are condemned till the end of their days to monotony and weariness1 to hunger and misery1 to heat and cold1 to dirt and disease1 to ignorance and drunkenness and vice6 ,and then turn over the page with me1 and gaze upon the other side of the picture4 ,there are a thousand--ten thousand1 maybe--who are the masters of these slaves1 who own their toil4 ,they do nothing to earn what they receive1 they do not even have to ask for it--it comes to them of itself1 their only care is to dispose of it4 ,they live in palaces1 they riot in luxury and extravagance--such as no words can describe1 as makes the imagination reel and stagger1 makes the soul grow sick and faint4 ,they spend hundreds of dollars for a pair of shoes1 a handkerchief1 a garter2 they spend millions for horses and automobiles and yachts1 for palaces and banquets1 for little shiny stones with which to deck their bodies4 ,their life is a contest among themselves for supremacy in ostentation and recklessness1 in the destroying of useful and necessary things1 in the wasting of the labor and the lives of their fellow-creatures1 the toil and anguish of the nations1 the sweat and tears and blood of the human race6 ,it is all theirs--it comes to them2 just as all the springs pour into streamlets1 and the streamlets into rivers1 and the rivers into the ocean--so1 automatically and inevitably1 all the wealth of society comes to them4 ,the farmer tills the soil1 the miner digs in the earth1 the weaver tends the loom1 the mason carves the stone2 the clever man invents1 the shrewd man directs1 the wise man studies1 the inspired man sings--and all the results1 the products of the labor of brain and muscle1 are gathered into one stupendous stream and poured into their laps6 ,this is the system4 ,it is the crown and culmination of all the wrongs of the ages2 and in proportion to the magnitude of its exploitation1 is the hypocrisy and knavery of the clerical camouflage which has been organized in its behalf4 ,beyond all question1 the supreme irony of history is the use which has been made of ,jesus of ,nazareth as the ,head ,god of this blood-thirsty system2 it is a cruelty beyond all language1 a blasphemy beyond the power of art to express4 ,read the man's words1 furious as those of any modern agitator that ,i have heard in twenty years of revolutionary experience3 ,lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth6--,sell that ye have and give alms6--,blessed are ye poor1 for yours is the kingdom of ,heaven6--,woe unto you that are rich1 for ye have received your consolation6--,verily1 ,i say unto you1 that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of ,heaven6--,woe unto you also1 you lawyers6--,ye serpents1 ye generation of vipers1 how can ye escape the damnation of hell8 ,and this man--,i quote from ,the ,jungle again--they have made into the high-priest of property and smug respectability1 a divine sanction of all the horrors and abominations of modern commercial civilization6 ,jewelled images are made of him1 sensual priests burn insense to him1 and modern pirates of industry bring their dollars1 wrung from the toil of helpless women and children1 and build temples to him1 and sit in cushioned seats and listen to his teachings expounded by doctors of dusty divinity6 99 99 99 99 99 ,,book ,,five ,the ,church of the ,merchants ,mammon led them on-- ,mammon1 the least erected spirit that fell ,from ,heaven2 for even in ,heaven his looks and thoughts ,were always downward bent1 admiring more ,the riches of ,heaven's pavement1 trodden gold1 ,than aught divine or holy else enjoyed ,in vision beatific4444 ,let none admire ,that riches grow in ,hell2 that soil may best ,deserve the precious bane4 ,milton4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,head ,merchant ,ours is the era of commerce1 as its propagandists never weary of telling us4 ,business is the basis of our material lives1 and consequently of our culture4 ,business men control our politics and dictate our laws2 business men own our newspapers and direct their policy2 business men sit on our school boards1 and endow and manage our universities4 ,the ,reformation was a revolt of the newly-developing merchant classes against the tyrannies and abuses of feudal clericalism3 so in all ,protestant ,christianity one finds the spirit1 ideals1 and language of ,trade4 ,we have shown how the symbolism of the ,anglican ,church is of the palace and the throne2 in the same way that of the non-conformist sects may be shown to be of the counting-house4 ,in the view of the middle-class ,britisher1 the nexus between man and man is cent per cent2 and so in their ,sunday services the worshippers sing such hymns as this3 ,whatever1 ,lord1 we lend to ,thee1 ,repaid a thousand fold shall be2 ,then gladly will we give to ,thee1 ,who givest all4 ,the first duty of every man under the competitive system is to secure the survival of his own business2 ,so on the ,sabbath1 when he comes to deal with eternity1 he is practical and explicit3 ,nothing is worth a thought beneath ,but how ,i may escape the death ,that never1 never dies2 ,how make mine own election sure1 ,and when ,i fail on earth secure ,a mansion in the skies4 ,just as the priest of the aristocratic caste figures ,god as a mighty ,conqueror-- ,marching as to war ,with the cross of ,jesus ,going on before-- so the preacher to the trader figures the divinity as a glorified ,merchant keeping books4 ,this ,head ,merchant has a monopoly in ,his line2 ,he knows all ,his rivals' secrets1 so there is no getting ahead of ,him1 and nothing to do but obey ,his ,word1 as revealed through ,his clerical staff4 ,the system is oily with protestations of divine love2 but when you read the comments of ,luther upon ,calvin and of ,calvin upon ,luther1 you understand that this love is confined to the inside of each denomination4 ,and even so restricted1 there is not always enough to go around4 ,recently ,i met a ,presbyterian clergyman1 to whom ,i remarked1 ,i see by the papers that you have just finished a church building4 ,yes1 he answered2 and ,i have had three offers of a new church4 ,i did not see the connection1 and asked1 ,because you were so successful with this one8 ,the reply was1 ,they always take it for granted that you want to change when you've finished a new building1 because you make so many enemies6 ,the business man puts up the money to build the church1 he puts up the money to keep it going2 and the first rule of a business man is that when he puts up the money for a thing he runs that thing4 ,of course he sees that it spreads his own views of life1 it helps to maintain his tradition4 ,in the days of ,anu and ,baal we heard the proclamation of the divine right of ,kings2 in these days of ,mammon we hear the proclamation of the divine right of ,merchants4 ,some fifteen years ago the head of our ,coal ,trust announced during a great strike that the question would be settled by the ,christian men to whom ,god in ,his ,infinite ,wisdom has given control of the property interests of this country4 ,and on that declaration all pious merchants stand2 whatever their denominations1 ,catholic1 ,episcopalian1 ,baptist1 ,methodist1 ,presbyterian or ,hebrew1 their ,sabbath doctrines are alike1 as their week-day practices are alike2 whether it is ,rockefeller shooting his ,bayonne oil-workers and burning alive the little children of his miners2 or smooth ,john ,wanamaker1 paying starvation wages to department-store girls and driving them to the streets2 or that clergyman who1 at a gathering of society ladies1 members of the ,law and ,order ,league of ,denver1 declared in my hearing that if he could have his way he would blow up the home of every coal-striker with dynamite2 or the ,rev4 ,r4,a4 ,torrey1 ,dean of the ,bible institute of ,los ,angeles1 who refused to employ union labor on the million dollar building of the ,institute1 declaring that the ,church cannot afford to have any dealings with a band of fire-bugs and murderers6 ,herr ,beeble ,the business of the ,clerical ,department of the ,merchants' and ,manufacturers' ,association is to justify the processes of trade1 and to preach to clerks and employees the slave-virtues of frugality1 humility1 and loyalty to the profit system4 ,the depths of sociological depravity to which some of the agents of this ,association have sunk is difficult of belief4 ,twelve years ago ,i was invited to address the book-sellers of ,new ,york1 in company with a well-known clergyman of the city1 the ,reverend ,madison ,c4 ,peters4 ,this gentleman's address made such an impression upon me that ,i recall it even at this distance3 a string of jokes spoken with an effect of rapid-fire smartness1 and simply reeking with commercialism4 ,i could not describe it better than to say that it was on the ethical level of the ,letters of a ,self-,made ,merchant to ,his ,son4 ,again1 ,i attended a debate on ,socialism1 in which the capitalist end was taken by another famous clergyman1 pastor of the ,metropolitan ,temple1 the ,rev4 ,j4 ,wesley ,hill4 ,he was so ignorant that when he wished to prove that ,socialism means free love1 he quoted a writer by the name of ,herr ,beeble2 he was so dishonest that he garbled the writings of this ,herr ,beeble1 making him say something quite different from what he had meant to say4 ,i could name several clergymen of various denominations who have stooped to that device against the ,socialists2 including the ,catholic ,father ,belford1 who says that we are mad dogs and should be stopped with bullets4 ,or consider the ,reverend ,thomas ,dixon4 ,this gentleman's pulpit-slang used to be the talk of ,new ,york when ,i was a boy2 and when ,i grew up1 and came into the ,socialist movement--behold1 here he was1 chief inquisitor of the capitalist ,holy ,office4 ,i had a friend1 a man who saved my life at a time when ,i was practically starving1 and to whom therefore ,i owe my survival as a writer2 this friend had been a clergyman in a ,middle ,western state1 and had preached ,jesus as he really was1 and so was hated and feared like ,jesus4 ,it happened that he was unhappily married1 and permitted his wife to divorce him so that he might marry the woman he loved2 for which unheard of crime the organized hypocrisy of ,america fell upon him like a thousand devils with poisoned whips4 ,the ,reverend ,dixon's holy rage was fired2 he applied his imagination to my friend's story1 producing a novel under the title of ,the ,one ,woman2 and it is as if you were reading the story of ,jesus and the ,magdalen transmitted through the personality of a he-goat4 ,of late years this clerical author has turned his energies to negrophobia and militarism1 making millions out of motion-picture incitements to hatred and terror4 ,the pictures were made here in ,southern ,california1 and friends in the business have described to me the pious propagandist in the position of ,st4 ,anthony surrounded by swarms of cute and playful little movie-girls4 ,or take the ,rev4 ,james ,roscoe ,day1 ,d4,d41 ,s4,t4,d41 ,,ll4,d41 ,d4,c4,l41 ,l4,h4,d41 a leading light of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church1 who offers himself as comic relief in our ,clerical ,vaudeville4 ,dr4 ,day is ,chancellor of ,syracuse ,university1 a branch of the ,mental ,munitions ,department of the ,standard ,oil ,company2 his function being to manufacture intellectual weapons and explosives to be used in defense of the ,rockefeller fortune4 ,it is generally not expected that the makers of ruling-class munitions should face the dirty and perilous work of the trenches2 but ten years ago1 during a raid by an active squad of muckrake-men1 ,chancellor ,day astonished the world by rushing to the front with both arms full of star-shells and bombs4 ,he afterwards put the history of this gallant action into a volume1 ,the ,raid on ,prosperity2 and if you want the real thrill of the class-war1 here is where to get it6 ,the ,chancellor is a quaint and touching figure2 an enthusiast and dreamer1 idealist and martyr1 in whom the ordinary human virtues have been fused1 absorbed1 transformed and sublimated into a new supreme virtue of loyalty to ,exploitation1 patriotism for ,profiteering4 ,he began life as a working-man1 he tells us1 in the good old ,american fashion of hustle for yourself2 but he differed from other ,americans in that he had an instant1 intuitive recognition of the intellectual and moral excellence of ,plutocracy4 ,the first time he met a rich man1 he quivered with rapture1 he burst into a hymn of appreciation4 ,so very quickly he was recognized as a proper person to have charge of a ,mental ,munition ,works2 and the ruling classes proceeded to pin medals upon the bosom of his academic robes--,d4,d41 ,s4,t4,d41 ,l4,l4,d41 ,d4,c4,l41 ,l4,h4,d4 ,the ,chancellor knows the masters of our ,profit ,system1 those consummate geniuses of manufacture and trade by which the earth has yielded up her infinite treasures4 ,and having been at the same time in intimate daily communion with the ,almighty1 he can tell us the ,almighty's attitude towards these prodigies4 ,god has made the rich of this world to serve ,him4444 ,he has shown them a way to have this world's goods and to be rich towards ,god4444,god wants the rich men4444 ,christ's doctrines have made the world rich1 and provide adequate uses for its riches4 ,also the ,chancellor knows our great corporations1 and gives us the ,almighty's views about them2 they mean that the forces with which ,god built the universe have been put into the hands of man4 ,likewise by divine authority we learn that the sympathy given to ,socialism is appalling4 ,it is insanity4 ,we learn that the income tax is a doctrine suited to the dark ages1 only no age ever has been dark enough4 ,somebody raises the issue of tainted money1 and the ,chancellor disposes of this matter also4 ,as a ,deputy of ,divinity1 he settles it by ,holy ,writ3 ,paul permitted meat offered to idols to be eaten in the fear of ,god4 ,and then1 to make assurance doubly sure1 he settles it with plain human logic2 and you are astonished to see how simple1 under his handling1 the complex problem becomes--how clear and clean-cut is the distinction he draws for you3 ,every boy knows that one cannot take stolen goods without being a partaker with the thief4 ,but the proceeds of recognized business are quite a different thing4 ,holy ,oil ,and here is ,billy ,sunday1 most conspicuous phenomenon of ,protestant ,christianity at the beginning of the twentieth century4 ,for the benefit of posterity ,i explain that ,billy is a baseball player turned ,evangelist1 who has brought to the cause of ,god the crowds and uproar of the diamond2 also the commercial spirit of ,america's most popular institution4 ,he travels like a circus1 with all the press-agent work and newspaper hurrah2 he conducts what are called revivals1 in an enormous tabernacle built especially for him in each city4 ,i cannot better describe the ,billy ,sunday circus than in the words of a certain ,sidney ,c4 ,tapp1 who brought suit against the evangelist for #ajj1jjj damages for the theft of the ideas of a book4 ,says ,mr4 ,tapp in his complaint3 ,the so-called religious awakening or trail-hitting is produced by an appeal to the emotions and in stirring up the senses by a combination of carrying the ,united ,states flag in one hand and the ,bible in the other1 singing1 trumpeting1 organ playing1 garrulous and acrobatic feats of defendant1 by defendant in his talk leaping from the rostrum to the top of the pulpit1 lying prone on the floor of the rostrum on his stomach in the presence of the vast audience and from thence into a pit to shake hands with the so-called trail-hitters and the vulgar use of plaintiff's thoughts contained in said books4 ,said harangues and vulgarisms of said defendant and horns1 drums1 organs and singing by said choir and vast audience which are assembled by means of said newspaper advertisements for the purpose of inducing a habit of free and copious flow of money through religious and patriotic excitement produced by and through the vulgarisms1 scurrility1 buffoonery1 obscenity and profanity of defendant pretending to be in the interest of the cause of religion through what he denominates hitting the trail1 the real object being to induce a religious frenzy and enthusiasm which he announces in advance is to result in large audiences composed of thousands of people generously contributing vast sums of money on the last day and night of the so-called revival which is invariably appropriated by the defendant and through which scheme and device defendant has become enormously wealthy4 ,as ,i write1 the evangelist is in ,los ,angeles1 and twice each day he holds forth to a crowd of ten or fifteen thousand2 in addition the newspapers print literally pages of his utterances4 ,the entire ,protestant clergy for a score of miles around has been hitched to his triumphal chariot1 and driven captive through the streets4 ,here in this dignified city of ,pasadena1 home of millionaire brewers and chewing-gum kings1 all the churches have been plastered for weeks with cloth signs3 ,this ,church is ,cooperating in the ,sunday ,campaign4 ,to give a sample of the intellectual level of the performance1 here is what ,billy has to say about modern thought3 ,all this blasphemy against ,god and ,jesus ,christ1 all this sneering1 highbrow1 rotten1 loathesome1 higher criticism1 wriggling its dirty1 filthy1 stinking carcass out of a beer-mug in ,leipzig or ,heidelberg6 ,whether willingly or reluctantly1 the preachers sit upon the platform and smile while ,billy thus slangs the devil2 and being themselves1 poor fellows1 at their wits end to draw the crowd1 they watch and see how he does it1 and then return to their own churches and try the same stunt2 so the manners of the baseball diamond spread like a contagion4 ,i open my morning paper1 and find a picture of an intense-looking clerical gentleman1 the ,rev4 ,j4 ,whitcomb ,brougher1 pastor of the ,baptist ,temple4 ,he is discussing certain slanderous rumors which he has heard about ,billy ,sunday1 and he offers ten thousand dollars reward to anyone who can prove these things2 though1 as he says1 ,the dirty1 low-down1 contemptible1 weazen-brained1 impure-hearted1 shrivelled-souled1 gossipping devils do not deserve to be noticed4444 ,scandal-mongers1 gossip-lovers1 reputation-destroyers1 hypocritical1 black-hearted1 green-eyed slanderers4444 ,corrupt1 devil-possessed1 vile debauches4444 ,immoral1 sin-loving1 vice-practicing1 underhanded sneaks4444 ,carrion-loving buzzards and foul-smelling skunks4 ,you will be prepared after this to hear that when the ,socialists were near to carrying ,los ,angeles1 this clergyman preached a sermon in support of the candidate of ,booze1 ,gas and ,railroads4 ,in so far as ,billy ,sunday is trying to keep the neglected youth of our streets from drinking1 gambling and whoring1 no one could wish him anything but success2 but his besotted ignorance1 his childish crudity of mind1 make it impossible that he could have any success except of a delusive nature4 ,he is utterly devoid of a social sense2 utterly unaware of the existence of the forces of capitalism which are causing depravity ten times as fast as all the evangelists in creation can remedy it4 ,so he is precisely like the ,catholics with their charity1 cleaning up loathsome and unsightly messes for a thousand years1 and never stopping to ask why such messes continue to come into existence4 ,more than that1 ,i question whether the spirit of commercialism which he fosters does not help the development of evil more than his preaching hinders it4 ,the newspapers always report the cost of the tabernacle1 and of the free-will offering1 which amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars in each campaign4 ,in each city the expenses are guaranteed by men who are generally the most sinister exploiting forces of the community2 they welcome and fete him1 and he visits their homes1 and is in every way one of the crowd4 ,after the big silk strike in ,paterson1 ,n4,j41 the employers1 ,jews and ,catholics included1 all subscribed a fund to bring ,billy ,sunday to that city2 and it was freely proclaimed that the purpose was to undermine the radical union movement4 ,this was never denied by ,sunday himself1 and his whole campaign was conducted on that basis4 ,later ,billy came to ,new ,york1 where he met a certain rich young man1 perhaps a thousand times as rich as any that lived in ,palestine4 ,this young man came to ,billy and said3 ,what shall ,i do to inherit eternal life8 ,and ,billy told him to keep the commandments--,do not commit adultery1 ,do not kill1 ,do not steal1 ,do not bear false witness1 ,honor thy father and thy mother4 ,the young man answered2 ,all these have ,i kept from my youth up4 ,and ,billy said3 ,yet lackest thou one thing2 sell all that thou hast and distribute unto the poor1 and thou shalt have treasure in heaven2 and come follow me4 ,and when he heard this he was very sorrowful1 for he was very rich4 --,no1 ,i have got the story mixed up4 ,that is what happened in ,palestine4 ,what happened in ,new ,york is that ,billy said1 ,i am delighted to meet you1 ,mr4 ,rockefeller4 ,and ,mr4 ,rockefeller said1 ,come be my guest at my palace in the ,pocantico ,hills2 and then we will go together and you may preach submission to my wage-slaves in the oil-factories at ,bayonne and elsewhere4 ,and ,billy went to the palace1 and went and preached to the wage-slaves1 telling them to beware the stinking ,socialists1 and to concentrate their attention on the saving of their souls2 so the rich young man was delighted1 and he sent for all the newspaper reporters to come to his office at #bf ,broadway1 and told them what a great and useful man ,billy ,sunday is4 ,as the ,new ,york ,times tells about it3 ,mr4 ,rockefeller seldom gives interviews and certainly he has never been charged with having an excess of verbally expressed enthusiasm on any subject4 ,but he talked for an hour and a half about the evangelist4 ,he was full of the subject of ,billy ,sunday4 ,billy did ,new ,york a lot of good1 he said4 ,he went on to tell of #ahg meetings held in #ajj different factories1 attended by #ej1jjj men4 ,that's good work4 ,and he expressed his satisfaction with ,sunday's theology3 ,he believes the ,bible from cover to cover and that is good enough for me4 ,the ,sunday campaign had cost #bjj1jjj1 and ,if it had stopped here1 if it was not kept up1 it would be poor business2 a poor dividend on the #bjj1jjj and the work invested4 ,but we expect to get dividends in the next year4 ,again you note the symbolism of the counting-house6 ,rhetorical ,black-hanging ,it is the duty of the clergy1 not merely to defend large-scale merchants while they live1 but to bury them when they die1 and to place the seal of sanctity upon their careers4 ,concerning this aspect of ,bootstrap-lifting ,i quote the opinion of an earnest hater of shams1 ,william ,makepeace ,thackeray3 ,i think the part which pulpits play in the death of kings is the most ghastly of all the ceremonial3 the lying eulogies1 the blinking of disagreeable truths1 the sickening flatteries1 the simulated grief1 the falsehood and sycophancies--all uttered in the name of ,heaven in our ,state churches3 these monstrous ,threnodies which have been sung from time immemorial over kings and queens1 good1 bad1 wicked1 licentious4 ,the ,state parson must bring out his commonplaces2 his apparatus of rhetorical black-hanging4444 ,and this1 of course1 applies not merely to kings of ,england1 but to kings of ,steel1 kings of ,coal1 kings of ,oil1 kings of ,wall ,street4 ,leland ,stanford1 son of a great king of ,western railroads1 died2 and standing over his coffin1 a ,methodist clergyman1 afterwards ,bishop1 preached a sermon of fulsome flattery1 wherein he likened young ,leland to the boy ,christ4 ,in the year #aijd there passed from his earthly reward in ,pennsylvania a ,united ,states senator who had been throughout his lifetime a notorious and unblushing corruptionist4 ,matthew ,stanley ,quay was his name1 and the ,new ,york ,nation1 having no clerical connections1 was free to state the facts about him3 ,he bought the organization1 bribed or intimidated the press1 got his grip on the public service1 including even the courts2 imposed his will on ,congress and ,cabinet1 and upon the last three ,presidents--making the latter provide for the offal of his political machine1 which even ,pennsylvania could no longer stomach--and all without identifying his name with a single measure of public good1 without making a speech or uttering a party watchword1 without even pretending to be honest1 but solely because1 like ,judas1 he carried the bag and could buy whom he would4 ,such was the lay opinion2 and now for the clerical4 ,it was expressed by a ,presbyterian divine1 the ,reverend ,dr4 ,j4,s4 ,ramsey1 who stood over the coffin of ,matt1 and without cracking a smile declared that he had been a statesman who was always on the right side of every moral question6 ,in that same year of #aijd died the high priest of our political corruption1 ,mark ,hanna4 ,he had belonged to no church1 but had backed them all1 understanding the main thesis of this book as clearly as the writer of it4 ,in his home city of ,cleveland the eulogy upon him was pronounced by ,bishop ,leonard1 in ,st4 ,paul's ,episcopal ,church2 while in the ,united ,states ,senate the service was performed by the ,chaplain1 the ,rev4 ,edward ,everett ,hale4 ,this is a name well-known in ,american letters1 as in ,american religious life2 it was borne by a benevolent old gentleman1 a ,unitarian and a liberal1 who organized ,lend-a-,hand ,clubs and such like amiabilities4 ,do ,you ,love ,this ,old ,man8 the signs in the street-cars used to ask when ,i was a boy2 and ,i promptly answered ,yes--for my mother took the ,ladies' ,home ,journal1 and ,i swallowed the sentimental dish-water set out for me4 ,but when ,i read the ,rev4 ,edward's funeral oration over the ,irrev4 ,mark1 ,i loved neither of them any longer4 ,this whole-souled child of ,god1 cried the ,rev4 ,edward1 who believed in success1 and knew how to succeed by using the infinite powers6 ,you perceive that the ,chaplain of the ,millionaires' ,club agrees with this book1 that the infinite powers in ,america are the powers that prey6 ,the ,great ,american ,fraud ,among the most loathesome products of our native commercial greed is the patent medicine industry1 ,the ,great ,american ,fraud1 as its historian has called it4 ,in #aijg this historian wrote3 ,gullible ,america will spend this year some seventy-five millions of dollars in the purchase of patent medicines4 ,in consideration of this sum it will swallow huge quantities of alcohol1 an appalling amount of opiates and narcotics1 a wide assortment of varied drugs ranging from powerful and dangerous heart depressants to insidious liver stimulants2 and1 far in excess of all other ingredients1 undiluted fraud4 ,for fraud1 exploited by the skillfullest of advertising bunco men1 is the basis of the trade4 ,one by one ,mr4 ,adams tells about these medical fakes3 habit-forming laxatives1 head-ache powders full of acetanilid1 soothing-syrups and catarrh-cures full of opium and cocaine1 cock-tails subtly disguised as bitters1 sarsaparillas1 and tonics4 ,he shows how the fake testimonials are made up and exploited2 how the confidential letters1 telling the secret troubles of men and women1 are collected by tens and hundreds of thousands and advertised and sold--so that the victim1 as he begins to lose faith in one fake1 finds another at hand1 fully informed as to his weakness4 ,he quotes the amazing ,red ,clause in the contracts which the patent-medicine makers have with thousands of daily and weekly papers1 whereby the makers are able to control the press of the country and prevent legislation against the ,great ,american ,fraud4 ,there are a thousand religious papers in ,america1 weekly and monthly2 and what is their attitude on this question8 ,mr4 ,adams tells us3 ,whether because church-going people are more trusting1 and therefore more easily befooled than others1 or from some more obscure reason1 many of the religious papers fairly reek with patent medicine fakes4 ,he gives us many pages of specific instances3 ,dr4 ,smith belongs to the brood of cancer vampires4 ,he is a patron and prop of religious journalism4 ,it is his theory that the easiest prey is to be found among readers of church papers4 ,moreover he has learned from his father-in-law 7who built a small church out of blood-money7 to capitalize his own sectarian associations1 and when confronted recently with a formal accusation he replied1 with an air of injured innocence1 that he was a regular attendant at church1 and could produce an endorsement from his minister4 ,and here is the ,church ,advocate1 of ,harrisburg1 ,pa41 which publishes quack advertisements disguised as editorials4 ,one of them ,mr4 ,adams paraphrases3 ,as ,dr4 ,smith is1 on the face of his own statements1 a self-branded swindler and rascal1 you run no risk in assuming that the ,rev4 ,c4,h4 ,forney1 ,d4,d41 ,l4,l4,d41 in acting as his journalistic supporter for pay1 is just such another as himself6 ,and again3 ,will the editor of the ,baptist ,watchman of ,boston explain by what phenomenon of logic or elasticity of ethics he accepts the lucubrations of ,dr4 ,bye1 of ,oren ,oneal1 of ,liquozone1 of ,actina1 that marvelous two-ended mechanical appliance which cures deafness at one terminus and blindness at the other1 and all with a little oil of mustard8 ,and again3 ,the ,christian ,observer of ,louisville replied to a protesting subscriber1 suggesting that the ,collier articles were written in a spirit of revenge1 because ,collier's could not get patent medicine advertising4 ,when ,i asked the ,rev4 ,f4 ,bartlett ,converse for his foundation for the charge1 he said that one of the typewriters must have written the letter6 ,doubtless also the same highly responsible typewriter imitated the signature with startling fidelity to ,dr4 ,converse's handwriting6 ,and here is--would you think it possible8--our ,church of ,good ,society6 ,it has an organ in ,chicago called the ,living ,church1 most dignified and decorous4 ,you have to study quite a while to ascertain what denomination it belongs to2 it will not tell you directly1 for the ,anglician pose is that it is the church ,elect from every nation1 ,yet one o'er all the earth1 ,her charter of salvation1 ,one ,lord1 one ,faith1 one ,birth2 ,one holy name she blesses1 ,partakes one holy food1 ,and toward one ,hope she presses1 ,with every grace endued4 ,and this one holy institution was found setting at its peak the black flag of the trader1 the ,jolly ,roger of the modern commercial pirate--,caveat emptor6 ,to quote the precise words3 ,the editors and publishers of the ,living ,church assume no responsibility for the assertions of advertisers4 ,and so it threw open its columns to the claims of ,america's champion labor-baiter1 the late ,c4,w4 ,post1 that his ,grapenuts would prevent appendicitis1 and obviate the need of operations in such cases6 ,and here is the ,christian ,endeavor ,world1 organ of one of the most powerful non-sectarian religious bodies in the country4 ,some one wrote complaining of its medical advertising1 and the answer was3 ,to the best of our knowledge and belief1 we are not publishing any fraudulent or unworthy medical advertising4444 ,trusting that you will be able to understand that we are acting according to our best and sincerest judgment1 ,i remain1 yours very truly1 ,the ,golden ,rule ,company1 ,george ,w4 ,coleman1 ,business ,manager4 ,whereupon the historian of ,the ,great ,american ,fraud remarks3 ,assuming that the business management of the ,christian ,endeavor ,world represents normal intelligence1 ,i would like to ask whether it accepts the statement that a pair of magic foot drafts applied to the soles of the feet will cure any and every kind of rheumatism in any part of the body8 ,further1 if the advertising department is genuinely interested in declining fraudulent and unworthy copy1 ,i would call their attention to the ridiculous claims of ,dr4 ,shoop's medicines1 which cure almost every disease2 to two hair removers1 one an ,indian ,secret1 the other an accidental discovery1 both either fakes or dangerous2 to the lying claims of ,hall's ,catarrh ,cure1 that it is a positive cure for catarrh1 in all its stages2 to ,syrup of ,figs1 which is not a fig syrup1 but a preparation of senna2 to ,dr4 ,kilmer's ,swamp ,root1 of which the principal medical constituent is alcohol2 and1 finally1 to ,dr4 ,bye's ,oil ,cure for cancer1 a particularly cruel swindle on unfortunates suffering from an incurable malady4 ,all of these1 with other matter1 which for the sake of decency ,i do not care to detail in these columns1 appear in recent issues of the ,christian ,endeavor ,world4 ,riches in ,glory ,there came recently to ,los ,angeles a world-famous evangelist1 known as ,gipsy ,smith4 ,there was a shirt-waist strike at the time1 and the girls were starving1 and they sent a delegation to this evangelist to ask for help4 ,they told him how they were mistreated1 exposed to insults1 driven to sell their virtue because their wage would not support life2 and to their plea he made answer3 ,get ,jesus in your hearts1 and these questions will take care of themselves6 ,so we see the most important of the many services which the churches perform for the merchants--taking the revolutionary hope of ,jesus1 for a kingdom of heaven upon earth1 and perverting it into a dream of a golden harp in an uncertain future4 ,to appreciate the fullness of this betrayal1 take the prayer which ,jesus dictated--so simple1 direct and practical3 ,give us this day our daily bread1 and put it beside the hymns which the slave-congregations are trained to sing4 ,in my neighborhood is a one-roomed building with a plate glass front1 upon which ,i observe a painter inscribing in red1 white and blue letters the sign ,glory ,mission4 ,i approach him1 and he drops his work and welcomes me with eager cordiality4 ,am ,i living in grace8 ,i answer that ,i am4 ,i have to shout the good tidings into his ear1 as he is very deaf4 ,he presents me with his card1 which shows that he bears the title of ,reverend1 also the sobriquet of ,mountain ,missionary4 ,i ask him to permit me to examine the hymn-book which he uses in his work1 and with touching eagerness he presses upon me a well-worn volume bearing the title ,waves of ,glory4 ,i seat myself and note down a few of the baits it sets out for hungry wage-slaves3 ,o1 there's a plenty1 ,o1 there's a plenty1 ,there's a plenty in my ,father's bank above6 ,riches in glory1 riches in glory1 ,royal supply our wants exceed6 ,feasting1 ,i'm feasting1 ,i'm feasting with my ,lord6 ,beautiful robes1 beautiful robes1 ,beautiful robes we then shall wear6 ,jerusalem the golden1 ,with milk and honey blest6 ,yes1 ,i'll meet you in the city of the ,new ,jerusalem1 ,i'll be there1 ,i'll be there6 ,blest ,canaan land1 bright ,canaan land1 ,i love to be in ,canaan land6 ,oh1 ,beulah land1 sweet ,beulah land1 ,as on the highest mount ,i stand1 ,i look away across the sea1 ,where mansions are prepared for me6 ,in the sweet bye and bye ,we shall meet on that beautiful shore-- ,i stopped there1 being reminded of ,joe ,hill1 poet of the ,i4,w4,w4 who was executed a few years ago in ,utah1 and who used this tune in his little red book of revolutionary chants3 ,you will eat1 bye and bye1 ,in the glorious land above the sky2 ,work and pray1 live on hay1 ,you'll get pie in the sky when you die6 ,captivating ,ideals ,in one of the writer's earlier novels1 ,prince ,hagen1 the hero is a ,nibelung out of ,wagner's ,rheingold1 who leaves his diggings in the bowels of the earth1 and comes up to look into our superior civilization4 ,the thing that impresses him most is what he calls the immortality idea4 ,the person who got that up was a world-genius1 he exclaims4 ,if you can once get a man to believing in immortality1 there is no more left for you to desire2 you can take everything he owns--you can skin him alive if it pleases you--and he will bear it all with perfect good humor4 ,and is that merely the spiritual deficiency of a ,nibelung--or the effort of a young author to be smart8 ,would you like to hear that view of the most vital of ,christian doctrines set forth in the language of scholarship and culture8 ,would you like to know how an ecclesiastical authority1 equipped with every tool of modern learning1 would set about voicing the idea that the function of the teaching of ,heaven is to chloroform the poor1 so that the rich may continue to rob them in security8 ,here under my hand is a volume in the newest dress of scholarship1 dated #aiab1 and written by ,professor ,georges ,chatterton-,hill1 of the ,university of ,geneva4 ,its title is ,the ,sociological ,value of ,christianity1 and from cover to cover it is a warning to the rich of the danger they run in giving up their religion and ceasing to support its priests4 ,it explains how the genius of ,christianity has succeeded in making the individual suffering1 the individual sacrifices1 which are indispensible for the welfare of the collectivity1 appear as indispensible for the individual welfare4 ,the learned professor makes plain just what he means by individual suffering1 individual sacrifices2 he means all the horrors of capitalism2 and the advantage of ,christianity is that it makes you think that by submitting to these horrors1 you are profiting your own soul4 ,by making individual salvation depend on the acceptance of suffering1 on the voluntary sacrifice of egotistical interests1 ,christianity adapts the individual to society4 ,and this1 as the professor explains1 is not an easy thing to do1 in a world in which so many people are thinking for themselves4 ,the only means of causing the rationalized individual to consent to the sacrifice 444 is to captivate him with a sufficiently powerful ideal ,and the professor shows how beautifully ,jesus can be used for this purpose4 ,jesus1 the so-called humanitarian1 never ceased to insist on the necessity of suffering1 the desirableness of suffering--of that suffering which a weak and sickly humanitarianism would fain suppress if it could4 ,you get this1 you blanket-stiff1 you husky1 or wop1 or whatever you are--you disinherited of the earth1 you proletarians who have only your labor-power to sell1 you weak and sickly ones who are condemned to elimination8 ,there has come1 let us say1 a period of overproduction2 you have raised too much food1 and therefore you are starving1 you have woven too much cloth1 and therefore you are naked1 you have finished the world for your masters1 and it is time for you to move out of the way4 ,as the sociologist from ,geneva phrases it1 ,your suppression imposes itself as an imperious necessity4 ,and the function of the ,christian religion is to make you enjoy the process1 by captivating you with a sufficiently powerful ideal6 ,the priest will fill your nostrils with incense1 your eyes with candle-lights and images1 your ears with sweet music and soothing words2 and so you will perish without raising a finger6 ,here1 reflects the professor1 we see how magnificently the teaching of ,jesus applies to all classes of society6 ,somebody has evidently put up to our ,christian sociologist the embarrassing fact that so many of those who survive under the capitalist system are godless scoundrels4 ,but do you think that troubles him8 ,not for long4 ,like all religious thinkers1 he carries with his scholar's equipment a pair of metaphysical wings1 wherewith at any moment he may soar into the empyrean1 out of reach of vulgar materialists1 like you and me4 ,inequality signifies inequality of capacity1 he explains2 but the standard whereby we judge this capacity cannot be the standard of the moral law4 ,the laws which govern the biological evolution of man are known1 but those which govern his moral nature cannot be known2 the moral nature appertains to the ,absolute1 and hence is not subject to the law of inequality6 ,as an exhibition of metaphysical wing-power1 that is almost as wonderful as the flight of ,cardinal ,newman when confronted with the fact that his divinely guided church had burned men for teaching the ,copernican view of the universe2 that infallible popes had again and again condemned this heresy ex cathedra4 ,said the eloquent cardinal3 ,scripture says that the sun moves and the earth is stationary1 and science that the earth moves and the sun is comparatively at rest4 ,how can we determine which of these opposite statements is the very truth till we know what motion is8 ,spook ,hunting ,do not imagine that it is only in ,geneva that ,christian professors realize this peril from the loss of faith4 ,it is never far from the thoughts of any of them--for1 of course1 no man can look at the present system and not wonder how the poor stand it1 and more especially why they stand it4 ,there have been many thinking men who have given up the miracle-business quite cheerfully1 but have stood appalled at the idea of letting the lower classes find out the truth4 ,you note that idea continually in the writings of ,professor ,goldwin ,smith1 who was a free-thinker1 but also a bourgeois publicist1 with a deep sense of responsibility to the money-masters of the world4 ,he was about as honest a man as the capitalist system can produce2 he was the beau ideal of the ,new ,york ,evening ,post1 which indicates his point of view4 ,he wrote3 ,it can hardly be doubted that hope of compensation in a future state1 for a short measure of happiness here1 has materially helped to reconcile the less favored members of the community to the inequalities of the existing order of things4 ,when ,i was a student in ,columbia ,university1 ,i took a course called ,practical ,ethics1 under a professor by the name of ,hyslop4 ,the course differed from most of the forty that ,i tried1 in that it gave evidence that the professor was accustomed to read the morning paper4 ,he had learned that ,american politics were rotten2 his idea of ,practical ,ethics was to outline in elaborate detail a complete scheme of constitutional changes which would make it impossible for the boss to control the government4 ,i think ,i must have been born with a charm against bourgeois thought1 for the good professor never fooled me an instant2 ,i remember ,i used to smile at the idea of how quickly the boss would brush through his constitutional cobwebs4 ,the reforms required an elaborate campaign of publicity--and of course long before they could be put into practice1 the politicians would be ready with devices to make them of no effect4 ,soon after this1 my ethical professor resigned and went to hunting spooks4 ,i don't want to be unfair to him2 ,i know that he is a determined and courageous man1 and it seems possible that he may really have bagged some spooks4 ,all ,i wish to point out here is the method he uses in seeking to persuade the heedless rich to support the spook-hunting industry4 ,the very same argument as we got from the ,university of ,geneva and the ,university of ,toronto6 ,says our head spook-hunter3 ,there has been no belief that exercised so much power upon the poor as that in a future life4 ,the politicians1 men of the world1 have known this so well as to postpone the day of political judgment by it for many years4 ,and again3 ,the ,church1 having lost all its battles with science1 and having abandoned a strenuous intellectual defense of its fundamental beliefs1 has lost its power over the poor and the laboring classes4444 ,the spiritual ideal of life has gone out of the masses as well as the classes1 and nothing is left but a venture on a struggle with wealth4 ,and again1 more menacingly yet3 ,the rich will learn in the dangers of a social revolution that the poor will not sacrifice both wealth and immortality4 ,what is to be done about this8 ,the question answers itself3 ,step up1 ladies and gentlemen1 and empty your purses into the ,psychical ,research hat6 ,so that we may accumulate statistics as to the cost of milk and honey in ,jerusalem the ,golden6 ,you read what ,i had to say about ,bootstrap-lifters1 and the ,wholesale ,pickpockets' ,association making use of their incantations4 ,you admired my ability to sling language1 but not my taste2 and you certainly did not think that ,i would back my rhetoric with facts4 ,but what do these quotations mean1 unless they mean what ,i have said8 ,are not these three professors men of culture8 ,are they not as spiritual as any men of learning you can find in our present-day society8 ,and now stop for a moment and put yourself in the position of the young student of the working-class1 who goes to these books and discovers that truth is not truth1 but only a bait for a snare4 ,who discovers that professors of ethics1 practical or impractical1 are not interested in justice among men1 but only in collecting funds for their specialty2 that in order to get funds1 they are willing to teach the rich how to paralyze the minds of the poor6 ,do you wonder that such young students conclude that bourgeois thinkers do not know what honesty is1 but are prostitutes1 retainers and lackeys1 to be kicked out of the temple of truth8 ,running the ,rapids ,and now1 can you form to yourselves a clear concept of what it means to society that practically all its moral teaching should be in the hands of men who are incapable of clean1 straight thinking8 ,that all the intellectual prestige of the ,church should be lent to the support of vagueness1 futility1 and deliberate evasion8 ,here we are1 all of us1 caught in the most terrific social crisis of history2 ,i search for a metaphor to picture our position1 and ,i recall a canoe-trip in the wilds of ,ontario1 hundreds of miles down a long swift river4 ,you sit in the bow of the canoe1 your partner in the stern1 watching ahead2 and there comes a slide of smooth green water1 and you go over it1 and into a torrent of foaming white1 which seizes you and rushes you along with the speed of a race-horse4 ,with every sense alert1 you watch for the rocks1 and when you see one1 you dip your paddle on one side or the other and with a quick motion draw the canoe clear of the danger4 ,if by any chance you fail to do it1 over you go1 and your partner with you1 and all your belongings go down-stream1 and maybe you are sucked into a whirlpool1 and not seen for several hours afterwards4 ,precisely like this is the voyage of life1 for the whole of society and for every individual4 ,the paddle which would save us from the rocks is experimental science2 but in most of our canoes we put a man who has no paddle1 but a ,holy ,book2 and he casts up his eyes and murmurs words in ancient ,greek and ,hebrew1 and now and then1 when he sees an especially formidable obstruction--a war1 or the gonococcus1 or the ,i4,w4,w4--he casts a holy wafer upon the foaming torrent4 99 99 99 99 99 ,and mind you1 it isn't as if ,i could save myself and you could save yourself2 we are all in the same canoe1 and we all go overboard together4 ,you1 perhaps1 have a son who is drafted into the trenches in winter-time1 and drowned in blood and mud1 because in ,europe the ,catholic party supported militarism1 and kept aristocratic criminals in control of states4 ,or you find yourself involved in a marital tragedy1 and in order to free yourself from unendurable misery1 you are obliged to go to law-courts dominated by the tradition of ,paul1 the ,roman bureaucrat1 who despised women1 and regarded marriage as a means of gratifying an unclean animal desire4 ,it is better to marry than to burn1 he said1 with unmatchable brutality2 and so of course those who think him a voice of ,god can form no conception of the dignity and grace of love1 and if you want sound and wholesome sex-conventions1 you will be as apt to find them among the ,ashantees or the ,kamchadals as among the followers of the ,apostle to the ,gentiles4 ,you go to a so-called divorce-court1 which is dominated by this ,christian taboo1 and exists for the purpose of barring you from a second chance at the gratification of your unclean animal desire4 ,you are not permitted to tell your own story1 for that would be collusion2 you listen while your intimate friends recite the pitiful and shameful details of your domestic misfortune1 under the cross-questioning of lawyers who have suppressed for the time whatever decent instincts they may possess1 and follow blindly the details of a prescribed procedure1 at the cost of all sincerity1 humanity and truth4 ,the next morning you find that the privacy guaranteed you by law has been taken from you by corrupt court officials1 who have sold copies of the testimony to the newspapers1 so that all the intimate details of where you slept and where your wife slept and what you saw your wife doing have been thrown out to journalistic jackals1 who scream with glee as they rend the carcass of your dead love4 ,and in the end1 perhaps1 you find that you have gone through this horror for nothing--the august court with its ,roman ,catholic judge throws out your petition1 its suspicions having been excited by the fact that when you discovered your domestic tragedy1 you sought to behave like a civilized person1 with pity and self-restraint1 instead of like a sultan in ,turkey1 or a basso in an ,italian grand opera4 ,birth ,control ,i assert that the control of our thinking on ethical questions by minds enslaved to tradition and priestcraft is an unmitigated curse to the race4 ,the armory of science is full of weapons which might be used to slay the monsters of disease and vice--but these weapons are not allowed to be employed1 sometimes not even to be mentioned4 ,consider the misery which is piling itself up in the slums of our great cities--the degenerate1 the defective1 the insane1 who are multiplying as never before in history4 ,there exists a perfectly harmless and painless method of sterilizing the hopelessly unfit1 so that they can not reproduce their hopeless unfitness2 but religion objects to this operation1 and so the law does not make use of this knowledge4 ,there exists a simple1 entirely harmless1 and practically costless method of preventing conception1 which would enable us to check the blind and futile fecundity of ,nature1 and to multiply as gods instead of as animals4 ,consider the festering mass of misery in the slums of our great cities2 consider the millions of terrified1 poverty-hounded women1 bearing one half-nurtured infant after another1 struggling desperately to feed and care for them1 and seeing them drop into the grave as fast as they are born--until finally the mother1 worn out with the ,sisyphean labor1 gives up and follows her misbegotten offspring4 ,consider how many women1 in their agony and despair1 make use of the methods of the primitive savage1 to escape from ,nature's curse of fecundity4 ,dr4 ,wm4 ,j4 ,robinson has estimated that in the ,united ,states alone there are a million abortions every year2 and consider that all this hideous mass of suffering--a bloody ,european war going on continually1 unheeded by any newspaper correspondent--might be avoided by the use of a simple sterilizing formula1 which we are not permitted to give6 ,the ,federation of ,catholic ,societies have placed a law upon the statute-books of the nation1 and of all the states as well2 the whole power of police and courts and jails is at the service of religious bigots1 and a young girl is sent to prison and forcibly fed with a tube through the nose for telling poverty-ridden slum-women how to keep from becoming pregnant6 ,and go among the sleek1 cynical men of the world1 the judges and district attorneys1 the commissioners of correction and doctors who perpetrated this infamy under1 a so-called reform administration in ,new ,york ,city--and what do you find8 ,the first thing you find is that they themselves1 one and all1 practice birth-control with their wives or their mistresses4 ,the second thing you find is that the statute-books are crowded with other laws which they make no pretense of enforcing2 for example1 the law which forbids the saloons to be open on ,sunday--which law they take the liberty of understanding to mean that the saloons shall not have their front doors open on ,sunday4 ,you will find that they are not at all afraid of the religious taboos2 they are afraid of the religious vote--and even more they are afraid of the campaign contributions of sweat-shop manufacturers and landlords1 who cannot see what would become of prosperity if the women of the slums were to cease to breed4 ,so once more we discover the wolf in sheep's clothing1 the trader1 making use of ,tradition-worship2 hiding behind the skirts of devout old maiden aunts and grandmothers1 who repeat the instructions which ,god gave to ,adam and ,eve1 ,be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth4 ,as if ,god were as blind as a ,fifth ,avenue preacher1 and could see no difference between the ,garden of ,eden1 full of all fruits that grow and all creatures that run and fly and swim1 and a modern ,east ,side tenement-room1 with an oil stove and no windows and no water-closet1 and the price of cabbage seven cents a pound6 ,sheep ,there are more than a hundred thousand ,protestant churches in ,america4 ,they own more than a billion dollars' worth of property1 and in the ,west and ,south they dominate the intellectual life of the country4 ,i do not wish to be unfair in what ,i say of them4 ,they are far more democratic than the ,catholic ,church2 they fight valiantly against the liquor traffic and those forms of graft which are obvious1 or directly derived from vice4 ,there are among their clergy many men who are honestly seeking light1 and trying to make their institutions a factor for progress4 ,but they are caught in the spirit of ,lutheran scholasticism1 narrow and ignorant1 dogmatic and jealous2 and they cannot help it1 because they are pledged by their creeds and foundations to ,tradition-worship2 they have to believe certain things because their ancestors believed them1 they have to act in certain ways1 because of certain facts which existed in the world three thousand years ago1 but which now are known only to historians4 ,you are familiar with the habit of a herd of sheep to follow the example of their leader2 if this leader leaps over a stick1 all the rest will leap when they come to that spot1 even though the stick may have been taken away in the meantime4 ,the scientist explains this seeming-foolishness by the fact that sheep once lived in high mountains1 and fled from their enemies in swiftly rushing herds2 when the leader leaped across an abyss1 the others had to leap1 without waiting to see in the dust and confusion4 ,now there are no mountains and no enemies1 but the sheep still jump4 ,and in exactly the same way the tailor still sews buttons at the back of your dress-coat1 because a couple of hundred years age all gentlemen wore swords2 in the same way our railroad builders make cars narrow and uncomfortable and liable to overturn1 because a hundred years ago all cars were hauled by mules4 ,in the same way the ,orthodox ,hebrew will eat no pork1 in spite of the fact that the microscope affords him complete protection against disease2 the orthodox ,catholic will not eat meat on ,friday1 because he thinks ,jesus was crucified on that day2 the orthodox ,anglican will not marry his deceased wife's sister1 because of something he reads in ,leviticus2 the orthodox ,baptist requires total immersion in a climate quite different from that of ,palestine2 the orthodox ,methodist refuses to enjoy fresh air and exercise on the ,sabbath4 ,in ancient ,judea1 you see1 the people lived an open-air life1 tending sheep and working the fields2 so it was an excellent thing for them to rest from labor one day of the week1 and to gather in temples to hear the reading of the best literature of their time4 ,but nowadays the city slave spends his week-days shut up in an office1 poring over a ledger1 or in a sweat-shop1 chained to a sewing-machine4 ,obviously1 therefore1 the thing to do on the seventh day is to lure him into the open air1 and persuade him to run and play4 ,but do we do that1 we human sheep8 ,we write ancient ,hebrew laws upon our modern statute-books1 and if the city slave goes into a vacant lot and tries to play base-ball1 we send a policeman and take him to jail1 and next morning he is fined five dollars1 and probably loses his job4 ,in the city where ,i live1 a city supposed to be free and enlightened1 but in reality heavily burdened with churches1 there are tennis courts built and paid for out of public funds1 my own included2 yet ,i cannot use these tennis courts on ,sunday1 because of the ancient ,hebrew taboo4 ,my mail is not delivered to me1 the swimming pool in the park is closed to me1 the library is closed nearly all day4 ,if ,i enquire about it1 ,i am told that it is desirable that city employees should have one day's rest a week2 but when ,i ask why it might not be possible to relay the employees1 so that they might all have one1 or even two days' rest a week1 and still give the public their rights on ,sunday1 there is no answer4 ,but ,i know the answer1 having probed our politics of hypocrisy4 ,there is a church vote at which all politicians tremble2 there are clergymen1 humanly jealous when their peculiar graft is threatened1 and hoping that if the law enforces a general boredom1 the public may be more disposed to endure the boredom of sermons4 ,in ,new ,york ,city the theaters are closed on ,sunday2 but moving pictures having come into being since the days of ,puritan rule1 the picture-shows are free to keep open4 ,the law permits sacred concerts--which1 under the benevolent sway of ,tammany1 has come to mean any sort of vaudeville2 so what we have is a free rein to the imbecilities of ,mutt ,jeff and the obscenities of ,anna ,held and ,gaby ,deslys--while we bar the greatest moralists of our times1 such as ,ibsen and ,brieux4 ,i speak with some crossness of this ,sabbath taboo1 because of an experience which once befell me4 ,in the second decade of this century of enlightenment and progress1 in our free ,american democracy1 whose constitution proclaims religious toleration1 and forbids the establishment by the state of any form of worship1 ,i was made to serve a sentence of eighteen hours in the state prison of ,delaware for playing a game of tennis on the ,sabbath4 ,i was duly arrested upon a warrant1 duly sentenced by a magistrate1 duly clad in a prison costume1 duly set to work upon a stone-pile1 duly locked up over night in a steel-barred cell full of vermin--in a building housing some five hundred wretches1 black and white1 thirty of them serving life-terms under circumstances which never permitted them a breath of fresh air nor a glimpse of the sunshine or the sky4 ,they had no exercise court to their prison1 and the inmates were not permitted to speak to one another1 but ate their meals in dead silence1 and walked back to their cells with folded arms1 and had their only occupation working for a sweat-shop contractor2 this on the outskirts of the pious city of ,wilmington1 with no less than ninety-one churches6 ,the writer was informed that he would return to this institution regularly every week unless he abandoned his godless habit of playing tennis on a private club court on ,sunday2 he only escaped the painful punishment by making the discovery that at the ,wilmington ,country ,club it was the custom of the leading officials of the city and state to play golf every ,sunday1 and by threatening to employ detectives and have these mighty ones arrested and sent to their own prison4 ,which shows again the importance of understanding this relationship of ,superstition and ,big ,business6 99 99 99 99 99 ,,book ,,six ,the ,church of the ,quacks ,they may talk as they please about what they call pelf1 ,and how one ought never to think of one's self1 ,and how pleasures of thought surpass eating and drinking-- ,my pleasure of thought is the pleasure of thinking ,how pleasant it is to have money1 heigh ho6 ,how pleasant it is to have money4 ,clough4 99 99 99 99 99 ,tabula ,rasa ,nature has given us a virgin continent1 a clean slate upon which to write what we will4 ,and what are we writing8 ,what is our intellectual life8 ,i came to the far ,west1 which ,i had been taught by novelists and poets to think of as a place of freedom4 ,i came1 because ,i like freedom2 ,i am staying because ,i like the climate4 ,i find that what freedom means in the ,west is the ability of ignorant and fanatical persons to start some new1 fantastical quirk of scriptural interpretation1 to build a new cult around it1 and earn a living out of it4 ,my first contact with that sort of thing was when ,i went to the ,battle ,creek ,sanitarium to investigate hydrotherapy1 and found myself in a nest of ,seventh-day ,adventists4 ,three generations or so ago some odd character hit upon the discovery that the ,christian churches had let the devil snare them into resting on the first day of the week1 whereas the ,bible states distinctly that the ,lord rested on the seventh day4 ,so here is a million dollar establishment1 with a thousand or two patients and employees1 and on ,friday at sundown the silence of death settles upon the place1 and stays settled until sundown of ,saturday1 when everything comes suddenly to life again1 and there is a little celebration1 like ,easter or ,new ,year's1 with what ,i used to call sterilized dancing--the men pairing with men and the women with women4 ,they are decent and kindly people1 and you learn to put up with their eccentricities2 it is really convenient in some ways1 because1 as not all the city shares their delusions1 there are some stores open every day of the week4 ,but then you discover that the ,sanitarium is training medical missionaries to send to ,africa1 and is teaching these supposed-to-be-scientists that evolution is a doctrine of the devil1 and not proven anyhow6 ,you get the shrewd little doctor who is running this establishment alone in his office1 and he will smile and admit that of course it is not necessary to take all ,bible phrases literally2 but you know how it is--there are different levels of intelligence1 and so on4 ,yes1 ,i know how it is4 ,you have an institution founded upon a certain dogma1 and run by means of that dogma1 and it is hard to change without smashing things4 ,it is especially convenient when servants and nurses have a religious upbringing1 and do not steal the pocket-books of the patients4 ,people will come from all over the country1 and pay high prices to stay in such a sanitarium2 you can make vegetarians of them1 which you think more important than teaching abstract notions about their being descended from monkeys4 ,also you can manufacture vegetarian foods for them1 and build up an enormous business--so obtaining that ,power which is the thing desired of men4 ,this is but one illustration of a sort of thing of which ,i could cite a hundred4 ,the city in which ,i live is headquarters of another sect1 the ,pentecostal ,church of the ,nazarene2 primitive ,methodists1 ,bible-worshippers not content with the ,king ,james version1 but going back to the ,sinaitic ,,ms4 ,they have a ,university1 located in one of the most beautiful spots that ,nature ever made2 an institution with seventy-five students4 ,a couple of years ago ,i happened to meet the president1 who was a preacher with grease on the ample expanse of his black broadcloth waistcoat1 and a speech full of the commonest grammatical errors1 such as you was and ,i seen4 ,the past year witnessed a split1 and the founding of a brand new church and ,university--because one of the preachers insisted upon preaching so much that the students got no chance to study2 also because he sent home a rich man's daughter whose shirt-waists revealed too much of her fleshly nature4 ,and there is an even stranger phenomenon in the locality1 taking you back to the ,libyan desert and the time of ,thais4 ,a lady friend of mine1 generously blessed with this world's goods1 asks me have ,i seen the hermit4 ,hermit8 ,i say1 and she replies1 ,didn't you know there was a hermit8 ,he lives on a mountain1 in a cave1 and never has anything to do with the world4 ,he has no books2 he contemplates spiritually4 ,i picture my friend with her large limousine1 a rolling palace full of ladies1 drawing up at the door of this hermit's cave4 ,he received you8 ,i ask4 ,yes1 he was quite polite4 ,and what was your impression of him8 ,oh1 how he stank6 ,i answer that this is the odor of sanctity1 and my friend thinks that ,i am enormously witty2 ,i have to explain to her that ,i am not jesting1 but that there are definite physiological phenomena incidental to the ecstatic life4 ,the ,book of ,mormon ,or let us take a trip to ,salt ,lake ,city1 the headquarters of a still stranger cult4 ,on the morning of the #bbnd of ,september1 #ahbg1 the ,angel of the ,lord delivered unto ,joseph ,smith1 ,jr41 an ignorant farmer-youth in a backwoods part of ,new ,york ,state1 some plates which had the appearance of gold4 ,as we know from the scriptures1 it is the habit of the ,angel of the ,lord to appear in unexpected places and to make miraculous revelations to men in humble walks of life2 so1 as devout believers1 we hold ourselves in readiness4 ,in this case the plates were written in reformed ,egyptian2 but the ,angel thoughtfully provided ,joseph ,smith1 ,jr41 with ,urim and ,thummim1 two magic stones with which to read the records4 ,they proved to deal with a mystery which has haunted the minds of ,bible students for centuries--the fate of the lost ten tribes of ,israel1 who were now revealed to have been the ancestors of the ,american ,indians4 ,the ,angel told ,smith to found a new religion1 and gave him prophecies concerning things in general2 so1 on the #fth of ,april1 #ahcj1 in the town of ,manchester1 ,n4,y41 there was formally launched the ,church of the ,latter ,day ,saints4 ,smith turned over to his followers his translation of the miraculous plates1 called ,the ,book of ,mormon2 obviously genuine1 for it read precisely like the books which we already know are the revealed word of ,god4 ,but1 on chance that this might not be sufficient1 we were offered in the preface two documents1 the ,testimony of ,three ,witnesses1 and the ,further ,testimony of ,eight ,witnesses4 ,the latter being the shorter1 may be quoted3 ,be it known unto all nations1 kindreds1 tongues and people1 unto whom this work shall come3 ,that ,joseph ,smith ,jr41 the translator of this work1 has shewn unto us the plates of which hath been spoken1 which have the appearance of gold2 and as many of the leaves as the said ,smith hath translated1 we did handle with our hands2 and we also saw the engravings there-on1 all of which has the appearance of ancient work and of curious workmanship4 ,and this we bear record with words of soberness1 that the said ,smith has shewn unto us1 for we have seen and hefted1 and know of a surety that the said ,smith hath got the plates of which we have spoken4 ,and we give our names unto the world1 to witness that which we have seen1 and we lie not1 ,god bearing witness of it4 ,christian ,whitmer ,jacob ,whitmer ,peter ,whitmer1 ,jr4 ,john ,whitmer ,hiram ,page ,joseph ,smith1 ,sr4 ,hyrum ,smith ,saml4 ,h4 ,smith ,the subsequent career of the ,church of the ,latter ,day ,saints bore out the ,angel's prophesies and proved conclusively its divine origin2 it was persecuted as the saints of old were persecuted1 and its followers proceeded to massacre the nearby unbelieving populations1 just as the divinely guided ,hebrews had done4 ,driven from place to place1 they built at ,nauvoo1 ,ill41 a beautiful temple1 according to plans revealed in a vision1 exactly like ,solomon4 ,finally they settled in ,utah1 where they have a magnificent marble tabernacle1 and some #cjj1jjj followers4 ,the ,united ,states government1 not being entirely ,biblical1 objected to their practice of allowing the patriarchs of the tribe to have as many wives as they could support2 the government confiscated the church's property1 and forced it to conceal the practice of polygamy1 as is done by elderly church members in other parts of the country4 ,recently the head of the church1 who bears the title of ,prophet1 ,seer and ,revelator1 was persuaded to permit an examination of one of its secret plates1 the ,book of ,abraham1 by egyptologists1 who found that it was ordinary ,egyptian hieroglyphics1 not reformed1 but containing prayers to the sun-god4 ,but this will of course make no difference to the devout followers of ,joseph--any more than it has made to devout ,catholics and ,episcopalians that ,german scholars have proven that the ,bible legends and ritual have come from the ,babylonians1 and that the four gospels date from the second and third centuries after ,christ4 ,holy ,rolling ,all over ,america you will find these weird ,bible-cults1 some of them pathetic1 some of them dangerous1 some of them merely grotesque4 ,thus1 for example1 there was ,john ,alexander ,dowie1 who founded the ,christian ,catholic ,church in ,zion and dressed himself up in scarlet and purple robes with stars on4 ,through his ,zion ,city ,bank and ,zion ,city ,realty ,company he became enormously wealthy2 he finally announced himself as ,elijah the ,restorer4 ,i remember as a boy how he brought his gospel to ,new ,york1 and ,p4,t4 ,barnum with ,tom ,thumb and the white elephant never made such a sensation4 ,the ridicule of the metropolis overwhelmed the old prophet1 and he died and passed on his robes and his tabernacle and his bank to his son2 straightway1 according to the rule of all religions1 the followers fell to quarrelling and splitting up1 and suing one another in the law-courts4 ,also there are the ,holy ,rollers and ,holy ,jumpers1 ghastly sects which cultivate the religious hysterias1 and have spread like a plague among the women of our lonely prairie farms and desert ranches4 ,the ,holy ,rollers1 who call themselves the ,apostolic ,church1 have a meeting place here in ,pasadena1 and any ,sunday evening at nine o'clock you may see the ,spirit of the ,lord taking possession of the worshippers1 causing moans and shrieks and convulsions2 you may see a woman holding her hands aloft for seventeen minutes by the watch1 making chattering sounds like an ape4 ,this is called talking in tongues and is a sign of the presence of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,if you come back at eleven in the evening1 you will find the entire congregation1 men and women1 prostrate on the floor1 or hanging over the benches2 and maybe a child moaning in terror1 having a devil cast out4 ,you may be interested1 perhaps1 to know how to throw yourself into these convulsions4 ,here is a paper called ,trust1 which is published ,monthly 7,d4,v47 in the interests of ,elim ,faith ,work and ,bible ,training ,school4 ,elizabeth ,sisson writes on ,the ,pentecostal ,baptism1 and tells the story of her experiences4 ,she camped on the ,word of ,god1 she declares4 ,i went up to ,calgary in ,canada1 and the leader of the mission told me1 ,you can go down to the mission and stay there all day4 ,there is plenty of wood1 and you can stay there all night4 ,i went down1 and there was plenty of let go in me4 ,i cried1 and prayed all ,i knew1 and got wonderfully loosed4444 ,then the ,lord said to me1 ,now1 no more praying6 ,god told me it was mine4 ,what was there left for me to pray about4 ,he spoiled my praying and ,i took up praising4 ,i praised ,god that ,he who worked in the ,upper ,room was working the same in me4 ,i praised1 and ,i praised1 and ,i praised4 ,the devil said to me1 ,that's mechanical4 ,i said1 ,i'll praise ,you ,lord1 and if ,you want real praise1 ,you'll have to put the wind in the sails4 ,that's the way ,i came through4 ,one morning ,i was just getting out of bed1 this gibberish1 this jargon as the enemy likes to call it1 began to come4 ,the ,lord said1 ,let it babble6 ,i let4 ,the babble increased1 and by night ,i was up to my neck4 ,i let4 ,i still let4 ,that's all4 ,someone else does the work1 and it does not tire you4 ,and here is another paper4 ,meat in ,due ,season3 published monthly1 or as often as the ,lord leads4 ,the editor quotes the ,bible1 ,call upon the name of the ,lord1 and explains that ,call means call4 ,the word appears to have a special meaning to these pentecostal persons--it means working yourself into a frenzy of agitation2 as the editor puts it1 you must lay hold of the horns of the altar4 ,he goes on to exhort--the bold face being his3 ,pray as if your very life depended upon it6 ,the first few minutes seemingly all the powers of hell will contend every word1 the next few1 relief in a measure will come1 more liberty in calling4 ,in a very little while you will be dead to the room1 dead to the chair1 dead to everyone around you1 dead to all and tremendously alive to your desperate need and emptyness2 this conviction will grow as you increase calling upon ,him4 ,it maybe you'll weep1 it maybe you'll perspire1 it maybe your clothing will be deranged1 it maybe your throat will get sore4 ,never for a moment let your mind rest on the condition of your person4 ,open your mouth and ,god has promised to fill it4 ,ask persistently until the very floor seems to sink beneath you and the fountains of the deep1 of your heart let loose4 ,like ,david1 pour out your soul like one would pour water out of a bucket4 ,i have seen hundreds get through right at this point4 ,when self-thought1 reticence1 decorum1 reserve1 propriety and dignity had all been thrown to the four winds of heaven4 ,self was then obliterated and consciousness of person gone4 ,draw near to ,god and ,he will draw near to you saith the scripture1 but you must draw near to ,him first4 ,these enthusiasts derive their practices from the ,shakers1 a sect which originated in ,england1 but was driven by persecution to the ,new ,world4 ,the ,shakers call themselves the ,united ,society of ,true ,believers in ,christ's ,second ,coming1 and were founded by ,ann ,lee1 who variously termed herself the ,female ,christ1 the ,holy ,comforter1 and the ,god-anointed ,woman4 ,they might be termed the suffragettes of religion1 for they pray always to ,our ,father and ,mother1 which are in heaven4 ,they were taught the convenient doctrine that their ,founder had spiritual illumination1 so that any evidence of the senses used against her might deceive4 ,she governed through terror1 holding that by her mental powers she could inflict torment upon any of her followers4 ,fortunately she taught absolute celibacy1 and so there are now only about a thousand of her disciples4 ,bible ,prophecy ,this far western country swarms with those fanatics who await the return of ,christ1 and find in ,bible chronology positive evidence that he is coming on a specified day4 ,seldom do ,i give a lecture on ,socialism that some eager old lady does not come up to me and point out how futile are my hopes1 because the ,millenium will come before the ,revolution4 ,several times ,i have come on an item in the newspapers1 telling of a group of people1 sometimes whole villages1 selling their goods and going out into the fields to shout and sing and pray1 expecting the vision of the ,lord and ,his ,angels in the skies4 ,i have in my hand a pamphlet entitled ,shekineh3 ,the ,glory of ,god in ,israel1 ,facts ,mathematically ,foretold1 of the ,soon ,coming of ,our ,blessed ,lord4 ,it is earnestly1 yearningly written1 in that spirit of feeble-minded affectionateness which the ,bible-sects seem to encourage3 ,now dear reader you see that these problems tell a wonderful story which ,i know are the ,eternal ,truths of ,god4 ,jesus is soon coming4 ,i believe that from now on we can say1 next2 week perhaps our blessed ,lord will return4 ,yet the time may not end till the close of the ,a4,m4 year1 which will be ,march #bjth1 #ahig4 ,but let us take up the sickle of ,god1 etc4 ,oh1 my ,christian friends1 live near the ,blessed ,christ1 and gain eternal life through ,jesus ,our ,lord6 ,in the public library ,i find another pamphlet1 entitled ,the ,our ,race1 which proves that the lost ten tribes of ,israel are not the ,american ,indians1 but the ,irish6 ,and here is a publication of the ,watch ,tower ,bible and ,tract ,society1 declaring3 ,the great pyramid in ,egypt is a witness to all the events of the ages and of our day4 ,the pyramid's downward passage under a ,draconis symbolizes the course of ,sin4 ,its first ascending passage symbolizes the ,jewish ,age4 ,its ,grand ,gallery symbolizes the ,gospel ,age4 ,its upper step symbolizes the approaching period of tribulation and anarchy1 ,judgment upon ,christendom4 ,it is a ,sunday morning1 and ,i sit in the ,california sunshine revising this manuscript1 when a decorous-looking young man approaches1 having a sack over his shoulder4 ,from the ,bible-students1 he says politely1 and hands me a little paper1 ,the ,bible ,students' ,monthly3 an ,independent1 ,unsectarian ,religious ,newspaper1 ,specially devoted to the ,forwarding of the ,lay-men's ,home ,missionary ,movement for the ,glory of ,god and ,good of ,humanity4 ,the leading article is headed ,the ,fall of ,babylon3 ,ancient ,babylon a ,type--,mystic ,babylon the ,antitype3 ,why ,christendom must ,suffer--the ,final ,outcome4 ,a note explains3 ,the following article is extracted from ,pastor ,russell's posthumous volume entitled ,the ,finished ,mystery1 the #gth in the series of his ,studies in the ,scriptures and published subsequent to his death4 ,pastor ,russell held the distinction of being the most fearless and powerful writer of modern times on ecclesiastical subjects4 ,in this posthumous volume1 which is called his last legacy to the ,christians on earth1 is found a thorough exposition of every verse in the entire book of ,revelation and also an elucidation of the obscure prophecy of ,ezekiel4 ,the book contains #fjh pages1 handsomely bound in embossed cloth4 ,pastor ,russell used to publish a two-column sermon in some hundreds of ,sunday newspapers1 together with a presentment of his features--solemn1 stiff1 white-whiskered1 set off with a choker and a black broadcloth coat4 ,there are five million such faces in ,america1 but if you have an impulse to despair for your country1 remember that it produced ,mark ,twain and ,artemus ,ward1 as well as ,pastor ,russell and the ,moody and ,sankey hymn-book4 ,i quote one passage from ,the ,finished ,mystery1 in order that the reader may know what it means to hold the distinction of being the most fearless and powerful writer of modern times on ecclesiastical subjects4 ,pastor ,russell does not approve of the ,methodists1 and he quotes twelve verses of ,revelation1 line by line and phrase by phrase1 showing how the evil course and downfall of the ,wesleyan system were divinely foretold4 ,thus3 ,but that they should be tormented five months4--,in symbolic time1 #aej years--#ex#cjaej4 7,ezek4 #d3f47 ,wesley became the first ,methodist in #agbh4 7,rev4 #i3 #a47 ,when the ,methodist denomination1 with all the others1 was cast off from favor in #ahgh 7,rev4 #c3ad7 its powers to torment men by preaching what ,presbyterians describe as ,conscious misery1 eternal in duration came to an end legally1 and to a large extent actually4--,rev4 #i3aj4 ,p4,s4 ,a few months pass1 and while this book is going to press1 ,the ,finished ,mystery is suppressed by the government and several score ,bible ,students are landed in jail for sedition4 ,koreshanity ,such are the beliefs built on the ,bible4 ,but there are other ancient writings with strange nomenclature and ritual and symbolism1 calculated to impress the unlettered2 also our prophets have imaginations of their own1 and can invent nomenclature and ritual and symbolism never seen in heaven nor on earth before4 ,thus there is ,dr4 ,newo ,newi ,new1 who called himself ,archbishop of the ,newthot ,church1 and gathered about him a harem of devoted females in ,san ,francisco1 and was landed in jail for using the mails to defraud4 ,or there is ,oahspe1 the ,cosmic ,bible1 a work of brand-new revelation with a brand-new view of the universe and all things therein3 ,the reader soon discovers that he must radically revise not only his ideas of celestial ,cosmogony1 but the order and significance of names and titles commonly applied to the ,transcendental ,brethren4 ,the great provinces of ,etheria are presided over by chiefs1 chosen for their superior development in wisdom and love4 ,for our solar system to cross one of these provinces requires about #c1jjj years1 and between them are belts of high ,etherian light which take several years to pass over4 ,the passage of each province is a cycle of earthly history1 and the crossings are called ,dawns of ,dan4 ,and here is ,koreshanity1 a revelation vouchsafed by the ,lord to ,dr4 ,c4,r4 ,teed of ,chicago in the year #ahhi4 ,this new seer took the name of ,koresh1 which is ,hebrew for ,cyrus1 the ,shepherd from ,joseph1 the ,stone of ,israel1 the ,sun-,man2 the illuminating center of the ,son of man1 and went out on the streets of the city to preach that the earth is a hollow sphere with the stars inside4 ,the street urchins of the pork-packing metropolis threw stones at him1 and the irreverent newspapers took up his adventures1 with the result that followers gathered1 and now there is a flourishing colony in ,florida1 with a dignified magazine called ,the ,flaming ,sword1 and a collection of propaganda volumes3 ,the ,cellular ,cosmogony1 an ,exposition of ,koreshan ,universology and the ,new ,geodesy2 ,the ,immortal ,manhood1 the ,laws and ,processes of its ,attainment in the ,flesh2 ,the ,great ,red ,dragon1 by ,lord ,chester2 ,the ,coming of the ,shepherd from ,joseph1 ,the ,standing of the ,great ,ensign1 by ,koresh4 ,the ,religio-science of this ,chicago revelator is based1 first upon some precise measurements of the earth which prove that its surface is concave2 and second upon some philological discoveries very much resembling puns4 ,thus the cross of ,christ is explained in a sense of the word more common among horse-breeders than among theologians3 ,the highest characteristic of the alchemical law is the cross of ,christ with sensual man4 ,the cross means that the ,lord ,god1 in order to perpetuate his own being1 descends into the race of sensuality4 ,and again1 when someone asks about meteors3 ,the word ,heaven means things heaved up1 that is1 heaved up from their material basis1 the earth2 thus1 the meteors which fall to the earth are composed of metallic1 mineral1 and geological substances1 being materialized or actually created in the atmosphere by an alchemico-organic process from zones or belts periodically open1 which precipitate their contents in the form or shape of meteors4 ,and perhaps ,i ought also to quote the ,indicia of ,human ,progress1 by ,berthaldine1 ,matrona4 ,i don't know what a ,matrona is--unless it is a female matron4 ,this female matron tells me that now is the ,time of ,restitution1 and explains that the prolification of the human race has reached a fruition of the adultery of the truth and good of the ,lord with the fallacies and evils of the mortal hells 444,we have come1 it seems1 to the age of ,pisces1 which is one of the greatest radical prolification2 and what we now need is the power of polarization1 so that we may join the ,white ,horse ,army of the ,most ,high1 which is the organization of the ,aquarian age1 proclaimed by ,koresh on ,january #aeth1 #ahia4 ,mazdaznan ,and here is another and even more startling revelation from ,chicago1 given to a seer by the name of ,dr4 ,otoman ,prince of ,adusht ,ha'nish1 prophet of the ,sun ,god1 ,prince of ,peace1 ,manthra ,magi of ,temple ,el ,katman1 ,kalantar of ,zoroastrian ,breathing and ,envoy of ,mazdaznan living1 ,viceroy-,elect and ,international ,head of ,master-,thot4 ,if you had happened to live near the town of ,mendota1 ,illinois1 and had known the ,german grocer-boy named ,otto ,hanisch1 you might at first have trouble in recognizing him through this transmogrification4 ,i have traced his career in the files of the ,chicago newspapers1 and find him herding sheep1 setting type1 preaching prestidigitation1 mesmerism1 and fake spiritualism1 joining the ,mormon ,church1 then the ,christian ,catholic ,church in ,zion1 and then the cult of ,brighouse1 who claimed to be ,christ returned4 ,finally he sets himself up in ,chicago as a ,persian ,magus1 teaching ,yogi breathing exercises and occult sex-lore to the elegant society ladies of the pork-packing metropolis4 ,the ,sun ,god1 worshipped for two score centuries in ,india1 ,egypt1 ,greece and ,rome1 has a new shrine on ,lake ,park ,avenue1 and the prophet gives tea-parties at which his disciples are fed on lilac-blossoms--the white and pinkish for males1 the blue-tinted for females4 ,he wears a long flowing robe of pale grey cashmere1 faced with white1 and flexible white kid shoes1 and he sells his lady adorers a book called ,inner ,studies1 price five dollars per volume1 with information on such subjects as3 ,the ,immaculate ,conception and its ,repetition2 ,the ,secrets of ,lovers ,unveiled2 ,our ,ideals and ,soul ,mates2 ,magnetic ,attraction and ,electric ,mating4 ,a ,grand ,jury intervenes1 and the ,prophet goes to jail for six months2 but that does not harm his cult1 which now has a temple in ,chicago1 presided over by a lady called ,kalantress and ,evangelist2 also a ,northern ,stronghold in ,montreal1 an ,embassy in ,london1 an ,international ,aryana in ,switzerland1 and ,centers all over ,america4 ,at the moment of going to press1 the prophet himself is in flight1 pursued by a warrant charging him with improper conduct with a number of young boys in a ,los ,angeles hotel4 ,i have dipped into ,ha'nish's revelations1 which are a farrago of every kind of ancient mysticism--paper and binding from the ,bible1 illustrations from the ,egyptian1 names from the ,zoroastrian1 health rules from the ,hindoos1 laws from the ,confucians--price ten dollars per volume4 ,would you like to discover your seventeen senses1 to develop them according to the ,ga-,llama principle1 and to share the expansion of the magnetic circles8 ,here is the way to do it3 ,inhale through nostrils for four seconds1 and upon one exhalation1 speak slowly3 ,open1 ,o thou world-sustaining ,sun1 the entrance unto ,truth hidden by the vase of dazzling light4 ,again inhale for four seconds1 and breathe out the following sentence upon one exhalation as before3 ,soften the radiation of ,thy ,illuminating ,splendor1 that ,i may behold ,thy ,true ,being4 ,i have a clipping from a ,los ,angeles newspaper telling of the prophet's arriving there4 ,he takes the front page with the captivating headline3 ,women ,didn't ,think ,till ,they ,put ,on ,corsets4 ,the interview tells about his mysteriousness1 his aloofness1 his bird-like-diet1 and his personal beauty4 ,despite his seventy-three years1 ,ha'nish evidences no sign of age4 ,his keen blue eyes showed no sign of wavering4 ,there were no wrinkles on his face1 and his walk was that of a man of forty4 ,the humor of this becomes apparent when we mention that at ,ha'nish's trial1 three or four years ago1 he was proven to be thirty-five years old6 ,being thus warned as to the accuracy of ,american journalism1 we shall not be taken in by the repeated statements that the ,mazdaznan prophet is a millionaire4 ,but there is no doubt that he is wealthy2 and as all ,americans wish to be wealthy1 ,i will quote his formula of prosperity1 his method of accomplishing what might be called the ,individual ,revolution3 ,when hungry and you do not know where to get your next piece of bread1 do not despair4 ,thy ,father1 all-loving1 has provided1 you with everything that will meet all cases of emergency4 ,place your teeth tightly together1 with tongue pressing against the lower teeth and lips parted4 ,breathe in1 close lips immediately1 exhaling through the nostrils4 ,breathe again2 if saliva forms in your mouth1 hold your breath so you can swallow it first before you exhale4 ,you thus take out of the air the metal-substance contained therein2 you can even taste the iron which you convert into substance required for making the blood4 ,should you feel that1 although you have sufficient iron in the blood1 there is a lack of copper and zinc and silver1 place upper teeth over lower1 keep lower lip tightly to lower teeth1 now breathe and you can even taste the metals named4 ,then should you feel you need more gold element for your brain functions1 place your back teeth together just as if you were to grind the back teeth1 taking short breaths only4 ,you will then learn to know that there is gold and silver all around us4 ,that our bodies are filled with quite a quantity of gold4 ,black ,magic ,what all this means is that we have a continent1 with a hundred million half-educated people1 materially prosperous1 but spiritually starving2 so any man who possesses personality1 who looks in any way strange and impressive1 or has hunted up old books in a library1 and can pronounce mysterious words in a thrilling voice--such a man can find followers4 ,anybody can do it with any doctrine1 from anywhere1 ,persia or ,patagonia1 ,pekin or ,pompei4 ,i would be willing to wager that if ,i cared to come out and announce that ,i had had a visit from ,god last night1 and to devote such literary and emotional power as ,i possess to communicating a new revelation1 ,i could have a temple1 a university1 and a million dollars within five years at the outside4 ,and if at the end of five years ,i were to announce that ,i had played a joke on the world1 some one of my followers would convince the faithful that ,i had been an agent of ,god without knowing it1 and that the leadership had now been turned over to him4 ,i would not be understood as believing that all our cults are undiluted fakery1 for that would be doing injustice to some earnest people4 ,there are1 in this country1 many followers of the ,persian reformer1 ,abbas ,effendi1 who call themselves ,babists1 and who have what ,i am inclined to think is the purest and most dignified religion in existence4 ,there was a man named ,jacob ,beilhardt1 who founded a cult in ,illinois with the painful name of ,spirit ,fruit ,colony1 who nevertheless was a man of spiritual insight1 a true mystic2 he was honest1 and so he failed1 and died of a broken heart4 ,also there are the ,christian ,scientists and the ,theosophists1 so exasperating that one would like to throw them onto the rubbish-heap1 who yet compel us to sift over their mountains of chaff for the grains of truth which will bear fruit in future4 ,while we western races have been exploring the natural world and perfecting the mechanical arts1 the ,hindoo students have been exploring the subconscious and its strange powers4 ,what ,myers and ,lodge and ,janet and ,charcot and ,freud and ,jung are telling us today they had hints of a long time ago2 and doubtless they have hints of other things1 upon which our scientists have not yet come4 ,i have friends1 perfectly sane and competent people1 who tell me that they can see auras1 and use this ability as a means of judging character4 ,shall ,i say that there are no auras1 simply because ,i do not happen to have this gift of seeing them8 ,in the same way1 having read ,gurney's ,phantasms of the ,living1 ,i am not ready to ridicule the claim of the ,yogi adepts1 that they are able to project some kind of astral body1 and to communicate with one another from distant places4 ,but granting such occult powers in a world of economic strife1 what follows8 ,simply new floods of charlatanism1 elaborate and complicated systems of ritual and metaphysic for the deluding and plundering of the credulous4 ,i have seen the thing working itself out in one case known to me4 ,a young man had a gift of mental healing2 ,i know1 because ,i saw it work2 but it did not always work1 and that was annoying4 ,he was penniless and had a taste for power1 and to eke out his erratic endowment he got himself books of ,eastern lore1 and day by day as ,i watched him ,i could see him becoming more and more impressive1 mysterious and forbidding4 ,today he is a full-fledged wonder-worker1 with the language of a dozen mystic cults at his tongue's end1 and the reverent regard of many wealthy ladies4 ,i have never tried to break through his guard1 but ,i feel certain that he is a deliberate charlatan4 ,this is an economic process1 automatic and irresistible4 ,just as the manufacturer of honest foods is driven out by the adulterator1 so the worker of miracles drives out the sincere investigator4 ,as a result we have here in ,america a plague of ,eastern cults1 with swamis using soft yellow robes and soft brown eyes to win the souls of idle society ladies4 ,these teachers of ancient ,hindoo lore despise us as a race of barbarians2 but they stay--whether because of love of man or woman1 ,i do not pretend to say4 ,there are the ,theosophists of many brands1 with schools and institutes and temples and colonies1 and a doctrine as complex and detailed and fantastic as that of the ,roman ,catholics4 ,i have already referred to the writings of ,madame ,blavatsky1 a runaway ,russian army officer's daughter1 whose career reads like a tale out of the ,arabian ,nights4 ,and there is ,annie ,besant1 who was once an ardent worker in the ,social-democratic ,federation2 ,h4,m4 ,hyndman tells of his dismay when she went to ,india and walked in a procession between two white bulls6 ,here in ,california is ,madame ,tingley1 with a colony and a host of followers in a minature paradise4 ,men work at money-lending or manufacturing sporting-goods1 and when they get old and tired they make the thrilling discovery that they have souls2 the theosophists cultivate these souls and they leave their money to the soul-cause1 and there are lawsuits and exposs in the newspapers4 ,for1 you see1 there is ferocious rivalry in the game of cultivating millionaire souls2 there are slanders and feuds1 just as in soulless affairs4 ,don't have anything to do with ,madame ,tingley1 whispers a ,theosophist lady to my ,wife2 and when my wife in all innocence inquires1 ,why not8 the awe-stricken answer comes1 ,she practices black magic6 ,let me add that ,i do not say that she practices black magic4 ,i do not believe that she could practice it1 even if she wanted to--,i do not believe in black magic4 ,my purpose is merely to show how theosophists quarrel3 going back to the days of ,anu and ,baal and the bronze ,image of the ,babylonian fire-god3 ,let them die1 but let me live6 ,let them be put under a ban1 but let me prosper6 ,let them perish1 but let me increase6 ,let them become weak1 but let me wax strong6 ,mental ,malpractice ,this is the other side of the fair shield of religious faith4 ,why1 if there be a power which loves and can be persuaded to aid us1 may there not also be a power which hates1 and can be persuaded to destroy8 ,no religion has ever been able to answer this1 and therefore none has ever been able to escape from devil-terrors4 ,even ,jesus was pursued by ,satan1 and the ,holy ,catholic ,church has its ceremonies for the exorcising of demons1 and a most frightful formula for cursing4 ,and here are our friends the ,christian ,scientists1 proclaiming the unreality of all evil1 their ability to banish disease by convincing themselves that they are perfect in ,god--yet tormented by a squalid phobia called ,mental ,malpractice1 or ,malicious ,animal ,magnetism4 ,christian ,science is the most characteristic of ,american religious contributions4 ,just as ,billy ,sunday is the price we pay for failing to educate our base-ball players1 so ,mary ,baker ,glover ,patterson ,eddy is the price we pay for failing to educate our farmer's daughters4 ,that she had a power to cure disease ,i do not doubt1 because ,i have a little of it myself4 ,at first my opinion was that her ,science made its way by curing the imaginary ailments of the idle rich4 ,if a person has nothing to do but think that he is sick1 you can work easy miracles by persuading him to think that he is well2 and if he has nothing to do but think that he is well1 he will help you to build marble churches and maintain propaganda societies4 ,but recently ,i have experimented with mental healing--enough to satisfy myself that the subconscious mind which controls our physical functions can be powerfully influenced by the will4 ,i told the story of some of these experiments in ,hearst's ,magazine for ,april1 #aiad4 ,suffice it here to say that if you will lay your hands upon a sick person1 forming a vivid mental picture of the bodily changes you desire1 and concentrating the power of your will upon them1 you may be surprised by the results1 especially if you possess anything in the way of psychic gifts4 ,you do not have to adopt any theories1 you do not have to do it in the name of any divinity1 ancient or modern2 the only bearing of such ideas is that they serve to persuade people to make the experiment1 and to make it with persistence and intensity4 ,so it has come about that miracles of healing are associated with faith2 and so it comes about that scientists are apt to flout the subject4 ,but read of the work of ,janet and ,charcot and their followers at the ,salpetriere2 they have proven that all kinds of seeming-organic ailments may be entirely hysterical in nature1 and may be cured by the simplest form of suggestion4 ,understanding this1 you may find it more easy to credit the fact that cripples do sometimes throw away their crutches in the grotto of ,lourdes4 ,for my part1 ,i can believe that ,jesus performed all the miracles of healing attributed to him--including the raising up of people pronounced to be dead by the ignorance of that time4 ,i am convinced that in the new science of psycho-analysis we have a universe as vast as the universe of the atom or of the stars4 ,the ,christian ,scientists have got hold of this power2 they have mixed it up with metaphysic and divinity1 and built some four or five hundred churches1 and printed the ,mother ,church alone knows how many million pamphlets and books4 ,i once invested three of my hard-earned dollars for a copy of the ,eddy ,bible1 and let myself be stunned and blinded by the flapping of metaphysical wings4 ,it is unadulterated moonshine--as the ,platonist and ,berkeleyan and ,hegelian and other orthodox collegiate metaphysical magi can prove to you in one minute4 ,what interests me about the phenomenon is not the slinging of tremendous words1 but the strictly ,yankee use which is made of them4 ,there is no nonsense about saving your soul in ,christian ,science2 what it is for is to remove your wen1 to nail down your floating kidney1 and to enable you to hustle and make money4 ,we saw in our politics the growth of a ,party of the ,full ,dinner-,pail2 contemporaneous therewith1 and corresponding thereto1 we see in our religious life the development of a ,church of the ,full ,pocket-,book4 ,it is a strict religion--strictly cash4 ,the heads of the cult do not issue cheap editions of ,science and ,health1 ,with ,key to the ,scriptures1 to relieve the suffering of the proletariat2 no--the work is copyrighted1 in all its varying and contradictory editions1 and the price is from three to seven-fifty1 according to binding4 ,treatments cost from three dollars to ten1 whether you come and get them or take them over the telephone4 ,and we have no nonsense about charity1 we don't worry about the poor who fester in our city slums2 because poverty is a product of ,mortal ,mind1 and we offer to all men a way to get rich right off the bat4 ,you may2 come to our marble churches and hear people testify how through the power of ,divine ,mind they were enabled to anticipate a rise in the stock-market4 ,if you don't avail yourself of the opportunity1 the fault is yours1 and yours also the punishment4 ,as to the management of the ,church1 the ,roman ,catholic hierarchy is a ,bolshevik democracy in comparison4 ,the ,church is controlled by an absolutely irresponsible self-perpetuating body of five men1 who alone dictate its policy4 ,i have in my hand a letter from a ,christian ,science healer who was listed as an authorized practitioner1 and who withdrew from the ,church because of its attitude on public questions4 ,he sends me a copy of his correspondence with the editors of the ,christian ,science ,monitor1 containing a detailed analysis of the position of that paper on such issues as the ,ballinger land-frauds4 ,he writes3 ,i am thoroughly convinced now that the policy of the ,church is consciously plutocratic4 ,the only recommendation ,i have heard of the latest appointee to the ,board of ,directors is that he is one of the richest men in the movement4 ,after the ,titanic disaster1 ,senator ,la ,follette brought in a carefully drawn bill to compel steamship companies to provide life-boats and trained crews4 ,the ,christian ,science ,monitor opposed this bill2 and when my correspondent cited the fact1 he brought out a quaint bit of metaphysical logic1 as follows3 ,one would prefer to travel on a vessel without a single boat1 rather than on some other vessels which were loaded down with life-boats1 where the government of ,mind was not understood6 ,science and ,wealth ,the truth is that the brand of ,mammon was on our ,yankee religion from the day of its birth4 ,in the first edition of her new ,bible ,mother ,eddy dropped the hint to her readers3 ,men of business have said this science was of great advantage from a secular point of view4 ,and in her advertisements she threw aside all pretense1 declaring that her work ,affords an opportunity to acquire a profession by which one can accumulate a fortune4 ,when her pupils did accumulate1 she boasted of their success2 nor did she neglect her own accumulating4 ,it has been a dozen years since ,i looked into this cult2 in order to be sure that it has not been purified in the interim1 ,i proceed to a street corner in my home city1 where is a stand with a sign3 ,christian ,science ,literature4 ,i take four sample copies of a magazine1 the ,christian ,science ,sentinel1 published by the ,mother ,church in ,boston1 and turn to the ,testimonials of ,healing4 ,in the issue of ,august #aa1 #aiag1 ,mary ,c4 ,richards of ,st4 ,margarets-on-,thames1 ,england1 testifies3 ,through a number of circumstances unnecessary to relate1 but proving conclusively that the result came not from man but from ,god1 employment was found4 ,in the issue of ,december #b1 #aiaf1 ,frances ,tuttle of ,jersey ,city1 ,n4,j41 testifies how her sister was successfully treated for unemployment by a scientist practitioner4 ,every condition was beautifully met4 ,in the same issue ,fred ,d4 ,miller of ,los ,angeles1 ,cal41 testifies3 ,soon after this wonderful truth came to me1 ,divine ,love led me to a new position with a responsible firm4 ,the work was new to me1 but ,i have given entire satisfaction1 and my salary has been advanced twice in less than a year4 ,in the issue of ,january #bg1 #aiag1 ,eliza ,fryant of ,agricola1 ,miss41 testifies how she cured her little dog of snake-bite and removed two painful corns from her own foot4 ,in the issue of ,august #d1 #aiag1 ,marcia ,e4 ,gaier1 of ,everett1 ,wash41 testifies how it suddenly occurred to her that because ,god is ,all1 she would drop her planning and outlining in regard to real estate properties1 upon which for nine months all available material methods were tried to no effect4 ,the result was a triumph of ,principle4 ,while working in the yard one morning and gratefully communing with ,god1 the only power1 ,i suddenly felt that ,i should stop working and prepare for visitors on their way to look at the property4 ,i obeyed this very distinct command1 and in about an hour ,i greeted two people who had searched almost the entire city for just what we had to offer4 ,they had been directed to our place by what to material sense would seem an accident1 but we know it was the divine law of harmony in its universal operation4 ,after this no one will wonder that ,john ,m4 ,tutt1 in a ,christian ,science lecture at ,kansas ,city1 ,mo41 should proclaim3 ,my friends1 do you know that since the world began ,christian ,science is the only system which has intelligently related religion to business8 ,christian ,science shows that since all ideas belong to ,mind1 ,god1 therefore all real business belongs to ,him4 ,as ,i said1 these people have the new-old power of mental healing4 ,they blunder along with it blindly1 absurdly1 sometimes with tragic consequences2 but meantime the rank and file of the pill-doctors know nothing about this power1 and regard it with contempt mingled with fear2 so of course the hosts of sufferers whom the pill-doctors cannot help flock to the healers of the ,church of ,christ1 ,scientist4 ,according to the custom of those who are healed by faith1 they swallow line1 hook1 and sinker1 creed1 ritual1 metaphysic and divinity4 ,so we see in twentieth-century ,america precisely what we saw in ,b4,c4 twentieth-century ,assyria--a host of worshippers2 giving their worldly goods without stint1 and a priesthood1 made partly of fanatics and partly of charlatans1 conducting a vast enterprise of graft1 and harvesting that thing desired of all men1 power over the lives and destinies of others4 ,and of course among themselves they quarrel2 they murder one another's ,mortal ,minds1 they drive one another out1 they snarl over the spoils like a pack of hungry animals4 ,listen to the ,mother1 denouncing one of her students--a perfectly amiable and harmless youth whose only offense was that he had gone his own way and was healing the sick for the benefit of his own pocket-book3 ,behold6 thou criminal mental marauder1 that would blot out the sunshine of earth1 that would sever friends1 destroy virtue1 put out ,truth1 and murder in secret the innocent1 befouling thy track with the trophies of thy guilt--,i say1 ,behold the cloud no bigger than a man's hand already rising on the horizon of ,truth1 to pour down upon thy guilty head the hailstones of doom4 ,and again3 ,the ,nero of today1 regaling himself through a mental method with the torture of individuals1 is repeating history1 and will fall upon his own sword1 and it shall pierce him through4 ,let him remember this when1 in the dark recesses of thought1 he is robbing1 committing adultery and killing4 ,when he is attempting to turn friend away from friend1 ruthlessly stabbing the quivering heart2 when he is clipping the thread of life and giving to the grave youth and its rainbow hues2 when he is turning back the reviving sufferer to his bed of pain1 clouding his first morning after years of night2 and the ,nemesis of that hour shall point to the tyrant's fate1 who falls at length upon the sword of justice4 ,new ,nonsense ,in a certain city of ,america is a large building given up entirely to the whims of pretty ladies4 ,its floors are not floors but ,promenades1 and have walls of glass1 behind which1 as you stroll1 you see bonnets from ,paris and opera cloaks from ,london1 furs from ,alaska and blankets from ,arizona1 diamonds from ,south ,africa and beads from the ,philippines1 grapes from ,spain and cherries from ,japan1 fortune-tellers from ,arabia and dancing-masters from ,petrograd and naturopaths from ,vienna4 ,there are seventy-three shops1 by actual count1 containing everything that could be imagined or desired by a pretty lady1 whether for her body1 or for that vague stream of emotion she calls her soul4 ,one of the seventy-three shops is a ,metaphysical ,library1 having broad windows1 and walls in pastel tints1 and pretty vases with pink flowers1 and pretty gray wicker chairs in which the reader will please to be seated1 while we probe the mysteries of an activity widely spread throughout ,america1 called ,new ,thought4 ,we begin with a shelf of magazines having mystical titles3 ,azoth2 ,master ,mind2 ,aletheian2 ,words of ,power2 ,qabalah2 ,comforter2 ,adept2 ,nautilus2 ,true ,word2 ,astrological ,bulletin2 ,unity2 ,uplift2 ,now4 ,and then come shelves of pretty pamphlets1 alluring to the eye and the purse2 also shelves of imposing-looking volumes containing the lore and magic of a score of races and two score of centuries--together with the very newest manifestations of ,yankee hustle and graft4 ,as in the case of ,christian ,science1 these ,new ,thoughters have a fundamental truth1 which ,i would by no means wish to depreciate4 ,it is a fact that the mysterious ,source of our being is infinite1 and that we are only at the beginning of our thinking about it4 ,it is a fact that by appeal to it we can perform seeming miracles of mental and moral regeneration2 we can stimulate the flow of nervous energy and of the blood1 thus furthering the processes of bodily healing4 ,but the fact that ,god is ,infinite and ,omnipotent does not bar the fact that ,he has certain ways of working1 which ,he does not vary2 and that it is our business to explore and understand these ways1 instead of setting our fancies to work imagining other ways more agreeable to our sentimentality4 ,thus1 for example1 if we want bread1 it is ,god's decree that we shall plant wheat and harvest it1 and grind and bake and distribute it4 ,under conditions prevailing at the moment1 it appears to be ,his decree that we shall store the wheat in elevators1 and ship it in freight cars1 and buy it through a grain exchange1 with capital borrowed from a national bank2 in other words1 that our daily bread shall be the plaything of exploiters and speculators1 until such a time as we have the intelligence to form an effective political party and establish ,industrial ,democracy4 ,but when you come to study the ways of ,god in the literature of the ,new ,thought1 do you find anything about the ,millers' ,trust and the ,bakers' ,trust and how to expropriate these agencies of starvation8 ,you do not6 ,what you find is ,bootstrap-lifting2 you find gentlemen and lady practitioners shutting their eyes and lifting their hands and pronouncing ,incantations in awe-inspiring voices--or in ,capital ,letters and ,,large ,,type3 ,god is infinite1 ,god is ,all-,loving1 ,,god ,,will ,,provide4 ,bread is coming to you6 ,bread is coming to you66 ,,bread ,,is ,,coming ,,to ,,you666 ,you think this is exaggeration8 ,if so1 it is because you have never entered the building of the pretty ladies1 and sat in the gray wicker chairs of the metaphysical library4 ,one of the highest high-priestesses of the cults of ,new ,nonsense is a lady named ,elizabeth ,towne1 editor of ,the ,nautilus2 and ,priestess ,elizabeth tells you3 ,i believe the idea that money wants you will help you to the right mental condition4 ,be a pot of honey and let it come4 ,i look over this ,priestess' magazine1 and find it full of testimonials and advertisements for the conjuring of prosperity4 ,are you in the success sphere8 asks one exhorter2 the next tells you ,how to enter the silence4 ,how to manifest what you desire4 ,the secret of advancement4 ,another tells3 ,how a ,failure at ,sixty ,won ,sudden ,success2 ,from ,poverty to #dj1jjj a year--a ,lesson for ,old and ,young ,alike4 ,the lesson1 it appears1 is to pay #c4jj for a book called ,power of ,will4 ,and here is another book3 ,master ,key3 ,which can unlock the ,secret ,chamber of ,success1 can throw wide the doors which seem to bar men from the ,treasure ,house of ,nature1 and bids those enter and partake who are ,wise enough to ,understand and broad enough to ,weigh the ,evidence1 firm enough to ,follow their ,own ,judgment and ,strong enough to ,make the ,sacrifice ,exacted4 ,dollars ,want ,me ,i turn to the shelves of pamphlets4 ,here is a pretty one called ,all ,sufficiency in ,all ,things1 published by the ,unity ,school of ,christianity1 in ,kansas ,city2 it explains that ,god is ,god1 not merely of the ,soul1 but also of the ,kansas ,city stockyards4 ,this divine ,substance is ever abiding within us1 and stands ready to manifest itself in whatever form you and ,i need or wish1 just as it did in ,elisha's time4 ,it is the same yesterday1 today and forever4 ,abundant ,supply by the manifestation of the ,father within us1 from within outward1 is as much a legitimate outcome of the ,christ life or spiritual understanding as is bodily healing4444 ,know that ,i am ,god--all of ,god1 ,good1 all of ,good4 ,i am ,life4 ,i am ,health4 ,i am ,supply4 ,i am the ,substance4 ,and here is ,w4,w4 ,atkinson of ,chicago1 author of a work called ,mind ,power4 ,would you like to be an ,impressive ,personality8 ,mr4 ,atkinson will tell you exactly how to do it2 he will give you the secret of the ,magnetic ,handclasp1 of the ,intense1 ,straight-in-the-eye ,look2 he will tell you what to say1 he will write out for you ,incantations which you may pronounce to yourself1 to convince yourself that you have ,power1 that the ,,indwelling ,,presence with all its ,,might is yours4 ,mr4 ,atkinson rebukes mildly the tendency of some of his fellow ,bootstrap-lifters to employ these arts for money-making2 but you notice that his magazine1 ,advanced ,thought1 does not decline the advertisements of such too-practical practitioners4 ,next comes a gentleman with the musical name of ,wallace ,wattles1 who tells in one pamphlet ,how to ,be a ,genius1 and in another pamphlet ,how to ,get ,what you ,want4 ,the thing for you to do is-- ,saturate your mentality through and through with the knowledge that ,,you ,,can ,,do ,,what ,,you ,,want ,,to ,,do4444 ,look upon the peanut-stand merely as the beginning of the department store1 and make it grow2 you can4 ,and ,mr4 ,wattles wattles on1 in an ecstasy of acquisitiveness3 ,hold this consciousness and say with deep1 earnest feeling3 ,i ,,can succeed6 ,all that is possible to any one is possible to me4 ,i ,,am success4 ,i do succeed1 for ,i am full of the ,power of ,success4 ,imagine1 if you please1 a poor devil chained in the treadmill of the capitalist system--a soda-jerker1 a counter-jumper1 a book-keeper for the ,steel ,trust4 ,his chances of rising in life are one in ten thousand2 but he comes to the ,metaphysical ,library1 and pays the price of his dinner for a pamphlet by ,henry ,harrison ,brown1 who was first a ,unitarian clergyman1 and then an extra-high ,bootstrap-lifter in ,san ,francisco1 an ,honorary ,vice-,president of the ,international ,new ,nonsense ,alliance4 ,mr4 ,brown will tell our soda-jerker or counter-jumper exactly how to elevate himself by mental machinery4 ,all calculations of probabilities are delusions of the senses2 if you have faith1 you can move1 not merely mountains1 but ,riker-,hegeman's1 ,macy's1 or the ,steel ,trust4 ,how to ,promote ,yourself is the title of one of ,mr4 ,brown's pamphlets1 in which he explains that-- ,your wants are impressed on the ,divine ,mind only by your faith4 ,a doubt cuts the connection4 ,a second pamphlet1 which we are told is now in its thirtieth edition1 bears the thrilling title of ,dollars ,want ,me6 ,in it ,mr4 ,brown lays claim to being a pioneer3 ,i believe that this little monograph is the first utterance of the thought that each individual has the ability so to radiate his mental forces that he can cause the ,dollars to feel him1 love him1 seek him1 and thus draw at will all things needed for his unfoldment from the universal supply4 ,what are ,dollars8 asks our author2 and answers3 ,dollars are manifestations of the ,one ,infinite ,substance as you are1 but1 unlike you1 they are not ,self-,conscious4 ,they have no power till you give them power4 ,make them feel this through your thought-vibrations as you feel the importance of your work4 ,they will then come to you to be used4 ,what is ,poverty8 ,mr4 ,brown asks1 and answers himself3 ,poverty is a mental condition4 ,it can be cured only by the ,affirmation of ,power to cure3 ,i am a part of the ,one1 and1 in the ,one1 ,i possess all6 ,affirm this and patiently wait for the manifestation4 ,you have sown the thought seed4 ,and our author goes on to hand out packages of these thought-seeds--,affirmations as they are called1 in the jargon of the ,new ,conjuring3 ,i desire a deep consciousness of financial freedom4 ,i desire that the flow of prosperity become equalized4 ,i desire a greater consciousness of my power to attract the dollar4 ,the ,indwelling ,power cares for my purse4 ,i own whatever ,i desire4 ,i can afford to use dollars for my happiness4 ,i always have a good bank account4 ,i actually see it4 ,my one idea of the law is to use1 use1 ,,use4 ,spiritual ,financiering ,if the symbolism of the ,episcopal ,church is of the palace1 and that of the non-conformist sects of the counting-house1 that of the ,international ,new ,nonsense ,alliance is of ,wall ,street and the ticker4 ,what is your rating in the ,spiritual ,bradstreet8 asks ,william ,morris ,nichols in the publication of the ',now' ,folk1 ,san ,francisco3 ,is it low or high8 ,is your credit with the ,bank of the ,universe good or poor8 ,if you draw a spiritual draft are you sure of its being honored8 ,if you can answer that last question affirmatively1 you are on the road to become a ,master in ,spiritual ,financiering4 ,have you an account with the ,first 7and only7 ,bank of ,spirit8 ,if not1 then you should at once open one therewith4 ,for no one can afford to keep less than a large deposit of spiritual funds with that ,bank4 ,and how do you proceed to open your account8 ,it is very simple3 ,intend the mind in the direction indicated by your desire4 ,seek for the ,light and ,guidance by which you may open up the way for your ,spiritual ,substance1 which governs material supply1 to reach you and make you as rich as you ought to be1 in freedom and happiness4 ,all this you can1 and when in earnest1 will do4 ,i turn over the advertisements of this publication of the ',now' ,folk4 ,one offers ,the ,business ,side of ,new ,thought4 ,another offers ,the ,books ,without an ,if1 with your money back ,,if you are not satisfied6 ,another offers land in ,bolivia for two dollars an acre4 ,another quotes ,shakespeare3 ,tis the mind that makes the body rich4 ,another offers two copies of the ,phrenological ,era for ten cents4 ,there is apparently no delusion of any age or clime which cannot find dupes among the readers of this ,new ,nonsense4 ,one notice commands3 ,stop6 ,a ,revelation6 ,a ,book has been written entitled ,strands of ,gold or from ,darkness into ,light6 ,another announces3 ,the ,most ,wonderful ,book of the ,ages3 ,the ,acquarian ,gospel of ,jesus the ,christ1 ,transcribed from the ,book of ,god's ,remembrance1 the ,akashic ,records4 ,and here is an advertisement published in ,mr4 ,atkinson's paper3 ,numerology3 the ,universal ,adjuster6 ,do you know3 ,what you appear to be to others8 ,what you really are8 ,what you want to be8 ,what would overcome your present and future difficulties8 ,write to x1 ,philosopher4 ,you will receive full particulars of his personal work which is dedicated to your service4 ,no problem is too big or too small for ,numerology4 ,understanding awaits you4 ,and looking in the body of the magazine1 you find this ,philosopher imparting some of this ,understanding4 ,would you like1 for example1 to understand why ,america entered the ,war8 ,nothing easier4 ,the vowels of the ,words ,united ,states of ,america are uieaeoaeia1 which are numbered #bieaefaeia1 which added make #de1 or #d plus #e equals #i4 ,you might not at first see what that has to do with the ,war--until the ,philosopher points out that #i is the number of completion1 indicating the end of a cosmic cycle4 ,that1 of course1 explains everything4 ,and here is a work on what you perhaps thought to be a dead science1 ,astrology4 ,it is called ,lucky ,hours for ,everybody3 ,a ,true ,system of ,planetary ,hours--by ,prof4 ,john ,b4 ,early4 ,price ,one ,dollar4 ,it teaches you things like this3 ,saturn's negative hours are especially good for all matters relating to gold-mining4444 ,the ,sun negative rules the emerald1 the musical note ,d sharp1 and the number four4 ,the lunar hours are a good time to deal in public commodities1 and to hire servants of both sexes4444 ,a recent lady visitor informed me that she had made several vain attempts to transact important business in the hours ruled by ,jupiter1 usually held to be fortunate1 while she was nearly always fortunate in what she began in the hours ruled by ,saturn4 ,upon investigation ,i found her name was ruled by the ,sun negative1 and that she had ,capricorn with ,saturn therein as her ascendant at birth1 which explains4 ,and finally1 here is a ,london scientist1 reported in the ,weekly ,unity of ,kansas ,city1 who proves his mental power over two-horse power oil engines which fail to act4 ,going a little apart1 he came back in a few minutes and said3 ',the engine is all right now and will work satisfactorily4' and without any further difficulty it did4 ,we are told how ,dr4 ,rawson gave a demonstration of his method to a newspaper reporter the other day4 ,fixing his gaze as though looking into space1 he apparently became absorbed in deep contemplation and said aloud3 ,there is no danger2 man is surrounded by divine love2 there is no matter2 all is spirit and manifestation of spirit4 ,you might at first find difficulty in believing what can be accomplished by demonstrations such as this2 not merely are two-horse power oil engines made to work1 but the whole gigantic machine of ,prussian militarism is prevented from working4 ,you may recall how ,arthur ,machen's magazine story of the ,angels of ,mons was taken up and made into a ,catholic legend over-night2 now here is a ,new-,nonsense legend1 complete and perfect1 going the rounds of our ,nonsense magazines3 ,london1 ,dec4 #ad4--,shell-proof and bullet-proof soldiers have been discovered on the ,european battle-fronts4 ,heroes with charmed lives are being made every day1 according to ,frederick ,l4 ,rawson1 a ,london scientist1 who insists he has found the miraculous way by which they are developed4 ,he calls it audible treatment4 ,practical utilization of the powers of ,god by right thinking1 is the agency through which ,dr4 ,rawson declares he can so treat a man that he will not be harmed when hundreds of men are being shot dead beside him4 ,this amazing treatment includes a new type of prayer4 ,it is being administered to hundreds of men audibly1 and to hundreds more by letter4 ,nothing since the war began has aroused so much talk of modern miracles as have many of the statements of ,dr4 ,rawson4444 ,at the taking of a wood there were five hundred yards of ,no ,man's ,land to be crossed4 ,our troops could not get across4 ,then ,capt4----1 who practices this method of prayer1 treated them for an hour before they started1 and not a man was knocked out4 ,he was the only officer left out of eighty in his brigade4 ,he simply held onto the fact that man is spiritual and perfect and could not be touched4 ,a bullet fired from a revolver only five yards away hit him over the chest1 tore his shirt and went out at the shoulder4 ,but it never penetrated his chest4 ,he was frequently in a hail of shells and bullets which did not touch him4 ,the ,graft of ,grace ,all this is grotesque2 but it is what happens to religions in a world of commercial competition4 ,it happens not merely to ,christian ,science and ,new ,thought religions1 ,mazdaznan and ,zionist1 ,holy ,roller and ,mormon religions1 but to ,catholic and ,episcopalian1 ,presbyterian and ,methodist and ,baptist religions4 ,for you see1 when you are with the wolves you must howl with them2 when you are competing with fakirs you must fake4 ,the ordinary ,christian will read the claims of the ,new ,thought fakers with contempt2 but have ,i not shown the ,catholic ,church publishing long lists of money-miracles8 ,have ,i not shown the ,church of ,good ,society1 our exclusive and aristocratic ,protestant ,episcopal communion1 pretending to call rain and to banish pestilence1 to protect crops and win wars and heal those who are sick in estate--that is1 who are in business trouble8 ,the reader will say that ,i am a cynic1 despising my fellows2 but that is not so4 ,i am an economic scientist1 analyzing the forces which operate in human societies4 ,i blame the prophets and priests and healers for their fall from idealism2 but ,i blame still more the competitive wage-system1 which presents them with the alternative to swindle or to starve4 ,for1 you see1 the prophet has to have food4 ,he has frequently got along with almost none1 and with only a rag for clothing2 in ,palestine and ,india1 where the climate is warm1 a sincere faith has been possible for short periods4 ,but the modern prophet who expects to influence the minds of men has to have books and newspapers2 he will find a telephone and a typewriter and postage-stamps hardly to be dispensed with1 also in ,europe and ,america some sort of a roof over his meeting place4 ,so the prophet is caught1 like all the rest of us1 in the net of the speculator and the landlord4 ,he has to get money1 and in order to get it he has to impress those who already have it--people whose minds and souls have been deformed by the system of parasitism and exploitation4 ,so the prophet becomes a charlatan2 or1 if he refuses1 he becomes a martyr1 and founds a church which becomes a church of charlatans4 ,i care not how sincere1 how passionately proletarian a religious prophet may be1 that is the fate which sooner or later befalls him in a competitive society--to be the founder of an organization of fools1 conducted by knaves1 for the benefit of wolves4 ,that fate befell ,buddha and ,jesus1 it befell ,ignatius ,loyola and ,francis of ,assisi1 ,john ,fox and ,john ,calvin and ,john ,wesley4 ,a friend of mine who has made a study of ,spiritualism describes to me the conditions in that field4 ,the mediums are people1 mostly women1 with a peculiar gift2 whether we believe in the survival of personality1 or whether we call it telepathy1 does not alter the fact that they have a rare and special sensitiveness1 a new faculty which science must investigate4 ,they come1 poor people mostly--for the well-to-do will seldom give their time to exacting and wearisome experiments4 ,they come1 wearing frayed and thin clothing1 shivering with cold1 obviously undernourished2 and their survival depends upon their producing phenomena--which phenomena are capricious1 and will not come at call4 ,so1 what more natural than that mediums should resort to faking8 ,that the whole field should be reeking with fraud1 and science should be held back from understanding an extraordinary power of the subconscious mind8 ,ever since we came to ,pasadena1 various ladies have been telling us about the wondrous powers of a mulatto-woman1 a manicurist at the city's most fashionable hotel4 ,the other day1 out of curiosity1 my wife and ,i went2 the moment the medium opened her mouth my wife recognized her as the person who has been trying for several months to get me on the telephone to tell me how the spirit of ,jack ,london is seeking to communicate with me6 ,the sance was a public one1 a gathering composed1 half of wealthy and cultured society-women1 and half of confederates1 people with the dialect and manners of a vaudeville troupe4 ,a megaphone was set in the middle of the floor1 the room was made dark1 a couple of hymns were sung1 and then the spirit of ,dr4 ,oliver ,wendell ,holmes spoke through the megaphone with a ,bowery accent1 and gave communications from relatives and friends of the various confederates4 ,jesus is with us1 said ,dr4 ,holmes4 ,the spirit of ,jesus bids you to study spiritualism4 ,and then came the voice of a child3 ,mamma6 ,mamma6 ,it is little ,georgie6 cried ,dr4 ,holmes2 and one of the society ladies started1 and answered1 and presently burst into tears4 ,a marvelous piece of evidence--especially when you recall that the story of this mother's bereavement had been published in all the papers a couple of months before6 ,and this kind of swindling is going on every night in every city of ,america4 ,it goes on wholesale for months every summer at ,lily ,dale1 in ,new ,york ,state1 where the spiritualists hold their combination of ,chautauqua and ,coney ,island4 ,and the same thing is going on in the field of mental healing1 and of all other occult forces and powers1 whether real or imaginary4 ,it is going on with new spiritual fervors1 new moral idealisms1 new poetry1 new music1 new painting1 new sculpture4 ,the faker1 the charlatan is everywhere--using the mental and moral and artistic forces of life as a means of delivering himself from economic servitude4 ,everywhere ,i turn ,i see it--credulity being exploited1 and men of practical judgment1 watching the game and seeing through it1 made hard in their attitude of materialism4 ,how many men ,i know who sit by in sullen protest while their wives drift from one new quackery to another1 wasting their income seeking health and happiness in futile emotionalism6 ,how many kind and sensitive spirits ,i know--both men and women--who pour their treasures of faith and admiration into the laps of hierophants who began by fooling all mankind and ended by fooling themselves6 ,in each one of the cults of what ,i have called the ,church of the ,quacks1 there are thousands1 perhaps millions of entirely sincere1 self-sacrificing people4 ,they will read this book--if anyone can persuade them to read it--with pain and anger2 thinking that ,i am mocking at their faith1 and have no appreciation of their devotion4 ,all that ,i can say is that ,i am trying to show them how they are being trapped1 how their fine and generous qualities are being used by exploiters of one sort or another2 and how this must continue1 world without end1 until there is order in the material affairs of the race1 until justice has been established as the law of man's dealing with his fellows4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,book ,,seven ,the ,church of the ,social ,revolution ,they have taken the tomb of our ,comrade ,christ-- ,infidel hordes that believe not in man2 ,stable and stall for his birth sufficed1 ,but his tomb is built on a kingly plan4 ,they have hedged him round with pomp and parade1 ,they have buried him deep under steel and stone-- ,but we come leading the great ,crusade ,to give our ,comrade back to his own4 ,waddell4 99 99 99 99 99 ,christ and ,caesar ,in the most deeply significant of the legends concerning ,jesus1 we are told how the devil took him up into a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time2 and the devil said unto him3 ,all this power will ,i give unto thee1 and the glory of them1 for that is delivered unto me1 and to whomsoever ,i will1 ,i give it4 ,if thou1 therefore1 wilt worship me1 all shall be thine4 ,jesus1 as we know1 answered and said ,get thee behind me1 ,satan6 ,and he really meant it2 he would have nothing to do with worldly glory1 with temporal power2 he chose the career of a revolutionary agitator1 and died the death of a disturber of the peace4 ,and for two or three centuries his church followed in his footsteps1 cherishing his proletarian gospel4 ,the early ,christians had all things in common1 except women2 they lived as social outcasts1 hiding in deserted catacombs1 and being thrown to lions and boiled in oil4 ,but the devil is a subtle worm2 he does not give up at one defeat1 for he knows human nature1 and the strength of the forces which battle for him4 ,he failed to get ,jesus1 but he came again1 to get ,jesus' church4 ,he came when1 through the power of the new revolutionary idea1 the ,church had won a position of tremendous power in the decaying ,roman ,empire2 and the subtle worm assumed the guise or no less a person than the ,emperor himself1 suggesting that he should become a convert to the new faith1 so that the ,church and he might work together for the greater glory of ,god4 ,the bishops and fathers of the ,church1 ambitious for their organization1 fell for this scheme1 and ,satan went off laughing to himself4 ,he had got everything he had asked from ,jesus three hundred years before2 he had got the world's greatest religion4 ,how complete and swift was his success you may judge from the fact that fifty years later we find the ,emperor ,valentinian compelled to pass an edict limiting the donations of emotional females to the church in ,rome6 ,from that time on ,christianity has been what ,i have shown in this book1 the chief of the enemies of social progress4 ,from the days of ,constantine to the days of ,bismarck and ,mark ,hanna1 ,christ and ,caesar have been one1 and the ,church has been the shield and armor of predatory economic might4 ,with only one qualification to be noted3 that the ,church has never been able to suppress entirely the memory of her proletarian ,founder4 ,she has done her best1 of course2 we have seen how her scholars twist his words out of their sense1 and the ,catholic ,church even goes so far as to keep to the use of a dead language1 so that her victims may not hear the words of ,jesus in a form they can understand4 ',tis well that such seditious songs are sung ,only by priests1 and in the ,latin tongue6 ,but in spite of this1 the history of the ,church has been one incessant struggle with upstarts and rebels who have filled themselves with the spirit of the ,magnificat and the ,sermon on the ,mount1 and of that bitterly class-conscious proletarian1 ,james1 the brother of ,jesus4 ,and here is the thing to be noted1 that the factor which has given life to ,christianity1 which enables it to keep its hold on the hearts of men today1 is precisely this new wine of faith and fervor which has been poured into it by generation after generation of poor men who live like ,jesus as outcasts1 and die like ,jesus as criminals1 and are revered like ,jesus as founders and saints4 ,the greatest of the early ,church fathers were bitterly fought by the ,church authorities of their own time4 ,st4 ,chrysostom1 ,bishop of ,constantinople1 was turned out of office1 exiled and practically martyred2 ,st4 ,basil was persecuted by the ,emperor ,valens2 ,st4 ,ambrose excommunicated the tyrannical ,emperor ,theodosius2 ,st4 ,cyprian gave all his wealth to the poor1 and was exiled and finally martyred4 ,in the same way1 most of the heretics whom the ,holy ,inquisition tortured and burned were proletarian rebels2 the saints whom the ,church reveres1 the founders of the orders which gave it life for century after century1 were men who sought to return to the example of the carpenter's son4 ,let us hear a ,christian scholar on this point1 ,prof4 ,rauschenbusch3 ,the movement of ,francis of ,assisi1 of the ,waldenses1 of the ,humiliati and ,bons ,hommes1 were all inspired by democratic and communistic ideals4 ,wiclif was by far the greatest doctrinal reformer before the reformation2 but his eyes1 too1 were first opened to the doctrinal errors of the ,roman ,church by joining in a great national and patriotic movement against the alien domination and extortion of the ,church4 ,the ,bohemian revolt1 made famous by the name of ,john ,huss1 was quite as much political and social as religious4 ,savonarola was a great democrat as well as a religious prophet4 ,in his famous interview with the dying ,lorenzo de ,medici he made three demands as a condition for granting absolution4 ,of the man he demanded a living faith in ,god's mercy4 ,of the millionaire he demanded restitution of his ill-gotten wealth4 ,of the political usurper he demanded the restoration of the liberties of the people of ,florence4 ,it is significant that the dying sinner found it easy to assent to the first1 hard to assent to the second1 and impossible to concede the last4 ,locusts and ,wild ,honey ,this proletarian strain in ,christianity goes back to a time long before ,jesus2 it seems to have been inherent in the religious character of the ,jews--that stubborn independence1 that stiff-necked insistence on the right of a man to interview ,god for himself and to find out what ,god wants him to do2 also the inclination to find that ,god wants him to oppose earthly rulers and their plundering of the poor4 ,what is it that gives to the ,bible the vitality it has today8 ,its literary style8 ,to say that is to display the ignorance of the cultured2 for elevation of style is a by-product of passionate conviction2 it is what the ,jewish writers had to say1 and not the way they said it1 that has given them their hold upon mankind4 ,was it their insistence upon conscience1 their fear of ,god as the beginning of wisdom8 ,but that same element appears in the ,babylonian psalms1 which are as eloquent and as sincere as those of the ,hebrews1 yet are read only by scholars4 ,was it their sense of the awful presence of divinity1 of the soul immortal in its keeping8 ,the ,egyptians had that far more than the ,hebrews1 and yet we do not cherish their religious books4 ,or was it the love of man for all things living1 the lesson of charity upon which the ,catholics lay such stress8 ,the gentle ,buddha had that1 and had it long before ,christ2 also his priests had metaphysical subtlety1 greater than that of ,john the ,apostle or ,thomas ,aquinas4 ,no1 there is one thing and one only which distinguishes the ,hebrew sacred writings from all others1 and that is their insistent note of proletarian revolt1 their furious denunciations of exploiters1 and of luxury and wantonness1 the vices of the rich4 ,of that note the ,assyrian and ,chaldean and ,babylonian writing contain not a trace1 and the ,egyptian hardly enough to mention4 ,the ,hindoos had a trace of it2 but the true1 natural-born rebels of all time were the ,hebrews4 ,they were rebels against oppression in ancient ,judea1 as they are today in ,petrograd and ,new ,york2 the spirit of equality and brotherhood which spoke through ,ezekiel and ,amos and ,isaiah1 through ,john the ,baptist and ,jesus and ,james1 spoke in the last century through ,marx and ,lassalle and ,jaures1 and speaks today through ,liebknecht and ,rosa ,luxemburg and ,karl ,kautsky and ,israel ,zangwill and ,morris ,hillquit and ,abraham ,cahan and ,emma ,goldman and the ,joseph ,fels endowment4 ,the legal rate of interest throughout the ,babylonian ,empire was #bj2 the laws of ,manu permitted #bd1 while the laws of the ,egyptians only stepped in to prevent more than #ajj4 ,but listen to this ,hebrew law3 ,if thy brother be waxen poor1 and fallen in decay with thee1 then thou shalt relieve him1 yea1 though he be a stranger or a sojourner1 that he may live with thee3 ,take thou no interest of him1 or increase2 but fear thy ,god that thy brother may live with thee4 ,thou shalt not give him any money upon usury1 nor lend him thy victuals for increase4 ,and so on1 forbidding that ,hebrews be sold as bond servants1 and commanding that at the end of fifty years all debtors shall have their debts forgiven and their lands returned to them4 ,and note that this is not the raving of agitators1 the demand of a minority party2 it is the law of the ,hebrew land4 ,there has been of late a great deal of new discovery concerning the early ,jews4 ,conrad ,noel summarizes the results as follows3 ,the land-mark law1 which sternly forbids encroachment upon peasant rights2 consideration for the foreigner2 additional sanitary and food laws2 tithe regulations on behalf of widows1 orphans1 foreigners1 etc42 that those who have no economic independence should eat and be satisfied2 that loans should be given cheerfully1 not only without any interest1 but even at the risk of losing the principal4 ,to withhold a loan because the year of release is at hand in which the principal is no longer recoverable1 is described as a grave sin4 ,when you are compelled to free your slaves1 you must give them sufficient capital to embark upon some industry which shall prevent their falling back into slavery4 ,a number of holidays are insisted upon4 ,there must be no more crushing of the poor out of existence1 for ,god cares for these people who have been driven to poverty1 and they shall never cease out of the land4 ,howbeit there shall be no poor with you1 for the ,lord will bless you1 if you will obey these laws4 ,but then prosperity came1 and culture1 which meant contact with the capitalist ideas of the heathen empires4 ,the ,jews fell from the stern justice of their fathers2 and so came the prophets1 wild-eyed men of the people1 clad in camel's hair and living upon locusts and wild honey1 breaking in upon priests and kings and capitalists with their furious denunciations4 ,and always they incited to class war and social disturbance4 ,i quote ,conrad ,noel again3 ,nathan and ,gad had been ,david's political advisers1 ,abijah had stirred ,jeroboam to revolt1 ,elijah had resisted ,ahab1 ,elisha had fanned the rebellion of ,jehu1 ,amos thunders against the misrule of the king of ,israel1 ,isaiah denounces the landlords and the usurers1 ,micah charges them with blood-guiltiness2 ,jeremiah and the latter prophets1 though they strike a more intimate note of personal repentance1 strike it as the prelude to that national restoration for which they hunger as exiles4 ,the first chapters of ,isaiah are typical of the ,old ,testament point of view4 ,just as the prophets of the nineteenth century thundered against the ,christian employers of ,lancashire1 and told them their houses were cemented with the blood of little children1 so ,isaiah cries against his generation3 ,your governing classes companion with thieves2 behold you build up ,sion with blood4 ,their ceremonial and their ,sabbath keeping are an abomination to ,god4 ,when ye spread forth your hands1 ,i will hide mine eyes from you4 ,your hands are full of blood4 ,the poor man is robbed4 ,the rich exact usury4 ,woe unto you that lay house to house and field to field1 that ye may dwell alone in the midst of the land4 ,wash you1 make you clean1 put away the evil of your doing from before mine eyes2 cease to do evil2 learn to do well1 seek judgment1 relieve the oppressed1 judge the fatherless1 plead for the widow4 ,come now1 let us reason together1 saith the ,lord4 ,though your sins be blood-colored1 they shall be as white as snow2 though they be red like crimson1 they shall be as wool4 ,if ye be willing and obedient1 ye shall eat the good of the land4 ,but if ye refuse and rebel1 ye shall be devoured by the sword4 ,mother ,earth ,and nowadays we have the ,socialist and ,anarchist agitators1 following the same tradition1 possessed by the same dream as the ancient ,hebrew prophets4 ,i have mentioned ,emma ,goldman2 it may be that the reader is not familiar with her writings1 and does not realize how very ,biblical she is1 both in point of view and style4 ,let me quote a few sentences from a recent issue of her paper1 ,mother ,earth1 on the subject of our ruling classes and their social responsibility3 ,yes1 you idle rich1 you may howl about what we mean to do to you6 ,your riches are rotten and your fine clothes are falling from your backs4 ,your stocks and bonds are so tainted that the ink on them should turn to acid and eat holes in your pockets and your skins4 ,you have piled up your dirty millions1 but what wages have you paid to the poor devils of farm hands you have robbed8 ,and do you imagine they won't remember it when the revolution comes8 ,you loll on soft couches and amuse yourselves with your mistresses2 you think you are it and the world is yours4 ,you send militiamen and shoot down our organizers1 and we are helpless4 ,but wait1 comrades1 our time is coming4 ,doubtless the reader is well satisfied that the author of this tirade is now in jail1 where she can no longer defy the laws of good taste4 ,they always put the ancient prophets in jail2 that is the way to know a prophet when you meet him4 ,let me quote another prophet who is now behind bars--,alexander ,berkman1 in his ,prison ,memoirs of an ,anarchist1 discussing the same subject of plutocratic pretension3 ,tell me1 you four hundred1 where did you get it8 ,who gave it to you8 ,your grandfather1 you say8 ,your father8 ,can you go all the way back and show there is no flaw anywhere in your title8 ,i tell you that the beginning and the root of your wealth is necessarily in injustice4 ,and why8 ,because ,nature did not make this man rich and that man poor from the start4 ,nature does not intend for one man to have capital and another to be a wage-slave4 ,nature made the earth to be cultivated by all4 ,the idea we ,anarchists have of the rich is of highwaymen1 standing in the street and robbing every one that passes4 ,or take ,big ,bill ,haywood1 chief of the ,i4,w4,w4 ,hear what he has to say in a pamphlet addressed to the harvest-hands he is seeking to organize3 ,how much farther do you plutes expect to go with your grabbing8 ,do you want to be the only people left on earth8 ,why else do you drive out the workers from all share in ,nature1 and claim everything for yourselves8 ,the earth was made for all1 rich and poor alike2 where do you get your title deeds to it8 ,nature gave everything for all men to use alike2 it is only your robbery which makes your so-called ownership4 ,capital has no rights4 ,the land belongs to ,nature1 and we are all ,nature's sons4 ,or take ,eugene ,v4 ,debs1 three times candidate of the ,socialist ,party for ,president4 ,i quote from one of his pamphlets3 ,the propertied classes are like people who go into a public theatre and refuse to let anyone else come in1 treating as private property what is meant for social use4 ,if each man would take only what he needs1 and leave the balance to those who have nothing1 there would be no rich and no poor4 ,the rich man is a thief4 ,i might go on citing such quotations for many pages2 but ,i know that ,emma ,goldman and ,alexander ,berkman and ,bill ,haywood and ,gene ,debs may read this book1 and ,i don't want them to close it in the middle and throw it at me4 ,therefore let me hasten to explain my poor joke2 the sentiments ,i have been quoting are not those of our modern agitators1 but of another group of ancient ones4 ,the first is not from ,emma ,goldman1 nor did ,i find it in ,mother ,earth4 ,i found it in the ,epistle of ,james1 believed by orthodox authorities to have been ,james1 the brother of ,jesus4 ,it is exactly what he wrote--save that ,i have put it into modern phrases1 and changed the swing of the sentences1 in order that those familiar with the ,bible might read it without suspicion4 ,the second passage is not in the writings of ,alexander ,berkman1 but in those of ,st4 ,john ,chrysostom1 most famous of the early fathers1 who lived #cgd-djg4 ,the third is not from the pen of ,big ,bill but from that of ,st4 ,ambrose1 a father of the ,latin ,church1 #cdj-cig1 and the fourth is not by ,comrade ,debs1 but by ,st4 ,basil of the ,greek ,church1 #cbi-cgi4 ,and if the reader objects to my having fooled him for a minute or two1 what will he say to the ,christian ,church1 which has been fooling him for sixteen hundred years8 ,the ,soap ,box ,this book will be denounced from one end of ,christendom to the other as the work of a blasphemous infidel4 ,yet it stands in the direct line of the ,christian tradition3 written by a man who was brought up in the ,church1 and loved it with all his heart and soul1 and was driven out by the formalists and hypocrites in high places2 a man who thinks of ,jesus more frequently and with more devotion than he thinks of any other man that lives or has ever lived on earth2 and who has but one purpose in all that he says and does1 to bring into reality the dream that ,jesus dreamed of peace on earth and good will toward men4 ,i will go farther yet and say that not merely is this book written for the cause of ,jesus1 but it is written in the manner of ,jesus4 ,we read his bitter railings at the ,pharisees1 and miss the point entirely1 because the word ,pharisee has become to us a word of reproach4 ,but this is due solely to ,jesus2 in his time the word was a holy word1 it meant the most orthodox and respectable1 the ultra high-church devotees of ,jerusalem4 ,the way to get the spirit of the tirades of ,jesus is to do with him what we did with the early church fathers--translate him into ,american4 ,this time1 since the reader shares the secret1 it will not be necessary to disguise the ,bible style1 and we may follow the text exactly4 ,let me try the twenty-third chapter of ,matthew1 omitting seven verses which refer to subtleties of ,hebrew casuistry1 for which we should have to go to ,lyman ,abbott or ,st4 ,alphonsus to find a parallel3 ,then ,jesus mounted upon a soap-box1 and began a speech1 saying1 ,the doctors of divinity and ,episcopalians fill the ,fifth ,avenue churches2 and it would be all right if you were to listen to what they preach1 and do that2 but don't follow their actions1 for they never practice what they preach4 ,they load the backs of the working-classes with crushing burdens1 but they themselves never move a finger to carry a burden1 and everything they do is for show4 ,they wear frock-coats and silk hats on ,sundays1 and they sit at the speakers' table at the banquets of the ,civic ,federation1 and they occupy the best pews in the churches1 and their doings are reported in all the papers2 they are called leading citizens and pillars of the church4 ,but don't you be called leading citizens1 for the only useful man is the man who produces4 7,applause74 ,and whoever exalts himself shall be abased1 and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted4 ,woe unto you1 doctors of divinity and ,catholics1 hypocrites6 for you shut up the kingdom of ,heaven against men2 you don't go in yourself and you don't let others go in4 ,woe unto you1 doctors of divinity and ,presbyterians1 hypocrites6 for you foreclose mortgages on widows' houses1 and for a pretense you make long prayers4 ,for this you will receive the greater damnation6 ,woe unto you1 doctors of divinity and ,methodists1 hypocrites6 for you send missionaries to ,africa to make one convert1 and when you have made him1 he is twice as much a child of hell as yourselves4 7,applause74 ,woe unto you1 blind guides1 with your subtleties of doctrine1 your transubstantiation and consubstantiation and all the rest of it2 you fools and blind6 ,woe unto you1 doctors of divinity and ,episcopalians1 hypocrites6 for you drop your checks into the collection-plate and you pay no heed to the really important things in the ,bible1 which are justice and mercy and faith in goodness4 ,you blind guides1 who strain at a gnat and swallow a camel6 7,laughter74 ,woe unto you1 doctors of divinity and ,anglicans1 hypocrites6 for you bathe yourselves and dress in immaculate clothing but within you are full of extortion and excess4 ,you blind high churchmen1 clean first your hearts1 so that the clothes you wear may represent you4 ,woe unto you1 doctors of divinity and ,baptists1 hypocrites6 for you are like marble tombs which appear beautiful on the outside1 but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness4 ,even so you appear righteous to men1 but inside you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity4 7,applause74 ,woe unto you1 doctors of divinity and ,unitarians1 hypocrites6 because you erect statues to dead reformers1 and put wreathes upon the tombs of old-time martyrs4 ,you say1 if we had been alive in those days1 we would not have helped to kill those good men4 ,that ought to show you how to treat us at present4 7,laughter74 ,but you are the children of those who killed the good men2 so go ahead and kill us too6 ,you serpents1 you generation of vipers1 how can you escape the damnation of hell8 ,at this point1 according to the report published in the ,jerusalem ,times1 a police sergeant stepped up to the orator and notified him that he was under arrest2 he submitted quietly1 but one of his followers attempted to use a knife1 and was severely clubbed4 ,jesus was taken to the station-house followed by a riotous throng1 and held upon a charge of disorderly conduct4 ,next morning the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,caiaphas of ,old ,trinity appeared against him1 and ,magistrate ,pilate sentenced him to six months on ,blackwell's ,island1 remarking that from this time on he proposed to make an example of those soap-box orators who persist in using threatening and abusive language4 ,just as the prisoner was being led away1 a detective appeared with a requisition from the ,governor1 ordering that ,jesus be taken to ,san ,francisco1 where he is under indictment for murder in the first degree1 it being charged that his teachings helped to incite the ,preparedness ,day explosion4 ,the ,church ,machine ,the ,catholics of ,his time came to ,jesus and said1 ,master1 we would have a sign of ,thee--meaning that they wanted him to do some magic1 to prove to their vulgar minds that his power came from ,god4 ,he answered by calling them an evil and adulterous generation--which is exactly what ,i have said about the ,papal machine4 ,the ,baptists and ,methodists and ,presbyterians and other book-worshippers of his time accused him of violating the sacred commands so definitely set down in their ancient texts1 and to them he answered that the ,sabbath was made for man and not man for the ,sabbath2 he called them hypocrites1 and quoted ,karl ,marx at them--,this people honoreth me with their lips1 but their heart is far from me4 ,because he despised the company of the respectables1 and went among the humble and human folk of his own class in the places where they gathered--the public houses--the churchly scandal-mongers called him a man gluttonous and a wine-bibber1 a friend of publicans and sinners--precisely as in the old days they used to sneer at the ,socialists for having their meetings in the backrooms of saloons1 and precisely as they still denounce us as free-lovers and atheists4 ,but the longing for justice between man and man1 which is the ,kingdom of ,heaven on earth1 is the deepest instinct of the human heart1 and the voice of the carpenter cannot be confined within the thickest church-walls1 nor drowned by all the pealing organs in ,christendom4 ,even in these days1 when the power of ,mammon is more widespread1 more concentrated and more systematized than ever before in history--even in these days of ,morgan and ,rockefeller1 there are ,christian clergymen who dare to preach as ,jesus preached4 ,one by one they are cast out of the ,church--,father ,mc,glynn1 ,george ,d4 ,herron1 ,alexander ,irvine1 ,j4 ,stitt ,wilson1 ,austin ,adams1 ,algernon ,crapsey1 ,bouck ,white2 but their voices are not silenced1 they are like the leaven1 to which ,jesus compared the kingdom of ,god--a woman took it and hid it in three measures of meal till the whole was leavened4 ,the young theological students read1 and some of them understand2 ,i know three brothers in one family who have just gone into the ,church1 and are preaching straight social revolution--and the scribes and the pharisees have not yet dared to cast them out4 ,in this book ,i have portrayed the ,christian ,church as the servant and henchman of ,big ,business1 a part of the system of ,mammon4 ,every church is necessarily a money machine1 holding and administering property4 ,and it is not alone the ,catholic ,church which is in politics1 seeking favors from the state--the exemption of church property from taxation1 exemption of ministers from military service1 free transportation for them and their families on the railroads1 the control of charity and education1 laws to deprive people of amusements on ,sunday--so on through a long list4 ,as the churches have to be built with money1 you find that in them the rich possess the control and demand the deference1 while the poor are humble1 and in their secret hearts jealous and bitter2 in other words1 the class struggle is in the churches1 as everywhere else in the world1 and the social revolution is coming in the churches1 just as it is coming in industry4 ,it is a fact of deep significance that the majority of ministers are proletarians1 eking out their existence upon a miserable salary1 and beholden in all their comings and goings to the wealthy holders of privilege4 ,even in the ,roman ,catholic ,church that is true4 ,the ordinary priest is a man of the working class1 and knows what working people suffer and feel4 ,so in the ,catholic ,church there are proletarian rebellions2 there is many a priest who does not carry out the political orders of his superiors1 but goes to the polls and votes for his class instead of for his pope4 ,in ,ireland1 as ,i write1 the young priests are defying their bishops and joining the ,sinn ,fein1 a non-religious movement for an ,irish ,republic4 ,what is it that keeps the average workingman in subjection to the exploiter8 ,simply terror1 the terror of losing his job4 ,and if you could get into the inmost soul of ,christian ministers1 you would find that precisely the same force is keeping many of them slaves to ,tradition4 ,they are educated men1 and thousands of them must resent the dilemma which compels them to be either fools or hypocrites4 ,they have caught enough of the spirit of their time not to enjoy having to pose as miracle-mongers1 rain-makers and witch-doctors2 they would like to say frankly that they do not believe that ,jonah ever swallowed the whale1 and even that they are dubious about ,hercules and ,achilles and other demigods4 ,but they are part of a machine1 and the old men and the rich men who run the machine have laid down the law4 ,those who find themselves tempted to think1 remember suddenly that they have wives and children2 they have only one profession1 they have been unfitted for any other by a life-time of study of dead things1 as well as by the practice of altruism4 ,but now the ,social ,revolution is coming2 coming upon swift wings--it may be here before this book sees the light4 ,and who knows but then we may see in ,america that wonderful sight which we saw in ,russia1 when ,christian monks assembled and burned their holy books1 and petitioned the state to take them in as citizens and human beings8 ,it is my belief that when the power of exploitation is broken1 we shall see the ,dead ,hand crumble into dust1 as a mummy crumbles when it is exposed to the air4 ,all those men who stay in the ,church and pretend to believe nonsense1 because it affords an easy way to earn a living1 will suddenly realize that it is possible to earn a living outside2 that any man can go into a factory1 clean and well-ventilated and humanly run1 and by four hours work can earn the purchasing power of ten or fifteen dollars4 ,do you not think that there may be some who will choose freedom and self-respect on those terms8 ,and what of those thousands and tens of thousands who join the church because it is a part of the regime of respectability1 a way to make the acquaintance of the rich1 to curry favor and obtain promotion1 to get customers if you are a tradesman1 to extend your practice if you are a professional man8 ,and what about the millions who go to church because they are poor1 and because life is a desperate struggle1 and this is one way to keep the favor of the boss1 to get a little better chance for the children1 to get charity if you fall into need2 in short1 to acquire influence with the well-to-do and powerful1 who stand together1 and like to see the poor humble and reverent1 contented in that state of life to which it has pleased ,god to call them8 ,the ,church ,redeemed ,do ,i mean that ,i expect to see the ,church--all churches--perish and pass away8 ,i do not1 for ,i believe that the ,church answers one of the fundamental needs of man4 ,the ,social ,revolution will abolish poverty and parasitism1 it will make temptations fewer1 and the soul's path through life much easier2 but it will not remove the necessity of struggle for individual virtue1 it will only clear the way for the discovery of newer and higher types of virtue4 ,men will gather more than ever in beautiful places to voice their love of life and of one another2 but the places in which they gather will be places swept clean of superstition and tyranny4 ,as the ,reformation compelled the ,catholic ,church to cleanse itself and abolish the grossest of its abuses1 so the ,social ,revolution will compel it to repudiate its defense of parasitism and exploitation4 ,i will record the prophecy that by the year #aiej all ,catholic authorities will be denying that the ,church ever opposed ,socialism--true ,socialism2 just as today they deny that the ,church ever tortured ,galileo1 ever burned men for teaching that the earth moves around the sun1 ever sold the right to commit crime1 ever gave away the ,new ,world to ,spain and ,portugal1 ever buried newly-born infants in the cellars of nunneries4 ,the ,social ,revolution will compel all churches1 ,christian1 ,hebrew1 ,buddhist1 ,confucian1 or what you will1 to drive out their formalists and traditionalists4 ,if there is any church that refuses so to adapt itself1 the swift progress of enlightenment and freedom will leave it without followers4 ,but in the great religions1 which have a soul of goodness and sincerity1 we may be sure that reformers will arise1 prophets and saints who1 as of old1 will preach the living word of ,god4 ,in many churches today we can see the beginning of that new ,counter-,reformation4 ,even in the ,catholic ,church there is a modernist rebellion2 read the books of the ,sillon1 and ,fogazzaro's trilogy of novels1 ,the ,saint1 and you will see a genuine and vital protest against the economic corruption of the ,church4 ,in ,america1 the ,knights of ,slavery have been forced by public pressure to support a ,war for ,democracy1 and even to compete with the ,y4,m4,c4,a4 in the training camps4 ,they are doing good work1 ,i am told4 ,this gradual conquest of the old religiosity by the spirit of modern common sense is shown most interestingly in the ,salvation ,army4 ,william ,booth was a man with a great heart1 who took his life into his hands and went out with a bass-drum to save the lost souls of the slums4 ,he was stoned and jailed1 but he persisted1 and brought his captives to ,jesus--- ,vermin-eaten saints with mouldy breath1 ,unwashed legions with the ways of death4 ,incidentally the ,general learned to know his slum population4 ,he had not wanted to engage in charity and material activities2 he feared hypocrisy and corruption4 ,but in his writings he lets us see how utterly impossible it is for a man of real heart to do anything for the souls of the slum-dwellers without at the same time helping their diseased and hunger-racked bodies4 ,so the ,salvation army was forced into useful work--old clothes depots1 nights lodgings1 ,christmas dinners1 farm colonies--until today the bare list of the various kinds of enterprises it carries on fills three printed pages4 ,it is all done with the money of the rich1 and is tainted by subservience to authority1 but no one can deny that it is better than ,gibson's ,preservative1 and the fox-hunting parsons filling themselves with port4 ,and in ,protestant ,churches the advance has been even greater4 ,here and there you will find a real rebel1 hanging onto his job and preaching the proletarian ,jesus2 while even the great ,fifth ,avenue churches are making attempts at missions and settlements in the slums4 ,the more vital churches are gradually turning themselves into societies for the practical betterment of their members4 ,their clergy are running boys clubs and sewing-schools for girls1 food conservation lectures for mothers1 social study clubs for men4 ,you get prayer-meetings and psalm-singing along with this2 but here is the fact that hangs always before the clergyman's face--that with prayer-meetings and psalm-singing alone he has a hard time1 while with clubs and educational societies and social reforms he thrives4 ,and now the ,war has broken upon the world1 and caught the churches1 like everything else1 in its mighty current2 the clergy and the congregations are confronted by pressing national needs1 they are forced to take notice of a thousand new problems1 to engage in a thousand practical activities4 ,no one can see the end of this--any more than he can see the end of the vast upheaval in politics and industry4 ,but we who are trained in revolutionary thought can see the main outlines of the future4 ,we see that in these new church activities the clergy are inspired by things read1 not in ancient ,hebrew texts1 but in the daily newspapers4 ,they are responding to the actual1 instant needs of their boys in the trenches and the camps2 and this is bound to have an effect upon their psychology4 ,just as we can say that an ,english girl who leaves the narrow circle of her old life1 and goes into a munition factory and joins a union and takes part in its debates1 will never after be a docile home-slave2 so we can say that the clergyman who helps in ,y4,m4,c4,a4 work in ,france1 or in ,red ,cross organization in ,america1 will be less the bigot and formalist forever after4 ,he will have learned1 in spite of himself1 to adjust means to ends2 he will have learned co-operation and social solidarity by the method which modern educators most favor--by doing4 ,also he will have absorbed a mass of ideas in news despatches from over the world4 ,he is forced to read these despatches carefully1 because the fate of his own boys is involved2 and we ,socialists will see to it that the despatches are well filled with propaganda6 ,the ,desire of ,nations ,so the churches1 like all the rest of the world1 are caught in the great revolutionary current1 and swept on towards a goal which they do not forsee1 and from which they would shrink in dismay3 the ,church of the future1 the ,church redeemed by the spirit of ,brotherhood1 the ,church which we ,socialists will join4 ,they call us materialists1 and say that we think about nothing but the belly--and that is true1 in a way2 because we are the representatives of a starving class1 which thinks about its belly precisely as does any individual who is ravening with hunger4 ,but give us what that arrant materialist1 ,james1 the brother of ,jesus1 calls those things which are needful to the body1 and then we will use our minds1 and even discover that we have souls2 whereas at present we are led to despise the very word spiritual1 which has become the stock-in-trade of parasites and poseurs4 ,we have children1 whom we love1 and whose future is precious to us4 ,we would be glad to have them trained in ways of decency and self-control1 of dignity and grace4 ,it would make us happy if there were in the world institutions conducted by men and women of consecrated life who would specialize in teaching a true morality to the young4 ,but it must be a morality of freedom1 not of slavery2 a morality founded upon reason1 not upon superstition4 ,the men who teach it must be men who know what truth is1 and the passionate loyalty which the search for truth inspires4 ,they cannot be the pitiful shufflers and compromisers we see in the churches today1 the ,jowetts who say they used to believe in the ,father1 the ,son and the ,holy ,ghost4 ,rather than trust our children to such shameless cynics1 we will make shift to train them ourselves--we amateurs1 not knowing much about children1 and absorbed in the desperate struggle against organized wrong4 ,it is a statement which many revolutionists would resent1 yet it is a fact nevertheless1 that we need a new religion1 need it just as badly as any of the rest of our pitifully groping race4 ,that we need it is proven by the rivalries and quarrels in our midst--the schisms which waste the greater part of our activities1 and which are often the result of personal jealousies and petty vanities4 ,to lift men above such weakness1 to make them really brothers in a great cause--that is the work of personal religion in the true and vital sense of the words4 ,we pioneers and propagandists may not live to see the birth of the new ,church of ,humanity2 but our children will see it1 and the dream of it is in our hearts2 our poets have sung of it with fervor and conviction4 ,read these lines from ,the ,desire of ,nations1 by ,edwin ,markham1 in which he tells of the new ,redeemer who is at hand3 ,and when he comes into the world gone wrong1 ,he will rebuild her beauty with a song4 ,to every heart he will its own dream be3 ,one moon has many phantoms in the sea4 ,out of the ,north the norns will cry to men3 ,baldur the ,beautiful has come again6 ,the flutes of ,greece will whisper from the dead3 ,apollo has unveiled his sunbright head6 ,the stones of ,thebes and ,memphis will find voice3 ,osiris comes3 ,oh tribes of ,time1 rejoice6 ,and social architects who build the ,state1 ,serving the ,dream at citadel and gate1 ,will hail ,him coming through the labor-hum4 ,and glad quick cries will go from man to man3 ,lo1 ,he has come1 our ,christ the artisan1 ,the ,king who loved the lilies1 ,he has come6 ,the ,knowable ,the new religion will base itself upon the facts of life1 as demonstrated by experience and reason2 for to the modern thinker the basis of all interest is truth1 and the wonders of the microscope and the telescope1 of the new psychology and the new sociology are more wonderful than all the magic recorded in ancient ,mythologies4 ,and even if this were not so1 the business of the thinker is to follow the facts4 ,the history of all philosophy might be summed up in this simile3 ,the infant opens his eyes and sees the moon1 and stretches out his hands and cries for it2 but those in charge do not give it to him1 and so after a while the infant tires of crying1 and turns to his mother's breast and takes a drink of milk4 ,man demands to know the origin of life2 it is intolerable for him to be here1 and not know how1 or whence1 or why4 ,he demands the knowledge immediately and finally1 and invents innumerable systems and creeds4 ,he makes himself believe them1 with fire and torture makes other men believe them2 until finally1 in the confusion of a million theories1 it occurs to him to investigate his instruments1 and he makes the discovery that his tools are inadequate1 and all their products worthless4 ,his mind is finite1 while the thing he seeks is infinite2 his knowledge is relative1 while the ,first ,cause is absolute4 ,this realization we owe to ,immanuel ,kant1 the father of modern philosophy4 ,in his famous antinomies1 he proved four propositions3 first1 that the universe is limitless in time and space2 second1 that matter is composed of simple1 indivisible elements2 third1 that free will is impossible2 and fourth1 that there must be an absolute or first cause4 ,and having proven these things1 he turned round and proved their opposites1 with arguments exactly as unanswerable4 ,any one who follows these demonstrations and understands them1 takes all his metaphysical learning and lays it on the shelf with his astrology and magic4 ,it is a fact1 which every one who wishes to think must get clear1 that when you are dealing with absolutes and ultimates1 you can prove whatever you want to prove4 ,metaphysics is like the fourth dimension2 you fly into it and come back upside down1 hindside foremost1 inside out2 and when you get tired of this condition1 you take another flight1 and come back the way you were before4 ,so metaphysical thinking serves the purpose of ,catholic cheats like ,cardinal ,newman and ,professor ,chatterton-,hill2 it serves hysterical women like ,mother ,eddy2 it serves the ,new-thoughters1 who wish to fill their bellies with wind2 it serves the charlatans and mystagogs who wish to befuddle the wits of the populace4 ,real thinkers avoid it as they would a bottomless swamp2 they avoid1 not merely the idealism of ,platonists and ,hegelians1 but the monism of ,haeckel1 and the materialism of ,buechner and ,jacques ,loeb4 ,the simple fact is that it is as impossible to prove the priority of origin and the ultimate nature of matter as it is of mind2 so that the scientist who lays down a materialist dogma is exactly as credulous as a ,christian4 ,how then are we to proceed8 ,shall we erect the mystery into an ,unknowable1 like ,spencer1 and call ourselves ,agnostics with a capital letter1 like ,huxley8 ,shall we follow ,frederic ,harrison1 making an inadequate divinity out of our impotence8 ,i have read the books of the ,positivists1 and attended their imitation church in ,london1 but ,i did not get any satisfaction from them4 ,in the midst of their dogmatic pronouncements ,i found myself remembering how the egg falls apart and reveals a chicken1 how the worm suddenly discovers itself a butterfly4 ,the spirit of man is a breaker of barriers1 and it seems a futile occupation to set limits upon the future4 ,our business is not to say what men will know ten thousand years from now1 but to content ourselves with the simple statement of what men know now4 ,what we know is a procession of phenomena called an environment2 our life being an act of adjustment to its changes1 and our faith being the conviction that this adjustment is possible and worth while4 ,in the beginning the guide is instinct1 and the act of trust is automatic4 ,but with the dawn of reason the thinker has to justify his faith2 to convince himself that life is sincere1 that there is worth-whileness in being1 or in seeking to be2 that there is order in creation1 laws which can be discovered1 processes which can be applied4 ,just as the babe trusts life when it gropes for its mother's breast1 so the most skeptical of scientists trusts it when he declares that water is made of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen1 and sets it down for a certainty that this will always be so--that he is not being played with by some sportive demon1 who will today cause ,h#bj to behave like water1 and tomorrow like benzine4 ,nature's ,insurgent ,son ,life has laws1 which it is possible to ascertain2 and with each bit of knowledge acquired1 the environment is changed1 the life becomes a new thing4 ,consider1 for example1 what a different place the world became to the man who discovered that the force which laid the forest in ashes could be tamed and made to warm a cave and make wild grains nutritious6 ,in other words1 man can create life1 he can make the world and himself into that which his reason decides it ought to be1 ,the means by which he does this is the most magical of all the tools he has invented since his arboreal ancestor made the first club2 the tool of experimental science--and when one considers that this weapon has been understood and deliberately employed for but two or three centuries1 he realizes that we are indeed only at the beginning of human evolution4 ,to take command of life1 to replace instincts by reasoned and deliberate acts1 to make the world a conscious and ordered product--that is the task of man4 ,sir ,ray ,lankester has set this forth with beautiful precision in his book1 ,the ,kingdom of ,man4 ,we are1 at this time1 in an uncomfortable and dangerous transition stage1 as a child playing with explosives4 ,this child has found out how to alter his environment in many startling ways1 but he does not yet know why he wishes to alter it1 nor to what purpose4 ,he finds that certain things are uncomfortable1 and these he proceeds immediately to change4 ,discovering that grain fermented dispels boredom1 he creates a race of drunkards2 discovering that foods can be produced in profusion1 and prepared in alluring combinations1 he makes himself so many diseases that it takes an encyclopedia to tell about them4 ,discovering that captives taken in war can be made to work1 he makes a procession of empires1 which are eaten through with luxury and corruption1 and fall into ruins again4 ,this is ,nature's way2 she produces without limit1 groping blindly1 experimenting ceaselessly1 eliminating ruthlessly4 ,it takes a million eggs to produce one salmon2 it has taken a million million men to produce one idea--algebra1 or the bow and arrow1 or democracy4 ,nature's present impulse appears as a rebellion against her own methods2 man1 her creature1 will emancipate himself from her law1 will save himself from her blindness and her ruthlessness4 ,he is ,nature's insurgent son2 but1 being the child of his mother1 goes at the task in her old blundering way4 ,some men are scheduled to elimination because of defective eyesight2 they are furnished with glasses1 and the breeding of defective eyes begins4 ,the sickly or imbecile child would perish at once in the course of ,nature2 it is saved in the name of charity1 and a new line of degenerates is started4 ,what shall we do8 ,return to the method of the ,spartans1 exposing our sickly infants8 ,we do not have to do anything so wasteful1 because we can replace the killing of the unfit by a scientific breeding which will prevent the unfit from getting a chance at life4 ,we can replace instinct by self-discipline4 ,we can substitute for the regime of ,nature red in tooth and claw with ravin the regime of man the creator1 knowing what he wishes to be and how to set about to be it4 ,whether this can happen1 whether the thing which we call civilization is to be the great triumph of the ages1 or whether the human race is to go back into the melting pot1 is a question being determined by an infinitude of contests between enlightenment and ignorance3 precisely such a contest as occurs now1 when you1 the reader1 encounter a man who has thought his way out to the light1 and comes to urge you to perform the act of self-emancipation1 to take up the marvellous new tools of science1 and to make yourself1 by means of exact knowledge1 the creator of your own life and in part of the life of the race4 ,the ,new ,morality ,life is a process of expansion1 of the unfoldment of new powers2 driven by that inner impulse which the philosophers of ,pragmatism call the lan vital4 ,whenever this impulse has its way1 there is an emotion of joy2 whenever it is balked1 there is one of distress4 ,so pleasure and pain are the guides of life1 and the final goal is a condition of free and constantly accelerating growth1 in which joy is enduring4 ,that man will ever reach such a state is more than we can say4 ,it is a perfectly conceivable thing that tomorrow a comet may fall upon the earth and wipe out all man's labor's4 ,but on the other hand1 it is a conceivable thing that man may some day learn to control the movements of comets1 and even of starry systems4 ,it seems certain that if he is given time1 he will make himself master of the forces of his immediate environment--- ,the untamed giants of nature shall bow down--- ,the tides1 the tempest and the lightning cease ,from mockery and destruction1 and be turned ,unto the making of the soul of man4 ,it is a conceivable thing that man may learn to create his food from the elements without the slow processes of agriculture2 it is conceivable that he may master the bacteria which at present prey upon his body1 and so put an end to death4 ,it is certain that he will ascertain the laws of heredity1 and create human qualities as he has created the spurs of the fighting-cock and the legs of the greyhound4 ,he will find out what genius is1 and the laws of its being1 and the tests whereby it may be recognized4 ,in the new science of psycho-analysis he has already begun the work of bringing an infinity of subconsciousness into the light of day2 it may be that in the evidence of telepathy which the psychic researchers are accumulating1 he is beginning to grope his way into a universal consciousness1 which may come to include the joys and griefs of the inhabitants of ,mars1 and of the dark stars which the spectroscope and the telescope are disclosing4 ,all these are fascinating possibilities4 ,what stands in the way of their realization8 ,ignorance and superstition1 fear and submission1 the old habits of rapine and hatred which man has brought with him from his animal past4 ,these make him a slave1 a victim of himself and of others2 to root them out of the garden of the soul is the task of the modern thinker4 ,the new morality is thus a morality of freedom4 ,it teaches that man is the master1 or shall become so2 that there is no law1 save the law of his own being1 no check upon his will save that which he himself imposes4 ,the new morality is a morality of joy4 ,it teaches that true pleasure is the end of being1 and the test of all righteousness4 ,the new morality is a morality of reason4 ,it teaches that there is no authority above reason2 no possibility of such authority1 because if such were to appear1 reason would have to judge it1 and accept or reject it4 ,the new morality is a morality of development4 ,it teaches that there can no more be an immutable law of conduct1 than there can be an immutable position for the steering-wheel of an aeroplane4 ,the business of the pilot of an aeroplane is to keep his machine aloft amid shifting currents of wind4 ,the business of a moralist is to adjust life to a constantly changing environment4 ,an action which was suicide yesterday becomes heroism today1 and futility or hypocrisy tomorrow4 ,this new morality1 like all things in a world of strife1 is fighting for existence1 using its own weapons1 which are reason and love4 ,obviously it can use no others1 without self-destruction2 yet it has to meet enemies who fight with the old weapons of force and fraud4 ,whether it will prevail is more than any prophet can say4 ,perhaps it is too much to ask that it should succeed--this insolent effort of the pigmy man to leap upon the back of his master and fit a bridle into his mouth4 ,perhaps it is nothing but a dream in the minds of a few1 the scientists and poets and inventors1 the dreamers of the race4 ,perhaps the nerve of the pigmy will fail him at the critical moment1 and he will fall from the back of his master1 and under his master's hoofs4 ,the hour of the decision is now2 for this we can see plainly1 and as scientists we can proclaim it--the human race is in a swift current of degeneration1 which a new morality alone can check4 ,the struggle is at its height in our time2 if it fails1 if the fibre of the race continues to deteriorate1 the soul of the race to be eaten out by poverty and luxury1 by insanity and disease1 by prostitution1 crime and war--then mankind will slip back into the abyss1 the untamed giants of ,nature will resume their ancient sway1 and the tides1 the tempest and the lightning will sweep the earth clean again4 ,i do not believe that this calamity will befall us4 ,i know that in the diseased social body the forces of resistance are gathering--the ,socialist movement1 in the broad sense--the activities of all who believe in the possibility of reconstructing society upon a basis of reason1 justice and love4 ,to such people this book goes out3 to the truly religious people1 those who hunger and thirst after righteousness here and now1 who believe in brotherhood as a reality1 and are willing to bear pain and ridicule and privation for the sake of its ultimate achievement4 ,from discord and defeat1 ,from doubt and lame division1 ,we pluck the fruit and eat2 ,and the mouth finds it bitter1 and the spirit sweet4444 ,o sorrowing hearts of slaves1 ,we heard you beat from far6 ,we bring the light that saves1 ,we bring the morning star2 ,freedom's good things we bring you1 whence all good things are4444 ,envoi ,i have come to the end of my task2 but one question troubles me4 ,i think of the young men and maidens meek who will read this book1 and ,i wonder what they will make of it4 ,we have had a lark together2 we have gone romping down the vista of the ages1 swatting every venerable head that showed itself1 beating the dust out of ancient delusions4 ,you would like all your life to be that kind of lark2 but you may not find it so1 and perhaps you will suffer disillusionment and vexation4 ,i have known hundreds of young radicals in my life2 they have nearly all been gallant and honest1 but they have not all been wise1 and therefore not so happy as they might have been4 ,in the course of time ,i have formulated to myself the peril to which young radicals are exposed4 ,we see so much that is wrong in ancient things1 it gets to be a habit with us to reject them4 ,we have only to know that a thing is old to feel an impulse of impatient scorn2 on the other hand1 we are tempted to welcome anything which can prove itself to be unprecedented4 ,there is a common type of radical whose aim in life is to be several jumps ahead of mankind2 whose criterion of conduct is that it shocks the bourgeois4 ,if you do not know that type1 you may find him--and her--in the newest of the ,bohemian cafes1 drinking the newest red chemicals1 smoking the newest brand of cigarettes1 and discussing the newest form of psycopathia sexualis4 ,after you have watched them a while1 you realize that these ultra-new people have fallen victim to the oldest form of logical fallacy1 the non sequitur1 and likewise to the oldest form of slavery1 which is self-indulgence4 ,if it is true that much in the old moral codes is based upon ignorance1 and cultivated by greed1 it is also true that much in the old moral codes is based upon facts which will not change so long as man is what he is--a creature of impulses1 good and bad1 wise and foolish1 selfish and generous1 and compelled to make choice between these impulses2 so long as he is a material body and a personal consciousness1 obliged to live in society and adjust himself to the rights of others4 ,what ,i would like to say to young radicals--if there is any way to say it without seeming a prig--is that in choosing their own path through life1 they will need not merely enthusiasm and radical fervor1 but wisdom and judgment and hard study4 ,it is our fundamental demand that society shall cease to repeat over and over the blunders of the past1 the blunders of tyranny and slavery1 of luxury and poverty1 which wrecked the ancient societies2 and surely it is a poor way to begin by repeating in our own persons the most ancient blunders of the moral life4 ,to light the fires of lust in our hearts1 and let them smoulder there1 and imagine we are trying new experiments in psychology6 ,who does not know the radical woman who demonstrates her emancipation from convention by destroying her nerves with nicotine8 ,who does not know the genius of revolt who demonstrates his repudiation of private property by permitting his lady loves to support him8 ,who does not know the man who finds in the phrases of revolution the most effective devices for the seducing of young girls8 ,you will have read this book to ill purpose if you draw the conclusion that there is anything in it to spare you the duty of getting yourself moral standards and holding yourself to them4 ,on the contrary1 because your task is the highest and hardest that man has yet undertaken--for this reason you will need standards the most exacting ever formulated4 ,let me quote some words from a teacher you will not accuse of holding to the slave-moralities3 ,free dost thou call thyself8 ,thy ruling thoughts will ,i hear1 and not that thou hast escaped a yoke4 ,art thou such a one that can escape a yoke8 ,free from what8 ,what is that to ,zarathustra6 ,clear shall your eye tell me3 free to what8 ,canst thou give to thyself thy good and thine evil1 and hang thy will above thee as thy law8 ,canst thou be thine own judge1 and avenger of thy law8 ,fearful it is to be alone with the judge and the avenger of thy law4 ,so is a stone flung out into empty space and into the icy breath of isolation4 ,out of the pit of ignorance and despair we emerge into the sunlight of knowledge1 to take control of a world1 and to make it over1 not according to the will of any gods1 but according to the law in our own hearts4 ,for that task we have need of all the resources of our being2 of courage and high devotion1 of faith in ourselves and our comrades1 of clean1 straight thinking1 of discipline both of body and mind4 ,we go to this task with a knowledge as old as the first moral impulse of mankind--the knowledge that our actions determine the future of life1 not merely for ourselves but for all the race4 ,for this is one of the laws of the ancient ,hebrews which modern science has not repealed1 but on the contrary has reinforced with a thousand confirmations--that the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generations4 ,i get letters from the readers of my books2 nearly always they are young people1 so ,i feel like the father of a large family4 ,i gather them now about my knee1 and pronounce upon them a benediction in the ancient patriarchal style4 ,children and grandchildren of my hopes1 for ages men suffered and fought1 so that the world might be turned over to you4 ,now the day is coming1 the glad1 new day which blinds us with the shining of its wings2 it is coming so swiftly that ,i am afraid of it4 ,i thought we should have more time to get ready for the taking over of the world6 ,but the old managers of it went insane1 they took to tearing each other's eyes out1 and now they lie dead about us4 ,so1 whether we will or not1 we have to take charge of the world2 we have to decide what to do with it1 even while we are doing it4 ,let us not fail1 young comrades2 let us not write on the scroll of history that mankind had to go through yet new generations of wars and tumults and enslavements1 because the youth of the international revolution could not lift themselves above those ancient personal vices which wrecked the fair hopes of their fathers--bigotry and intolerance1 vindictiveness and vanity1 envy1 hatred and malice and all uncharitableness6 99 99 99 99 99 ,,index ,a ,abbott1 ,lyman #age-aia ,abbott1 ,l4,f4 #ahi ,adams #bad ,adventists #bcg ,amberley #eb ,anglican ,church #dg-hh ,appeal to ,reason #add ,archer #acc ,assyria #cb ,atkinson #bfg ,austria #aee ,aztecs #cb ,b ,babists #bed ,babylonia #bf1 #cb1 #ej ,baxter #ahc ,beilhardt #bed ,berkman #bhh ,besant #bej ,bible-students #bdf ,bismarck #aec ,black ,magic #bec ,blavatsky #bc1 #bef ,blougram #aji ,bonzano #aba1 #abf ,booth #bih ,bootstrap-lifting #aa1 #bff ,brougher #bji ,brown #bfh ,buchanan #fh1 #aei ,buckle #da ,burns #ge ,c ,csar #afa ,cannon #adc ,carlyle #afc ,carnegie #agg ,catholic ,church #bg1 #aje-aeg1 #bie ,catholic ,encyclopedia #fg ,centrum #aeb ,charcot #beh ,chatterton-,hill #bbj ,chinese #gd ,christian ,endeavor ,world #baf ,christian ,science #bed-bfd ,churchman #aja1 #ajb ,clark #bc ,clough #bce ,columbus #aae ,conway #abg ,curates #ga ,d ,darwin #ef ,day #bje ,debs #bhi ,dixon #bjd1 #bje ,dowie #bdb ,durham #hj ,e ,eastman #adj ,eddy #beg1 #bfa ,education #ha ,england #di1 #gc1 #ge ,england1 ,church of #dg-hh ,episcopal ,church #hi-ajb ,eucharist #ei ,f ,ferrer #ea1 #acc ,fish #fe ,flint #gh1 #gi ,fogazzaro #bih ,foraker #adc ,frederick #afc ,g ,galileo #ea ,gallipoli #fa ,garrison #afg ,gladstone #eg1 #eh1 #ha ,goldman #bhg ,goode #ei1 #fa ,green #fc ,gurney #bed ,h ,hagen #bai ,hale #bac ,hammurabi #he ,hampton #aha ,ha'nish #bej ,hanna #abb1 #adb1 #aec1 #bac ,harris #gb ,harrison #cjd ,haywood #bhh ,hebrew #cf1 #agc1 #bhd1 #bhe ,henry the ,eighth #ff1 #fg ,hill1 ,joe #bai ,hill1 ,rev4 ,j4,w4 #bjd ,holmes #bgf ,holy ,rollers #bdb1 #bdc ,hubbard #aij ,huss #ch1 #da ,huxley #ef1 #eh ,hyndman #bef ,hyslop #bbc ,i ,inquisition #ci1 #ea ,ireland #dc ,isaiah #bhg ,j ,janet #beh ,jastrow #cb ,jehovah #ce1 #cf ,jesuits #adh ,jesus #gd1 #ajj1 #aja1 #afa1 #agb1 #agd1 #age1 #agf1 #aig1 #bba1 #beh1 #bha1 #bhb1 #bij1 #bia1 #bib ,jews #bhd1 #bhf ,job #be1 #bf1 #ee ,joshua #cg ,jowett #ed ,jungle #aij1 #aid1 #aig ,junker #aeb ,k ,kaiser #afd-aff ,kant #cjc ,kemp #ai ,king ,coal #acg ,kingsley #cd ,knights of ,columbus #abc ,koreshanity #bdh ,l ,la ,follette #bfj ,landor #cd ,lankester #cjf ,lea #ci ,leeky #acf ,leo ,,xiii #aai1 #abc ,ligouri #agd ,li ,hung ,chang #ge ,london #bgf ,los ,angeles #adi1 #aej1 #bjh1 #bji1 #bag ,l4,a4 ,examiner #adi ,l4,a4 ,times #dd1 #aea ,lourdes #beh ,luther #afa1 #afc ,m ,mac,gill #db ,machen #bgc ,mallock #gg ,malthus #gg ,manning #aah ,manu #bhe ,markham #cjb ,marx #ga1 #agc ,massey #ee ,mazdaznan #bej ,mc,cabe #adh ,mc,donald #aci ,mellen #ahe ,menace #ace ,milton #aii ,morality #cjh ,more #he ,morgan #ii1 #aja ,mormon #bci1 #bdj ,moses #cf1 #cg ,n ,nazarite #bi ,new ,haven #ahj1 #aha ,new ,thought #bfd ,n4,y4 ,evening ,post #bbc ,n4,y4 ,sun #aic ,n4,y4 ,times #baa ,nichols #bgj ,noel #hc1 #bhf ,northcliffe #gb ,numerology #bga ,o ,oahspe #bdh ,o',connell #abj ,opium #gd ,outlook #age-aih ,p ,paine #hg ,paley #hg ,pasadena #aej1 #bjh1 #bgf ,patent ,medicine #bad ,patterson #aci ,paul #ef1 #afa1 #bjg ,peabody #ii ,peters #bjd ,phelan #aai ,pillsbury #afg ,pius ,,ix #aaf ,plowman #fd ,pope #fg1 #aba1 #adc ,positivists #cjd ,post #baf ,potter #ih ,prescott #cb ,preston #abg ,protestant #bja ,prussia #aec1 #afc ,q ,quakers #agg ,quay #bab ,quigley #abi ,r ,rauschenbusch #afc1 #bhc ,rawson #bgb ,reformation #afc1 #bja ,religion #af1 #ag ,rig-,veda #cj ,robinson #bbh ,rockefeller #ach1 #agg1 #aij1 #aib1 #baa ,roosevelt #adb ,russell1 ,c4,e4 #ie1 #aha ,russell1 ,g4 #hb ,russell1 ,pastor #bdg ,ryan #aje ,s ,sacred ,heart #aac ,salpetriere #bch ,salvation ,army #bih ,sanday #gh ,segur #aag ,shaftesbury #gd1 #hb ,shakers #bdd1 #bde ,shelley #hg1 #ahc ,siam #cd ,sinn ,fein #bie ,smith1 ,gipsy #bag ,smith1 ,goldwin #bbc ,soap ,box #bij ,socialist ,movement #caa ,spain #aca ,spiritualism #bge ,stalker #gh ,sterling #de ,sunday #bjg1 #baj ,swinburne #ajc ,syracuse #bje ,t ,tablet #aeg ,tacitus #agj ,taft #adb-add ,tammany #ic1 #adc ,thackery #fh1 #bab ,theosophists #bed1 #bee ,thirty-nine ,articles #ed ,tingley #bef ,torrey #bjc ,tractarian #ee ,trinity #id ,trinity ,corporation #ie ,trowbridge #bi ,v ,vedder #gf ,voltaire #ec ,w ,waddell #bgi ,wagner #bai ,wall ,street #aha ,wanamaker #bjc ,ward #ee ,wattles #bfh ,wesley #agj ,westcott #gi ,white1 ,a4,d4 #eb ,white1 ,bouck #aib ,wilberforce #ef1 #hh ,william #fc ,wilson #afi1 #ahf ,y ,yogi #bee ,york #gf 99 99 99 99 99