ents are
clamorous for payment, and contrive to accumulate immense sums of the
filthy lucre which they affect to despise.

This accommodating fiend is the _bete noir_ of the clergy. They are
always on his track, or rather he is on theirs. They help us to dodge
him, to get out of his way, to be from home when he calls, to escape his
meshes, to frustrate his wiles, to save our souls alive--O. "Here you
are," they say, "he's coming down the street. We are just running an
escape party. If you want to keep out of Hell, come and join us. Don't
ask questions. There's no time for that. Hurry up, or you'll be left
behind." And when the party turns the corner the clergy say, "Ah, that
was a narrow escape. Some of you had a very close shave." And the next
morning a collector calls for a subscription for the gentleman who saved
you from the Devil.

Nearly fifty thousand gentlemen are engaged in this line of business,
to say nothing of the Salvation Army. Fifty thousand Devil Dodgers! And
this in England alone. If we include Europe, America, South Africa, and
Australia, there are hundreds of thousands of them, maintained at the
expense of probably a hundred millions a year. Yet the Devil is not
outwitted. Mr. Spurgeon says he is as successful as ever; and, to use
Mr. Stead's expression, Spurgeon has "tips from God."

By their own confession, therefore, the Devil Dodgers are perfectly
useless. They take our money, but they do little else. Honesty would
make them disband. But they will never do that. They will have to be
cashiered, or starved out by cutting off the supplies. The real truth
is, they never _were_ useful. They were always parasites. They gained
their livings by false pretences. They dodged an imaginary enemy. The
Devil is played out in educated circles. Presently he will be laughed at
by everybody. Then the people will dismiss the priests, and there will
be and end of Devil Dodgers.

FIGHTING SPOOKS.

"Spooks" means ghosts, sprites, goblins, and other such phantasms. The
word is not yet endenizened in England, but it will probably take
out letters of naturalisation here, settle down, and become a very
respectable member of the English vocabulary.

Twelve months ago I met an American in London, who told me that he was a
Freethinker, but he did not trouble himself about Freethought. His mind
was made up on the supernatural, and he did not care to spend his
time in "fighting spooks." That is, being emancipated