the Inquisition, or a groan from the grave of
Calvin.

Another effort is being made to enslave a man. It is claimed that
every member of the church has solemnly agreed never to outgrow the
creed; that he has pledged himself to remain an intellectual dwarf.
Upon this condition the church agrees to save his soul, and he hands
over his brains to bind the bargain. Should a fact be found
inconsistent with the creed, he binds himself to deny the fact and
curse the finder. With scraps of dogmas and crumbs of doctrine, he
agrees that his soul shall be satisfied forever. What an intellectual
feast the confession of faith must be! It reminds one of the dinner
described by Sidney Smith, where everything was cold except the water,
and everything sour except the vinegar.

Every member of a church promises to remain orthodox, that is to
say--stationary. Growth is heresy. Orthodox ideas are the feathers
that have been molted by the eagle of progress. They are the dead
leaves under the majestic palm; while heresy is the bud and blossom at
the top.

Imagine a vine that grows at one end and decays at the other. The end
that grows is heresy; the end that rots is orthodox. The dead are
orthodox, and your cemetery is the most perfect type of a well
regulated church. No thought, no progress, no heresy there. Slowly
and silently, side by side, the satisfied members peacefully decay.
There is only this difference--the dead do not persecute.

And what does a trial for heresy mean? It means that the church says
to a heretic, "Believe as I do, or I will withdraw my support; I will
not employ you; I will pursue you until your garments are rags; until
your children cry for bread; until your cheeks are furrowed with tears.
I will hunt you to the very portals of the tomb, and then my God will
do the rest. I will not imprison you. I will not burn you. The law
prevents my doing that. I helped make the law, not, however, to
protect you, nor deprive me of the right to exterminate you, but in
order to keep other churches from exterminating me."

A trial for heresy means that the spirit of persecution still lingers
in the church; that it still denies the right of private judgment; that
it still thinks more of creed than truth; that it is still determined
to prevent the intellectual growth of man. It means that churches are
shambles in which are bought and sold the souls of men. It means that
the church is still guilty of the barbarity