d vague fear, and blind
hope. It is the spirit of worship that elevates the one and degrades
the many; and manacles even its own hands. The spirit of worship is
the spirit of tyranny. The worshiper always regrets that he is not the
worshiped. We should all remember that the intellect has no knees, and
that whatever the attitude of the body may be, the brave soul is always
found erect. Whoever worships, abdicates. Whoever believes, at the
commands of power, tramples his own individuality beneath his feet, and
voluntarily robs himself of all that renders man superior to brute.

The despotism of faith is justified upon the ground that Christian
countries are the grandest and most prosperous of the world. At one
time the same thing could have been truly said in India, in Egypt, in
Greece, in Rome, and in every country that has in the history of the
world, swept to empire. This argument proves too much not only, but
the assumption upon which it is based is utterly false. Numberless
circumstances and countless conditions have produced the prosperity of
the Christian world. The truth is that we have advanced in spite of
religious zeal, ignorance, and opposition. The church has won no
victories for the rights of man. Over every fortress of tyranny has
waved, and still waves, the banner of the church. Wherever brave blood
has been shed the sword of the church has been wet. On every chain has
been the sign of the cross. The alter and the throne have leaned
against and supported each other. Who can appreciate the infinite
impudence of one man assuming to think for others? Who can imagine the
impudence of a church that threatens to inflict eternal punishment upon
those who honestly reject its claims and scorn its pretensions? In the
presence of the unknown we have all an equal right to guess.

Over the vast plain called life we are all travelers, and not one
traveler is perfectly certain that he is going in the right direction.
True it is that no other plain is so well supplied with guideboards. At
every turn and crossing you find them, and upon each one is written the
exact direction and distance. One great trouble is, however, that
these boards are all different, and the result is that most travelers
are confused in proportion to the number they read. Thousands of
people are around each of these signs, and each one is doing his best
to convince the traveler that his particular board is the only one upon
which t