rality is the harmony and proportion of conduct--
the music of life. Man continually seeks to better his condition
--not because he is immortal--but because he is capable of grief
and pain, because he seeks for happiness. Man wishes to respect
himself and to gain the respect of others. The brain wants light,
the heart wants love. Growth is natural. The struggle to overcome
temptation, to be good and noble, brave and sincere, to reach, if
possible, the perfect, is no evidence of the immortality of the
soul or of the existence of other worlds. Men live to excel, to
become distinguished, to enjoy, and so they strive, each in his
own way, to gain the ends desired.

_Question_. Do you believe that the race is growing moral or
immoral?

_Answer_. The world is growing better. There is more real liberty,
more thought, more intelligence than ever before. The world was
never so charitable or generous as now. We do not put honest
debtors in prison, we no longer believe in torture. Punishments
are less severe. We place a higher value on human life. We are
far kinder to animals. To this, however, there is one terrible
exception. The vivisectors, those who cut, torture, and mutilate
in the name of science, disgrace our age. They excite the horror
and indignation of all good people. Leave out the actions of those
wretches, and animals are better treated than ever before. So
there is less beating of wives and whipping of children. The whip
in no longer found in the civilized home. Intelligent parents now
govern by kindness, love and reason. The standard of honor is
higher than ever. Contracts are more sacred, and men do nearer as
they agree. Man has more confidence in his fellow-man, and in the
goodness of human nature. Yes, the world is getting better, nobler
and grander every day. We are moving along the highway of progress
on our way to the Eden of the future.

_Question_. Are the doctrines of Agnosticism gaining ground, and
what, in your opinion, will be the future of the church?

_Answer_. The Agnostic is intellectually honest. He knows the
limitations of his mind. He is convinced that the questions of
origin and destiny cannot be answered by man. He knows that he
cannot answer these questions, and he is candid enough to say so.
The Agnostic has good mental manners. He does not call belief or
hope or wish, a demonstration. He knows the difference between
hope and belief--between belief and kn