ut the circumstances of his decease, the absolute fact is that, as
he lived a good life after its kind, he died calmly, philosophically, as
became him. He served the embryo Union with the most precious service,
a service that every man, woman, and child in the thirty-eight States
is to some extent receiving the benefit of to-day, and I for one here
cheerfully and reverently throw one pebble on the cairn of his memory."

We are content to let the reader decide between Whitman and the
_Athenoum_ critic in their respective estimates of him who wrote, and as
we think acted up to it--"All the world is my country, and to do good my
religion."

THE GOSPEL OF FREETHOUGHT.

(August, 1882.)

Christians are perpetually crying that we destroy and never build up.
Nothing could be more false, for all negation has a positive side, and
we cannot deny error without affirming truth. But even if it were true,
it would not lessen the value of our work. You must clear the ground
before you can build, and plough before you sow. Splendor gives no
strength to an edifice whose foundations are treacherous, nor can a
harvest be reaped from fields unprepared for the seed.

Freethought is, in this respect, like a skilful physician, whose
function it is to expel disease and leave the patient sound and well. No
sick man claims that the doctor shall supply him with something in place
of his malady. It is enough that the enemy of his health is driven out.
He is then in a position to act for himself. He has legs to walk with, a
brain to devise, and hands to execute his will. What more does he need?
What more can he ask without declaring himself a weakling or a fool? So
it is with superstition, the deadliest disease of the mind. Free-thought
casts it out, with its blindness and its terrors, and leaves the mind
clear and free. All nature is then before us to study and enjoy.
Truth shines on us with celestial light, Goodness smiles on our best
endeavors, and Beauty thrills our senses and kindles our imagination
with the subtle magic of her charms.

What a boon it is to think freely, to let the intellect dart out in
quest of truth at every point of the compass, to feel the delight of
the chase and the gladness of capture! What a noble privilege to pour
treasures of knowledge into the crucible of the brain, and separate gold
from the dross!

The Freethinker takes nothing on trust, if he can help it; he dissects,
analyses, and proves everyt