e saints that of familiars, and the Devil; that
of executioner, and you have a very fair idea of the Christian Day of
Judgment.

"Day," we presume, must not be taken too literally. The Mohammedans
believe the Great Assize will last thousands of years. In that case the
people who are fond of hearing trials will have a fine time, until their
own turn comes. After all, even the Mohammedan computation seems
too slender. To say nothing of the scientific antiquity of man, and
reckoning according to the Bible chronology, about two hundred thousand
million souls have passed into eternity already, and the Lord knows how
many more will join them. Imagination fails in conceiving the time it
would take to try all that multitude, especially if there are a good
number of Tichborne cases. Besides, the whole thing seems unfair. Those
who get a ticket for heaven at the end of the Day will enjoy a few
thousand years less of bliss than the more fortunate ones who came
early; and those who get a ticket for hell in the first hour will suffer
a few thousand years of torture more than those who are sentenced at the
finish.

The criterion at the Day of Judgment will be Faith. That is a difficult
virtue to wise men, and an easy one to fools. The ninnies, therefore,
will have the best chance. This must be very consoling to mankind if
Carlyle's estimate of England's population--"thirty millions, mostly
fools"--may be extended to the rest of the world.

All who have faith enough to secure a seat in heaven are called "sheep,"
and they could not be labelled better. All the others are called
"goats," that is, lusty, strong-legged fellows who despise the game of
follow-my-leader, who object to walking along the road made for them,
and are always leaping the fence to see what is on the other side. There
was war in heaven once, we are told, but that was before Satan and his
crew were kicked out. There will never be war in heaven again. Jesus
Christ will easily be able to manage his sheep. But the Devil will have
a tougher job with his goats. There will always be a kingdom in heaven,
but ten to one there will be a republic in hell.

Christianity says we are to be saved by faith. Our view is different.
Men are saved by thinking and acting. While Christian monks were trying
to degrade men below the level of brutes, some unknown Secularists
invented windmills and glass windows. While the Inquisition was
exterminating heresy and purifying the faith, Gali