,,english ,,secularism  ,a ,,confession 
,,of ,,belief  ,by ,george ,jacob       
,holyoake  #ahif  ,,author',s ,,preface4
  ,,the ,,open ,,court1 in which the    
series of articles constituting this    
work originally appeared1 has given     
account of many forms of faith1         
supplementary or confirmatory of its    
own1 and sometimes of forms of opinions 
dissimilar where there appeared to be   
instruction in them4 ,it will be an     
advantage to the reader should its      
editor state objections1 or make        
comments1 as he may deem necessary and  
useful4 ,english ,secularism is as      
little known in ,america as ,american   
and ,canadian ,secularisation is        
understood in ,great ,britain4 ,the new 
form of free thought known as ,english  
,secularism does not include either     
,theism or ,atheism4 ,whether ,monism1  
which ,i can conceive as a nobler and   
scientific form of ,theism1 might be a  
logical addition to the theory of       
,secularism1 as set forth in the        

following pages1 the editor of ,the     
,open ,court may be able to show4 ,if   
this be so1 every open-minded reader    
will better see the truth by comparison4
 ,contrast is the incandescent light of 
argument4   ,george ,jacob ,holyoake4   
,eastern ,lodge1  ,brighton1 ,england1  
,february1 #ahif4     ,,publisher',s    
,,preface4  ,,among the representative  
freethinkers of the world ,mr4 ,george  
,j4 ,holyoake takes a most prominent    
position4 ,he is a leader of leaders1 he
 is the brain of the ,secularist party  
in ,england1 he is a hero and a martyr  
of their cause4  ,judged as a man1 ,mr4 
,holyoake is of sterling character2 he  
was not afraid of prison1 nor of        
unpopularity and ostracism1 nor of      
persecution of any kind4 ,if he ever    
feared anything1 it was being not true  
to himself and committing himself to    
something that was not right4 ,he was an
 agitator all his life1 and as an       
agitator he was--whether or not we agree
 with his views--an ideal man4 ,he is   

the originator of the ,secularist       
movement that was started in ,england2  
he invented the name ,secularism1 and he
 was the backbone of the ,secularist    
propaganda ever since it began4 ,mr4    
,holyoake left his mark in the history  
of thought1 and the influence which he  
exercised will for good or evil remain  
an indelible heirloom of the future4    
,secularism is not the cause which ,the 
,open ,court ,publishing ,co4 upholds1  
but it is a movement which on account of
 its importance ought not to be         
overlooked4 ,whatever our religious     
views may be1 we must reckon with the   
conditions that exist1 and ,secularism  
is powerful enough to deserve general   
attention4  ,what is ,secularism8       
,secularism espouses the cause of the   
world versus theology2 of the secular   
and temporal versus the sacred and      
ecclesiastical4 ,secularism claims that 
religion ought never to be anything but 
a private affair2 it denies the right of
 any kind of church to be associated    

with the public life of a nation1 and   
proposes to supersede the official      
influence which religious institutions  
still exercise in both hemispheres4     
,rather than abolish religion or        
paralyse its influence1 ,the ,open      
,court ,publishing ,co4 would advocate  
on the one hand to let the religious    
spirit pervade the whole body politic1  
together with all public institutions1  
and also the private life of every      
single individual2 and on the other hand
 to carry all secular interests into the
 church1 which would make the church    
subservient to the real needs of        
mankind4  ,thus we publish ,mr4         
,holyoake's ,confession of ,faith1 which
 is y an exposition of ,secularism1 not 
because we are ,secularists1 which we   
are not1 but because we believe that    
,mr4 ,holyoake is entitled to a hearing4
 ,mr4 ,holyoake is a man of unusually   
great common sense1 of keen reasoning   
faculty1 and of indubitable sincerity4  
,what he says he means1 and what he     

believes he lives up to1 what he        
recognises to be right he will do1 even 
though the whole world would stand up   
against him4 ,in a word1 he is a man who
 according to our conception of religion
 proves by his love of truth that1      
however he himself may disclaim it1 he  
is actually a deeply religious man4 ,his
 religious earnestness is rare1 and our 
churches would be a good deal better off
 if all the pulpits were filled with men
 of his stamp4  ,we publish ,mr4        
,holyoake's ,confession of ,faith not   
for ,secularists only1 but also and     
especially for the benefit of religious 
people1 of his adversaries1 of his      
antagonists2 for they ought to know him 
and understand him2 they ought to       
appreciate his motives for dissenting   
from church views2 and ought to learn   
why so many earnest and honest people   
are leaving the church and will have    
nothing to do with church institutions4 
,why is it that ,christianity is losing 
its bold on mankind8 ,is it because the 

,christian doctrines have become        
antiquated1 and does the church no      
longer adapt herself to the requirements
 of the present age8 ,is it that the    
representative ,christian thinkers are  
lacking in intellectuality and moral    
strength8 ,or is it that the world at   
large has outgrown religion and refuses 
to be guided by the spiritual counsel of
 popes and pastors8  ,whatever the      
reason may be1 the fact itself cannot be
 doubted1 and the question is only1     
,what will become of religion in the    
future8 ,will the future of mankind be  
irreligious 7as for instance ,mr4 ,lecky
 and ,m4 ,guyau prophesy72 or will      
religion regain its former importance   
and become again the leading power in   
life1 dominating both public and private
 affairs8  ,the first condition of a    
reconciliation between religion and the 
masses of mankind would be for religious
 men patiently to listen to the         
complaints that are made by the         
adversaries of ,christianity1 and to    

understand the position which honest and
 sensible freethinkers1 such as ,mr4    
,holyoake1 take4 ,religious leaders are 
too little acquainted with the world at 
large2 they avoid their antagonists like
 outcasts1 and rarely1 if ever1 try to  
comprehend their arguments4 ,in the same
 way1 freethinkers as a rule despise    
clergymen as hypocrites who for the sake
 of a living sell their souls and preach
 doctrines which they cannot honestly   
believe4 ,in order to arrive at a mutual
 understanding1 it would be necessary   
first of all that both parties should   
discontinue ostracising one another and 
become mutually acquainted4 ,they should
 lay aside for a while the weapons with 
which they are wont to combat one       
another in the public press and in tract
 literature2 they should cease scolding 
and ridiculing one another and simply   
present their own case in terse terms4  
,this ,mr4 ,holyoake has done4 ,his     
,confession of ,faith is as concise as  
any book of the kind can be2 and he1    

being the originator of ,secularism and 
its standard-bearer1 is the man who     
speaks with authority4  ,for the sake of
 religion1 therefore1 and for promoting 
the mutual understanding of men of a    
different turn of mind1 we present his  
book to the public and recommend its    
careful perusal especially to the       
clergy1 who will learn from this book   
some of the most important reasons why  
,christianity has become unacceptable to
 a large class of truth-loving men1 who 
alone for the sake of truth find it best
 to stay out of the church4  ,the       
preface of a book is as a rule not      
deemed the right place to criticise an  
author1 but such is the frankness and   
impartiality of ,mr4 ,holyoake that he  
has kindly permitted the manager of ,the
 ,open ,court ,publishing ,co4 to       
criticise his book freely and to state  
the disagreements that might obtain     
between publishers and author in the    
very preface of the book4 ,there is no  
need of making an extensive use of this 

permission1 as a few remarks will be    
sufficient to render clear the          
difference between ,secularism and the  
views of ,the ,open ,court ,publishing  
,co41 which we briefly characterise as  
the ,religion of ,science4  ,secularism 
divides life into what is secular and   
what is religious1 and would consign all
 matters of religion to the sphere of   
private interests4 ,the ,religion of    
,science would not divide life into a   
secular and a religious part1 but would 
have both the secular and the religious 
united4 ,it would carry religion into   
all secular affairs so as to sanctify   
and transfigure them2 and for this      
purpose it would make religion          
practical1 so as to be suited to the    
various needs of life2 it would make    
religion scientifically sound1 so as to 
be in agreement with the best and most  
scientific thought of the age2 it would 
reform church doctrines and raise them  
from their dogmatic arbitrariness upon  
the higher plain of objective truth4    

,in emphasising our differences we      
should1 however1 not fail to recognise  
the one main point of agreement1 which  
is our belief in science4 ,mr4 ,holyoake
 would settle all questions of doubt by 
the usual method of scientific          
investigation4 ,but there is a          
difference even here1 which is a        
different conception of science4 ,while 
science to ,mr4 ,holyoake is secular1 we
 insist on the holiness and religious   
significance of science4 ,if there is   
any revelation of ,god1 it is truth2 and
 what is science but truth ascertained8 
,therefore we would advise all preachers
 and all those to whose charge souls of 
men are committed1 to take off their    
shoes when science speaks to them1 for  
science is the voice of ,god4  ,the     
statement is sometimes made by those who
 belittle science in the vain hope of   
exalting religion1 that the science of  
yesterday has been upset by the science 
of to-day1 and that the science of today
 may again be upset by the science of   

to-morrow4 ,nothing can be more untrue4 
,of course1 science must not be         
identified with the opinion of          
scientists4 ,science is the systematic  
statement of facts1 and not the theories
 which are tentatively proposed to fill 
out the gaps of our knowledge4 ,what has
 once been proved to be a fact has never
 been overthrown1 and the actual stock  
of science has grown slowly but surely4 
,the discovery of new facts or the      
proposition of a new and reliable       
hypothesis has often shown the old facts
 of science in a new light1 but it has  
never upset or disproved them4 ,there   
are fashions in the opinions of         
scientists1 but science itself is above 
fashion1 above change1 above human      
opinion4 ,science partakes of that stern
 immutability1 it is endowed with that  
eternality and that omnipresent         
universality which have since olden     
times been regarded as the main         
attribute of ,godhood4  ,there appears  
in all religions1 at a certain stage of 

the religious development1 a party of   
dogmatists4 ,they are people who1 in    
their zeal1 insist on the exclusiveness 
of their own religion1 as if truth were 
a commodity which1 if possessed by one1 
cannot be possessed by anybody else4    
,they know little of the spirit that    
quickens1 but believe blindly in the    
letter of the dogma4 ,it is not faith in
 their opinion that saves1 but the      
blindness of faith4 ,they interpret     
,christ's words and declare that he who 
has another interpretation must be      
condemned4  ,the dogmatic phase in the  
development of religion is as natural as
 boyhood in a human life and as         
immaturity in the growth of fruit2 it is
 natural and necessary1 but it is a     
phase only which will pass as inevitably
 by as boyhood changes into manhood1 and
 as the prescientific stage in the      
evolution of civilisation gives way to a
 better and deeper knowledge of nature4 
,the dogmatist is in the habit of       
identifying his dogmatism with religion2

 and that is the reason why his         
definitions of religion and morality    
will unfailingly come in conflict with  
the common sense of the people4 ,the    
dogmatist makes religion exclusive4 ,in 
the attempt of exalting religion he     
relegates it to supernatural spheres1   
thus excluding it from the world and    
creating a contrast between the sacred  
and the profane1 between the divine and 
the secular1 between religion and life4 
,thus it happens that religion becomes  
something beyond1 something extraneous1 
something foreign to man's sphere of    
being4 ,and yet religion has developed  
for the sake of sanctifying the daily   
walks of man1 of making the secular     
sacred1 of filling life with meaning and
 consecrating even the most trivial     
duties of existence4  ,secularism is the
 reaction against dogmatism1 but        
secularism still accepts the views of   
the dogmatist on religion2 for it is    
upon the dogmatist's valuations and     
definitions that the secularist rejects 

religion as worthless4  99 99 99  ,the  
religious movement1 of which ,the ,open 
,court ,publishing ,co4 is an exponent1 
represents one further step in the      
evolution of religious aspirations4 ,as 
alchemy develops into chemistry1 and    
astrology into astronomy1 as blind faith
 changes into seeing face to face1 as   
belief changes into knowledge1 so the   
religion of miracles1 the religion of a 
salvation by magic1 the religion of the 
dogmatist1 ripens into the religion of  
pure and ascertainable truth4 ,the old  
dogmas1 which in their literal          
acceptance appear as nonsensical errors1
 are now recognised as allegories which 
symbolise deeper truths1 and the old    
ideals are preserved not with less1 but 
with more1 significance than before4    
,god is not smaller but greater since we
 know more about ,him1 as to what ,he is
 and what ,he is not1 just as the       
universe is not smaller but larger since
 ,copernicus and ,kepler opened our eyes
 and showed us what the relation of our 

earth in the solar system is and what it
 is not4  ,secularism is one of the     
signs of the times4 ,it represents the  
unbelief in a religious alchemy2 but its
 antagonism to the religion of dogmatism
 does not bode destruction but advance4 
,it represents the transition to a purer
 conception of religion4 ,it has not the
 power to abolish the church1 but only  
indicates the need of its reformation4  
,it is this reformation of religion and 
of religious institutions which is the  
sole aim of all the publications of ,the
 ,open ,court ,publishing ,co41 and we  
see in ,secularism one of those agencies
 that are at work preparing the way for 
a higher and nobler comprehension of the
 truth4  ,mr4 ,holyoake's aspirations1  
in our opinion1 go beyond the aims which
 he himself points out1 and thus his    
,confession of ,faith1 although         
nominally purely secular1 will finally1 
even by churchmen1 be recognised in its 
religious importance4 ,it will help to  
purify the confession of faith of the   

dogmatist4  ,in offering ,mr4           
,holyoake's best and maturest thoughts  
to the public1 we hope that both the    
secularists and the believers in        
religion will by and by learn to        
understand that ,secularism as much as  
dogmatism is a phase--both are natural  
and necessary phases--in the religious  
evolution of mankind4 ,there is no use  
in scolding either the dogmatist or the 
secularist1 or in denouncing the one on 
account of his credulity and            
superstition1 and the other on account  
of his dissent2 but there is a use      
in--nay1 there is need of--understanding
 the aspirations of both4  ,there is a  
need of mutual exchange of thought on   
the basis of mutual esteem and          
good-will4 ,above all1 there is a need  
of opening the church doors to the      
secularist4  ,the church1 if it has any 
right of existence at all1 is for the   
world1 and not for believers alone4     
,church members can learn from the      
secularist many things which many       

believers seem to have forgotten1 and1  
on the other hand1 they can teach the   
unbeliever what he has overlooked in his
 sincere attempts at finding the truth1 
,may ,mr4 ,holyoake's confession of     
faith be received in the spirit in which
 the author wrote it1 which is a candid 
love of truth1 and also in the spirit in
 which the publishers undertook its     
publication1 with the irenic endeavor of
 letting every honest aspiration be     
rightly understood and rightly valued4  
,paul ,carus1 ,manager of ,the ,open    
,court ,publishing ,co4     ,,chapter   
,i4 ,,open ,,thought ,,the ,,first      
,,step ,,to ,,intelligence       ,it is 
not prudent to be in the right too soon1
 nor to be in      the right against    
everybody else4 ,and yet it sometimes   
happens that after a certain lapse of   
time1 greater or      lesser1 you will  
find that one of those truths which you 
had      kept to yourself as premature1 
but which has got abroad in      spite  
of your teeth1 has become the most      

commonplace thing      imaginable4      
--,alphonse ,karr4  ,,one purpose of    
these chapters is to explain how        
unfounded are the objections of many    
excellent ,christians to ,secular       
instruction in ,state1 public1 or board 
schools4 ,the ,secular is distinct from 
theology1 which it neither ignores1     
assails1 nor denies4 ,things ,secular   
are as separate from the ,church as land
 from the ocean4 ,and what nobody seems 
to discern is that things ,secular are  
in themselves quite distinct from       
,secularism4 ,the ,secular is a mode of 
instruction2 ,secularism is a code of   
conduct4 ,secularism does conflict with 
theology2 ,secularist teaching would1   
but ,secular instruction does not4      
,persuaded as ,i am that lack of        
consideration for the convictions of the
 reader creates an impediment in the way
 of his agreement with the writer1 and  
even disinclines him to examine what is 
put before him2 yet some of these pages 
may be open to this objection4 ,if so1  

it is owing to want of thought or want  
of art in statement1 and is no part of  
the intention of the author4  ,he would 
have diffidence in expressing1 as he    
does in these pages1 his dissent from   
the opinions of many ,christian         
advocates--for whose character and      
convictions he has great respect1 and   
for some even affection--did he not     
perceive that few have any diffidence or
 reservation 7save in one or two exalted
 instances799 in maintaining their views
 and dissenting from his4  ,open        
thought1 which in this chapter is       
brought under the reader's notice is    
sometimes called self-thought1 or free  
thought1 or original thought--the       
opposite of conventional second-hand    
thought--which is all that the          
custom-ridden mass of mankind is        
addicted to4  ,open thought has three   
stages3  ,the first stage is that in    
which the right to think independently  
is insisted on2 and the free action of  
opinion--so formed--is maintained4      

,conscious power thus acquired satisfies
 the pride of some2 others limit its    
exercise from prudence4 ,interests1     
which would be jeopardised by applying  
independent thought to received opinion1
 keep more persons silent1 and thus many
 never pass from this stage4       99   
,of whom the greatest is ,mr4           
,gladstone4  ,the second stage is that  
in which the right of self-thought is   
applied to the criticism of theology1   
with a view to clear the way for life   
according to reason4 ,this is not the   
work of a day or year1 but is so        
prolonged that clearing the way becomes 
as it were a profession1 and is at      
length pursued as an end instead of a   
means4 ,disputation becomes a passion   
and the higher state of life1 of which  
criticism is the necessary precursor1 is
 lost sight of1 and many remain at this 
stage when it is reached and go no      
further4  ,the third stage is that where
 ethical motives of conduct apart from  
,christianity are vindicated for the    

guidance of those who are indifferent   
about theology1 or who reject it        
altogether4 ,supplying to such persons  
,secular reasons for duty is            
,secularism1 the range of which is      
illimitable4 ,it begins where free      
thought usually ends1 and constitutes a 
new form of constructive thought1 the   
principles and policy of which are quite
 different from those acted upon in the 
preceding stages4 ,controversy concerns 
itself with what is2 ,secularism with   
what ought to be4  ,it is pertinent here
 to say that ,christianity does not     
permit eclecticism--that is1 it does not
 tolerate others selecting portions of  
,christian ,scriptures possessing the   
mark of intrinsic truth1 to which many  
could cheerfully conform in their lives4
 ,this rule compels all who cannot      
accept the entire ,scriptures to deal   
with its teachings as they find them    
expressed1 and for which ,christianity  
makes itself responsible4  ,all the     
while it is quite evident that          

,christians do permit eclecticism among 
themselves4 ,the great ,congress of the 
,free ,churches1 recently held in       
,nottingham1 representing the personal  
and vital form of ,christianity1 had a  
humanness and tolerance un manifested by
 ,christianity before1 showing that     
humanity is stronger than historical    
integrity4 ,if any one1 therefore1      
should draw up1 as might be done1 a     
theory of ,christianity solely from such
 doctrines as are represented in the    
elliptical preaching1 practice1 and     
social life of ,christians of to-day1 a 
very different estimate of the          
,christian system would have to be given
 from that with which the author deals  
in the subsequent chapters4 ,in them    
,christianity is represented as         
,free-thought has found it1 and as it   
exists in the ,scriptures1 in the law1  
in the pulpit1 and in the school1 which 
constitute its total force in the       
respects in which it represses and      
discourages independent thought4        

,science1 truth1 and criticism have     
engrafted themselves on historic        
,christianity4 ,it has now new articles 
of belief4 ,when it avows them it will  
win larger concurrence and respect than 
it can now command4     ,,chapter ,,ii4 
,,the ,,question ,,stated       ,look   
forward--not backward2 ,look up--not    
down2 ,look around2      ,lend a hand499
       --,edward ,everett ,hale1 ,d4 ,d4
  ,where a monarchy is master1 inquiry  
is apt to be a disturbing element2 and  
though exercised in the interest of the 
commonwealth it is none the less        
resented4 ,where the priest is master   
inquiry is sharply prohibited4 ,the     
priest represents a spiritual monarchy  
in which the tenets of belief are fixed1
 assumed to be infallible1 and to be    
prescribed by deity4 ,thus the priest   
regards inquiry as proceeding from an   
impertinent distrust1 to which he is not
 reconciled on being assured that it is 
undertaken in the interest of truth4    
,thus the king denounces inquiry as     

sedition1 and the priest as sin4 ,in the
 end the inquirer finds himself an alien
 in ,state and ,church1 and laws are    
made against his life1 his liberty1     
property1 and veracity49999       99    
,dr4 ,hale did not popularise these     
energetic maxims of      earnestness in 
the connexion in which they are here    
used2      but their wisdom is of       
general application4       9999,when    
martyrdoms and imprisonments ceased1    
disabling laws      remained which      
imposed the ,christian oath on all who  
appealed to the courts1 and any who had 
the pride of      veracity and declined 
to to swear1 were denied protection     
for property1 or credence of their word4
  ,thus from the time when monarch and  
priest first set up their pretensions in
 the world1 the inquiring mind has had  
small encouragement4 ,when              
,protestantism came it merely conceded  
inquiry under direction1 and only so far
 as it tended to confirm its own        
anti-papal tenets4 ,but when inquiry    

claimed to be independent1 unfettered1  
uncontrolled1--in fact to be free       
inquiry1--then ,papist1 ,lutheran1 and  
,dissenter1 alike regarded it as        
dangerous1 and stigmatised it by every  
term calculated to deter or dissuade    
people from it4  ,but though this       
combined defamation of inquiry set many 
against it1 it did not intimidate men   
entirely4 ,there arose independent      
thinkers who held that unfettered       
investigation was the discoverer of     
truth and dangerous to error only1 and  
that the freer it was the more effective
 it must be4  ,still timorous-minded    
persons remained suspicious of free     
thought4 ,at its best they found it     
involved conflict with false opinion1   
and conflict1 to those without          
aspiration or conscience1 is            
disquieting2 and where impartial        
investigation interfered with personal  
interests it was opposed4 ,no one could 
enter on the search for truth without   
finding his path obstructed by          

theological errors and interdictions4   
,having taken the side of truth1 all who
 were loyal to it1 were bound like      
,bunyan's  ,pilgrim to withstand the    
,apollyons who opposed it1 and a combat 
began which lasted for centuries1 and is
 not yet ended4 ,but though theology was
 always in power1 men of courage at     
length established the right of free    
inquiry1 and established also a free    
press for the publication of the results
 arrived at4 ,these rights were so      
indispensable for progress and were so  
long resisted1 that generations fought  
for them as ends in themselves4 ,thus   
there grew up1 as in military affairs1 a
 class whose profession was destruction1
 and free thinkers came to be regarded  
as negationists4 ,when ,i came into the 
field the combat was raging4 ,richard   
,carlile had not long been liberated    
from successive imprisonments of more   
than nine years duration in all4        
,charles ,southwell was in ,bristol     
gaol4 ,before his sentence had half     

expired ,i was in ,gloucester gaol4     
,george ,adams was there2 ,mrs4 ,harriet
 ,adams was committed for trial from    
,cheltenham4 ,matilda ,roalfe1 ,thomas  
,finlay1 ,thomas ,paterson1 and others  
were incarcerated in ,scotland4 ,robert 
,buchanan and ,lloyd ,jones1 two social 
missionaries--colleagues of my own--only
 escaped imprisonment by swearing they  
believed what they did not believe1--an 
act ,i refused to imitate1 and no mean  
inconvenience has resulted to me from   
it4 ,i took part in the vindication of  
the free publicity of opinion until it  
was practically conceded4 ,at the time  
when ,i was arrested in #ahdb1 the      
,cheltenham magistrates who were angered
 at defiant remarks ,i made1 had the    
power 7and used it7 of committing me to 
the ,quarter ,sessions as a felon1 where
 the same justices could resent1 by     
penalties1 what ,i had said to them4 ,on
 representations ,i made to             
,parliament--through my friend ,john    
,arthur ,roebuck and others--,sir ,james

 ,graham caused a ,bill to be passed    
which removed trials for opinion to the 
,assizes4 ,i was the first person tried 
under this act4 ,thus for the first time
 heresy was ensured a dispassionate     
trial and was no longer subject to the  
jurisdiction of local prejudice and     
personal magisterial resentment4  ,when 
overt acts of outrage were no longer    
possible against the adherents of free  
thought1 ,christians1 some from         
fairness1 and others from necessity1    
began to reason with them and asked3    
,now you have established your claim to 
be heard4 ,what have you to say8 ,the   
reply ,i proposed was3 ,secularism--a   
form of opinion relating to the duty of 
this life which substituted the piety of
 useful men for the usefulness of piety4
     ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,first     
,,stage ,,of ,,free ,,thought3 ,,its    
,,nature ,,and ,,limitation       ,he   
who cannot reason is defenceless2 he who
 fears to reason      has a coward mind2
 he who will not reason is willing to be

      deceived and will deceive all who 
listen to him4       --,maxim of ,free  
,thought4  ,,free ,,thought is founded  
upon reason4 ,it is the exercise of     
reason1 without which free thought is   
free foolishness4 ,free thought being   
the precursor of ,secularism1 it is     
necessary first to describe its         
principles and their limitation4 ,free  
thought means independent self-thinking4
 ,some say all thought is free since a  
man can think what he pleases and no one
 can prevent him1 which is not true4    
,unfortunately thinking can be prevented
 by subtle spiritual intimidation1 in   
earlier and even in later life4  ,when a
 police agent found young ,mazzini in   
the fields of ,genoa1 apparently        
meditating1 his father's attention was  
called to the youth4 ,his father was    
told that the ,austrian ,government did 
not permit thinking4 ,the ,inquisition  
intimidated nations from thinking4 ,the 
priests by preventing instruction and   
prohibiting books1 limited thinking4    

,archbishop ,whately shows that no one  
can reason without words1 and since     
speech can be1 and is1 disallowed and   
made penal1 the highway of thought can  
be closed4 ,no one can think to any     
purpose without inquiry concerning his  
subject1 and inquiry can be made        
impossible4 ,it is of little use that   
any one thinks who cannot verify his    
ideas by comparison with those of his   
compeers4 ,to prevent this is to        
discourage thought4 ,in fact thousands  
are prevented thinking by denying them  
the means and the facilities of         
thinking4  ,free thought means fearless 
thought4 ,it is not deterred by legal   
penalties1 nor by spiritual             
consequences4 ,dissent from the ,bible  
does not alarm the true investigator1   
who takes truth for authority not       
authority for truth4 ,the thinker who is
 really free1 is independent2 he is     
under no dread2 he yields to no menace2 
he is not dismayed by law1 nor custom1  
nor pulpits1 nor society--whose opinion 

appals so many4 ,he who has the manly   
passion of free thought1 has no fear of 
anything1 save the fear of error4       
,fearlessness is the essential condition
 of effective thought4 ,if ,satan sits  
at the top of the ,bible with perdition 
open underneath it1 into which its      
readers will be pushed who may doubt    
what they find in its pages1 the right  
of private judgment is a snare4 ,a man  
is a fool who inquires at this risk4 ,he
 had better accept at once the          
superstition of the first priest he     
meets4 ,it is not conceivable how a     
,christian can be a free thinker4  ,he  
who is afraid to know both sides of a   
question cannot think upon it4          
,christians do not1 as a rule1 want to  
know what can be said against their     
views1 and they keep out of libraries   
all books which would inform others4    
,thus such ,christians cannot think     
freely1 and are against others doing it4
 ,doubt comes of thinking2 the          
,christian commonly regards doubt as    

sin4 ,how can he be a free thinker who  
thinks thinking is a sin8  ,free thought
 implies three things as conditions of  
truth3  #a4 ,free inquiry1 which is the 
pathway to truth4  #b4 ,free publicity  
to the ideas acquired1 in order to learn
 whether they are useful--which is the  
encouragement of truth4  #c4 ,the free  
discussion of convictions without which 
it is not possible to know whether they 
are true or false1 which is the         
verification of truth4  ,a man is not a 
man unless he is a thinker2 he is a fool
 having no ideas of his own4 ,if he     
happens to live among men who do think1 
he browses like an animal on their      
ideas4 ,he is a sort of kept man being  
supported by the thoughts of others4 ,he
 is what in ,england is called a pauper1
 who subsists upon outdoor relief1      
allowed him by men of intellect4        
,without the right of publicity1        
individual thought1 however praiseworthy
 and however perfect1 would be barren to
 the community4 ,algernon ,sidney said3 

,the best legacy ,i can leave my        
children is free speech and the example 
of using it4  ,the clergy of every      
denomination are unfriendly to its use4 
,the soldiers of the cross do not fight 
adversaries in the open4 ,mr4 ,gladstone
 alone among eminent men of piety has   
insisted upon the duty of the ,church to
 prove its claims in discussion4 ,in his
 ,introduction to his address at the    
,liverpool ,college 7#ahgb or #ahgc7 he 
said3 ,i wish to place on record my     
conviction that belief cannot now be    
defended by reticence any more than by  
railing1 or by any privileges or        
assumption4 ,since the day of ,milton   
there has been no greater authority on  
the religious wisdom of debate4         
,thought1 even theological1 is often    
useless1 ill-informed1 foolish1         
mischievous1 or even wicked2 and he     
alone who submits it to free criticism  
gives guarantees that he means well1 and
 is self-convinced4 ,by criticism alone 
comes exposure1 correction1 or          

confirmation4 ,the right of criticism is
 the sole protection of the community   
against error of custom1 ignorance1     
prejudice1 or incompetence4 ,it is not  
until a proposition has been generally  
accepted after open and fair            
examination1 that it can be considered  
as established and can safely be made a 
ground of action or belief499       99  
,see ,formation of ,opinions1 by ,samuel
 ,bailey4  ,these are the implementary  
rights of thought4 ,they are what       
grammar is to the writer1 which teaches 
him how to express himself1 but not what
 to say4 ,these rights are as the rules 
of navigation to the mariner4 ,they     
teach him how to steer a ship but do not
 instruct him where to steer to4  ,the  
full exercise of these rights of mental 
freedom is what training in the         
principles of jurisprudence is to the   
pleader1 but it does not provide him    
with a brief4 ,it is conceivable that a 
man may come to be a master of          
independent thinking and never put his  

powers to use2 just as a man may know   
every rule of grammar and yet never     
write a book4 ,in the same way a man may
 pass an examination in the art of      
navigation and never take command of a  
vessel2 or he may qualify for a         
,barrister1 be called to the ,bar and   
never plead in any court4 ,we know from 
experience that many persons join in the
 combat for the right of intellectual   
freedom for its own sake1 without       
intending or caring to use the right    
when won4 ,some are generous enough to  
claim and contend for these rights from 
the belief that they may be useful to   
others4 ,this is the first stage of free
 thought1 and1 as has been said1 many   
never pass beyond it4  ,independent     
thinking is concerned primarily with    
removing obstacles to its own action1   
and in contests for liberty of speech by
 tongue and pen4 ,the free mind fights  
mainly for its own freedom4 ,it may     
begin in curiosity and may end in       
intellectual pride--unless conscience   

takes care of it4 ,its nature is        
iconoclastic and it may exist without   
ideas of reconstruction4  ,though a man 
goes no further1 he is a better man than
 he who never went as far4 ,he has      
acquired a new power1 and is sure of his
 own mind4 ,just as one who has learned 
to fence1 or to shoot1 has a confidence 
in encountering an adversary1 which is  
seldom felt by one who never had a sword
 in hand1 or practised at a target4 ,the
 sea is an element of recreation to one 
who has learned to swim2 it is an       
element of death to one ignorant of the 
art4 ,besides1 the thinker has attained 
a courage and confidence unknown to the 
man of orthodox mind4 ,since ,god 7we   
are assured7 is the ,god of truth1 the  
honest searcher after truth has ,god on 
his side1 and has no dread of the ,king 
of ,perdition--the terror of all        
,christian people--since the business of
 ,satan is with those who are content   
with false ideas2 not with those who    
seek the true4 ,if it be a duty to seek 

the truth and to live the truth1 honest 
discussion1 which discerns it1          
identifies it1 clears it1 and           
establishes it1 is a form of worship of 
real honor to ,god and of true service  
to man4 ,if the clergyman's speech on   
behalf of ,god is rendered exact by     
criticism1 the criticism is a tribute1  
and no mean tribute to heaven4 ,thus the
 free exercise of the rights of thought 
involve no risk hereafter4  ,moreover1  
so far as a man thinks he gains4        
,thought implies enterprise and exertion
 of mind1 and the result is wealth of   
understanding1 to be acquired in no     
other way4 ,this intellectual property  
like other property1 has its rights and 
duties4 ,the thinker's right is to be   
left in undisturbed possession of what  
he has earned2 and his duty is to share 
his discoveries of truth with mankind1  
to whom he owes his opportunities of    
acquiring it4  ,free expression involves
 consideration for others1 on principle4
 ,democracy without personal deference  

becomes a nuisance2 so free speech      
without courtesy is repulsive1 as free  
publicity would be1 if not mainly       
limited to reasoned truth4 ,otherwise   
every blatant impulse would have the    
same right of utterance as verified     
ideas4 ,even truth can only claim       
priority of utterance1 when its utility 
is manifest4 ,as the number and length  
of hairs on a man's head is less        
important to know1 than the number and  
quality of the ideas in his brain4      
,true free thought requires special     
qualities to insure itself acceptance4  
,it must be owned that the thinker is a 
disturber4 ,he is a truth-hunter1 and   
there is no telling what he will find4  
,truth is an exile which has been kept  
out of her kingdom1 and ,error is a     
usurper in possession of it2 and the    
moment ,truth comes into her right1     
,error has to give up its occupancy of  
her territory2 and as everybody         
consciously1 or unconsciously harbors   
some of the emissaries of the usurper1  

they do not like owning the fact1 and   
they dispute the warrant of truth to    
search their premises1 though to be     
relieved of such deceitful and costly   
inmates would be an advantage to them4  
,an inalienable attribute of free       
thought1 which no theology possesses1 is
 absolute toleration of all ideas put   
forward in the interests of public      
truth1 and submitted to public          
discussion4 ,the true free thinker is in
 favor of the free action of all opinion
 which injures no one else1 and of      
putting the best construction he can on 
the acts of others1 not only because he 
has thereby less to tolerate1 but from  
perceiving that he who lacks tolerance  
towards the ideas of others has no claim
 for the tolerance of his own4 ,the     
defender of toleration must himself be  
tolerant4 ,condemning the coercion of   
ideas1 he is pledged to combat error    
only by reason4 ,vindictiveness towards 
the erring is not only inconsistency1 it
 is persecution4 ,thus free thought is  

not only self-defence against error but1
 by the toleration it imposes1 is itself
 security for respectfulness in         
controversy4     ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,the  
,,second ,,stage ,,of ,,free ,,thought3 
,,enterprise       ,better wild ideas   
than no ideas at all4       --,professor
 ,nichol at ,horsham4  ,,the            
emancipation of the understanding from  
intimidation and penal restraint soon   
incited thinkers of enterprise to put   
their new powers to use4 ,theology being
 especially a forbidden subject and the 
greatest repressive force1 inquiry into 
its pretensions first attracted critical
 attention4  ,in every century forlorn  
hopes of truth had set out to storm one 
or other of the ramparts of theology4   
,forces had been marshalled by great    
leaders and battle often given in the   
open field2 and unforeseen victories are
 recorded1 in the annals of the wars of 
infantine rationalism1 against the      
full-grown powers of superstition and   
darkness4 ,in every age valiant         

thinkers1 scholars1 philosophers1 and   
critics1 even priests in defiance of    
power1 ecclesiastical and civil1 have1  
at their own peril1 explored the regions
 of forbidden truth4  ,in ,great        
,britain it was the courage of insurgent
 thinkers among the working class--whom 
no imprisonment could intimidate--who   
caused the right of free speech and free
 publicity to be finally conceded4 ,thus
 rulers came round to the conclusion of 
,caballero1 that tolerance is as        
necessary in ideas as in social         
relations4  ,as soon as opinion was     
known to be emancipated1 men began to   
think who never thought before4 ,the    
thinker no longer had to obtain a       
,ticket of ,leave from the ,churches    
before he could inquire2 he was free to 
investigate where he would and what he  
would4 ,power is1 as a rule1 never      
imparted nor acquired in vain1 and      
honest men felt they owed it to those   
who had won freedom for them1 that they 
should extend it4 ,thus it came to pass 

that independence was an inspiration to 
action in men of intrepid minds4        
,professor ,tyndall in the last words he
 wrote for publication said1 ,i choose  
the nobler part of ,emerson when1 after 
various disenchantments1 he exclaims1   
',i covet truth6' ,on printing these    
words the ,westminster ,gazette added3  
,the gladness of true heroism visits the
 heart of him who is really competent to
 say this4 ,the energies of intellectual
 intrepidity had doubtless been devoted 
to science and social progress2 but as  
philosophers have found1 down to        
,huxley's day1 all exploration was      
impossible in that direction4           
,murchison1 ,brewster1 ,buckland1 and   
other pioneers of science were          
intimidated4 ,lyell held back his book1 
on the ,antiquity of ,man1 twenty years4
 ,tyndall1 ,huxley1 and ,spencer were   
waiting to be heard4 ,as ,huxley has    
justly said3 there was no ,thoroughfare 
into the ,kingdom of ,nature--,by       
,order--,moses4 ,hence1 to examine      

theology1 to discover whether its       
authority was absolute1 became a        
necessity4 ,it was soon seen that there 
was ground for scepticism4 ,the priests 
resented criticism by representing the  
sceptic of their pretensions1 as being  
sceptical of everything1 whereas they   
were only sceptics of clerical          
infallibility4 ,they indeed did aver    
that branches of human knowledge1       
received as well established1 were      
really open to question1 in order to    
show that if men could not be confident 
of things of which they had experience1 
how could the ,churches be confident of 
things of which no man had              
experience--and which contradicted      
experience8 ,so far from disbelieving   
everything1 scepticism went everywhere  
in search of truth and certainty4 ,since
 the ,church could not be absolutely    
certain of the truth of its tenets1 its 
duty was to be tolerant4 ,but being     
intolerant it became as ,julian ,hibbert
 put it--well-understood self-defence to

 assail it4 ,the ,church fought for     
power1 the thinker fought for truth4    
,free thought among the people may be   
likened to a good ship manned by        
adventurous mariners1 who1 cruising     
about in the ocean of theology came upon
 sirens1 as other mariners had done     
before--dangerous to be followed by     
navigators bound to ports of progress4  
,many were thereby decoyed to their own 
destruction4 ,the sirens of the         
,churches sang alluring songs whose     
refrains were3  #a4 ,the ,bible the     
guide of ,god4  #b4 ,the origin of the  
universe disclosed4  #c4 ,the care of   
,providence assured4  #d4 ,deliverance  
from peril by prayer dependable4  #e4   
,original sin effaceable by grace4  #f4 
,perdition avoidable by faith in        
crucifixion4  #g4 ,future life revealed4
  ,these propositions were subjects of  
resonant hymns1 sermons1 and tracts1 and
 were not1 and are not1 disowned1 but   
still defended in discussion by orthodox
 and clerical advocates4 ,save salvation

 by the blood of ,christ 7a painful idea
 to entertain71 the other ideas might   
well fascinate the uninquiring4 ,they   
had enchanted many believers1 but the   
explorers of whom we speak had acquired 
the questioning spirit1 and had learned 
prudently to look at both sides of      
familiar subjects and soon discovered   
that the fair-seeming propositions which
 had formerly imposed on their          
imagination were unsound1 unsightly1 and
 unsafe4 ,the ,syracusans of old kept a 
school in which slaves were taught the  
ways of bondage4 ,christianity has kept 
such a school in which subjection of the
 understanding was inculcated1 and the  
pupils1 now free to investigate1        
resolved to see whether such things were
 true4  ,then began the reign of        
refutation of theological error1 by some
 from indignation at having been imposed
 upon1 by others from zeal that         
misconception should end2 by more from  
enthusiasm for facts2 by the bolder sort
 from resentment at the intimidation and

 cruelty with which inquiry had been    
suppressed so long2 and by not a few    
from the love of disputation which has  
for some the delight men have for chess 
or cricket1 or other pursuit which has  
conflict and conquest in it4            
,self-determined thought is a condition 
of the progress of nations4 ,where would
 science be but for open thought1 the   
nursing mother of enterprise1 of        
discovery1 of invention1 of new         
conditions of human betterment8  ,a     
modern ,hindu writer99 tells us that3   
,the ,hindu is sorely handicapped by    
customs which are prescribed by his     
religious books4 ,hedged in by minute   
rules and restrictions the various      
classes forming the ,hindu community    
have had but little room for expansion  
and progress4 ,the result has been      
stagnation4 ,caste has prevented the    
,hindus from sinking1 but it has also   
preventing them from rising4       99   
,pramatha ,nath ,bose4  ,the old        
miracle-bubbles which the ,jews blew    

into the air of wonder two thousand     
years ago1 delight churches still in    
their childhood4 ,the sea of theology   
would have been stagnant centuries ago1 
had not insurgent thinkers1 at the peril
 of their lives1 created commotion in   
it4 ,morals would have been poisoned on 
the shores of theology had not free     
thought purified the waters by putting  
the salt of reason into that sea1       
freshening it year by year4             
,,chapter ,v4 ,,conquests ,,of          
,,investigation       ,the secret of    
,genius is to suffer no fiction to live4
       --,goethe4  ,,theologians had so 
choked the human mind with a dense      
undergrowth of dogmas that it was like  
cutting through an ,african forest1 such
 as ,stanley encountered1 to find the   
paths of truth4  ,on that path1 when    
found1 many things unforeseen before1   
became plain4 ,the siren songs of       
orthodoxy were discovered to have       
strange discords of sense in them4  #a4 
,the ,guide of ,god seemed to be very   

human--not authentic1 not               
consistent--containing things not       
readable nor explainable in the family2 
pagan fictions1 such as the ,incarnation
 reluctantly believable as the device of
 a moral deity4 ,men of genius and of   
noble ethical sympathy do however deem  
it defensible4 ,in any human book the   
paternal exaction of such suffering as  
fell to ,christ1 would be regarded with 
alarm and repugnance4 ,wonder was felt  
that ,scripture1 purporting to contain  
the will of deity1 should not be        
expressed so unmistakably that ignorance
 could not misunderstand it1 nor        
perversity misconstrue it4 ,the gods    
know how to write4  #b4 ,the origin of  
all things has excited and disappointed 
the curiosity of the greatest exploring 
minds of every age4 ,that the secret of 
the universe is undisclosed1 is manifest
 from the different and differing       
conjectures concerning it4 ,the origin  
of the universe remains unknowable4     
,what awe fills or rather takes         

possession of the mind which comprehends
 this6 ,why existence exists is the     
cardinal wonder4  #c4 ,pleasant and free
 from anxiety1 life would be were it    
true1 that ,providence is a present help
 in the day of need4 ,alas1 to the poor 
it is evident that ,providence does not 
interfere1 either to befriend the good  
in their distress1 or arrest the bad in 
the act of crime4  #d4 ,the power of    
prayer has been the hope of the helpless
 and the oppressed in every age4 ,every 
man wishes it was true that help could  
be had that way4 ,then every just man   
could protect himself at will against   
his adversaries4 ,but experience shows  
that all entreaty is futile to induce   
,providence to change its universal     
habit of non-intervention4 ,prayer      
beguiles the poor but provides no       
dinner4 ,mr4 ,spurgeon said at the      
,tabernacle that prayer filled his meal 
barrel when empty4 ,i asked that he     
should publish the recipe in the        
interests of the hungry4 ,but he made no

 reply4  #e4 ,there is reason to think  
that original sin is not anything more  
than original ignorance4 ,the belief in 
natural depravity discourages all       
efforts of progress4 ,the primal        
imperfection of human nature is only    
effaceable by knowledge and persistent  
endeavor4 ,even in things lawful to do1 
excess is sin1 judged by human          
standards4 ,there may be error without  
depravity4  #f4 ,eternal perdition for  
conscientious belief1 whether erroneous 
or not1 is humanly incredible4 ,the     
devisors of this doctrine must have been
 unaware that belief is an affair of    
ignorance1 prejudice1 custom1 education1
 or evidence4 ,the liability of the     
human race to eternal punishment is the 
foundation on which all ,christianity   
7except ,unitarianism7 rests4 ,this     
awful belief1 if acted upon with the    
sincerity that ,christianity declares it
 should be1 would terminate all         
enjoyment1 and all enterprise would     
cease in the world4 ,none would ever    

marry4 ,no persons1 with any humanity in
 their hearts would take upon themselves
 the awful responsibility of increasing 
the number of the damned4 ,the registrar
 of births would be the most fiendish   
clerk conceivable4 ,he would be         
practically the secretary of hell4  ,the
 theory that all the world was lost     
through a curious and enterprising lady1
 eating an apricot or an apple1 and that
 three thousand or more years after1    
mankind had to be redeemed by the murder
 of an innocent ,jew1 is of a nature to 
make men afraid to believe in a deity   
accused of contriving so dreadful a     
scheme4  ,though this reasoning will    
seem to many an argument against the    
existence of ,god whereas it is merely  
against the attributes of deity1 as     
ascribed to him by ,christianity4 ,if   
,god be not moral1 in the human sense of
 the term1 he may as well be not moral  
at all4 ,it is only he whose principles 
of justice1 men can understand1 that men
 can trust4 ,prof4 ,t4 ,h4 ,huxley1     

conspicuous for his clearness of view   
and dispassionateness of judgment1 was  
of this opinion1 and said3 ,the         
suggestion arises1 if ,god is the cause 
of all things he is responsible for evil
 as well as for good1 and it appears    
utterly irreconcilable with our notions 
of justice that he should punish another
 for that which he has in fact done     
himself4 ,the poet concurs with the     
philosopher when he exclaims3       ,the
 loving worm within its clod1      ,were
 diviner than a loveless ,god ,amid his 
worlds499       99 ,browning4           
,christianity indeed speaks of the love 
of ,god in sending his son to die for   
the security of others4 ,but not less is
 the heart of the intelligent and humane
 believer torn with fear1 as he thinks  
what must be the character of that ,god 
who could only be thus appeased4 ,the   
example of self-sacrifice is noble--but 
is it noble in any one who deliberately 
creates the necessity for it8 ,the      
better side of ,christianity seems      

overshadowed by the worse4  #g4 ,future 
life is uncertain1 being unprovable and 
seemingly improbable1 judging from the  
dependence of life on material          
conditions4 ,christians themselves do   
not seem confident of another existence4
 ,if they were sure of it1 who of them  
would linger here when those they love  
and honor have gone before8 ,ere we     
reach the middle of our days1 the joy of
 every heart lies in some tomb4 ,if the 
,christian actually believed that the   
future was real1 would he hang black    
plumes over the hearse1 and speak of    
death as darkness8 ,no6 the cemeteries  
would be hung with joyful lights1 the   
grave would be the gate of ,paradise4   
,every one would find justifiable excuse
 for leaving this for the happier world4
 ,all tenets which are contradicted by  
reason had better not be4  ,many        
preachers now disown1 in controversy1   
these doctrines1 but until they carry   
the professions of the platform into the
 statute book1 the rubric1 and the      

pulpit1 such doctrines remain operative1
 and the ,churches remain answerable for
 them4 ,nonconformists do not protest   
against a ,state ,church on account of  
its doctrines herein enumerated4 ,when  
the doctrines which conflict with reason
 and humanity are disowned by authority1
 ecclesiastical and legal1 in all       
denominations1 the duty of controverting
 them as impediments to progress will   
cease4  ,it may be said in reply to what
 is here set forth as tenets of         
,christian ,scripture1 that the writer  
follows the letter and not the spirit of
 the word4 ,yes1 that is what he does4  
,he is well aware of the new practice of
 seeking refuge in the spirit1 of       
expanding the letter and taking a new   
range of view4 ,he however holds that to
 drop the letter is to drop the         
doctrine4 ,to expand the letter is to   
change it4 ,new range of view is the    
term under which desertion of the text  
is disguised4 ,but new range means new  
thought1 which in this insidious way is 

put forward to supersede the old4 ,the  
frank way is to say so1 and admit that  
the letter is obsolete--is gone1 is     
disproved1 and that new views which are 
truer constitute the new letter of      
progress4 ,the best thing to do with the
 dead hand is to bury it4 ,to try to    
expand dissolution is but galvanising   
the corpse and tying the dead to the    
living4     ,,chapter ,,vi4             
,,stationariness ,,of ,,criticism       
,zeal without knowledge is like         
expedition to a man in the      dark4   
--,john ,newton4  ,,criticism in        
theology1 as in literature1 is with many
 an intoxication4 ,zest in showing what 
is wrong is apt to blunt the taste for  
what is right1 which it is the true end 
of criticism to discover4 ,lord ,byron  
said critics disliked ,pope because he  
afforded them so few chances of         
objection4 ,they found fault with him   
because he had no faults4 ,the criticism
 of theology begets complacency in many4
 ,there is a natural satisfaction in    

being free from the superstition of the 
vulgar1 in the ,church as well as out of
 it4 ,no wonder many find abiding       
pleasure in the intellectual refutation 
of the errors of supernaturalism and in 
putting its priests to confusion4       
,absorbed in the antagonism of theology1
 many lose sight of ultimate utility1   
and regard error1 not as a misfortune to
 be alleviated1 so much as a fault to be
 exposed4 ,like the theologian whose    
color they take1 they do not much       
consider whether their method causes men
 to dislike the truth through its manner
 of being offered to them4 ,their       
ambition is to make those in error look 
foolish4 ,free thinkers of zeal are apt 
to become intense1 and like ,jules      
,ferry 7a late ,french premier71 care   
less for power1 than for conflict1 and  
the lover of conflict is not easily     
induced to regard the disproof of       
theology as a means to an end99 higher  
than itself4 ,it is difficult to impart 
to uncalculating zealots a sense of     

proportion4 ,they dash along the warpath
 by their own momentum4 ,railway        
engineers find that it takes twice as   
much power to stop an express train as  
it does to start it4       99 ,buckle   
truly says1 ,liberty is not a means1 it 
is an end      in itself1 ,but the uses 
of liberty are means to ends      ,else 
why do we want liberty8  ,when ,i first 
knew free thought societies they were   
engaged in ,church-fighting--which is   
still popular among them1 and which has 
led the public to confuse criticism with
 ,secularism1 an entirely different     
thing4  ,insurgent thought exclusively  
directed1 breeds1 as is said elsewhere1 
a distinguished class of men--among     
scholars as well as among the           
uninformed--who have a passion for      
disputation1 which like other passions  
grows by what it feeds upon4 ,yet a     
limited number of such paladins of      
investigation are not without uses in   
the economy of civilisations4 ,they     
resemble the mighty hunters of old1 they

 extirpate beasts of prey which roam the
 theological forests1 and thus they     
render life more safe to dwellers in    
cities1 open to the voracious incursions
 of supernaturalism4  ,without the class
 of combatants described1 in whom       
discussion is irrepressible1 and whose  
courage neither odium nor danger abates1
 many castles of superstition would     
never be stormed4 ,but mere             
intellectual-ism generates a different  
and less useful species of thinkers1 who
 neither hunt in the jungles of theology
 nor storm strongholds4 ,we all know    
hundreds in every great town who have   
freed themselves1 or have been freed by 
others1 from ecclesiastical error1 who  
remain supine4 ,content with their own  
superiority 7which they owe to the      
pioneers who went before them more      
generous than they7 they speak no word1 
and lend no aid towards conferring the  
same advantages upon such as are still  
enslaved4 ,they affect to despise the   
ignorance they ought to be foremost to  

dissipate4 ,they exclaim in the words of
 ,goethe's ,coptic song3       ,fools   
from their folly 'tis hopeless to stay1 
,mules will be mules by the laws of     
their mulishness1      ,then be advised 
and leave fools to their foolishness1   
,what from an ass can be got but a bray4
  ,these ,coptic philosophers overlook  
that they would have been asses also1   
had those who vindicated freedom before 
their day1 and raised it to a power1    
been as indifferent and as contemptuous 
as believers in the fool-theory are4    
,coptic thinkers forget that every man  
is a fool in respect of any question on 
which he gives an opinion without having
 thought independently upon it4 ,with   
patience you can make a thinker out of a
 fool2 and the first step from the fool 
stage is accomplished by a little       
thinking4 ,it is well to remember the   
exclamation of ,thackeray3 ,if thou hast
 never been a fool1 be sure thou wilt   
never be a wise man4  ,it is1 however1  
but justice to some who join the        

stationariness1 to own that they have   
fared badly on the warpath against      
error1 and are entitled to the sympathy 
we extend to the battered soldier who   
falls out of the ranks on the march4    
,grote indicates what the severity of   
the service is1 in the following passage
 from his ,mischiefs of ,natural        
,religion3--,of all human antipathies   
that which the believer in a ,god bears 
to the unbeliever1 is the fullest1 the  
most unqualified1 and the most          
universal4 ,the mere circumstance of    
dissent involves a tacit imputation of  
error and incapacity on the part of the 
priest1 who discerns that his persuasive
 power is not rated so highly by others 
as it is by himself4 ,this invariably   
begets dislike towards his antagonist4  
,nevertheless it is a reproach to those 
whom militant thought has made free1 if 
they remain unmindful of the fate of    
their inferiors4 ,yet ,christian        
churches1 with all self-complacent      
superiority to which many of them are   

prone1 are not free from the sins of    
indifference and superfineness4 ,this   
was conspicuously shown by ,southey in a
 letter to ,sir ,henry ,taylor1 in which
 he says3--,have you seen the strange   
book which ,anastasius ,hope left for   
publication and which his               
representatives1 in spite of all        
dissuasion1 have published8 ,his notion 
of immortality and heaven is that at the
 consummation of all things he1 and you1
 and ,i1 and ,john ,murray1 and         
,nebuchadnezzar1 and ,lambert the fat   
man1 and the ,living ,skeleton1 and     
,queen ,elizabeth1 and the ,hottentot1  
,venus1 and ,thutell1 and ,probert1 and 
the ,twelve ,apostles1 and the noble    
army of martyrs1 and ,genghis ,khan and 
all his armies1 and ,noah with all his  
ancestors and all his posterity1--yea1  
all men1 and all women1 and all children
 that have ever been1 or ever shall be1 
saints and sinners alike1 are all to be 
put together and made into one great    
celestial1 eternal human being4444 ,i do

 not like the scheme4 ,i don't like the 
notion of being mixed up with ,hume1 and
 ,hunt1 and ,whittle ,harvey1 and       
,philpotts1 and ,lord ,althorp1 and the 
,huns1 and the ,hottentots1 and the     
,jews1 and the ,philistines1 and the    
,scotch1 and the ,irish4 ,god forbid6 ,i
 hope to be ,i1 myself1 in an ,english  
heaven1 with you yourself1--you and some
 others without whom heaven would be no 
heaven to me4  ,most of these persons   
would have the same dislike to be mixed 
up with ,mr4 ,southey4 ,lord ,byron     
would not have been enthusiastic about  
it4 ,the ,comtists have done something  
to preach a doctrine of humanity1 and to
 put an end to this pitiful contempt of 
a few men for their fellows1--fellows   
who in many respects are often superior 
to those who despise them4  ,all        
superiority is apt to be contemptuous of
 inferiors1 unless conscience and       
generosity takes care of it1 and incites
 it to instruct inferior natures4 ,the  
prayer of ,browning is one of noble     

discernment3--       ,make no more      
giants1 ,god--      ,but elevate the    
race at once4  ,even free thought1 so   
far as it confines itself to itself1    
becomes stationary4 ,like the squirrel  
in its cage3       ,whether it turns by 
wood or wire1      ,never gets one      
hair's breadth higher4  ,if any doubt   
whether stationariness of thought is    
possible1 let them think of             
,protestantism which climbed on to the  
ledge of private judgment three         
centuries ago--and has remained there4  
,instead of mounting higher and         
overrunning all the plateaus of error   
above them1 it has done its best to     
prevent any who would do it1 from       
ascending4 ,there is now1 however1 a new
 order of insurgent thought of the      
excelsior caste which seeks to climb the
 heights4 ,distinguished writers against
 theology in the past have regarded     
destructive criticism as preparing the  
way to higher conceptions of life and   
duty4 ,if so little has been done in    

this direction among working class      
thinkers1 it is because destructiveness 
is more easy4 ,it needs only indignation
 to perfect it1 and indignation requires
 no effort4 ,the faculty of             
constructiveness is more arduous in     
exercise1 and is later in germination4  
,more men are able to take a state than 
to make a state4 ,hence ,secularism1    
though inevitable as the next stage of  
militant progress1 more slowly wins     
adherents and appreciation4             
,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,third ,,stage ,,of   
,,free ,,thought--,,secularism          
,nothing is destroyed until it has been 
replaced4       --,madame de ,stael4    
,,seeing this wise maxim in a paper by  
,auguste ,comte1 ,i asked my friend ,wm4
 de ,fonvielle1 who was in communication
 with ,comte1 to learn for me the       
authorship of the phrase4 ,comte        
answered that it was the ,emperor's     
7,napoleon ,,iii474 ,it first appeared1 
as ,i afterwards found1 in the writings 
of ,madame de ,stael1 and more fully    

expressed by her4  ,self-regarding      
criticism having discovered the         
insufficiency of theology for the       
guidance of man1 next sought to         
ascertain what rules human reason may   
supply for the independent conduct of   
life1 which is the object of            
,secularism4  ,at first1 the term was   
taken to be a mask concealing sinister  
features--a new name for an old         
thing--or as a substitute term for      
scepticism or atheism4 ,if impressions  
were always knowledge1 men would be wise
 without inquiry1 and explanations would
 be unnecessary4 ,the term ,secularism  
was chosen to express the extension of  
free thought to ethics4 ,free thinkers  
commonly go no further than saying1 ,we 
search for truth992 ,secularists say we 
have found it--at least1 so much as     
replaces the chief errors and           
uncertainties of theology4  ,harriet    
,martineau1 the most intrepid thinker   
among the women of her day1 wrote to    
,lloyd ,garrison a letter 7inserted in  

the ,liberator1 #ahec7 approving the    
term ,secularism as including a large   
number of persons who are not atheists  
and uniting them for action1 which has  
,secularism for its object4 ,by the     
adoption of the new term a vast amount  
of prejudice is got rid of4 ,at length  
it was seen that the new term designated
 a new conception4  ,secularism is a    
code of duty pertaining to this life1   
founded on considerations purely human1 
and intended mainly for those who find  
theology indefinite or inadequate1      
unreliable or unbelievable4  ,its       
essential principles are three3  #a4    
,the improvement of this life by        
material means4  #b4 ,that science is   
the available9999 ,providence of man4   
#c4 ,that it is good to do good4        
,whether there be other good or not1 the
 good of the present life is good1 and  
it is good to seek that good4       99  
,m4 ,aurelius ,antoninus said1 ,i seek  
the truth by which no      man was ever 
injured4 ,it would be true had he said  

mankind4      ,men are continually      
injured by the truth1 or how do martyrs 
come1 or why do we honor them8          
9999,this phrase was a suggestion of my 
friend the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,h4      ,t4      
,crosskey about #ahed4 ,i afterwards    
used the word      available which does 
not deny1 nor challenge1 nor affirm     
the belief in a theological ,providence 
by others1 who1      therefore1 are not 
incited to assail the effectual         
proposition that material resources are 
an available      ,providence where a   
spiritual ,providence is inactive4      
,individual good attained by methods    
conducive to the good of others1 is the 
highest aim of man1 whether regard be   
had to human welfare in this life or    
personal fitness for another4           
,precedence is therefore given to the   
duties of this life4  ,being asked to   
send to the ,international ,congress of 
,liberal ,thinkers1 7#ahhf71 an account 
of the tenets of the ,english party     
known as ,secularists1 ,i gave the      

following explanation to them4  ,the    
,secular is that1 the issues of which   
can be tested by the experience of this 
life4  ,the ground common to all        
self-determined thinkers is that of     
independency of opinion1 known as free  
thought1 which though but an impulse of 
intellectual courage in the search for  
truth1 or an impulse of aggression      
against hurtful or irritating error1 or 
the caprice of a restless mind1 is to be
 encouraged4 ,it is necessary to promote
 independent thought--whatever its      
manner of manifestation--since there can
 be no progress without it4 ,a          
,secularist is intended to be a         
reasoner1 that is as ,coleridge defined 
him1 one who inquires what a thing is1  
and not only what it is1 but why it is  
what it is4  ,one of two great forces of
 opinion created in this age1 is what is
 known as atheism199 which deprives     
superstition of its standing-ground and 
compels theism to reason for its        
existence4 ,the other force is          

materialism which shows the physical    
consequences of error1 supplying1 as it 
were1 beacon lights to morality4        
99 ,huxley's term agnosticism implies a 
different thing--      unknowingness    
without denial4  ,though respecting the 
right of the atheist and theist to their
 theories of the origin of nature1 the  
,secularist regards them as belonging to
 the debatable ground of speculation4   
,secularism neither asks nor gives any  
opinion upon them1 confining itself to  
the entirely independent field of       
study--the order of the universe4       
,neither asserting nor denying theism or
 a future life1 having no sufficient    
reason to give if called upon2 the fact 
remains that material influences exist1 
vast and available for good1 as men have
 the will and wit to employ them4       
,whatever may be the value of           
metaphysical or theological theories of 
morals1 utility in conduct is a daily   
test of common sense1 and is capable of 
deciding intelligently more questions of

 practical duty than any other rule4    
,considerations which pertain to the    
general welfare1 operate without the    
machinery of theological creeds1 and    
over masses of men in every land to whom
 ,christian incentives are alien1 or    
disregarded4     ,,chapter ,,viii4      
,,three ,,principles ,,vindicated       
,be wisely worldly1 but not worldly     
wise4       --,francis ,quarles4        
,,first ,,principle3 ,of material means 
as conditions of welfare in this        
world4--,theology works by spiritual    
means1 ,secularism by material means4   
,christians and ,secularists both intend
 raising the character of the people1   
but their methods are very different4   
,christians are now beginning to employ 
material agencies for the elevation of  
life1 which science1 and not theology1  
has brought under their notice4 ,but the
 ,christian does not trust these        
agencies2 the ,secularist does1 and in  
his mind the ,secular is sacred4        
,spiritual means can never be depended  

upon for food1 raiment1 art1 or national
 defence4  ,the ,archbishop of ,york    
7,dr4 ,magee71 a clearheaded and candid 
prelate1 surprised his contemporaries   
7at the ,diocesan ,conference1          
,leicester1 ,october #ai1 #ahhi7 by     
declaring that ,christianity made no    
claim to rearrange the economic         
relations of man in the ,state1 or in   
society4 ,he hoped he would be          
understood when he said plainly that it 
was his firm belief that any ,christian 
,state1 carrying out in all its         
relations1 the ,sermon on the ,mount1   
could not exist for a week4 ,it was     
perfectly clear that a ,state could not 
continue to exist upon what were        
commonly called ,christian principles4  
,from the first1 ,secularism had based  
its claims to be regarded on the fact   
that only the rich could afford to be   
,christians1 and the poor must look to  
other principles for deliverance4       
,material means are those which are     
calculable1 which are under the control 

and command of man1 and can be tested by
 human experience4 ,no definition of    
,secularism shows its distinctiveness   
which omits to specify material means as
 its method of procedure4  ,but for the 
theological blasphemy of nature1        
representing it as the unintelligent    
tool of ,god1 the ,secular would have   
ennobled common life long ago4 ,sir     
,godfrey ,kneller said1 ,he never looked
 on a bad picture but he carried away in
 his mind a dirty tint4 ,secularism     
would efface the dirty tints of life    
which ,christianity has prayed over1 but
 not removed4  ,second ,principle3 ,of  
the providence of science4--,men are    
limited in power1 and are oft in peril1 
and those who are taught to trust to    
supernatural aid are betrayed to their  
own destruction4 ,we are told we should 
work as though there were no help in    
heaven1 and pray as though there were no
 help in ourselves4 ,since1 however1    
praying saves no ship1 arrests no       
disease1 and does not pay the           

tax-gatherer1 it is better to work at   
once and without the digression of      
sinking prayer-buckets into empty wells1
 and spending life in drawing nothing   
up4 ,the word illuminating secular life 
is self-help4 ,the ,secularist vexes not
 the ear of heaven by mendicant         
supplications4 ,his is the only religion
 that gives heaven no trouble4  ,third  
,principle3 ,of goodness as fitness for 
this world or another4--,goodness is the
 service of others with a view to their 
advantage4 ,there is no higher human    
merit4 ,human welfare is the sanction of
 morality4 ,the measure of a good action
 is its conducive-ness to progress4 ,the
 utilitarian test of generous rightness 
in motive may be open to                
objection1--there is no test which is   
not1--but the utilitarian rule is one   
comprehensible by every mind4 ,it is the
 only rule which makes knowledge        
necessary1 and becomes more luminous as 
knowledge increases4 ,a fool may be a   
believer199 but not a utilitarian who   

seeks his ground of action in the       
largest field of relevant facts his mind
 is able to survey4       99 ,the       
,guardian told as about #ahhg that the  
,bishop of ,exeter      confirmed five  
idiots4  ,utility in morals is measuring
 the good of one by its agreement with  
the good of many4 ,large ideas are when 
a man measures the good of his parish by
 the good of the town1 the good of the  
town by the good of the county1 the good
 of the county by the good of the       
country1 the good of the country by the 
good of the continent1 the good of the  
continent by the cosmopolitanism of the 
world4  ,truth and solicitude for the   
social welfare of others are the proper 
concern of a soul worth saving4 ,only   
minds with goodness in them have the    
desert of future existence4 ,minds      
without veracity and generosity die4    
,the elements of death are in the       
selfish already4 ,they could not live in
 a better world if they were admitted4  
,in a noble passage in his sermon on    

,citizenship the ,rev4 ,stopford ,brooks
 said3 ,there are thousands of my       
fellow-citizens1 men1 and women1 and    
children1 who are living in conditions  
in which they have no true means of     
becoming healthy in body1 trained in    
mind1 or comforted by beauty4 ,life is  
as hard for them as it is easy for me4  
,i cannot help them by giving them      
money1 one by one1 but ,i can help them 
by making the condition of their life   
easier by a good government of the city 
in which they live4 ,and even if the    
charge on my property for this purpose  
increases for a time1 year by year1 till
 the work is done1 that charge ,i will  
gladly pay4 ,it shall be my ethics1 my  
religion1 my patriotism1 my citizenship 
to do it499 ,the great preacher whose   
words are here cited1 like ,theodore    
,parker1 the ,jupiter of the pulpit in  
his day1 as ,wendell ,phillips described
 him to me1 is not a ,secularist2 but he
 expresses here the religion of the     
,secularist1 if such a person can be    

supposed to have a religion4       99   
,preached in reference to the ,london   
,county ,council      election1 ,march1 
#ahib4  ,a theological creed which the  
base may hold1 and usually do1 has none 
of the merit of deeds of service to     
humanity1 which only the good           
intentionally perform4 ,conscience is   
the sense of right with regard to       
others1 it is a sense of duty towards   
others which tells us that we should do 
justice to them2 and if not able to do  
it individually1 to endeavor to get it  
done by others4 ,at ,st4 ,peter's ,gate 
there can be no passport so safe as     
this4 ,he was not far wrong who1 when   
asked where heaven lay1 answered3 ,on   
the other side of a good action4  ,if1  
as ,dr4 ,james ,martineau says1 there is
 a thought of ,god in the thing that is 
true1 and a will of ,god in that which  
is right1 ,secularism1 caring for truth 
and duty1 cannot be far wrong4 ,thus1 it
 has a reasonable regard for the        
contingencies of another life should it 

supervene4 ,reasoned opinions rely for  
justification upon intelligent          
conviction1 and a well informed         
sincerity4  ,the ,secularist1 is without
 presumption of an infallible creed1 is 
without the timorous indefiniteness of a
 creedless believer4 ,he does not disown
 a creed because theologians have       
promulgated ,jew bound1 unalterable     
articles of faith4 ,the ,secularist has 
a creed as definite as science1 and as  
flexible as progress1 increasing as the 
horizon of truth is enlarged4 ,his creed
 is a confession of his belief4 ,there  
is more unity of opinion among          
self-thinkers than is supposed4 ,they   
all maintain the necessity of           
independent opinion1 for they all       
exercise it4 ,they all believe in the   
moral rightfulness of independent       
thought1 or they are guilty for         
propagating it4 ,they all agree as to   
the right of publishing well-considered 
thought1 otherwise thinking would be of 
little use4 ,they all approve of free   

criticism1 for there could be no        
reliance on thought which did not use1  
or could not bear that4 ,all agree as to
 the equal action of opinion1 without   
which opinion would be fruitless and    
action a monopoly4 ,all agree that truth
 is the object of free thought1 for many
 have died to gain it4 ,all agree that  
scrutiny is the pathway to truth1 for   
they have all passed along it4 ,they all
 attach importance to the good of this  
life1 teaching this as the first service
 to humanity4 ,all are of one opinion as
 to the efficacy of material means in   
promoting human improvement1 for they   
alone are distinguished by vindicating  
their use4 ,all hold that morals are    
effectively commended by reason1 for all
 self-thinkers have taught so4 ,all     
believe that ,god1 if he exists1 is the 
,god of the honest1 and that he respects
 conscience more than creeds1 for all   
free thinkers have died in this faith4  
,independent thinkers from ,socrates to 
,herbert ,spencer and ,huxley99 have all

 agreed3       99 ,see ,biographical    
,dictionary of ,free ,thinkers of all   
,ages      and ,nations1 by ,j4 ,m4     
,wheeler1 and ,four ,hundred ,years of  
,free ,thought from ,columbus to        
,ingersoll1 by ,samuel ,porter          
,putnam1 containing upwards of #a1jjj   
biographies4  ,in the necessity of free 
thought4  ,in the rightfulness of it4   
,in the adequacy of it4  ,in the        
considerate publicity of it4  ,in the   
fair criticism of it4  ,in the equal    
action of conviction4  ,in the          
recognition of this life1 and  ,in the  
material control of it4  ,the           
,secularist1 like ,karpos the gardener1 
may say of his creed1 ,its points are   
few and simple4 ,they are3 to be a good 
citizen1 a good husband1 a good father1 
and a good workman4 ,i go no further1   
said ,karpos1 but pray ,god to take it  
all in good part and have mercy on my   
soul499       99 ,dialogue between      
,karpos the gardener and ,bashiew       
,tucton1      by ,voltaire4             

,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,how ,,secularism      
,,arose       ,we must neither lead nor 
leave men to mistake falsehood for      
truth4 ,not to undeceive is to deceive4 
--,archbishop ,whately4  ,,being one of 
the social missionaries in the          
propaganda of ,robert ,owen1 ,i was1    
like ,h4 ,viewssiew1 a writer of those  
days1 a student of realities4 ,it soon  
became clear to me1 as to others1 that  
men are much influenced for good or     
evil1 by their environments4 ,the word  
was unused then1 circumstances was the  
term employed4 ,then as now there were  
numerous persons everywhere to be met   
with who explained everything on        
supernatural principles with all the    
confidence of infinite knowledge4 ,not  
having this advantage1 ,i profited as   
well as ,i could by such observation as 
was in my power to make4 ,i could see   
that material laws counted for something
 in the world4 ,this led me to the      
conclusion that the duty of watching the
 ways of nature was incumbent on all who

 would find true conditions of human    
betterment1 or new reasons for          
morality--both very much needed4 ,to    
this end the name of ,secularism was    
given to certain principles which had   
for their object human improvement by   
material means1 regarding science as the
 providence of man and justifying       
morality by considerations which pertain
 to this life alone4  ,the rise and     
development 7if ,i may use so fine a    
term7 of these views may be traced in   
the following records4  #a4 ,materialism
 will be advanced as the only sound     
basis of rational thought and practice4 
7,prospectus of the ,movement1 #ahdc1   
written by me47  #b4 ,five prizes       
awarded to me1 for lectures to the      
,manchester ,order of ,odd-fellows4     
,these ,degree ,addresses 7#ahdf7 were  
written on the principle that morality1 
apart from theology1 could be based on  
human reason and experience4  #c4 ,the  
,reasoner restricts itself to the known1
 to the present1 and seeks to realise   

the life that is4 7,preface to the      
,reasoner1 #ahdf47  #d4 ,a series of    
papers was commenced in the ,reasoner   
entitled ,the ,moral ,remains of the    
,bible1 one object of which was to show 
that those who no longer held the ,bible
 as an infallible book1 might still     
value it wherein it was ethically       
excellent4 7,reasoner1 ,vol4 ,v41 ,no4  
#ajf1 p4 #ag1 #ahdh47  #e4 ,to teach men
 to see that the sum of all knowledge   
and duty is ,secular and that it        
pertains to this world alone4           
7,reasoner1 ,nov4 #ai1 #ahea4 ,article1 
,truths to ,teach1 p4 #a47  ,this was   
the first time the word ,secular was    
applied as a general test of principles 
of conduct apart from spiritual         
considerations4  #f4 ,giving an account 
of ourselves in the whole extent of     
opinion1 we should use the word         
,secularist as best indicating that     
province of human duty which belongs to 
this life4 7,reasoner1 ,dec4 #c1 #ahea1 
p4 #cd47  ,this was the first time the  

word ,secularist appeared in literature 
as descriptive of a new way of thinking4
  #g4 ,mr4 ,holyoake1 editor of the     
,reasoner1 will lay before the meeting  
then proposed the present position of   
,secularism in the provinces4           
7,reasoner1 ,dec4 #aj1 #ahea1 p4 #fb47  
,this was the first time the word       
,secularism appeared in the press4  ,the
 meeting above mentioned was held       
,december #bi1 #ahea1 at which the      
statement made might be taken as an     
epitome of this book4 7,see ,reasoner1  
,no4 #bid1 ,vol4 #ab1 p4 #abi4 #aheb47  
#h4 ,a letter on the ,future of         
,secularism appeared in the ,reasoner1  
7,reasoner1 ,feb4 #d1 #aheb1 p4 #ahg47  
,this was the first time ,secularism was
 written upon as a movement4 ,the term  
was the heading of a letter by ,charles 
,frederick ,nicholls4  #i4 ,one public  
purpose is to obtain the repeal of all  
acts of ,parliament which interfere with
 ,secular practice4 7,article1 ,nature  
of ,secular ,societies1 7,reasoner71    

,no4 #cbe1 p4 #adf1 ,aug4 #ah1 #aheb47  
,this is exactly the attitude           
,secularism takes with regard to the    
,bible and to ,christianity4 ,it rejects
 such parts of the ,scriptures1 or of   
,christianism1 or ,acts of ,parliament1 
as conflict with or obstruct ethical    
truth4 ,we do not seek the repeal of all
 ,acts of ,parliament1 but only of such 
as interfere with ,secular progress4    
#aj4 ,the friends of ',secular          
,education' the ,manchester ,association
 was then so known are not ,secularists4
 ,they do not pretend to be so1 they do 
not even wish to be so regarded1 they   
merely use the word ,secular as an      
adjective1 as applied to a mode of      
instruction4 ,we apply it to the nature 
of all knowledge4 ,we use the noun      
,secularism4 ,no one else has done it4  
,with others the term ,secular is merely
 a descriptive2 with us the term is used
 as a subject4 ,with others it is a     
branch of knowledge2 with us it is the  
primary business of life1--the name of  

the province of speculation to which we 
confine ourselves499 ,when so used in   
these pages the word ,secularism or     
,secularist is employed to mark the     
distinction4       99 ,see article ,the 
,seculars--the ,propriety of ,their     
,name1      by ,g4,j4 ,holyoake4        
,reasoner1 p4 #agg1 ,sep4 #a1 #aheb4  ,a
 ,bolton clergyman reported in the      
,bolton ,guardian that ,mr4 ,holyoake   
had announced as the first subject of   
his ,lectures1 ,why do the ,clergy      
,avoid ,discussion and the ,secularists 
,seek it8 7,reasoner1 ,no4 #cbh1 p4     
#bid1 ,vol4 #ab1 #aheb47  ,these        
citations from my own writings are      
sufficient to show the origin and nature
 of ,secularism4 ,such views were widely
 accepted by liberal thinkers of the    
day1 as an improvement and extension of 
free thought advocacy4 ,societies were  
formed1 halls were given a ,secular     
name1 and conferences were held to      
organise adherents of the new opinion4  
,the first was held in the ,secular     

,institute1 ,manchester 7,oct4 #c1      
#aheb74 ,delegates were sent from       
,societies in ,ashton-under-,lyne1      
,bolton1 ,blackburn1 ,bradford1         
,burnley1 ,bury1 ,glasgow1 ,keighley1   
,leigh1 ,london1 ,manchester1 ,miles    
,platting1 ,newcastle-on-,tyne1 ,oldham1
 ,over ,darwen1 ,owen's ,journal1       
,paisley1 ,preston1 ,rochdale1          
,stafford1 ,sheffield1 ,stockport1      
,todmorden4  ,among the delegates were  
many well known1 long known1 and some   
still known--,james ,charlton 7now the  
famous manager of the ,chicago and      
,alton ,railway71 ,abram ,greenwood 7now
 the cashier of the ,cooperative        
,wholesale ,bank of ,manchester71       
,william ,mallalieu of ,todmorden       
7familiarly known as the ,millionaire of
 the original ,rochdale ,pioneers71 ,dr4
 ,hiram ,uttley of ,burnley1 ,john      
,crank of ,stockport1 ,thomas ,hayes1   
then of ,miles ,platting1 now manager of
 the ,crumpsall ,biscuit ,works of the  
,cooperative ,wholesale ,society1       

,joseph ,place of ,nottingham1 ,james   
,motherwell of ,paisley1 ,dr4 ,henry    
,travis 7socialist writer on ,owen's    
system71 ,samuel ,ingham of ,manchester1
 ,j4 ,r4 ,cooper of ,manchester1 and the
 present writer4     ,,chapter ,x4 ,,how
 ,,secularism ,,was ,,diffused          
,only by varied iteration can alien     
conceptions be forced on      reluctant 
minds4       --,herbert ,spencer4  ,,in 
#ahec the ,six-,night ,discussion took  
place in ,cowper ,street ,school ,rooms1
 ,london1 with the ,rev4 ,brewin ,grant1
 ,b4 ,a4 ,a report was published by     
,partridge and ,oakley at #bs4 #f;d1 of 
which #de1ijj were sold1 which widely   
diffused a knowledge of ,secularistic   
views4  ,our adversary had been         
appointed with clerical ceremony1 on a  
,three years' mission against us4 ,he   
had wit1 readiness1 and an electric     
velocity of speech1 boasting that he    
could speak three times faster than any 
one else4 ,but he proved to be of use to
 us without intending it1               

,his acrid words      ,turned the sweet 
milk of kindness into curds4  whereby he
 set many against the cause he          
represented4 ,he had the cleverness to  
see that there ought to be a ,christian 
,secularism1 which raised ,secularism to
 the level of ,christian curiosity4 ,in 
,glasgow1 in #ahed1 ,i met ,mr4 ,grant  
again during several nights' discussion 
in the ,city ,hall4 ,this debate also   
was published1 as was one of three      
nights with the ,rev4 ,j4 ,h4           
,rutherford 7afterwards ,dr4            
,rutherford7 in ,newcastle on ,tyne1 who
 aimed to prove that ,christianity      
contained the better ,secularism4 ,thus 
that new form of free thought came to   
have public recognition4  ,the lease of 
a house1 #adg ,fleet ,street1 was bought
 7#aheb71 where was established a       
,secular ,institute1 connected with     
printing1 book-selling1 and liberal     
publishing4 ,further conferences were   
held in ,july1 #ahed1 one at ,stockport4
 ,at an adjourned conference ,mr4       

,joseph ,barker 7whom we had converted7 
presided499 ,we had a ,london ,secular  
,society which met at the ,hall of      
,science1 ,city ,road1 and held its     
,council meetings in ,mr4 ,le ,blond's  
handsome house in ,london ,wall4 ,this  
work1 and much more1 was done before and
 while ,mr4 ,bradlaugh 7who afterwards  
was conspicuously identified with the   
movement7 was in the army4       99     
,reasoner1 ,no4 #dbh1 ,vol4 ,,xvii44 p4 
#hg4  ,it was in #ahed that ,i published
 the first pamphlet on ,secularism the  
,practical ,philosophy of the ,people4  
,it commenced by showing the necessity  
of independent1 self-helping1           
self-extricating opinions4 ,its opening 
passage was as follows3  ,in a state of 
society in which every inch of land1    
every blade of grass1 every spray of    
water1 every bird and flower has an     
owner1 what has the poor man to do with 
orthodox religion which begins by       
proclaiming him a miserable sinner1 and 
ends by leaving him a miserable slave1  

as far as unrequited toil goes8  ,the   
poor man finds himself in an armed world
 where might is ,god1 and poverty is    
fettered4 ,abroad the hired soldier     
blocks up the path of freedom1 and the  
priest the path of progress4 ,every     
penniless man1 woman1 and child is      
virtually the property of the           
capitalist1 no less in ,england than is 
the slave in ,new ,orleans499 ,society  
blockades poverty1 leaving it scarce    
escape4 ,the artisan is engaged in an   
imminent struggle against wrong and     
injustice2 then what has he the         
struggler1 to do with doctrines which   
brand him with inherited guilt1 which   
paralyse him by an arbitrary faith1     
which deny saving power to good works1  
which menace him with eternal perdition8
  ,the two first works of importance1   
controverting ,secularist principles1   
were by the ,rev4 ,joseph ,parker and   
,dr4 ,j4 ,a4 ,langford2 ,dr4 ,parker was
 ingenious1 ,dr4 ,langford eloquent4 ,i 
had discussed with ,dr4 ,parker in      

,banbury4 ,in his ,six ,chapters on     
,secularism9999 which was the title of  
his book1 he makes pleasant references  
to that debate4 ,the ,christian ,weekly 
,news of that day said3 ,these ,six     
,chapters have been written by a young  
provincial minister of great power and  
promise1 of whom the world has not yet  
heard1 but of whom it will hear pleasing
 things some day4       99 ,not entirely
 so4   ,the ,english slave can run      
away--at his      own peril4       9999 
,published by my1 then1 neighbour1      
,william ,freeman1 of #fi      ,fleet   
,street1 himself an energetic1          
pleasant-minded      ,christian4  ,this 
prediction has come true4 ,i had told   
,mr4 ,freeman that the young preacher   
had given me that impression in the     
discussion with him4 ,dr4 ,parker said  
in his first ,chapter that1 ,if the ,new
 ,testament teachings oppose our own    
consciousness1 violate our moral sense1 
lead us out of sympathy with humanity1  
then we shall abandon them4 ,this was   

exactly the case of ,secularism which he
 undertook to confute4 ,dr4 ,langford   
held a more rational religion than ,dr4 
,parker4 ,his ,answer1 which reached a  
second thousand1 had passages of        
courtesy and friendship1 yet he         
contended with graceful vigor against   
opinions--three-fourths of which        
justified his own4  ,in an address      
delivered ,sept4 #bi1 #ahea1 ,i had said
 that1 ,there were three classes of     
persons opposed to ,christianity3--  #a4
 ,the dissolute4  #b4 ,the indifferent4 
#c4 ,the intellectually independent4    
,the dissolute are against ,christianity
 because they regard it as a foe to     
sensuality4 ,the indifferent reject it  
through being ignorant of it1 or not    
having time to attend to it1 or not     
caring to attend to it1 or not being    
able to attend to it1 through           
constitutional insensibility to its     
appeals4 ,the intellectually independent
 avoid it as opposed to freedom1        
morality and progress4 ,it was to these 

classes1 and not to ,christians1 that   
,secularism was addressed4 ,neither ,dr4
 ,parker nor ,dr4 ,langford took notice 
that it was intended to furnish ethical 
guidance where ,christianity1 whatever  
might be its quality1 or pretensions1 or
 merit1 was inoperative499       99 ,in 
#aheg ,dr4 ,joseph ,parker published a  
maturer and more      important volume1 
,helps to ,truth ,seekers1 or1          
,christianity      and ,scepticism1     
containing ,the ,secularist ,theory--,a 
,critique4 ,at a distance of more than  
thirty-five years it      seems to me an
 abler book1 from the ,christian point  
of view1      than ,i thought it on its 
appearance4  ,the new form of free      
thought under the title of the          
,principles of ,secularism was submitted
 to ,john ,stuart ,mill1 to whose       
friendship and criticism ,i had often   
been indebted1 and he approved the      
statement as one likely to be useful to 
those outside the pale of ,christianity4
  ,a remarkable thing occurred in #ahed4

 ,a prize of ,l#ajj was offered by the  
,evangelical ,alliance for the best book
 on the ,aspects1 ,causes1 and ,agencies
 of what they called by the odious      
apostolic defamatory name of            
,infidelity499 ,the ,rev4 ,thomas       
,pearson of ,eyemouth won the prize by a
 brilliant book1 which ,i praised for   
its many relevant quotations1 its       
instruction and fairness1 but ,i        
represented that its price 7#ajs4 #f;d47
 prevented numerous humble readers from 
possessing it4 ,the ,evangelical        
,alliance inferred that the relevancy   
was on their side1 altogether1 whereas  
,i meant relevant to the argument and to
 those supposed to be confuted by it4   
,they resolved to issue twenty-thousand 
copies at one shilling a volume4 ,the   
most eminent ,evangelical ministers and 
congregations of the day subscribed to  
the project4 ,four persons put down     
their names for one thousand copies     
each1 and a strong list of subscribers  
was sent out4 ,unfortunately ,i         

published another article intending to  
induce readers of the ,reasoner to      
procure copies1 as they would find in   
its candid pages a wealth of quotations 
of free-thought opinion with which very 
few were acquainted4 ,the number of     
eminent writers1 dissentients from      
,christianity1 and the force and        
felicity of their objections to it1 as  
cited by ,mr4 ,pearson1 would astonish  
and instruct ,christians who were quite 
unfamiliar with the historic literature 
of heretical thought4 ,this unwise      
article stopped the project4 ,the       
,shilling ,edition never appeared1 and  
the public lost the most useful and     
informing book written against us in my 
time4 ,the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,pearson died not 
long after2 all too soon1 for he was a  
minister who commanded respect4 ,he had 
research1 good faith1 candor1 and       
courtesy1 qualities rare in his day4    
99 ,a term of intentional offence as    
here used4 ,infidelity      meant       
treachery to the truth1 whereas the     

heretic has often      sacrificed his   
life from fidelity to it4     ,,chapter 
,,xi4 ,,secular ,,instruction ,,distinct
 ,,from ,,secularism       ,a mariner   
must have his eye on the rock and the   
sand as      well as upon the ,north    
,star4       --,maxim of the ,sea4  ,,it
 ,,is time now to point out1 what many  
never seem to understand1 that ,secular 
instruction is entirely distinct from   
,secularism4 ,in my earlier days the    
term scientific was the distressing word
 in connexion with education1 but the   
trouble of later years is with the word 
,secular4 ,theological critics run on   
the rock there4  ,many persons regard   
,secular teaching with distrust1        
thinking it to be the same as           
,secularism4 ,secular instruction is    
known by the sign of separateness4 ,it  
means knowledge given apart from        
theology4 ,secular instruction comprises
 a set of rules for the guidance of     
industry1 commerce1 science1 and art4   
,secular teaching is as distinct from   

theology as a poem from a sermon4 ,a man
 may be a mathematician1 an architect1 a
 lawyer1 a musician1 or a surgeon1 and  
be a  ,christian all the same2 as       
,faraday was both a chemist and a devout
 ,sandemanian2 as ,buckland was a       
geologist as well as a ,dean4 ,but if   
theology be mixed up with professional  
knowledge1 there will be                
muddle-headedness499 ,at a separate     
time1 theology can be taught1 and any   
learner will have a clearer and more    
commanding knowledge of ,christianity by
 its being distinctive in his mind4     
,secular instruction neither assails    
,christianity nor prejudices the learner
 against it2 any more than sculpture    
assails jurisprudence1 or than geometry 
prejudices the mind against music4 ,if  
the ,secular instructor made it a point1
 as he ought to do1 to inculcate        
elementary ideas of morality1 he would  
confine himself to explaining how far   
truth and duty have sanctions in        
considerations purely human--leaving it 

to teachers of religion to supplement at
 another time and place1 what they      
believe to be further and higher        
sanctions4       99 ,edward ,baines     
7afterwards ,sir ,edward7 was the       
greatest      opponent in his day1 of   
national schools and ,secular           
instruction1 sent his sou to a ,secular 
school1 because he      wanted him to be
 clever as well as ,christian4 ,he was  
both as      ,i well know4  ,secular    
instruction implies that the proper     
business of the school-teacher is to    
impart a knowledge of the duties of this
 world2 and the proper business of      
chapel and church is to explain the     
duties relevant to another world1 which 
can only be done in a secondhand way by 
the school-teacher4 ,the wonder is that 
the pride of the minister does not      
incite him to keep his own proper work  
in his own hands1 and protest against   
the school-teacher meddling with it4 ,by
 doing so he would augment his own      
dignity and the distinctiveness of his  

office4  ,by keeping each kind of       
knowledge apart1 a man learns both1 more
 easily and more effectually4 ,secular  
training is better for the scholar and  
safer for the ,state2 and better for the
 priest if he has a faith that can stand
 by itself4  ,if the reader does not    
distrust it as a paradox1 he will assent
 that the ,secular is distinct from     
,secularism1 as distinct as an act is   
distinct from its motive4 ,secular      
teaching comprises a set of rules of    
instruction in trade1 business1 and     
professional knowledge4 ,secularism     
furnishes a set of principles for the   
ethical conduct of life4 ,secular       
instruction is far more limited in its  
range than ,secularism which defends    
secular pursuits against theology1 where
 theology attacks them or obstructs     
them4 ,but pure ,secular knowledge is   
confined to its own pursuit1 and does   
not come in contact with theology any   
more than architecture comes in contact 
with preaching4  ,a man may be a        

shareholder in a gas company or a       
waterworks1 a house owner1 a landlord1 a
 farmer1 or a workman4 ,all these are   
secular pursuits1 and he who follows    
them may consult only his own interest4 
,but if he be a ,secularist1 he will    
consider not only his own interest1 but1
 as far as he can1 the welfare of the   
community or the world1 as his action or
 example may tell for the good of       
universal society4 ,he will do his best1
 not as ,mr4 ,ruskin says1 the best of  
an ass1 but the best of an intelligent  
man4 ,in every act he will put his      
conscience and character with a view so 
to discharge the duties of this life as 
to merit another1 if there be one4 ,just
 as a ,christian seeks to serve ,god1 a 
,secularist seeks to serve man4 ,this it
 is to be a ,secularist4 ,the idea of   
this service is what ,secularism puts   
into his mind4 ,professor ,clifford     
exclaimed3 ,the ,kingdom of ,god has    
come--when comes the ,kingdom of man8 ,a
 ,secularist is one who hastens the     

coming of this kingdom3 which must be   
agreeable to heaven if the people of    
this world are to occupy the mansions   
there4     ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,the       
,,distinctiveness ,,made ,,further      
,,evident4       ,the cry that so-called
 secular education is ,atheistic is     
hardly worth notice4 ,cricket is not    
theological2 at the same      time1 it  
is not ,atheistic4       --,rev4 ,joseph
 ,parker1 ,d4 ,d41 ,times1 ,october #aa1
 #ahid4  ,,nor is ,secularism atheism4  
,the laws of the universe are quite     
distinct from the question of the origin
 of the universe4 ,the study of the laws
 of nature1 which ,secularism selects1  
is quite different from speculation as  
to the authorship of nature4 ,we may    
judge and prize the beauty and uses of  
an ancient edifice1 though we may never 
know the builder4 ,secularism is a form 
of opinion which concerns itself only   
with questions the issues of which can  
be tested by the experience of this     
life4 ,it is clear that the existence of

 deity and the actuality of another     
life1 are questions excluded from       
,secularism1 which exacts no denial of  
deity or immortality1 from members of   
,secularist societies4 ,during their day
 only two persons of public             
distinction--the ,bishop of             
,peterborough and ,charles              
,bradlaugh--maintained that the ,secular
 was atheistic4 ,yet ,mr4 ,bradlaugh    
never put a profession of atheism as one
 of the tenets of any ,secularist       
,society4 ,atheism may be a personal    
tenet1 but it cannot be a ,secularist   
tenet1 from which it is wholly          
disconnected4  ,no one would confuse the
 ,secular with the atheistic who        
understood that the ,secular is         
separate4 ,mr4 ,hodgson ,pratt1 a       
,christian1 writing in ,concord         
7,october1 #ahid71 a description of the 
burial of ,angelo ,mazzoleni1 said the  
funeral was entirely ,secular1 meaning  
the ceremony was distinct from that of  
the ,church1 being based on             

considerations pertaining to duty in    
this world4  ,in the indefiniteness of  
colloquial speech we constantly hear the
 phrase1 ,school ,board education4 ,yet 
,school ,boards cannot give education4  
,it is beyond their reach4 ,most persons
 confuse instruction with education4    
,instruction relates to industrial1     
commercial1 agricultural1 and scientific
 knowledge and like subjects4 ,education
 implies the complete training and      
drawing out of the whole powers of the  
mind499 ,thus instruction is different  
from education4 ,instruction is         
departmental knowledge4 ,education      
includes all the influences of life2    
instruction gives skill1 education forms
 character4       99  ,henry ,drummond  
gave this definition in the ,house of   
,commons1 and it was adopted by ,w4 ,j4 
,fox and other leaders      of opinion  
in that day4  ,the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,parker is
 the first ,nonconformist preacher of   
distinction who has avowed his          
concurrence with ,secular instruction in

 ,board ,schools4 ,when ,mr4 ,w4 ,e4    
,forster was framing his ,education     
,act1 ,i besought him to raise ,english 
educational policy to the level of the  
much smoking1 much-pondering ,dutch4    
,the system of education in ,holland    
dates from #aheg4 ,it is a ,secular     
system1 meaning by ,secular that the    
,bible is not allowed to be read in     
schools1 nor is any religious           
instruction allowed to be given4 ,the   
use of the school-room is1 however1     
granted to ministers of all             
denominations for the purpose of        
teaching religion out of school-hours4  
,the schoolmaster is not allowed to give
 religious instruction1 or even to read 
the ,bible in school at any time499     
99  ,report from the ,hague1 by ,mr4    
7now ,right ,hon47 ,jesse               
,collings1 ,m4 ,p41 ,may1 #ahgj4  ,no   
,state rears better citizens or better  
,christians than the ,dutch4 ,mr4       
,gladstone1 with his customary          
discernment1 has said that ,secular     

instruction does not involve denial of  
religious teaching1 but merely          
separation in point of time4 ,it seems  
incredible that ,christian ministers1   
generally1 do not see the advantage of  
this4 ,i should probably have become a  
,christian preacher myself1 had it not  
been for the incessantness with which   
religion was obtruded on me in childhood
 and youth4 ,even now my mind aches when
 ,i think of it4 ,for myself1 ,i respect
 the individuality of piety4 ,it is     
always picturesque4 ,looking at religion
 from the outside1 ,i can see that      
concrete sectarianism is a source of    
religious strength4 ,a man is only      
master of his own faith when he sees it 
clearly1 distinctly1 and separately4    
,rather than permit ,secular instruction
 and religious education to be imparted 
separately1 ,christian ministers permit 
the great doctrines they profess to     
maintain to be whittled down to a       
,school ,board average1 in which1 when  
done honestly towards all opinions1 no  

man can discern ,christianity without   
the aid of a microscope4 ,and this      
passes1 in these days1 for good         
ecclesiastical policy4 ,in a recent     
letter 7,november1 #ahid7 ,mr4          
,gladstone has re-affirmed his objection
 to an undenominational system of       
religion framed by1 or under the        
authority of1 the ,state4 ,he says3 ,it 
would1 ,i think1 be better for the      
,state to limit itself to giving        
,secular instruction1 which1 of course1 
is no complete education4 ,mr4          
,gladstone does not confound ,secular   
instruction with education1 but is of   
the way of thinking of ,miltou1 who     
says3 ,i call a complete and generous   
education that which fits a man to      
perform justly1 skilfully1 and          
magnanimously all the offices1 both     
private and public1 of peace and war4   
,secular instruction touches no         
doctrine1 menaces no creed1 raises no   
scepticism in the mind4 ,but an average 
of belief introduces the aggressive hand

 of heresy into every school1 tampering 
with tenets rooted in the conscience1   
wantonly alarming religious convictions1
 and substituting for a clear1 frank1   
and manly issue a disastrous1 blind1 and
 timid policy1 wriggling along like a   
serpent instead of walking with         
self-dependent erectness4 ,this manly   
erect-ness would be the rule were the   
formula of the great preacher accepted  
who has said3 ,secular education by the 
,state1 and ,christian education by the 
,christian ,church is my motto499       
,uniformity of truth is desirable1 and  
it will come1 not by contrivance1 but by
 conviction4       99 ,the ,rev4 ,joseph
 ,parker1 ,d4 ,d4  ,some one quoted     
lately in the ,daily ,news 7,september  
#ai1 #ahie7 the following sentences ,i  
wrote in #ahgj3  ,with secular          
instruction only in the day school1     
religion will acquire freshness and new 
force4 ,the clergyman and the minister  
will exercise a new influence1 because  
their ministrations will have dignity   

and definiteness4 ,they will no longer  
delegate things declared by them to be  
sacred to be taught second-hand by the  
harassed1 overworked1 and oft-reluctant 
schoolmaster and schoolmistress1 who    
must contradict the gentleness of       
religion by the peremptoriness of the   
pedagogue1 and efface the precept that  
',god is love' by an incontinent        
application of the birch4444 ,it is not 
secular instruction which breeds        
irreverence1 but this ill-timed         
familiarity with the reputed things of  
,god which robs divinity of its         
divineness4  ,the ,bible in the         
school-room will not always be to the   
advantage of clericalism1 as it is      
thought to be now4  ,mr4 ,forster's     
,education ,act created what ,mr4       
,disraeli contemptuously described as a 
new sacerdotal caste1--a body of        
second-hand preachers1 who are to be    
paid by the money of the ,state to do   
the work which the minister and the     
clergyman avow they are called by heaven

 to perform1--namely1 to save the souls 
of the people4 ,according to this ,act1 
the clergy are really no longer         
necessary2 their work can be done by a  
commoner and cheaper order of artificer4
 ,mr4 ,forster insisted that the ,bible 
be introduced into the school-room1     
which gives great advantage to the      
,freethinker1 as it makes a critical    
agitation against its character and     
pretensions a matter of self-defence for
 every family4 ,another eminent         
preacher1 ,mr4 ,c4 ,h4 ,spurgeon1 wrote1
 not openly in the ,times as ,dr4       
,parker did1 but in ,the ,sword and     
,trowel thus3 ,we should like to see    
established a system of universal       
application1 which would give a sound   
,secular education to children1 and     
leave the religious training to the home
 and the agencies of the ,church of     
,christ4 ,it is worthy of the radiant   
common sense of the famous orator of the
 ,tabernacle that he should have said   
this anywhere4     ,,chapter ,,xiii4    

,,self-,,defensive ,,for ,,the ,,people 
,what suits the gods above      ,only   
the gods can know2      ,what we want is
      ,this ,world's sense      ,how to 
live below4  ,,by its nature1           
,secularism is tolerant with regard to  
religions4 ,i once drew up a code of    
rules for an atheistic school4 ,one rule
 was that the children should be taught 
the tenets of the ,christian1 ,catholic1
 ,moslem1 ,jewish1 and the leading      
theological systems of the world1 as    
well as ,secularistic and atheistic     
forms of thought2 so that when the pupil
 came to years of discretion he might be
 able1 intelligently1 to choose a faith 
for himself4 ,less than this would be a 
fraud upon the understanding of a man4  
,in matters which concern himself alone1
 he must be free to choose for himself1 
and know what he is choosing from4 ,that
 form of belief which has misgivings as 
to whether it can stand by itself1 is to
 be distrusted4  ,it is the scandal of  
,christianity that1 for twenty-five     

years1 it has paralysed ,school ,board  
instruction by its discord of opinion as
 to the religious tenets to be imparted2
 while in ,secularity there is no       
disunity4 ,everybody is agreed upon the 
rules of arithmetic4 ,the laws of       
grammar command general assent4 ,there  
are no rival schools upon the           
interpretation of geometrical problems4 
,it is only in divinity that            
irreconcilable diversity exists4 ,when  
,secular instruction is conceded1       
denominational differences will be      
respected1 as aspects of the integrity  
of conscience1 which no longer obstruct 
the intellectual progress of the people4
  ,but there are graver issues than the 
pride and preference of the preacher2   
namely1 the welfare of the children of  
the people4 ,what the working classes   
want is an industrial education4        
,poverty is a battle1 and the poor are  
always in a conflict--a conflict in     
which the most ignorant ever go to the  
wall4 ,the accepted policy of the ,state

 leaves the increase of population to   
chance4 ,it suffers none to be killed2  
it compels people to be kept alive1 and 
abandons their subsistence to the       
accident of capitalists requiring to    
hire their services4 ,thus our great    
towns are crowded with families1        
impelled there by the wild forces of    
hunger and of passion4 ,from the        
workingman thus situated1 the governing 
class exacts four duties3  #a4 ,that he 
shall give the parish no disquietude by 
asking it to maintain his family4  #b4  
,that he shall pay whatever taxes are   
levied upon him4  #c4 ,that he shall    
give no trouble to the police4  #d4     
,that he shall fight generally          
whomsoever the ,government may see fit  
to involve the nation in war with4      
,whatever knowledge is necessary to     
enable the future workman to do these   
things1 is his right1 and should be     
given to him in his youth in the        
speediest manner2 and any other         
inculcation which shall delay this      

knowledge on its way1 or confuse the    
learner in acquiring it1 is a cruelty to
 him and a peril to the community which 
permits it2 and the ,state1 were it     
discerning and just1 would forbid it4   
,in ,april1 #ahgj1 in a letter which    
appeared in the ,spectator2 ,i wrote as 
follows3  ,in the speech of the ,bishop 
of ,peterborough1 delivered at the      
,educational ,conference at ,leicester1 
and published in a separate form by the 
,national ,education ,union1 his        
,lordship quotes from a recent letter of
 mine to the ,daily ,news some words in 
which ,i explained that 'unsectarian    
education amounts to a new species of   
parliamentary piety4' ,it is a          
satisfaction to find that the ,bishop of
 ,peterborough is able to 'entirely     
endorse these words4' ,the ,bishop asks3
 ',whose words do you suppose they are8 
,they are the words of that reactionary 
maintainer of creeds and dogmas--,mr4   
,holyoake4' ,so far from being a        
'reactionary' in this matter1 ,i have   

always maintained that every form of    
sincere opinion1 religious or secular1  
should have free play and fair play4 ,i 
have never varied in advocating the     
right of free utterance and free action 
of all earnest conviction4 ,the ,state  
requires a self-supporting and          
tax-paying population4 ,but the ,state  
cannot insure this1 except by imparting 
productive knowledge to the people4 ,it 
is necessary for the people to receive1 
it is the interest of the ,state to     
give1 productive instruction in national
 schools4  ,if people realised how much 
extended secular instruction is needed1 
they would be impatient with the        
obstruction of it by contending sects4  
,children want industrial education to  
fit them for emigrants4 ,a knowledge of 
soils1 of cattle1 of climate1 and crops1
 and how to nail up a wigwam and grow   
pork and corn1 is what they need4 ,for  
want of such knowledge ,clerkenwell     
watchmakers1 ,northampton shoemakers1   
,lancashire weavers1 and ,durham miners 

perish as emigrants1 and their bones    
bleach the prairies4 ,yet all orthodox  
teaching turns out its pupils           
uninstructed1 for1 as ,tillottson has   
said1 ,he that does not know those      
things which are of use and necessity   
for him to know1 is but an ignorant man1
 whatever he may know beside4 ,to know  
this world1 and the ,secular conditions 
of prosperity in it1 is indispensable to
 the people4  ,christianity is entirely 
futile in industry4 ,if a workman cannot
 pay his taxes1 the most devout         
,chancellor of the ,exchequer will not  
abate sixpence in consideration of the  
defaulter's piety4 ,the poor man may    
believe in the ,thirty-nine ,articles1  
be able to recite all the ,collects2 he 
may spend his ,sundays at church1 and   
his evenings at prayer-meeting2 but the 
reverend magistrate1 who has confirmed  
him and preached to him1 will send him  
to gaol if he does not pay4 ,the sooner 
workmen understand that ,christianity   
has no commercial value1 the better for 

them4  ,why should purely ,secular      
instruction be regarded with distrust1  
when purely religious education does not
 answer8 ,it does not appear in human   
experience that purely religious        
teaching1 even when dispensed in a      
clergyman's family1 is a security for   
good conduct4 ,it is matter of common   
remark that the sons of clergymen turn  
out worse than the sons of parents in   
other professions4  ,we want no whining 
or puling population4 ,the elements of  
science and morality will give children 
the use of their minds1 and minds to    
use1 and teach justice and kindness1    
self-direction1 self-reliance1          
fortitude1 and truth4 ,there is piety in
 this instruction1--piety to            
mankind1--exactly that sort of piety for
 the want of which society suffers4     
,the principles for which during two    
centuries ,nonconformity in ,england has
 contended are1 that the ,state should  
forbid no religion1 impose no religion1 
teach no religion1 pay no religion4 ,in 

#ahgj1 the year in which ,mr4 ,forster's
 ,act came into operation1 ,i was the   
only person who issued a public address 
to the ,school ,board ,electors in favor
 of free compulsory1 and ,secular       
instruction4 ,two of the proposals1 the 
least likely to be favorably received1  
have since been adopted4 ,the turn of   
the third must be near1 unless fools are
 always at the polls4     ,,chapter     
,,xiv4 ,,rejected ,,tenets ,,replaced   
,,by ,,better       ,false ideas can be 
confuted by argument1 but it is only by 
true ideas they can be expelled4        
--,cardinal ,newman4  ,,error will live 
wherever vermin of the mind may burrow2 
and error1 if expelled1 will return to  
its accustomed haunt1 unless its place  
be otherwise occupied by some tenant of 
truth4 ,suppose that criticism has      
established3  #a4 ,that ,god is unknown4
  #b4 ,that a future life is unprovable4
  #c4 ,that the ,bible is not a         
practical guide4  #d4 ,that ,providence 
sleeps4  #e4 ,that prayer is futile4    

#f4 ,that original sin is untrue4  #g4  
,that eternal perdition is unreal4      
,what is free thought going to do8 ,all 
these theological ideas1 however untrue1
 are forces of opinion on the side of   
error4 ,after taking these doctrines out
 of the minds of men1 as far as         
reasoning criticism may do it1 what is  
proposed to be put in their place8 ,when
 we call out to men that they are going 
down a wrong road1 we are more likely to
 arrest their attention if we can point 
out the right road to take4  ,no mind is
 ever entirely empty4 ,the objection to 
ignorance is not that it has no ideas1  
but that it has wrong ones4 ,its ideas  
are narrow1 cramped1 vicious4 ,it likes 
without reason1 hates without cause1 and
 is suspicious of what it might trust4  
,it is not enough to tell a man who is  
eating injurious food that it will harm 
him4 ,if he has no other aliment1 he    
must go on feeding upon what he has4 ,if
 you cannot supply better1 you cannot   
reproach him who takes the bad4 ,but if 

you have true principles1 they should be
 offered as substitutes for the false4  
,secularist truth should tread close    
upon the heels of theological error4    
#a4 ,for the study of the origin of the 
universe ,secularism substitutes the    
study of the laws and uses of the       
universe1 which1 ,cardinal ,newman      
admitted1 might be regarded as consonant
 to the will of its author4  #b4 ,for a 
future state ,secularism proposes the   
wise use of this1 as he who fails in    
this duty nearest hand has no moral     
fitness for any other4  #c4 ,for        
revelation it offers the guidance of    
observation1 investigation1 and         
experience4 ,instead of taking authority
 for truth1 it takes truth for          
authority4  #d4 ,for the providence of  
,scripture1 ,secularism directs men to  
the providence of science1 which        
provides against peril1 or brings       
deliverance when peril comes4  #e4 ,for 
prayer it proposes self-help and the    
employment of all the resources of      

manliness and industry4 ,jupiter himself
 rebuked the waggoner who cried for aid1
 instead of putting his own shoulder to 
the wheel4  #f4 ,for original depravity1
 which infuses hopelessness into all    
effort for personal excellence1         
,secularism counsels the creation of    
those conditions1 so far as human       
prevision can provide them1 in which it 
shall be impossible for a man to be     
depraved or poor4 ,the aim of           
,secularism is to promote the           
moralisation of this world1 which       
,christianity has proved ineffectual to 
accomplish4  #g4 ,for eternal perdition1
 which appals every human heart1        
,secularism substitutes the warnings and
 penalties of causation attending the   
violation of the laws of nature1 or the 
laws of truth--penalties inexorable and 
unevadable in their consequences4       
,though they extend to the individual no
 farther than this life1 they are       
without the terrible element of divine  
vindictive-ness1 yet1 being near and    

inevitable--following the offender close
 as the shadow of the offence--are more 
deterrent than future punishment1 which 
faith may evade without merit4  ,the aim
 of ,secularism is to educate the       
conscience in the service of man4 ,it   
puts duty into free thought4 ,men       
inquired1 for self-protection1 and from 
dislike of error4 ,but if a man was in  
no danger himself1 and was indifferent  
whether an error--which no longer harmed
 him--prevailed or not1 ,secularism     
holds that it is still a duty to aid in 
ending it for the sake of others4 ,it   
was ,w4 ,j4 ,fox1 the most heretical    
preacher of his day1 who said 7#ahbd73  
,i believe in the right of religion and 
the duty of free inquiry4 ,he is a very 
exceptional person--as we know in       
political as well as in questions of    
mental freedom--who cares for a right he
 does not need himself4 ,a man is       
generally of opinion1 as ,i have seen in
 many agitations1 that nobody need care 
for a form of liberty he does not want  

himself4 ,it is as though a man on the  
bank should think that a man in the     
water does not want a rope4 ,duty is    
devotion to the right4 ,right in morals 
is that which is morally expedient4     
,that is morally expedient which is     
conducive to the happiness of the       
greatest numbers4 ,the service of others
 is the practical form of duty4 ,he1    
says ,buddha1 who was formerly heedless1
 and afterwards becomes earnest1 lights 
up the world like the moon escaped from 
a cloud4  ,constructiveness is an       
education which attains success but     
slowly4 ,some men have no distinctive   
notion whatever of truth4 ,it seems     
never to have occurred to them that     
there is anything intrinsic in it1 and  
they only fall into it by accident4     
,others have a wholesome idea that truth
 is essential1 and that1 as a rule1 you 
ought to tell it1 and some do it4 ,this 
is a small conception of truth1 but it  
is good as far as it goes1 and ought to 
be valued1 as it is scarce4 ,if any one 

asks such a person whether what he says 
is what he thinks1 or what he knows1 to 
be true1 he is perplexed4 ,the          
difference between the two things has   
not occurred to him4 ,he has been under 
the impression that what he believes is 
the same thing as what he knows1 and    
when he finds the two things are very   
different1 his idea of truth is doubled 
and is twice as large as it was before4 
,there is yet a larger view1 to which   
many never attain4 ,to them all truth is
 truth of equal value4 ,all geese are   
geese1 but all are not equally tender4  
,though all horses are horses1 all are  
not equally swift4 ,yet many never      
observe that all facts are not equally  
succulent or swift1 nor all truth of    
equal value or usefulness4  ,social     
truth has three marks1--it must be      
explicit1 relevant to the question in   
hand1 and of use for the purpose in     
hand4 ,but it requires some intelligence
 to observe this1 and judgment to act   
upon it4     ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,,morality 

,,independent ,,of ,,theology           
,religion1 as dealing with the          
confessedly incomprehensible1      is   
not the basis for human union1 in       
social1 or industrial1      or political
 circles1 but only that portion of old  
religion      which is now called moral4
       --,professor ,francis ,william   
,newman4  ,,bishop ,,ellicott was the   
first prelate whom ,i heard admit 7in a 
sermon to the members of the ,british   
,association for the ,advancement of    
,science7 that men might be moral from  
other motives than those furnished by   
,christianity4 ,renan says that ,justin 
,martyr in his ,apology1 never attacks  
the principle of the empire4 ,he wants  
the empire to examine the ,christian    
doctrines4 ,a ,secularist would have    
attacked the principle1 regarding       
freedom as of more consequence to       
progress than any doctrine without it4  
,those who seek to guide life by reason 
are not without a standard of appeal4   
,secularism accepts no authority but    

that of nature1 adopts no methods but   
those of science and philosophy1 and    
respects in practice no rule but that of
 the conscience1 illustrated by the     
common sense of mankind4 ,it values the 
lessons of the past1 and looks to       
tradition as presenting a storehouse of 
raw materials for thought1 and in many  
cases results of high wisdom for our    
reverence2 but it utterly disowns       
tradition as a ground of belief1 whether
 miracles and supernaturalism be claimed
 or not claimed on its side4 ,no sacred 
,scripture or ancient ,church can be    
made a basis of belief1 for the obvious 
reason that their claims always need to 
be proved1 and cannot without absurdity 
be assumed4 ,the association leaves to  
its individual members to yield whatever
 respects their own good sense judges to
 be due to the opinions of great men1   
living or dead1 spoken or written2 as   
also to the practice of ancient         
communities1 national or ecclesiastical4
 ,but it disowns all appeal to such     

authorities as final tests of truth499  
99  ,i owe the expression of this       
passage1 whose      comprehensiveness   
and felicity of phrase exceed the reach 
of      my pen1 to ,professor ,francis  
,william ,newman4  ,morality can be     
inspired and confirmed by perception of 
the consequences of conduct4 ,theology  
regards free will as the foundation of  
responsibility4 ,but free will saves no 
man from material consequences1 and     
diverts attention from material causes  
of evil and good4 ,under the free will  
doctrine the wonder is that any morality
 is left in the world4 ,it is a doctrine
 which gives scoundrels the same chance 
as a saint4 ,when a man is assured that 
he can be saved when he believes1 and   
that1 having free will1 he can believe  
when he pleases1 he1 as a rule1 never   
does please until he has had his fill of
 vice1 or is about to die1--either of   
disease or by the hangman4 ,if by the   
hangman1 he is told that1 provided he   
repents before eight o'clock in the     

morning1 he may find himself nestling in
 ,abraham's bosom before nine4 ,free    
will is the doctrine of rascalism4 ,it  
is time morality had other foundation   
than theology4 ,the relations of life   
can be made as impressive as ideas of   
supernaturalism4 ,but in this           
,christians not only lend no help1 they 
disparage the attempt to control life by
 reason4 ,when ,secularism was first    
talked of1 the ,president of the        
,congregational ,union1 the ,rev4 ,dr4  
,harris1 commended to the ,union the    
words of ,bishop ,lavington of a century
 earlier 7#agej73 ,my brethren1 ,i beg  
you will rise up with me against mere   
moral preaching499 ,a writer of         
distinction1 ,r4 ,h4 ,hutton1 writing on
 ,secularism in the ,expositor so late  
as #ahha1 argues strenuously that moral 
government is impossible without        
supernatural convictions4 ,the egotism  
of ,christianity is as conspicuous as   
that of politics4 ,no ethic is genuine  
unless it bears the hall-mark of the    

,church4 ,secularism does not deny the  
efficacy of other theories of life upon 
those who accept them1 and only claims  
to be of use as commending morality on  
considerations purely human1 to those   
who reject theories purely spiritual4   
,any one familiar with controversy knows
 that ,christianity is advertised like a
 patent medicine which will cure all the
 maladies of mankind4 ,everybody who    
tries reasoned morality is encouraged to
 condemn it1 and is denounced if he     
commends it4       99 ,british ,banner1 
,october #bg1 #aheb4  ,it is a maxim of 
,secularism that1 wherever there is a   
rightful object at which men should aim1
 there is a ,secular path to it4        
,nearly all inferior natures are        
susceptible of moral and physical       
improvability1 which improvability can  
be indefinitely advanced by supplying   
proper material conditions4  ,since it  
is not capable of demonstration whether 
the inequalities of human condition will
 be compensated for in another life1 it 

is the business of intelligence to      
rectify them in this world4 ,the        
speculative worship of superior beings1 
who cannot need it1 seems a lesser duty 
than the patient service of known       
inferior natures and the mitigation of  
harsh destiny1 so that the ignorant may 
be enlightened and the low elevated4    
,christians often promote projects      
beneficial to men2 but are they not     
mainly incited thereto by the hope of   
inclining the hearts of those they aid  
to their cause8 ,is not their motive    
proselytism8 ,is it not a higher        
morality to do good for its own sake1   
careless whether those benefited become 
adherents or not8  ,going to a distant  
town to mitigate some calamity there1   
will illustrate the principle of        
,secularism4 ,one man will go on this   
errand from pure sympathy with the      
unfortunate2 this is goodness4 ,another 
goes because the priest bids him2 this  
is obedience4 ,another goes because the 
twenty-fifth chapter of ,matthew tells  

him that all such persons will pass to  
the right hand of the ,father2 this is  
calculation4 ,another goes because he   
believes ,god commands him2 this is     
theological piety4 ,another goes because
 he is aware that the neglect of        
suffering will not answer2 this is      
utilitarianism4 ,but another goes on the
 errand of mercy because it is an       
immediate service to humanity1 knowing  
that material deliverance is piety and  
better than spiritual consolation2 this 
is ,secularism4  ,one whose reputation  
for spirituality is in all the ,churches
 says3 ,properly speaking1 all true work
 is religion1 and whatsoever religion is
 not work may go and dwell among the    
,brahmins1 the ,antinomians1 ,spinning  
,dervishes1 or where it will4 ,admirable
 was that maxim of the old monks1       
,laborare est orare 7,work is           
worship7499 ,in his article on ,auguste 
,comte1 ,mr4 ,j4 ,s4 ,mill says he uses 
religion in its modern sense as         
signifying that which binds the         

convictions1 whether to deity or to     
duty1--deity in the theological sense1  
or duty in the moral sense4 ,this is the
 only sense in which a ,secularist would
 employ the term4 ,religious moralism is
 a term ,i might use1 since it binds a  
man to humanity1 which religion does    
not4 ,without ,god1 said ,mazzini to the
 ,italian workingmen forty years        
ago1--without ,god you may compel1 but  
not persuade4 ,you may become tyrants in
 your turn2 you cannot be educators or  
apostles4 ,one night1 when ,mazzini was 
speaking in this way1 in the hearing of 
,garibaldi1 arguing that there was no   
ground of duty unless based on the idea 
of ,god1 the ,general turned round and  
said3 ,i am an ,atheist4 ,am ,i         
deficient in the sense of duty8 ,ah1    
replied ,mazzini1 you imbibed it with   
your mother's milk4 ,all around smiled  
at the quick-witted evasion4       99   
,carlyle1 ,past and ,present4  ,in one  
sense ,mazzini was as atheistic in mind 
as orthodox ,christians4 ,he disbelieved

 that truth1 duty1 or humanity could    
have any vitality unless derived from   
belief in ,god4 ,devout as few men are1 
in the ,church or out of it1 yet        
,mazzini believed alone in ,god4 ,dogmas
 of the ,churches were to him as though 
they were not2 yet there were times when
 he seemed to admit that other motives  
than the one which inspired him might   
operate for good in other minds4 ,in a  
letter he once addressed to me there    
occurred this splendid passage3--  ,we  
pursue the same end1--progressive       
improvement1 association1 transformation
 of the corrupted medium in which we are
 now living1 the overthrow of all       
idolatries1 shams1 lies1 and            
conventionalities4 ,we both want man to 
be1 not the poor1 passive1 cowardly1    
phantasmagoric unreality of the actual  
time1 thinking in one way and acting in 
another2 bending to power which he hates
 and despises2 carrying empty popish or 
,thirty-nine ,article formulas on his   
brow1 and none within2 but a fragment of

 the living truth1 a real individual    
being linked to collective              
humanity1--the bold seeker of things to 
come2 the gentle1 mild1 loving1 yet     
firm1 uncompromising1 inexorable apostle
 of all that is just and heroic1--the   
,priest1 the ,poet1 and the ,prophet4   
,mazzini saw in the conception of ,god  
the great ,indicator of duty1 and that  
the one figure1 the most deeply inspired
 of ,god1 men have seen on the earth was
 ,jesus4 ,mazzini's impassioned protest 
against unbelief was itself a form of   
unbelief4 ,he believed only in one ,god1
 not in three4 ,if ,jesus was inspired  
of ,god1 he was not ,god1 or he would   
have been self-inspired4 ,but1 apart    
from this repellent heresy1 if ,theism  
and ,christianism are essential to those
 who would serve humanity1 all          
propaganda of freedom must be delayed   
until converts are made to this new     
faith4  ,the question will be put1 ,has 
independent morality ever been seen in  
action8  ,voltaire1 at the peril of his 

liberty and life1 rescued a friendless  
family from the fire and the wheel the  
priests had prepared for them4 ,paine   
inspired the independence of ,america1  
and ,lloyd ,garrison gave liberty to the
 slaves whose bondage the clergy        
defended4 ,the ,christianity of three   
nations produced no three men in their  
day who did anything comparable to the  
achievement of these three sceptics1 who
 wrought this splendid good1 not only   
without ,christianity1 but in opposition
 to it4 ,save for ,christian            
obstruction1 they had accomplished still
 greater good without the peril they had
 to brave4  ,none of the earlier critics
 of ,secularism1 as has been said 7and  
not many in the later years71 realised  
that it was addressed1 not to           
,christians1 but to those who rejected  
,christianity1 or who were indifferent  
to it1 and were outside it4 ,christians 
cannot do anything to inspire them with 
ethical principles1 since they do not   
believe in morality unless based on     

their supernatural tenets4 ,they have to
 convert men to ,theism1 to miracles1   
prophecy1 inspiration of the            
,scriptures1 the ,trinity1 and other    
soul-wearying doctrines1 before they can
 inculcate morality they can trust4 ,we 
do not rush in where they fear to tread4
 ,secularism moves where they do not    
tread at all4     ,,chapter ,,xvi4      
,,ethical ,,certitude       ,you can    
tell more about a man's character by    
trading horses      with him once than  
you can by hearing him talk for a year  
in      prayer meeting4                 
--,american ,maxim4  ,a ,,form of       
thought which has no certitude can      
command no intelligent trust4 ,unless   
capable of verification1 no opinion can 
claim attention1 nor retain attention1  
if it obtains it4  ,if a sum in         
arithmetic be wrong1 it can be          
discovered by a new way of working2 if a
 medical recipe is wrong1 the effect is 
manifest in the health2 if a political  
law is wrong1 it is sooner or later     

apparent in the mischief it produces2 if
 a theorem in navigation is erroneous1  
delay or disaster warns the mariner of  
his mistake2 if an insane moralist      
teaches that adherence to truth is      
wrong1 men can try the effects of lying1
 when distrust and disgrace soon        
undeceive them4 ,but if a theological   
belief is wrong1 we must die to find it 
out4 ,secularism1 therefore1 is safer4  
,it is best to follow the double lights 
of reason and experience than the dark  
lantern of faith4 ,in all but religion1 
exclaims a famous preacher199 men know  
their true interests and use their own  
understanding4 ,nobody takes anything on
 trust at market1 nor would anybody do  
so at church if there were but a        
hundredth part the care for truth which 
there is for money4       99 ,w4 ,j4    
,fox4  ,mr4 ,rathbone ,greg has shown1  
in a memorable passage1 that the lot of 
man--not perhaps altogether of the      
individual1 but certainly of the        
race--is in his own hands1 from his     

being surrounded by fixed laws1 on      
knowledge of which1 and conformity to   
which1 his well-being depends4 ,the     
study of these and obedience to them    
form1 therefore1 the great aim of public
 instruction4 ,men must be taught3  #a4 
,the physical laws on which health      
depends4  #b4 ,the moral laws on which  
happiness depends4  #c4 ,the            
intellectual laws on which knowledge    
depends4  #d4 ,the social and political 
laws on which national prosperity and   
advancement depend4  #e4 ,the economic  
laws on which wealth depends4  ,mr4     
,spurgeon had flashes of ,secularistic  
inspiration1 as when engaging a servant1
 who professed to have taken religion1  
he asked whether she swept under the    
mats4 ,it was judging piety by a        
material test4  ,there is no trust surer
 than the conclusions of reason and     
science4 ,what is incapable of proof is 
usually decided by desire1 and is       
without the conditions of uniformity or 
certitude4  ,duty consists in doing the 

right because it is just to others1 and 
because we must set the example of doing
 right to others1 or we have no claim   
that others shall do right to us4       
,certitude is best obtained by the      
employment of material means1 because we
 can better calculate them1 and because 
they are less likely to evade us1 or    
betray us1 than any other means         
available to us4  ,orthodox religions   
are pale in the face now4 ,they still   
keep the word of material promise to the
 ear1 and break it to the heart2 and a  
great number of people now know it1 and 
many of the clergy know that they know  
it4 ,the poor need material aid1 and    
prayer is the way not to get it2 while  
science1 more provident than faith1 has 
brought the people generous gifts1 and  
inspired them with just expectations4   
,what men need is a guide which stands  
on a business footing4 ,the ,churches   
administer a system of foreign affairs  
in a very loose way1 quite inconsistent 
with sound commercial principles4 ,for  

instance1 a firm giving checks on a bank
 in some distant country--not to be     
found in any gazetteer of ascertained   
places1 nor laid down in any chart1 and 
from which no persons who ever set out  
in search of it were ever known to      
return--would do very little business   
among prudent men4 ,yet this is         
precisely the nature of the business    
engaged in by orthodox firms4  ,on the  
other hand1 ,secularism proposes to     
transact the business of life on purely 
mercantile principles4 ,it engages only 
in that class of transactions the issue 
of which can be tested by the experience
 of this life4 ,its checks1 if ,i may so
 speak1 are drawn upon duty1 good sense1
 and material effort1 and are to be     
cashed from proceeds arising in our     
midst--under our own eyes--subject to   
ordinary commercial tests4 ,nature is   
the banker who pays all notes held by   
those who observe its laws4 ,to use the 
words of ,macbeth1 it is here1 on this  
bank and shoal of time upon which we are

 cast1 that nature pays its checks1 and 
not elsewhere2 which are honored now1   
and not in an unknown world1 in some    
unknown time1 and in an entirely unknown
 way4 ,by lack of judgment1 or sense1   
the ,secularist may transact bad        
business2 but he gives good security4   
,his surety is experience4 ,his         
references are to the facts of the      
present time4 ,he puts all who have     
dealings with him on their guard4       
,secularism tells men that they must    
look out for themselves1 act for        
themselves1 within the limits of neither
 injuring nor harming others4           
,secularism does not profess to be      
infallible1 but it acts on honest       
principles4 ,it seeks to put progress on
 the business footing of good faith499  
,adherents who accept the theory of this
 life for this life dwell in a land of  
their own--the land of certitude4       
,science and utilitarian morality are   
kings in that country1 and rule there by
 right of conquest over error and       

superstition4 ,in the kingdom of        
,thought there is no conquest over men1 
but over foolishness only4 ,outside the 
world of science and morality lies the  
great ,debatable ,ground of the         
existence of ,deity and a ,future       
,state4 ,the ,ruler of the ,debatable   
,ground is named ,probability1 and his  
two ministers are ,curiosity and        
,speculation4 ,over that mighty plain1  
which is as wide as the universe and as 
old as time1 no voice of the gods has   
ever been heard1 and no footsteps of    
theirs have ever been traced4           
,philosophers have explored the field   
with telescopes of a longer range than  
the eyes of a thousand saints1 and have 
recognised nothing save the silent and  
distant horizon4 ,priests have denounced
 them for not perceiving what was       
invisible4 ,sectaries have clamored1 and
 the most ignorant have howled--as the  
most ignorant always do--that there is  
something there1 because they want to   
see it4 ,all the while the white mystery

 is still unpenetrated in this life4    
99 ,see ,secularism a ,religion which   
,gives ,heaven no ,trouble4  ,but a     
future being undisclosed is no proof    
that there is no future4 ,those who     
reason through their desires will       
believe there is2 those who reason      
through their understanding may yet hope
 that there is4 ,in the meantime1 all   
stand before the portals of the         
untrodden world in equal unknowingness4 
,if faith can be piety1 work is more so4
 ,to bring new beauty out of common     
life--is not that piety8 ,to change     
blank stupidity into intelligent        
admiration of any work of nature--is not
 that piety8 ,if our towns and streets  
be made to give gladness and            
cheerfulness to all who live or walk    
therein--is not that piety8 ,if the     
prayer of innocence ascend to heaven    
through a pure atmosphere1 instead of   
through the noisome and polluted air of 
uncleanness common in the purlieus of   
towns and of churches1 and even         

cathedrals--is not that piety8 ,can we1 
in these days1 conceive of religious    
persons being ignorant and dirty8 ,yet  
they abound4 ,if1 therefore1 we send to 
heaven clean1 intelligent1 bright-minded
 saints--is not that piety8 ,it is no   
bad religion--as religions go--to       
believe in the good ,god of knowledge   
and cleanliness and cheerfulness and    
beauty1 and offer at his altar the daily
 sacrifice of intelligent sincerity and 
material service4  ,we leave to others  
their own way of faith and worship4 ,we 
ask only leave to take our own4 ,carlyle
 has told us that only two men are to be
 honored1 and no third--the mechanic and
 the thinker3 he who works with honest  
hand1 making the world habitable2 and he
 who works with his brain1 making       
thought artistic and true4 ,all the     
rest1 he adds with noble scorn1 are     
chaff1 which the wind may blow whither  
it list-eth4 ,the certainty of heaven is
 for the useful alone4 ,mere belief is  
the easiest1 the poorest1 the shabbiest 

device by which conscientious men ever  
attempted to scale the walls of         
,paradise4     ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,,the  
,,ethical ,,method ,,of ,,controversy   
,it was one of the secrets of my craft  
in the old days1 when      ,i wanted to 
weld iron or work steel to a fine       
purpose1 to      begin gently4 ,if ,i   
began1 as all learners do1 to strike my 
heaviest blows at the start1 the iron   
would crumble instead      of welding1  
or the steel would suffer under my      
hammer1 so      that when it came to be 
tempered it would 'fly1' as we used     
to say1 and rob the thing ,i had made of
 its finest quality4       --,robert    
,coliyer1 ,d4 ,d4  ,,they who believe   
that they have truth ask no favor1 save 
that of being heard2 they dare the      
judgment of mankind2 refused            
co-operation1 they invoke opposition1   
for opposition is their opportunity4    
,this was the maxim ,i wrote at the     
beginning of the ,secularistic movement1
 to show that we were willing to accept 

ourselves the controversy1 which we     
contended was the sole means of         
establishing truth4 ,no proposition1 as 
,samuel ,bailey showed1 is to be trusted
 until it has been tested by very wide  
discussion4 ,we soon found that the free
 and open field of ,milton was not      
sufficient4 ,it needed a fair as well as
 a free and open encounter4 ,disputants 
require to be equally matched in debate 
as in arms4  ,the ,secularist policy is 
to accept the purely moral teaching of  
the ,bible1 and to controvert its       
theology1 in such respects as it        
contradicts and discourages ethical     
effort4 ,yet theological questions are  
always sought to be forced upon us4 ,the
 ,rev4 ,henry ,townley followed me to   
the ,leader office 7#ahec-ahed7 to      
induce me to discuss the question of the
 existence of ,god4 ,i never had done   
so1 and objected that it would give the 
impression that ,secularism was         
atheistic4 ,he was so insistent and     
importunate that ,i consented to discuss

 the question with him4 ,never after did
 ,i do so with any one4 ,the ,rev4      
,brewin ,grant endeavored to get my     
acceptance of propositions which pledged
 me to a wild opposition to             
,christianity4 ,mr4 ,samuel ,morley1    
honorable in all things1 admitted ,i had
 objected to it1 but in the end ,i      
assented to it1 that the discussion     
might not be broken off4 ,thomas ,cooper
 was persistent that ,i should discuss  
with him the authenticity of the        
,scriptures4 ,what ,i proposed was the  
proposition that the authenticity of the
 ,scripture1 its miracles1 and          
prophecies are quite apart from moral   
truth4  ,the discussion took place in   
the city of ,york1 lasting five nights4 
,canon ,robinson and ,canon ,hey        
presided alternately4 ,mr4 ,cooper was  
an able man in dealing with the stock   
propositions of ,christianity2 but their
 relevance as tests of morality was an  
entirely new subject to him4 ,he        
protested rather than reasoned1 and     

declared he would never discuss the     
question of the ethical test of the     
truth of ,scriptures2 nor have ,i ever  
found any responsible minister willing  
to do so down to this day4 ,thus        
,christians should condemn with         
reservation the tendency in ,secularists
 to debate theology1 seeing how         
reluctant they are to do otherwise      
themselves4 ,christians seem incapable  
of understanding how much the objection 
to their cause arises in the revolt of  
the moral sense against it4  ,on first  
meeting ,richard ,carlile in #ahdb1 some
 years before ,secularism took a        
distinctive form1 he invited me to hear 
him lecture upon the principles of the  
,christian ,warrior199 of which he was  
editor1 and to give my opinion thereon4 
,in doing so ,i explained the ideas from
 which ,i have never departed2 namely1  
that no theologic1 astronomic1 or       
miraculous mode of proving ,scriptural  
doctrine could ever be made even        
intelligible1 except to students of very

 considerable research4 ,such theories1 
,i contended1 must rest1 more or less1  
on critical and conjectural             
interpretation1 and could never enable a
 workingman to dare the understanding of
 others in argument4 ,scientific        
interpretation laid entirely outside    
,christian requirements1 and seemed to  
,christians as disingenuous evasion of  
what they took to be obvious truths4 ,my
 contention was that the people have no 
historic or critical knowledge enabling 
them to determine the divine origin of  
,christianity4       99 ,the last       
periodical ,mr4 ,carlile edited4  ,on   
the platform he who has most knowledge  
of ,hebrew1 ,greek1 and ,latin will     
always be able to silence any           
dissentient who has not equal           
information4 ,if by accident a          
controversialist happen to possess this 
knowledge1 it goes for nothing unless he
 has credit for classical competency4   
,in controversy of this nature it is not
 enough for a man to know2 he must be   

known to know before his conclusions can
 command attention4 ,to myself it was   
not of moment whether the ,scriptures   
were authentic or inspired4 ,my sole    
inquiry was1 ,did they contain clear    
moral guidance8 ,if they did1 ,i        
accepted that guidance with gratitude4  
,if ,i found maxims obviously useful and
 true1 judged by human experience1 ,i   
adopted them1 whether given by          
inspiration or not4 ,if precepts did not
 answer to this test1 they were not     
acceptable1 though all the apostles in  
session had signed them4 ,to miracles ,i
 did not object1 nor did ,i see any     
sense in endeavoring to explain them    
away4 ,we all have reason to regret that
 no one performs them now4 ,it was our  
misfortune that the power1 delegated    
with so much pomp of promise to the     
saints1 had not descended to these days4
 ,if any preacher or deacon could1 in   
our day1 feed five thousand men on a few
 loaves and a few small fishes1 and     
leave as many baskets of fragments as   

would run a workhouse for a month1 the  
,poor ,law ,commissioners would make a  
king of that saint4 ,but if a precept   
enjoined me to believe what was not     
true1 it would be a base precept1 and   
all the miracles in the ,scriptures     
could not alter its character2 while1 if
 a precept be honest and just1 no       
miracle is wanted to attest it2 indeed1 
a miracle to allure credence in it would
 only cast suspicion on its genuineness4
 ,the moral test of the ,scriptures was 
sufficient1 since it had the commanding 
advantage of appealing to the common    
sense of all sorts and conditions of    
men1 of ,christian or of ,pagan         
persuasion4 ,ethical criticism has this 
further merit1 that on the platform of  
discussion the miner1 the weaver1 or    
farm-laborer is on the same level as the
 priest4 ,a man goes to heaven upon his 
own judgment2 whereas1 if his belief is 
based on the learning of others1 he goes
 to heaven second-hand4  ,when ,mr4 ,j4 
,a4 ,froude wrote for ,john ,henry      

,newman the ,life of ,st4 ,belletin1 he 
ended with the words3 ,and this is all  
that is known1 and more than all1 of the
 life of a servant of ,god4 ,in the     
,bible there appears to be a great deal 
more than was ever known4 ,this does not
 concern the ,secularist1 though it does
 the scholar4 ,if there be moral maxims 
in the ,scripture1 what does it matter  
how they got there8     ,,chapter       
,,xviii4 ,,its ,,discrimination         
,there is nothing so terrible as        
activity without insight                
--,goethe4  ,,in #ahdg ,i commenced in  
the ,reasoner what ,i entitled ,the     
,moral ,remains of the ,bible1--a       
selection of some splendid moral        
stories1 incidents1 and sentences having
 ethical characteristics such as ,i     
doubted not would remain when the ,bible
 came to be regarded as a human book4 ,i
 wrote a ,logic of ,life499 ,my ,trial  
of ,theism was only as accused of       
obstructing ,secular life1 as stated on 
the title-page4 ,the object was to show 

how much useful criticism could be      
entered upon without touching the       
questions of authenticity1 or miracles1 
or the existence of deity4 ,thus it was 
left to opponents to declare that things
 morally incredible were inspired by    
,god4 ,in this case it was not ,i1 but  
they1 who blasphemed4       99          
,companion to the ,logic of ,death1 both
 contained in ,the      ,trial of       
,theism4  ,take the case of ,samson's   
famous engagement with the ,philistines 
at ,ramath1--,lehi surrounded by a band 
of warlike ,philistines 7though1 as the 
text implies1 #c1jjj of his own armed   
countrymen were at hand74 ,samson1 who  
had no weapon1 was not given one by     
them1 but had to look about for a new   
jawbone of an ass4 ,with this singular  
instrument he killed1 one after the     
other1 a thousand ,philistine soldiers1 
who were big1 strong men1 and1 unless   
every blow was fatal1 it must have taken
 several blows to kill some of them4    
,are there three places in the human    

body where a single blow will be sure to
 kill a man8 ,did ,samson know those    
places8 ,and was he always able to      
direct his blow with unerring precision 
to one or other of those particular     
spots8 ,if the thousand ,philistines    
surrounded him1 how did he keep the     
others off while he struggled with the  
one he was killing8 ,it is not          
conceivable that the ,philistines stood 
there to be killed1 and meekly submitted
 to ignoble blows1 death1 and           
degradation4 ,the jawbone must have been
 of strange texture to have crashed     
through armor1 and have turned aside    
spears and swords of stalwart warriors  
without chipping1 splitting1 or breaking
 in two4 ,what time it must have taken  
,samson to pursue each man1 beat off his
 comrades1 drag him from their midst1   
give him the asinine coup de grace1 drag
 and cast his dead body upon the heaps  
of slain he was piling up6 ,what        
struggling1 scuffling1 and turmoil of   
blood and blows ,samson must have gone  

through6 ,spurted all over with blood1  
,barnum would have bought him for a     
,dime ,museum as the deepest-colored    
,red ,indian known4 ,no ,deerfoot could 
have been nimbler than ,samson must have
 been on this mighty day4 ,when this    
,herculean fight was over1 which1 with  
the utmost expedition1 must have        
occupied ,samson six days1--which would 
give #aff killed single-handed per      
day1--the only effect produced upon     
,samson appears to have been that he was
 sore athirst4 ,even after this         
extraordinary use of the jawbone it was 
in such good condition that1 a hollow   
place being clave in it1 a fount of     
water gushed forth for refreshing this  
remarkable warrior4 ,were it not        
recorded in the ,bible1 it would be said
 that the writer intended to imply that 
the jawbone of the ass is to be found   
only in the mouth of the reader4  ,can  
it need miracle or prophecy1            
authenticity1 or inspiration1 to attest 
this story of the ,jewish               

,jack-the-,giant-killer8 ,what moral    
good can arise from a narration which it
 is reverence to reject8 ,by leaving it 
to the ,christian to say it is given by 
inspiration of ,god1 it is he who       
blasphemes4 ,but if the question of     
authenticity were raised1 the character 
of the narrative would be lost sight of1
 and would not come into question2 while
 the test of moral probability decides  
the invalidity of the story within the  
compass of the knowledge of an ordinary 
audience4  ,in the same manner1 keeping 
to the policy of affirmation1 he who    
maintains the self-existence1 the       
self-action1 and eternity of the        
universe can be met only by those who   
defame nature as a second-hand tool of  
,god4 ,such are atheists towards nature1
 the author of their existence1 and ,god
 must so regard them4  ,a single precept
 of ,christ's1 ,take no thought for the 
morrow1 has bred swarms of mendicants in
 every age since this day2 but a far    
more dangerous precept is ,resist not   

evil1 which has made ,christianity      
welcome to so many tyrants4 ,christ1    
whatever other sentiments he had1 had a 
slave heart4 ,every friend of freedom   
knows that resistance is the backbone of
 the world4 ,the patriot poet99         
exclaims3       ,land of our            
,fathers--in their hour of need         
,god help them1 guarded by the passive  
creed4       99 ,dr4 ,oliver ,wendell   
,holmes4  ,no miracle could make these  
precepts true1 and he who proved their  
authenticity would be the enemy of      
mankind4  ,whether ,christ existed or   
not affects in no way what excellence   
and inimitableness there was in his     
delineated character4 ,his offer of     
palpable materialistic evidence to      
,thomas showed that he recognised the   
right of scepticism to relevant         
satisfaction4 ,his concession of proof  
in this case needed no supernatural     
testimony to render it admirable4  ,the 
reader will now see what the policy of  
,secularist advocacy is1--mainly to test

 theology by its ethical import4 ,to    
many all policy is restraint2 they cry  
down policy1 and erect blundering into a
 virtue4  ,whereas policy is guidance to
 a chosen end4 ,mathematics is but the  
policy of measurement2 grammar but the  
policy of speech2 logic but the policy  
of reason2 arithmetic but the policy of 
calculation2 temperance but the policy  
of health2 trigonometry but the policy  
of navigation2 roads but the policy of  
transit2 music but the policy of        
controlling sound2 art but the policy of
 beauty2 law but the policy of          
protection2 discipline but the policy of
 strength2 love but the policy of       
affection4 ,an enemy may object to an   
adversary having a policy1 because he is
 futile without one4 ,the policy adopted
 may be bad1 but no policy at all is    
idiocy1 and commits a cause to the      
providence of ,bedlam4     ,,chapter    
,,xix4 ,,apart ,,from ,,christianism    
,what is written by ,moses can only be  
read by ,god4       --,bikar ,proverb4  

,,secularism differs from ,christianism 
in so far as it accepts only the        
teachings which pertain to man1 and     
which are consonant with reason and     
experience4  ,parts of the ,bible have  
moral splendor in them1 but no          
,christian will allow any one to take   
the parts he deems true1 and reject as  
untrue those he deems false4 ,he who    
ventured to be thus eclectic would be   
defamed as ,paine was4 ,thus ,christians
 compel those who would stand by reason 
to stand apart from them4  ,to accept a 
part1 and put that forward as the       
whole--to pretend or even to assume it  
to be the whole--is dishonest4 ,to      
retain a portion1 and reject what you   
leave1 and not say so1 is deceiving4 ,to
 contend that what you accept as the    
spirit of ,christianity is in accordance
 with all that contradicts it1 is to    
spend your days in harmonising opposite 
statements--a pursuit demoralising to   
the understanding4 ,the ,secularist has1
 therefore1 to choose between           

dishonesty1 the deception of others and 
deception of himself1 or ethical        
principles independent of               
,christianity--and this is what he does3
  ,the ,bible being a bundle of ,hebrew 
tracts on tribal life and tribal spite1 
its assumed infallibility is a burden1  
contradicting and misleading to all who 
accept it as a divine handbook of duty4 
,in papers issued by religious societies
 upon the ,bible it is declared to be so
 complete a system that nothing can be  
added to it1 or taken from it1 and that 
it contains everything needful to be    
known or done4 ,this is so false that no
 one1 perceiving it1 could be honest and
 not protest against it in the interest 
of others4 ,recently the ,bishop of     
,worcester said3 ,it was of no use      
resisting the ,higher ,criticism4 ,god  
had not been pleased to give us what    
might be called a perfect ,bible499     
,then it is prudence to seek a more     
trustworthy guide4       99 ,midland    
,evening ,news1 #ahic4  ,if money were  

bequeathed to maintain the eclectic     
criticism of the ,scripture1 it would be
 confiscated by ,christian law4 ,so to  
stand apart is indispensable            
self-defence4 ,individual ,christians1  
as ,i well know1 devote themselves with 
a noble earnestness to the service of   
man1 as they understand his interests2  
but so long as ,christianity retains the
 power of fraud1 and uses it1           
,christianism as a system1 or as a      
cause1 remains outside the pale of      
respect4 ,prayer1 in which the oppressed
 and poor are taught to trust1 is of no 
avail for protection or food1 and the   
poor ought to know it4 ,the ,bishop of  
,manchester declared1 in my hearing1    
that the ,lord's ,prayer will not bring 
us daily bread1 but that it is an       
exercise of faith to ask for what we    
shall not receive4 ,but if prayer will  
not bring daily bread1 it is a dangerous
 deception to keep up the belief that it
 will4 ,the eyes of forethought are     
closed by trust in such aid1 thrift is  

an affront to the generosity of heaven1 
and labor is foolishness4 ,but1 alas6   
aid does not come by supplication4 ,the 
prayer-maker dies in mendicancy4 ,it is 
not reverence 'to pour into the ears of 
,god praise for protection never        
accorded4 ,dean ,stanley1 admirable as a
 man as well as a saint1 was killed in  
the ,deanery1 ,westminster1 by a bad    
drain1 in spite of all his ,collects4   
,dean ,farrar has been driven from ,st4 
,margaret's ,rectory1 in ,dean's ,yard1 
by another drain1 which poisons in spite
 of the ,thirty-nine ,articles2 and     
,canon ,eyton refuses to take up his    
residence until the sanitary engineers  
have overhauled99 the place1 which1     
notwithstanding the invocations of the  
,church1 ,providence does not see to4   
,to keep silence on the non-intervention
 of ,providence would be to connive at  
the fate of those who come to           
destruction by such dependence4       ,o
 mother1 praying ,god will save         
,thy sailor6      ,while thy head is    

bowed1      ,his heavy-shotted          
hammock-shroud      ,drops in his vast  
and wandering grave6       99 ,see      
,westminister ,gazette ,london ,letter1 
,november #ai1 #ahie4  ,true respect    
would treat ,god as though at the least 
he is a gentlemen4 ,christianity does   
not do this4 ,no gentleman would accept 
thanks for benefits he had not          
conferred1 nor would he exact thanks    
daily and hourly for gifts he had really
 made1 nor have the vanity to covet     
perpetual thanksgivings4 ,he who would  
respect ,god1 or respect himself1 must  
seek a faith apart from such            
,christianity4  ,a divine1 who excelled 
in good sense1 said3 ,dangerous it were 
for the feeble brain of man to wade far 
into the doings of the ,most ,high4 ,our
 soundest knowledge is1 to know that we 
know him not2 and our safest eloquence  
concerning ,him is our silence2         
therefore it be-hoveth our words to be  
wary and few499  ,mrs4 ,barbauld may    
have borrowed from ,richard ,hooker her 

fine line3       ,silence is our least  
injurious praise49999       99          
,ecclesiastical ,polity1 book ,i41  #b4 
9999 ,charles ,lamb was of this opinion 
when he remarked3 ,had ,i      to say   
grace1 ,i would rather say it over a    
good book than      over a mutton chop4 
,christians say grace over an           
indigestible meal4 ,but perhaps they are
 right1 since they      need            
supernatural aid to assimilate it4  ,an 
earnest ,christian1 not a religious man 
7for all ,christians are not religious71
 assuming the professional familiarity  
with the mind of ,god1 said to me3      
,should the ,lord call you to-day1 are  
you prepared to meet ,him8 ,i answered3 
,certainly2 for the service of man in   
some form is seldom absent from my      
thoughts1 and must be consonant with his
 will4 ,were ,i to pray1 ,i should pray 
,god to spare me from the presumption of
 expecting to meet him1 and from the    
vanity and conceit of thinking that the 
,god of the universe will take an       

opportunity of meeting me4  ,who can    
have moral longing for a religion which 
represents ,god as hanging over ,york   
,castle to receive the soul of ,dove1   
the debauchee1 who slowly poisoned his  
wife1 and whose final spiritual progress
 was posted day by day on the ,castle   
gates until the hour of the hangman     
came8 ,dove's confession was as         
appalling as instructive4 ,it ran thus3 
,i know that the ,eternal ,one1         
,upon ,his throne divine1      ,gorged  
with the blood of ,his own ,son1        
,no longer thirsts for mine4       ,many
 a man has passed his life      ,in     
doing naught but good1      ,who has not
 half the confidence ,i have      ,in   
,jesus ,christ1 ,his blood499       99  
,from a volume of verse privately       
circulated in ,liverpool      at the    
time1 by ,w4 ,h4 ,rathbone4  ,by quoting
 these lines1 which ,burns might have   
written1 the writer is sorry to portray1
 in their naked form1 principles which  
so many cherish4 ,but the anatomy of    

creeds can no more be explained1 with   
the garments of tradition and sentiment 
upon them1 than a surgeon can           
demonstrate the structure of the body   
with the clothes on4 ,divine perdition  
is an ethical impossibility4            
,christianism is too often but a sour   
influence on life4 ,it tolerates nature1
 but does not enjoy it4 ,instead of     
giving men two ,sundays1 as it          
might1--one for recreation and one for  
contemplation1--it converts the only day
 of the poor into a penal infliction4   
,it is always more or less against art1 
parks1 clubs1 sanitation1 equity to     
labor1 freedom1 and many other things4  
,if any ,christians eventually accept   
these material ideas1 they mostly       
dislike them4 ,art takes attention from 
the ,gospel4 ,in parks many delight to  
walk1 when they might be at chapel or   
church4 ,clubs teach men toleration1 and
 toleration is thought to beget         
indifference4 ,sanitation is a form of  
blasphemy4 ,every ,christian sings3--   

,diseases are ,thy servants1 ,lord2     
,they come at ,thy command4  ,but       
sanitation assassinates these servants  
of the ,lord4 ,in every hospital they   
are tried1 condemned1 and executed as   
the enemies of mankind4 ,if labor had   
justice1 it would be independent1 and no
 longer hopeless1 as the poor always    
are4 ,freedom renders men defiant of    
subjection1 which all priests are prone 
to exercise4 ,secularism has none of    
this distrust and fear4 ,it elects to be
 on the side of human progress1 and     
takes that side1 withstand it who may4  
,thus1 those who care for the           
improvement of mankind must act on      
principles dissociated from doctrines   
repellent to humanity and deterrent of  
ameliorative enterprise4     ,,chapter  
,,xx4 ,,secularism ,,creates ,a ,,new   
,,responsibility       ,mankind is an   
ass1 who kicks those who endeavor to    
take off      his panniers4             
--,spanish ,proverb4  ,,no ,,one need go
 to ,spain to meet with animals who kick

 you if you serve them4 ,spanish asses  
are to be found in every land4 ,could we
 see the legs of truth1 we should find  
them black and blue with the kicks      
received in unloosening the panniers of 
error1 strapped by priests on the backs 
of the people4 ,even philosophers kick  
as well as the ignorant1 when new ideas 
are brought before them4 ,no improvement
 would ever be attempted if friends of  
truth were afraid of the asses' hoofs in
 the air4  ,he who maintains that       
mankind can be largely improved by      
material means1 imposes on himself the  
responsibility of employing such means1 
and of promoting their use as far as he 
can1 and trusting to their              
efficacy1--not being discouraged because
 he is but one1 and mankind are many4   
,no man can read all the books1 or do   
all the work1 of the world4 ,it is      
enough that each reads what he needs1   
and1 in matter of moral action1 does all
 he can4 ,he who does less1 fails in his
 duty to himself and to others4         

,christian doctrine has none of the     
responsibility which ,secularism        
imposes4 ,if there be vice or rapine1   
oppression or murder1 the purely        
,christian conscience is absolved4 ,it  
is the ,lord's world1 and nothing could 
occur unless he permitted it4 ,if any   
,christian heart is moved to compassion1
 it commonly exudes in prayer4 ,he puts 
the matter before the ,lord and leaves  
it in ,his hands4 ,the ,secularist takes
 it into his own4 ,what are his hands   
for8 ,the ,christian can sit still and  
see children grow up with rickets in    
their body and rickets in their soul4   
,he will see them die in a foul         
atmosphere1 where no angel could come to
 receive their spirit without first     
stopping his nose with his handkerchief1
 as ,i have seen ,lord ,palmerston do on
 entering ,harrow on ,speech ,day4 ,the 
,christian can make money out of        
unrequited labor4 ,when he dies1 he     
makes no reparation to those who earned 
his wealth1 but leaves it to build a    

church1 as though he thought ,god was   
blind1 not knowing 7if ,christ spake    
truly7 that the ,devil is sitting in the
 fender in his room1 ready to carry his 
soul up the chimney to bear ,dives      
company4 ,why should he be anxious to   
mitigate inequality of human condition8 
,it is the ,lord's will1 or it would not
 be4 ,when it was seen that ,i was      
ceasing to believe this1 ,christians in 
the church to which ,i belonged knelt   
around me1 and prayed that ,i might be  
influenced not to go out into the world 
to see if these things could be         
improved4 ,it was no light duty ,i      
imposed on myself4  ,a ,secularist is   
mindful of ,carlyle's saying1 ,no man is
 a saint in his sleep4 ,indeed1 if any  
one takes upon himself the              
responsibility of bettering by reason   
the state of things1 he will be kept    
pretty well awake with his              
understanding4  ,many persons think     
their own superiority sufficient for    
mankind1 and do not wish their          

exclusiveness to be encroached upon4    
,their plea is that they distrust the   
effect of setting the multitude free    
from mental tyranny1 and they distrust  
democracy1 which would sooner or later  
end political tyranny4  ,these men of   
dainty distrust have a crowd of         
imitators1 in whom nobody recognises any
 superiority to justify their misgivings
 as to others4 ,the distrust of         
independence in the hands of the people 
arises mainly from the dislike of the   
trouble it takes to educate the ignorant
 in its use and limit4 ,the ,secularist 
undertakes this trouble as far as his   
means permit4 ,as an advocate of open   
thought and the free action of opinion1 
he counts the responsibility of trust in
 the people as a duty4  ,it will be     
asked1 ,what are the deterrent          
influences upon which ,secularism relies
 for rendering vice1 of the major or    
minor kind1 repellent8 ,it relies upon  
making it clear that in the order of    
nature retribution treads upon the heels

 of transgression1 and1 if tardy in     
doing it1 its steps should be hastened4 
,the mark of error of life is--disease4 
,science can take the body to pieces1   
and display mischief palpable to the    
eyes1 when the results of vice startle1 
like an apparition1 those who discern   
that3       ,their acts their angels    
are1--if good2 if ill1      ,their fatal
 shadows that walk by them still4  ,a   
man is not so ready to break the laws of
 nature when he sees he will break      
himself in doing it4 ,he may not fear   
,god1 but he fears fever and            
consumption4 ,he may have a gay heart1  
but he will not like the occupation of  
being his own sexton and digging his own
 grave4 ,when he sees that death lurks  
in the frequent glass1 for instance1    
that spoils the flavor of the wine4 ,he 
takes less pride in the beeswing who    
sees the shroud in the bottle4 ,he may  
hope that ,god will forgive him1 but he 
knows that death will not4 ,he who holds
 the scythe is accustomed to cut down   

fools1 whether they be peers or sweeps4 
,death knows the fool at a glance4 ,to  
prevent any mistake1 ,disease has marked
 him with her broad arrow4 ,the young   
man who once has his eyes well open to  
this state of the case1 will be         
considerate as to the quality of his    
pleasures1 especially when he knows that
 alluring but unwholesome pleasure is in
 the pay of death4 ,temperance advocates
 made more converts by exhibiting the   
biological effects of alcohol than by   
all their exhortations4  ,the moral     
nature of man is as palpable as the     
physical to those who look for its      
signs4 ,there is a moral squint in the  
judgment1 as plain to be seen as a cast 
in the eyes4 ,the voice is not honest2  
it has the accent of a previous         
conviction in it4 ,the speech has       
contortions of meaning in it4 ,the sense
 is limp and flaccid1 showing that the  
mind is flabby4 ,such a one has the     
backbone of a fish2 he does not stand   
upright4 ,as the ,americans say1 he does

 not stand square to anything4 ,there is
 no moral pulse in his heart4 ,if you   
could take hold of his soul1 it would   
feel like a dead oyster1 and would slip 
through your fingers4 ,everybody knows  
these people4 ,you don't consult them2  
you don't trust them4 ,you would rather 
have no business transactions with them4
 ,if they are in a political movement1  
you know they will shuffle when the     
pinch of principle comes4  ,crime has   
its consequences1 and criminals1 little 
and great1 know it4 ,when ,alaric ,a4   
,watts wrote of the last ,emperor of the
 ,french3--       ,safe art thou1       
,louis6--for a time2      ,but          
tremble6--never yet was crime1          
,beyond one little space1 secure4       
,the coward and the brave alike         
,can wait and watch1 can rush and       
strike4      ,which marks thee8   ,one  
of them1 be rare1--  few thought the    
bold prediction true2 but it came to    
pass1 and the ,napoleonic name and race 
became extinct1 to the relief of        

,europe4  ,trouble comes from avowing   
unpopular ideas4 ,diderot well saw this 
when he said3 ,there is less            
inconvenience in being mad with the mad 
than in being wise by oneself4 ,one who 
regards truth as duty will accept       
responsibilities4 ,it is the ,american  
idea       ,to make a man and leave him 
be4  ,but we must be sure we have made  
him a man1--self-acting1 guided by      
reasoned proof1 and one who1 as         
,archbishop ,whately said1 believes the 
principles he maintains1 and maintains  
them because he believes them4  ,a man  
is not a man while under superstition1  
nor is he a man when free from it1      
unless his mind is built on principles  
conducive and incentive to the service  
of man4     ,,chapter ,,xxi4 ,,through  
,,opposition ,,to ,,recognition         
,so many gods1 so many creeds--      ,so
 many paths that wind and wind1         
,while just the art of being kind       
,is all the sad world needs4            
--,ella ,wheeler ,wilcox4  ,,lady       

,,hester ,,stanhope said she knew ,lord 
,byron must be a bad man1 for he was    
always intending something4 ,any        
improvement in the method of life is    
intending something1 and society ought  
to be tolerant of those whose badness   
takes no worse form4 ,the rules         
,secularism prescribes for human conduct
 are few1 and no intelligent preacher   
would say they indicate a dangerous form
 of badness4 ,they are3  #a4 ,truth in  
speech4  #b4 ,honesty in transaction4   
#c4 ,industry in business4  #d4 ,equity 
in according the gain among those whose 
diligence and vigilance help to produce 
it4       ,though this world be but a   
bubble1      ,two things stand like     
stone--      ,kindness in another's     
trouble1      ,courage in your own4     
,learning and fortune do but illuminate 
these virtues4 ,they cannot supersede   
them4 ,the germs of these qualities are 
in every human heart4 ,it is only       
necessary that we cultivate them4 ,men  
are like billiard balls--they would all 

go into the right pockets in a few      
generations1 if rightly propelled4 ,yet 
these principles1 simple and            
unpretending as they are1 being founded 
on considerations apart from modes of   
orthodox thought1 have had a militant   
career4 ,the ,spanish proverb has been  
in request3 ,beware of an ox before1 of 
a mule behind1 and of a monk on every   
side4 ,the monk1 tonsured and           
untonsured1 is found in every religion4 
,in ,glasgow ,i sometimes delivered     
lectures on the ,sunday in a quaint old 
hall situated up a wynd in ,candleriggs4
 ,on the ,saturday night ,i gave a woman
 half-a-crown to wash and whiten the    
stairs leading to the hall1 and the     
passage leading to the street and across
 the causeway1 so that the entrance to  
the hall should be clean and sweet4     
,sermons were preached in the same hall 
when the stairs were repulsively dirty4 
,the woman remarked to a neighbor that  
,mr4 ,holyoake's views were wrang1 but  
he seemed to have clean principles4 ,he 

who believes in the influence of        
material conditions will do what he can 
to have them pure1 not only where he    
speaks1 but where he frequents and where
 he resides4 ,the theological reader1   
who by accident or curiosity looks over 
these pages1 will find much from which  
he will dissent2 but ,i hope he will be 
able to regard this book as one of clean
 principles1 as far as the limited light
 of the author goes4 ,accepting the     
golden rule of ,huxley--,give           
unqualified assent to no propositions   
but those the truth of which is so clear
 and distinct that they cannot be       
doubted--causes the ,secularist to      
credit less than his neighbors1 and that
 goes against him2 being1 as it were1 a 
reproach of their avidity of belief4    
,one reason for writing this book is to 
explain--to as many of the new          
generation as may happen to read it--the
 discrimination of ,secularism4         
,newspapers and the clerical class1 who 
ought to be well informed1 continually  

speak of mere free-thinking as          
,secularism4 ,how this has been caused  
has already been indicated4 ,two or     
three remarkable and conspicuous        
representatives of free thought1 who    
found iconoclasticism easier1 less      
responsible1 and more popular1 have     
given to many erroneous impressions4    
,when ,mr4 ,bradlaugh1 ,mrs4 ,besant1   
and ,mr4 ,foote came into the           
,secularistic movement1 which preceded  
their day1 they gave proof that they    
understood its principles1 which they   
afterwards disregarded or postponed4 ,i 
cite their opinions lest the reader     
should think that this book gives an    
account of a form of thought not        
previously known4 ,one wrote3  ,from    
very necessity1 ,secularism is          
affirmative and constructive2 it is     
impossible to thoroughly negate any     
falsehood without making more or less   
clear the opposing truth499       99    
,secularism3 ,what ,is ,it8   ,national 
,secular ,society's      ,tracts--,no4  

#g4 ,by ,charles ,bradlaugh4  ,again3   
,secularism conflicts with theology in  
this3 that the ,secularist teaches the  
improvability of humanity by human      
means2 while the theologian not only    
denies this1 but rather teaches that the
 ,secular effort is blasphemous and     
unavailing unless preceded and          
accompanied by reliance on divine aid499
  ,mrs4 ,besant said3  ,still we have   
won a plot of ground--men's and women's 
hearts4 ,to them ,secularism has a      
message2 to them it brings a rule of    
conduct2 to them it gives a test of     
morality1 and a guide through the       
difficulties of life4 ,our morality is  
tested only--be it noted--by utility in 
this life and in this world49999  ,mr4  
,foote was not less discerning and      
usefully explicit1 saying3  ,secularism 
is founded upon the distinction between 
the things of time and the things of    
eternity4444 ,the good of others        
,secularism declares to be the law of   
morality2 and although certain          

theologies secondarily teach the same   
doctrine1 yet they differ from          
,secularism in founding it upon the     
supposed will of ,god1 thus admitting   
the possibility of its being set aside  
in obedience to some other equally or   
more imperative divine injunction4999999
       99 ,why ,are ,we ,secularists8   
,national ,secular ,society's           
,tracts--,no4 #h4 ,by ,charles          
,bradlaugh4       9999 ,secular         
,morality4 ,national ,secular ,society's
 ,tracts--      ,no4 #c4 ,by ,annie     
,besant4       999999 ,secularism and   
,its ,misrepresentation1 by ,g4 ,w4     
,foote1      who subsequently succeeded 
,mr4 ,bradlaugh as ,president of the    
,national ,secular ,society4  ,for      
several years the ,national ,reformer   
bore the subtitle of ,secular ,advocate4
  ,we could not expect early concurrence
 with the policy of preferring ethical  
to theological questions of theism and  
unprovable immortality4 ,we accepted the
 maxim of ,sir ,philip ,sydney--namely1 

that ,reason cannot show itself more    
reasonable than to leave reasoning on   
things above reason4 ,we are not in the 
land of the real yet1 common sense is   
not half so romantic to the average man 
as the transcendental1 and an           
atheistical advocacy got the preference 
with the impetuous4 ,the ,secularistic  
proposal to consult the instruction of  
an adversary proved less exciting than  
his destruction4 ,the patience and      
resource it implies to work by reason   
alone are not to the taste of those to  
whom a kick is easier than a kindness1  
and less troublesome than explanation4  
,those who have the refutatory passion  
intense say you must clear the ground   
before you can build upon it4 ,granted2 
nevertheless1 the signs of the times    
show that a good deal of ground has been
 cleared4 ,the instinct of progress     
renders the minority1 who reflect1 more 
interested in the builder than the      
undertaker4 ,what would be thought of a 
general who delayed occupying a country 

he had conquered until he had extirpated
 all the inhabitants in it8 ,so1 in the 
kingdom of error1 he who will go on     
breaking images1 without setting statues
 up in their place1 will give           
superstition a long life4 ,the savage   
man does not desert his idols because   
you call them ugly4 ,it is only by slow 
degrees1 and under the influence of     
better-carved gods1 that his taste is   
changed and his worship improved4 ,the  
reader will see that ,secularism leaves 
the mystery of deity to the chartered   
imagination of man1 and does not attempt
 to close the door of the future1 but   
holds that the desert of another        
existence belongs only to those who     
engage in the service of man in this    
life4 ,prof4 ,f4 ,w4 ,newman says3 ,the 
conditions of a future life being       
unknown1 there is no imaginable means of
 benefiting ourselves and others in it1 
except by aiming after present          
goodness499  ,men have a right to look  
beyond this world1 but not to overlook  

it4 ,men1 if they can1 may connect      
themselves with eternity1 but they      
cannot disconnect themselves from       
humanity without sacrificing duty4 ,the 
purport of ,secularism is not far from  
the tenor of the famous sermon by the   
,rev4 ,james ,caird1 of which the ,queen
 said3  ,he explained in the most simple
 manner what real religion is--not a    
thing to drive us from the world1 not a 
perpetual moping over 'good' books2 but 
being and doing good49999       99      
,prof4 ,p4 ,w4 ,newman1 who is always   
clear beyond all      scholars1 and     
candid beyond all theologians1 has      
published a      ,palinode retracting   
former conclusions he had published1 and
      admitting the uncertainty of the  
evidence in favor of after-             
existence4       9999 ,the ,queen on the
 ,rev4 ,j4 ,caird's sermon1 ,leaves from
 the      ,journal of ,our ,life in the 
,highlands4  ,this end we reach not by a
 theological1 but by a ,secular1 path4  
,,chapter ,,xxii4 ,,self-,,extending    

,,principles       ,prodigious actions  
may as well be done      ,by weaver's   
issue as by prince's son4               
--,dryden4  ,,so ,,far as ,secularism is
 reasonable1 it must be self-extending  
among all who think4 ,adherents of that 
class are slowly acquired4 ,accessions  
begin in criticism1 though that1 as we  
have seen1 is apt to stop there4 ,in all
 movements the most critical persons are
 the least suggestive of improvements4  
,constructiveness only excites          
enthusiasm in fertile minds4 ,after the 
,cowper ,street ,discussion with the    
,rev4 ,brewin ,grant in #ahec1 see      
,chapter ,x1 page #ej1 societies1 halls1
 and newspapers adopted the ,secular    
name4 ,in #ahfc appeared the ,christian 
,reasoner1 edited by the ,rev4 ,dr4     
,rylance1 a really reasoning clergyman1 
whom ,i afterwards had the pleasure to  
know in ,new ,york4 ,his publication was
 intended to be a substitute for the    
,reasoner1 which ,i had then edited for 
seventeen years4 ,but when the ,reasoner

 commenced1 in #ahdf1 ,christian        
believing was far more thought of than  
,christian reasoning4 ,one line in ,dr4 
,rylance's ,christian ,reasoner was     
remarkable1 which charged us with       
forgetfulness of the necessary          
incompleteness of ,re-velation4  ,so far
 from forgetting it1 it was one of the  
grounds on which ,secularism was        
founded4 ,however1 it is to the credit  
of ,dr4 ,rylance that he should have    
preceded1 by thirty years1 the ,bishop  
of ,worcester in discerning the         
shortcomings of ,revelation1 as cited in
 ,chapter ,,xix1 page #aja4  ,in #ahfi  
we obtained the first ,act of ,secular  
affirmation1 which ,mr4 ,j4 ,s4 ,mill   
said was mainly due to my exertions1 and
 to my example of never taking an oath4 
,in obtaining the ,act1 ,i had no help  
from ,mr4 ,bradlaugh1 he being an       
ostentatious oath-taker at that time4   
,it was owing to ,mr4 ,g4 ,w4 ,hastings 
7then1 or afterwards1 ,m4 ,p471 the     
founder of the ,social ,science         

,association1 that the ,affirmation     
clause was added to the ,act of #ahfi4  
,one of the objects we avowed was to    
procure a law of affirmation for persons
 who objected to take the oath499       
,another of our aims was stated to be3  
,to convert churches and chapels into   
temples of instruction for the          
people4444 to solicit priests to be     
teachers of useful knowledge49999 ,we   
strove to promote these ends by holding 
in honor all who gave effect to such    
human precepts as were contained in     
,christianity4 ,this fairness and       
justice has led many to suppose that ,i 
accepted the theological as well as the 
ethical passages in the ,scriptures4    
,but how can a ,christian preacher be   
inclined to risk the suspicion of the   
narrower-minded members of his          
congregation1 if no one gives him credit
 for doing right when he does it8       
99 ,secularism the ,practical           
,philosophy of the ,people1 p4 #ac2     
#ahed4 ,fifteen years before the first  

,act was passed4       9999 ,secularism 
the ,practical ,philosophy of the       
,people1 by ,g4      ,j4 ,holyoake1 p4  
#ab2 #ahed4  ,with our limited means and
 newness of doctrine1 we could not hope 
to rival an opulent hierarchy and occupy
 its temples2 but we knew that the      
truth1 if we had it1 and could diffuse  
it in a reasonable manner1 would make   
its way and gradually change the        
convictions of a theological caste4 ,the
 very nature of ,free-thought makes it  
impossible for a long time yet1 that we 
should have many wealthy or well-placed 
supporters4 ,where the platform is open 
to every subject likely to be of public 
service--subjects suppressed everywhere 
else1 and open to the discussion of the 
wise or foolish present who may arise to
 speak1 outrages of good taste will     
occur4 ,persons who forget that abuse   
does not destroy use1 and that freedom  
is more precious than propriety1 cease  
to support a free-speaking ,society4    
,the advocacy of slave emancipation was 

once an outrage in ,america4 ,it is now 
regarded as the glory of the nation4 ,in
 an eloquent passage it has been pointed
 out what society owes to the unfriended
 efforts of those who established and   
have maintained the right of free       
speech4  ,theology of the old stamp1 so 
far from encouraging us to love nature1 
teaches us that it is under a curse4 ,it
 teaches us to look upon the animal     
creation with shuddering disgust2 upon  
the whole race of man1 outside our      
narrow sect1 as delivered over to the   
,devil2 and upon the laws of nature at  
large as a temporary mechanism1 in which
 we have been caught1 but from which we 
are to anticipate a joyful deliverance4 
,it is science1 not theology1 which has 
changed all this2 it is the atheists1   
infidels1 and rationalists1 as they are 
kindly called1 who have taught us to    
take fresh interest in our poor fellow  
denizens of the world1 and not to       
despise them because ,almighty          
,benevolence could not be expected to   

admit them to ,heaven4 ,to the same     
teaching we owe the recognition of the  
noble aspirations embodied in every form
 of religion1 and the destruction of the
 ancient monopoly of divine             
influences499       99 ,leslie          
,stephens's ,freetkinking and ,plain    
,speaking4  ,those who1 in storm and    
stress1 bring truth into the world may  
not be able to complete its triumph1 but
 it makes its own way1 and finally      
conquers the understanding of mankind4  
,priestley1 without fortune1 with only  
the slender income of a ,unitarian      
minister1 created and kept up a chemical
 laboratory4 ,there alone he discovered 
oxygen4 ,few regarded him1 few applauded
 him2 only a few ,parisian philosophers 
thanked him4 ,he had no disciples to    
spread his new truth4 ,he was not even  
tolerated in the town which he endowed  
with the fame of his priceless          
discovery4 ,his house was burnt by a    
,church-and-,king mob2 his instruments1 
books1 and manuscripts destroyed2 and he

 had to seek his fortune in a foreign   
land4  ,yet what has come out of his    
discovery8 ,it has become part of the   
civilisation of the world1 and mankind  
owe more to him than they yet           
understand4  ,when a young man1 he      
forsook the ,calvinism in which he was  
reared4 ,i came1 he said1 to embrace    
what is called heterodox views on every 
question499 ,he cared for this world as 
well as for another1 and hence was      
distrusted by all true believers4       
,though he had spiritual hopes1 he      
agreed that he should be called a       
materialist4  ,we have now had 7#ahie7 a
 ,london ,reform ,sunday1 more than two 
hundred and fifty 7one list gave four   
hundred7 preachers of all denominations 
taking for their unprecedented text1    
,the ,duties and ,responsibilities of   
,citizenship1--a thing the most sanguine
 deemed incredible when suggested by me 
in #ahed49999 ,within twenty years ,dr4 
,felix ,adler has founded noble ,ethical
 ,societies4 ,dr4 ,stanton ,coit is     

extending them in ,great ,britain4 ,they
 are ,secularist societies in their     
nature4 ,south ,place ,chapel now has   
taken the name of ,ethical ,society4    
,since the days of ,w4 ,j4 ,fox1 who    
first made it famous1 it has been the   
only successor in ,london of the ,moral 
,church opened by ,thomas ,holcroft4    
99 ,see ,chambers's ,encyclopaedia      
7#ahhh72 article3 ,priestley4       9999
 ,we have now a ,museum ,sunday4 ,even  
twenty years ago those      who         
advocated the ,sunday opening of museums
 were counted      irreverent and beyond
 the pale of grace4   ,their opening is 
now legalised 7#ahif74  ,though modern  
,secular societies1 to which these pages
 relate1 have been anti-theological     
mainly1 the ,secular ,society of        
,leicester is a distinguished exception4
 ,it has long had a noble hall of its   
own1 and from the earliest inception of 
,secularism it has been consistent and  
persistent in its principles4 ,as stated
 elsewhere199 the ,principles of        

,secularism were submitted to ,john     
,stuart ,mill in #ahed1 and his approval
 was of importance in the eyes of their 
advocates4 ,in the first issue of       
,chambers's ,encyclopaedia a special    
article appeared upon these views1 and  
in the later issue of that work in #ahhh
 a new article was written on           
,secularism4 ,in the ,rev4 ,dr4         
,molesworth's ,history of ,england a    
very clear account was given of the rise
 of ,secularist opinions4 ,this will be 
sufficient information for readers      
unacquainted with the subject4       99 
,sixty ,years of an ,agitator's ,life1  
,chap4 ,,cx4  ,the cause of reason has  
had more to confront than the cause of  
,christianity1 which has always been on 
the side of power since the days of     
,christ4 ,the two most influential ideas
 which1 in every age since ,christianity
 arose1 have given it currency among the
 ignorant and the credulous1 have been  
the ideas of ,hell and prayer4 ,hell has
 been the terror1 and prayer the bribe1 

which have won the allegiance of the    
timid and the needy4 ,these two master  
passions of alarm and despair have      
brought the unfortunate portions of     
mankind to the foot of the ,cross4  ,the
 cause of reason has no advantages of   
this nature1 and only the intelligent   
have confidence in its progress4 ,if we 
have expected to do more than we have1  
we are not the only party who have been 
prematurely sanguine4 ,the ,rev4 ,david 
,bogue1 preaching in ,whitfield's       
,tabernacle1 ,tottenham-,court ,road1 at
 the foundation of the ,foreign         
,missionary ,society 7#agij7 of the     
,congregational denomination1 exclaimed 
amid almost unequalled enthusiasm3 ,we  
are called together this evening to the 
funeral of bigotry4 ,judging from what  
has happened since1 bigotry was not dead
 when its funeral was prepared1 or it   
was not effectually buried1 as it has   
been seen much about since that day4    
,bigotry1 like ,charles ,,ii41 takes an 
unconscionable time in dying4 ,down to  

,sir ,charles ,lyell's days1 so harmless
 a study as geology was distrusted1 and 
,lyell1 like ,priestley1 had to seek    
auditors in ,america4 ,while he lectured
 at ,boston to #a1ejj persons1 #b1jjj   
more were unable to obtain tickets1     
which were bought at a guinea each      
extra4 ,at our great ancient seat of    
learning1 ,oxford1 ,buckland lectured on
 the same interesting subject to an     
audience of three4  ,secularism keeps   
the lamp of free thought burning by     
aiding and honoring all who would infuse
 an ethical passion into those who lead 
the growing army of independent         
thinkers4 ,our lamp is not yet a large  
one1 and its supply of oil is limited by
 ,christian law2 but1 like the fire in  
the ,temple of ,montezuma1 we keep it   
burning4 ,in all the centuries since the
 torch of free thought was first        
lighted1 though often threatened1 often 
assailed1 often dimned1 it has never    
been extinguished4 ,we could not hope to
 captivate society by splendid edifices1

 nor many cultivated advocates2 but     
truth of principle will penetrate where 
those who maintain it will never be seen
 and never heard4 ,the day cometh when  
other torches will be lighted at the    
obscure fire1 which1 borne aloft by     
other and stronger hands1 will shed     
lasting illumination where otherwise    
darkness would permanently prevail4 ,as 
,elizabeth ,barrett ,browning has said3 
,truth is like sacramental bread1--we   
must pass it on4     ,,secularist       
,,ceremonies4       ,death is the       
decisive test of the value of the       
education      and morality of society2 
,secular funerals are the symbol of     
the social renovation4       --,j4 ,p4  
,proudhon4  ,,certain ceremonies are    
common to all human society1 and should 
be consistent with the opinions of those
 in whose name the ceremonies take      
place4 ,the marriage service of the     
,church contains things no bride could  
hear without a blush1 if she understood 
them2 and the ,burial ,service includes 

statements the minister ought to know to
 be untrue1 and by which the sadness of 
death is desecrated4 ,the ,secularist   
naturally seeks other forms of speech4  
,it being a principle of ,secularism to 
endeavor to replace what it deems bad by
 something better--or more consistent   
with its profession--the following      
addresses are given4 ,other hands may   
supply happier examples2 but1 in the    
meantime1 these which follow may meet   
with the needs of those who have no one 
at hand to speak for them1 and are not  
accustomed to speak for themselves4     
,,on ,,marriage4  ,marriage involves    
several things of which few persons     
think beforehand1 and which it is useful
 to call their attention to at this     
time4 ,the bridegroom1 by the act of    
marriage1 professes that he has chosen  
out of all the women of the world1 known
 to him1 the one to whom he will be     
faithful while life shall last4 ,he     
declares the bride to be his preference1
 and1 whoever he may see hereafter1 or  

like1 or love1 the door of association  
shall be shut upon them in his heart for
 ever4 ,the bride1 on her part1 declares
 and promises the same things4 ,the     
belief in each other's perfection is the
 most beautiful illusion of love4       
,sometimes the illusion happily         
continues during life4 ,it may          
happen--it does happen sometimes--that  
each discovers that the other is not    
perfect4 ,the ,quaker's advice was3     
,open your eyes wide before marriage1   
but shut them afterwards4 ,those who    
have neglected the first part of this   
counsel will still profit by observing  
the second4 ,let those who will look    
about1 and put tormenting constructions 
on innocent acts3 beware of jealousy1   
which kills more happiness than ever    
,love created4  ,the result of marriage 
is usually offspring1 when society will 
have imposed upon it an addition to its 
number4 ,it is necessary for the credit 
of the parents1 as well as for the      
welfare of the children1 that they      

should be born healthy1 reared healthy1 
and be well educated2 so that they may  
be strong and intelligent when the time 
comes for them to encounter1 for        
themselves1 the vicissitudes of life4   
,those who marry are considered to      
foreknow and to foresee these duties1   
and to pledge themselves to do the best 
in their power to discharge them4  ,in  
the meantime1 and ever afterwards1 let  
love reign between you4 ,and remember   
the minister of ,love is deference      
towards each other4 ,ceremonial manners 
are conducive to affection4 ,love is not
 a business1 but the permanence of love 
is a business4  ,unless there are good  
humor1 patience1 pleasantness1          
discretion1 and forbearance1 love will  
cease4 ,those who expect perfection will
 lose happiness4 ,a wise tolerance is   
the sunshine of love1 and they who      
maintain the sentiment will come to     
count their marriage the beginning of   
the brightness of life4     ,,naming    
,,children4  ,in naming children it is  

well to avoid names whose associations  
pledge the child1 without its consent1  
to some line of action it may have no   
mind to1 or capacity for1 when grown up4
 ,a child called ,brutus would be       
expected to stab ,caesar--and the       
,caesars are always about4 ,the name    
,washington destroyed a politician of   
promise who bore it4 ,he could never    
live up to it4 ,a name should be a      
pleasant mark to be known by1 not a     
badge to be borne4  ,in formally naming 
a child it is the parents alone to whom 
useful words can be addressed4          
,heredity1 which means qualities derived
 from parentage1 is a prophecy of life4 
,therefore let parents render themselves
 as perfect in health1 as wise in mind1 
and as self-respecting in manners as    
they can2 for their qualities in some   
degree will appear in their offspring4  
,one advantage of children is that they 
contribute unconsciously to the         
education of parents4 ,no parents of    
sense can fail to see that children are 

as imitative as monkeys1 and have better
 memories4 ,not only do they imitate    
actions1 but repeat forms of expression1
 and will remember them ever after4 ,the
 manners of parents become more or less 
part of the manners and mind of the     
child4 ,sensible parents1 seeing this1  
will put a guard upon their conduct and 
speech1 so that their example in act and
 word may be a store-house of manners   
and taste from which their children may 
draw wisdom in conduct and speech4 ,the 
minds of children are as photographic   
plates on which parents are always      
printing something which will be        
indelibly visible in future days4       
,therefore the society1 the             
surroundings1 the teachers of the child1
 so far as the parents can control them1
 should be well chosen1 in order that   
the name borne by the young shall       
command respect when their time comes to
 play a part in the drama of life4 ,to  
this end a child should be taught to    
take care what he promises1 and that    

when he has given his promise he has to 
keep it1 for he whose word is not to be 
trusted is always suspected1 and his    
opinion is not sought by others1 or is  
disregarded when uttered4 ,a child      
should early learn that debt is         
dependence1 and the habit of it is the  
meanness of living upon loans4 ,there   
can be no independence1 no reliance upon
 the character of any one1 who will buy 
without the means of payment1 or who    
lives beyond his income4 ,such persons  
intend to live on the income of some one
 else1 and do it whether they intend it 
or not4 ,he alone can be independent who
 trusts to himself for advancement4 ,no 
one ought to be helped forward who does 
not possess this quality1 or will not   
put his hand to any honest work open to 
him4 ,beware of the child who has too   
much pride to do what he can for his own
 support1 but has not too much pride to 
live upon his parents1 or upon friends4 
,such pride is idleness1 or             
thoughtlessness1 or both1 unless illness

 causes the inability4  ,since offspring
 have to be trained in health and       
educated in the understanding1 there    
must not be many in the family unless   
the parents have property4 ,the poor    
cannot afford to have many children if  
they intend to do their duty by them4   
,it is immoral in the rich to have many 
because the example is bad1 and because 
they are sooner or later quartered upon 
the people to keep them2 or1 if they are
 provided for by their parents1 they are
 under no obligation to do anything for 
themselves1 which is neither good for   
them nor good for the community1 to     
which they contribute nothing4          
,believing this child will be trained by
 its parents to be an honor to them1 and
 a welcome addition to the family of    
humanity1 it is publicly named with     
pleasure4     ,,over ,,the ,,dead4      
,i4----,,reading ,,at ,a ,,grave4       
,esdras and ,uriel1  ,an argument in    
which the ,prophet speaks as a          
,secularist4  ,and the angel that was   

sent unto me1 whose name was ,uriel1    
said3--,i am sent to show thee three    
ways1 and to set forth three similitudes
 before thee3 whereof1 if thou canst    
declare me one1 ,i will show thee also  
the way that thou desirest to see4444   
,and ,i said1 ,tell on1 my ,lord4  ,then
 said he unto me1 ,go thy way2 weigh me 
the weight of the fire1 or measure me   
the blast of the wind1 or call me again 
the day that is past4  ,then answered ,i
 and said1 ,what man is able to do that1
 that thou shouldest ask such things of 
me8  ,and he said unto me1 ,if ,i should
 ask thee how great dwellings are in the
 midst of the sea1 or how many springs  
are in the beginning of the deep1 or how
 many springs are above the firmament1  
or which are the outgoings of ,paradise1
 peradventure thou wouldst say unto me1 
,i never went down into the deep1 nor as
 yet into ,hell1 neither did ,i ever    
climb up into ,heaven4  ,nevertheless1  
now have ,i asked thee but only of the  
fire1 and wind1 and of the day          

wherethrough thou hast passed1 and of   
things from which thou canst not be     
separated1 and yet canst thou give me no
 answer of them4  ,he said1 moreover1   
unto me1 ,thine own things1 and such as 
are grown up with thee1 canst thou not  
know8 ,how should thy vessel1 then1 be  
able to comprehend the way of the       
,highest84444  ,then said ,i unto him1  
,it were better that we were not at all 
than that we should live still in       
wickedness and to suffer1 and not to    
know wherefor4  ,he answered me and     
said1 ,i went into a forest1 into a     
plain1 and the trees took counsel1 and  
said1 ,come1 let us go and make war     
against the sea1 that it may depart away
 before us1 and that we may make us more
 woods4  ,the floods of the sea also in 
like manner took counsel1 and said1     
,come1 let us go up and subdue the woods
 of the plain3 that there also we may   
make us another country4  ,the thought  
of the wood was in vain1 for the fire   
came and consumed it4 ,the thought of   

the floods of the sea came likewise to  
nought1 for the sand stood up and       
stopped them4  ,if thou wert judge now  
betwixt these two1 whom wouldest thou   
begin to justify8 or whom wouldest thou 
condemn8  ,i answered1 and said1 ,verily
 it is a foolish thought that they both 
have devised2 for the ground is given   
unto the wood1 and the sea also hath his
 place to bear his floods4  ,then       
answered he me and said1 ,thou hast     
given a right judgment2 but why judgest 
thou not thyself also8 ,for like as the 
ground is given unto the woods1 and the 
sea to his floods1 even so they that    
dwell upon the earth may understand     
nothing but that which is upon the      
earth3 and he that dwelleth upon the    
heavens may only understand the things  
that are above the height of the        
heavens4  ,then answered ,i and said1 ,i
 beseech thee1 ,o ,lord1 let me have    
understanding4  ,for it was not my mind 
to be curious of the high things y but  
of such as pass by us daily4  ,harriet  

,martineau's ,hymn499       99 ,which   
may be sung where it can be so arranged4
  ,the only hymn known to me in which a 
,supreme ,cause is implied without being
 asserted or denied1 or the reader      
committed to belief in it4              
,beneath this starry arch      ,nought  
resteth or is still1      ,but all      
things hold their march      ,as if by  
one great will3      ,moves one1 move   
all3      ,hark to the footfall6        
,on1 on1 for ever6       ,yon sheaves   
were once but seed2      ,will ripens   
into deed4      ,as eave-drops swell the
 streams1      ,day-thoughts feed       
nightly dreams2      ,and sorrow        
tracketh wrong1      ,as echo follows   
song1      ,on1 on1 for ever6       ,by 
night1 like stars on high1      ,the    
hours reveal their train2      ,they    
whisper and go by2      ,i never watch  
in vain3      ,moves one1 move all3     
,hark to the footfall6      ,on1 on1 for
 ever6       ,they pass the cradle-head1
      ,and there a promise shed2        

,they pass the moist new grave1         
,and bid bright verdure wave2      ,they
 bear through every clime1      ,the    
harvests of all time1      ,on1 on1 for 
ever6  ,,ii4--,,at ,,the ,,grave ,,of ,a
 ,,child4  ,the death of a child is     
alone its parents' sorrow4 ,too young to
 know1 too innocent to fear1 its life is
 a smile and its death a sleep4 ,as the 
sun goes down before our eyes1 so a     
mother's love vanishes from the gaze of 
infancy1 and death1 like evening1 comes 
to it with quietness1 gentleness1 and   
rest4 ,we measure the loss of a child by
 the grief we feel4 ,when its love is   
gone1 its promise over1 and its prattle 
silent1 its fate excites the parents'   
tears2 but we forget that infancy1 like 
the rose1 is unconscious of the         
sweetness it sheds1 and it parts without
 pain from the pleasure it was too young
 to comprehend1 though engaging enough  
to give to others4 ,the death of a child
 is like the death of a day1 of which   
,george ,herbert sings3       ,sweet    

day1 so clear1 so calm1 so bright       
,bridal of the earth and sky2      ,the 
dew shall weep thy fall to-night--      
,for thou must die4  ,it is no          
consolation to say1 ,when a child dies  
it is taken from the sorrows of life4   
,yes6 it is taken from the sorrows of   
life1 and from its joys also4 ,when the 
young die they are taken away from the  
evil1 and from good as well4 ,what      
parents' love does not include the      
happiness of its offspring8 ,no6 we will
 not cheat ourselves4 ,death is a real  
loss to those who mourn1 and the world  
is never the same again to those who    
have wept by the grave of a child4      
,argument does not1 in that hour1 reach 
the heart4 ,it is human to weep1 and    
sympathy is the only medicine of great  
grief4 ,the sight of the empty shoe in  
the corner will efface the most relevant
 logic4 ,not all the preaching since    
,adam has made death other than death4  
,yet1 though sorrow cannot be checked at
 once by reason1 it may be chastened by 

it4 ,wisdom teaches that all human      
passions must be subordinate to the     
higher purposes of life4 ,we must no    
more abandon ourselves to grief than to 
vice4 ,the condition of life is the     
liability to vicissitude1 and1 while it 
is human to feel1 it is duty to endure4 
,the flowers fade1 and the stars go     
down1 and youth and loveliness vanish in
 the eternal change4 ,though we cannot  
but regret a vital loss1 it is wisdom to
 love all that is good for its own sake2
 to enjoy its presence fully1 but not to
 build on its continuance1 doing what we
 can to insure its continuance1 and     
bearing with fortitude its loss when it 
comes4 ,if the death of infancy teaches 
us this lesson1 the past may be a       
charmed memory1 with courage and dignity
 in it4  ,,iii4--,,men ,,or ,,women4    
,the science of life teaches us that    
while there is pain there is life4 ,it  
would seem1 therefore1 that death1 with 
silent and courteous step1 never comes  
save to the unconscious4 ,a niece of    

,franklin's1 known for her wit and      
consideration for others1 arrived at her
 last hour at the age of ninety-eight4  
,in her composure a friend gently       
touched her4 ,ah1 murmured the old lady1
 ,i was dying so beautifully when you   
brought me back6 ,but never mind1 my    
dear2 ,i shall try it again4 ,this      
bright resignation1 worthy of the niece 
of a philosopher1 is making its way in  
popular affection4  ,lord ,tennyson1    
when death came near to him1 wrote3     
,sunset and evening star1      ,and one 
clear call for me6      ,and may there  
be no moaning of the bar      ,when ,i  
put out to sea4       ,twilight and     
evening bell1      ,and after that the  
dark1      ,and may there be no sadness 
of farewell      ,when ,i embark4       
,there is just a touch of superstition  
in these genial lines4 ,he writes3      
,after death the dark4 ,how did he know 
that8 ,what evidence is there that the  
unknown land is dark8 ,why not light8   
,the unknown has no determinate or      

ascertained color4  ,where we know      
nothing1 neither priest nor poet has any
 right to speak as though he had        
knowledge4 ,improbability does not imply
 impossibility4 ,that which invests     
death with romantic interest is1 that it
 may be a venture on untried existence4 
,if a future state be true1 it will     
befall those who do not expect it as    
well as those who do4 ,another world1 if
 such there be1 will come most          
benefitingly and most agreeably to those
 who have qualified themselves for it1  
by having made the best use in their    
power of this4 ,by best use is meant the
 service of man4 ,desert consists alone 
in the service of others4 ,kindness and 
cheerfulness are the two virtues which  
most brighten human life4  ,wide-eyed   
philanthropy is not merely money-giving 
goodness1 but the wider kindness which  
aids the ascendancy of the right and    
minimises misery everywhere4  ,death    
teaches1 as nothing else does1 one      
useful lesson4 ,whatever affection or   

friendship we may have shown to one we  
have lost1 ,death brings to our memory  
countless acts of tenderness which we   
had neglected4 ,conscience makes us     
sensible of these omissions now it is   
too late to repair them4 ,but we can pay
 to the living what we think we owe to  
the dead2 whereby we transmute the dead 
we honor into benefactors of those they 
leave behind4 ,this is a useful form of 
consolation1 of which all survivors may 
avail themselves4  ,mrs4 ,ernestine     
,rose--a brave advocate of unfriended   
right--when age and infirmity brought   
her near to death1 recalled the perils  
and triumphs in which she had shared1   
the slave she had helped to set free    
from the bondage of ownership1 and the  
slave minds she had set free from the   
bondage of authority2 she was cheered1  
and exclaimed3 ,but ,i have lived4  ,the
 day will come when all around this     
grave shall meet death2 but it will be a
 proud hour if1 looking back upon a     
useful and generous past1 we each can   

say3 ,i have lived4  ,,iv4----,,on ,a   
,,career ,,of ,,public ,,usefulness4    
,in reasoning upon death no one has     
surpassed the argument of ,socrates1 who
 said3 ,death is one of two things3     
either the dead may be nothing and have 
no feeling--well1 then1 if there be no  
feeling1 but it be like sleep1 when the 
sleeper has no dream1 surely death would
 be a marvellous gain1 for thus all     
futurity appears to be nothing more than
 one night4 ,if1 on the other hand1     
death be a removal hence to another     
place1 and what is said be true1 that   
all the dead are there1 what greater    
blessing can there be than this8  ,sir  
,edwin ,arnold1 in his ,secret of       
,death1 writes3       ,nay1 but as when 
one layeth      ,his worn-out robes     
away1      ,and1 taking new ones1       
sayeth1      ',these will ,i wear       
to-day6'       ,so putteth by the spirit
      ,lightly its garb of flesh1       
,and passeth to inherit      ,a         
residence afresh4  ,this may be true1   

and there is no objection to it if it   
is4 ,but the pity is1 nobody seems to be
 sure about it4 ,at death we may mourn1 
but duty ceaseth not4 ,if we desist in  
endeavors for the right because a       
combatant falls at our side1 no battle  
will ever be won4 ,life1 ,mazzini used  
to say1 is a battle and a march4 ,those 
who serve others at their own peril are 
always in  battle4 ,let us honor them as
 they pass4 ,some of them have believed3
       ,though love repine and reason   
chafe1      ,there came a voice without 
reply--      ',tis man's perdition to be
 safe1      ,when for the truth he ought
 to die4'  ,they are of those who1 as   
another poet has said1 are not to be    
mourned1 but to be imitated499 ,the     
mystery of death is no greater than the 
mystery of life4 ,all that precedes our 
existence was unseen1 unimaginable1 and 
unknown to us4 ,what may succeed in the 
future is unprovable by philosopher or  
priest3       ,a flower above and the   
mould below3      ,and this is all that 

the mourners know49999  ,the ideal of   
life which gives calmness and confidence
 in death is the same in the mind of the
 wise ,christian as in the mind of the  
philosopher4 ,sydney ,smith says3 ,add  
to the power of discovering truth the   
desire of using it for the promotion of 
human happiness1 and you have the great 
end and object of our existence4999999  
,putting just intention into action1 a  
man fulfils the supreme duty of life1   
which casts out all fear of the future4 
99 ,w4 ,j4 ,linton4       9999 ,barry   
,cornwall4       999999  ,moral         
,philosophy4  ,a poet who thought to    
reconcile to their loss those whose     
lines have not fallen to them in        
pleasant places wrote3       ,a little  
rule1 a little sway1      ,a sunbeam on 
a winter's day1      ,is all the proud  
and mighty have      ,between the cradle
 and the grave4  ,this is not true2 the 
proud and mighty have rest at choice1   
and play at will4 ,the sunbeam is on    
them all their days4 ,between the cradle

 and the grave is the whole existence of
 man4 ,the splendid inheritance of the  
proud and mighty ought to be shared by  
all whose labor creates and makes       
possible the good fortune of those who  
toil not1 neither do they spin991 and   
whoever has sought to endow the         
industrious with liberty and            
intelligence1 with competence and       
leisure1 we may commit to the earth in  
the sure and certain hope that they     
deserve well1 and will fare well1 in any
 land of the leal to which mankind may  
go4