{
  "schema": "tga.work.v1",
  "identifier": "dresden:vol-4:how-to-reform-mankind",
  "slug": "how-to-reform-mankind",
  "title": "How to Reform Mankind",
  "subtitle": "There is no darkness but ignorance.",
  "excerpt": "An address to the Militant Church of Chicago on the actual, material conditions that must change before mankind can be reformed — not more sermons, but more houses, better wages, and schools.",
  "year": 1896,
  "volume": 4,
  "category": "Address",
  "author": {
    "name": "Robert G. Ingersoll",
    "wikidata": "Q360326",
    "viaf": "44331023"
  },
  "isPartOf": {
    "title": "The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll",
    "edition": "Dresden Edition",
    "publisher": "C. P. Farrell",
    "year": 1900
  },
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/",
  "url": "https://thegreatagnostic.com/works/how-to-reform-mankind/",
  "wordCount": 7952,
  "body": "• This address was delivered before the Militant Church at\n    the Columbia Theatre, Chicago, Ills., April 12, 1896.\n\nI.\n\n\"THERE is no darkness but ignorance.\" Every human being is a necessary\nproduct of conditions, and every one is born with defects for which\nhe cannot be held responsible. Nature seems to care nothing for the\nindividual, nothing for the species.\n\nLife pursuing life and in its turn pursued by death, presses to the snow\nline of the possible, and every form of life, of instinct, thought and\naction is fixed and determined by conditions, by countless antecedent\nand co-existing facts. The present is the child, and the necessary\nchild, of all the past, and the mother of all the future.\n\nEvery human being longs to be happy, to satisfy the wants of the body\nwith food, with roof and raiment, and to feed the hunger of the mind,\naccording to his capacity, with love, wisdom, philosophy, art and song.\n\nThe wants of the savage are few; but with civilization the wants of the\nbody increase, the intellectual horizon widens and the brain demands\nmore and more.\n\nThe savage feels, but scarcely thinks. The passion of the savage is\nuninfluenced by his thought, while the thought of the philosopher is\nuninfluenced by passion. Children have wants and passions before they\nare capable of reasoning. So, in the infancy of the race, wants and\npassions dominate.\n\nThe savage was controlled by appearances, by impressions; he was\nmentally weak, mentally indolent, and his mind pursued the path of least\nresistance. Things were to him as they appeared to be. He was a natural\nbeliever in the supernatural, and, finding himself beset by dangers and\nevils, he sought in many ways the aid of unseen powers. His children\nfollowed his example, and for many ages, in many lands, millions and\nmillions of human beings, many of them the kindest and the best, asked\nfor supernatural help. Countless altars and temples have been built,\nand the supernatural has been worshiped with sacrifice and song, with\nself-denial, ceremony, thankfulness and prayer.\n\nDuring all these ages, the brain of man was being slowly and painfully\ndeveloped. Gradually mind came to the assistance of muscle, and thought\nbecame the friend of labor. Man has advanced just in the proportion that\nhe has mingled thought with his work, just in the proportion that he has\nsucceeded in getting his head and hands into partnership. All this was\nthe result of experience.\n\nNature, generous and heartless, extravagant and miserly as she is, is\nour mother and our only teacher, and she is also the deceiver of men.\nAbove her we cannot rise, below her we cannot fall. In her we find\nthe seed and soil of all that is good, of all that is evil. Nature\noriginates, nourishes, preserves and destroys.\n\nGood deeds bear fruit, and in the fruit are seeds that in their turn\nbear fruit and seeds. Great thoughts are never lost, and words of\nkindness do not perish from the earth.\n\nEvery brain is a field where nature sows the seeds of thought, and the\ncrop depends upon the soil.\n\nEvery flower that gives its fragrance to the wandering air leaves\nits influence on the soul of man. The wheel and swoop of the winged\ncreatures of the air suggest the flowing lines of subtle art. The\nroar and murmur of the restless sea, the cataract's solemn chant, the\nthunder's voice, the happy babble of the brook, the whispering leaves,\nthe thrilling notes of mating birds, the sighing winds, taught man to\npour his heart in song and gave a voice to grief and hope, to love and\ndeath.\n\nIn all that is, in mountain range and billowed plain, in winding stream\nand desert sand, in cloud and star, in snow and rain, in calm and storm,\nin night and day, in woods and vales, in all the colors of divided\nlight, in all there is of growth and life, decay and death, in all that\nflies and floats and swims, in all that moves, in all the forms and\nqualities of things, man found the seeds and symbols of his thoughts;\nand all that man has wrought becomes a part of nature's self, forming\nthe lives of those to be. The marbles of the Greeks, like strains of\nmusic, suggest the perfect, and teach the melody of life. The great\npoems, paintings, inventions, theories and philosophies, enlarge\nand mould the mind of man. All that is is natural. All is naturally\nproduced. Beyond the horizon of the natural man cannot go.\n\nYet, for many ages, man in all directions has relied upon, and sincerely\nbelieved in, the existence of the supernatural. He did not believe in\nthe uniformity of nature; he had no conception of cause and effect, of\nthe indestructibility of force.\n\nIn medicine he believed in charms, magic, amulets, and incantations. It\nnever occurred to the savage that diseases were natural.\n\nIn chemistry he sought for the elixir of life, for the philosopher's\nstone, and for some way of changing the baser metals into gold.\n\nIn mechanics he searched for perpetual motion, believing that he, by\nsome curious combinations of levers, could produce, could create a\nforce.\n\nIn government, he found the source of authority in the will of the\nsupernatural.\n\nFor many centuries his only conception of morality was the idea of\nobedience, not to facts as they exist in nature, but to the supposed\ncommand of some being superior to nature. During all these years\nreligion consisted in the praise and worship of the invisible and\ninfinite, of some vast and incomprehensible power, that is to say, of\nthe supernatural.\n\nBy experience, by experiment, possibly by accident, man found that some\ndiseases could be cured by natural means; that he could be relieved in\nmany instances of pain by certain kinds of leaves or bark.\n\nThis was the beginning. Gradually his confidence increased in the\ndirection of the natural, and began to decrease in charms and amulets,\nThe war was waged for many centuries, but the natural gained the\nvictory. Now we know that all diseases are naturally produced, and that\nall remedies, all curatives, act in accordance with the facts in nature.\nNow we know that charms, magic, amulets and incantations are just\nas useless in the practice of medicine as they would be in solving\na problem in mathematics. We now know that there are no supernatural\nremedies.\n\nIn chemistry the war was long and bitter; but we now no longer seek\nfor the elixir of life, and no one is trying to find the philosopher's\nstone. We are satisfied that there is nothing supernatural in all the\nrealm of chemistry. We know that substances are always true to their\nnatures; we know that just so many atoms of one substance will\nunite with just so many of another. The miraculous has departed from\nchemistry; in that science there is no magic, no caprice and no possible\nuse for the supernatural. We are satisfied that there can be no change,\nthat we can absolutely rely on the uniformity of nature; that the\nattraction of gravitation will always remain the same; and we feel\nthat we know this as certainly as we know that the relation between the\ndiameter and circumference of a circle can never change.\n\nWe now know that in mechanics the natural is supreme. We know that man\ncan by no possibility create a force; that by no possibility can he\ndestroy a force. No mechanic dreams of depending upon or asking for\nany supernatural aid. He knows that he works in accordance with certain\nfacts that no power can change.\n\nSo we in the United States believe that the authority to govern, the\nauthority to make and execute laws, comes from the consent of the\ngoverned and not from any supernatural source. We do not believe that\nthe king occupied his throne because of the will of the supernatural.\nNeither do we believe that others are subjects or serfs or slaves by\nreason of any supernatural will.\n\nSo, our ideas of morality have changed, and millions now believe that\nwhatever produces happiness and well-being is in the highest sense\nmoral. Unreasoning obedience is not the foundation or the essence of\nmorality. That is the result of mental slavery. To act in accordance\nwith obligation perceived is to be free and noble. To simply obey is to\npractice what might be called a slave virtue; but real morality is the\nflower and fruit of liberty and wisdom.\n\nThere are very many who have reached the conclusion that the\nsupernatural has nothing to do with real religion. Religion does not\nconsist in believing without evidence or against evidence. It does not\nconsist in worshiping the unknown or in trying to do something for the\nInfinite. Ceremonies, prayers and inspired books, miracles, special\nprovidence, and divine interference all belong to the supernatural and\nform no part of real religion.\n\nEvery science rests on the natural, on demonstrated facts. So, morality\nand religion must find their foundations in the necessary nature of\nthings.\n\nII. How Can We Reform the World?\n\nIGNORANCE being darkness, what we need is intellectual light. The most\nimportant things to teach, as the basis of all progress, are that the\nuniverse is natural; that man must be the providence of man; that, by\nthe development of the brain, we can avoid some of the dangers, some of\nthe evils, overcome some of the obstructions, and take advantage of some\nof the facts and forces of nature; that, by invention and industry,\nwe can supply, to a reasonable degree, the wants of the body, and by\nthought, study and effort, we can in part satisfy the hunger of the\nmind.\n\nMan should cease to expect any aid from any supernatural source. By this\ntime he should be satisfied that worship has not created wealth, and\nthat prosperity is not the child of prayer. He should know that the\nsupernatural has not succored the oppressed, clothed the naked, fed\nthe hungry, shielded the innocent, stayed the pestilence, or freed the\nslave.\n\nBeing satisfied that the supernatural does not exist, man should turn\nhis entire attention to the affairs of this world, to the facts in\nnature.\n\nAnd, first of all, he should avoid waste—waste of energy, waste of\nwealth. Every good man, every good woman, should try to do away with\nwar, to stop the appeal to savage force. Man in a savage state relies\nupon his strength, and decides for himself what is right and what is\nwrong. Civilized men do not settle their differences by a resort to\narms. They submit the quarrel to arbitrators and courts. This is the\ngreat difference between the savage and the civilized. Nations, however,\nsustain the relations of savages to each other. There is no way of\nsettling their disputes. Each nation decides for itself, and each\nnation endeavors to carry its decision into effect. This produces war.\nThousands of men at this moment are trying to invent more deadly weapons\nto destroy their fellow-men. For eighteen hundred years peace has been\npreached, and yet the civilized nations are the most warlike of the\nworld. There are in Europe to-day between eleven and twelve millions of\nsoldiers, ready to take the field, and the frontiers of every civilized\nnation are protected by breastwork and fort. The sea is covered with\nsteel clad ships, filled with missiles of death.\n\nThe civilized world has impoverished itself, and the debt of\nChristendom, mostly for war, is now nearly thirty thousand million\ndollars. The interest on this vast sum has to be paid; it has to be paid\nby labor, much of it by the poor, by those who are compelled to deny\nthemselves almost the necessities of life. This debt is growing year by\nyear. There must come a change, or Christendom will become bankrupt.\n\nThe interest on this debt amounts at least to nine hundred million\ndollars a year; and the cost of supporting armies and navies, of\nrepairing ships, of manufacturing new engines of death, probably\namounts, including the interest on the debt, to at least six million\ndollars a day. Allowing ten hours for a day, that is for a working day,\nthe waste of war is at least six hundred thousand dollars an hour, that\nis to say, ten thousand dollars a minute.\n\nThink of all this being paid for the purpose of killing and preparing to\nkill our fellow-men. Think of the good that could be done with this vast\nsum of money; the schools that could be built, the wants that could\nbe supplied. Think of the homes it would build, the children it would\nclothe.\n\nIf we wish to do away with war, we must provide for the settlement of\nnational differences by an international court. This court should be\nin perpetual session; its members should be selected by the various\ngovernments to be affected by its decisions, and, at the command and\ndisposal of this court, the rest of Christendom being disarmed, there\nshould be a military force sufficient to carry its judgments into\neffect. There should be no other excuse, no other business for an army\nor a navy in the civilized world.\n\nNo man has imagination enough to paint the agonies, the horrors and\ncruelties of war. Think of sending shot and shell crashing through the\nbodies of men! Think of the widows and orphans! Think of the maimed, the\nmutilated, the mangled!\n\nIII. Another Waste.\n\nLET us be perfectly candid with each other. We are seeking the truth,\ntrying to find what ought to be done to increase the well-being of man.\nI must give you my honest thought. You have the right to demand it, and\nI must maintain the integrity of my soul.\n\nThere is another direction in which the wealth and energies of man are\nwasted. From the beginning of history until now man has been seeking the\naid of the supernatural. For many centuries the wealth of the world was\nused to propitiate the unseen powers. In our own country, the property\ndedicated to this purpose is worth at least one thousand million\ndollars. The interest on this sum is fifty million dollars a year, and\nthe cost of employing persons, whose business it is to seek the aid\nof the supernatural and to maintain the property, is certainly as much\nmore. So that the cost in our country is about two million dollars a\nweek, and, counting ten hours as a working day, this amounts to about\nfive hundred dollars a minute.\n\nFor this vast amount of money the returns are remarkably small. The good\naccomplished does not appear to be great. There is no great diminution\nin crime. The decrease of immorality and poverty is hardly perceptible.\nIn spite, however, of the apparent failure here, a vast sum of money\nis expended every year to carry our ideas of the supernatural to other\nraces. Our churches, for the most part, are closed during the week,\nbeing used only a part of one day in seven. No one wishes to destroy\nchurches or church organizations. The only desire is that they shall\naccomplish substantial good for the world. In many of our small\ntowns—towns of three or four thousand people—will be found four\nor five churches, sometimes more. These churches are founded upon\nimmaterial differences; a difference as to the mode of baptism; a\ndifference as to who shall be entitled to partake of the Lord's\nsupper; a difference of ceremony; of government; a difference about\nfore-ordination; a difference about fate and free will. And it must be\nadmitted that all the arguments on all sides of these differences have\nbeen presented countless millions of times. Upon these subjects nothing\nnew is produced or anticipated, and yet the discussion is maintained by\nthe repetition of the old arguments.\n\nNow, it seems to me that it would be far better for the people of a\ntown, having a population of four or five thousand, to have one church,\nand the edifice should be of use, not only on Sunday, but on every day\nof the week. In this building should be the library of the town.\nIt should be the clubhouse of the people, where they could find the\nprincipal newspapers and periodicals of the world. Its auditorium\nshould be like a theatre. Plays should be presented by home talent; an\norchestra formed, music cultivated. The people should meet there at any\ntime they desire. The women could carry their knitting and sewing; and\nconnected with it should be rooms for the playing of games, billiards,\ncards, and chess. Everything should be made as agreeable as possible.\nThe citizens should take pride in this building. They should adorn\nits niches with statues and its walls with pictures. It should be the\nintellectual centre. They could employ a gentleman of ability, possibly\nof genius, to address them on Sundays, on subjects that would be of real\ninterest, of real importance. They could say to this minister:\n\n\"We are engaged in business during the week; while we are working at our\ntrades and professions, we want you to study, and on Sunday tell us what\nyou have found out.\"\n\nLet such a minister take for a series of sermons the history, the\nphilosophy, the art and the genius of the Greeks. Let him tell of the\nwondrous metaphysics, myths and religions of India and Egypt. Let him\nmake his congregation conversant with the philosophies of the world,\nwith the great thinkers, the great poets, the great artists, the\ngreat actors, the great orators, the great inventors, the captains of\nindustry, the soldiers of progress. Let them have a Sunday school in\nwhich the children shall be made acquainted with the facts of nature;\nwith botany, entomology, something of geology and astronomy.\n\nLet them be made familiar with the greatest of poems, the finest\nparagraphs of literature, with stories of the heroic, the self-denying\nand generous.\n\nNow, it seems to me that such a congregation in a few years would become\nthe most intelligent people in the United States.\n\nThe truth is that people are tired of the old theories. They have lost\nconfidence in the miraculous, in the supernatural, and they have ceased\nto take interest in \"facts\" that they do not quite believe.\n    \"There is no darkness but ignorance.\"\n    There is no light but intelligence,\n\nAs often as we can exchange a mistake for a fact, a falsehood for a\ntruth, we advance. We add to the intellectual wealth of the world, and\nin this way, and in this way alone, can be laid the foundation for the\nfuture prosperity and civilization of the race.\n\nI blame no one; I call in question the motives of no person; I admit\nthat the world has acted as it must.\n\nBut hope for the future depends upon the intelligence of the present.\nMan must husband his resources. He must not waste his energies in\nendeavoring to accomplish the impossible.\n\nHe must take advantage of the forces of nature. He must depend on\neducation, on what he can ascertain by the use of his senses, by\nobservation, by experiment and reason. He must break the chains of\nprejudice and custom. He must be free to express his thoughts on all\nquestions. He must find the conditions of happiness and become wise\nenough to live in accordance with them.\n\nIV. How Can We Lessen Crime?\n\nIN spite of all that has been done for the reformation of the world, in\nspite of all the inventions, in spite of all the forces of nature that\nare now the tireless slaves of man, in spite of all improvements in\nagriculture, in mechanics, in every department of human labor, the world\nis still cursed with poverty and with crime.\n\nThe prisons are full, the courts are crowded, the officers of the law\nare busy, and there seems to be no material decrease in crime.\n\nFor many thousands of years man has endeavored to reform his fellow-men\nby imprisonment, torture, mutilation and death, and yet the history\nof the world shows that there has been and is no reforming power in\npunishment. It is impossible to make the penalty great enough, horrible\nenough to lessen crime.\n\nOnly a few years ago, in civilized countries, larceny and many offences\neven below larceny, were punished by death; and yet the number of\nthieves and criminals of all grades increased. Traitors were hanged and\nquartered or drawn into fragments by horses; and yet treason flourished.\n\nMost of these frightful laws have been repealed, and the repeal\ncertainly did not increase crime. In our own country we rely upon the\ngallows, the penitentiary and the jail. When a murder is committed, the\nman is hanged, shocked to death by electricity, or lynched, and in a few\nminutes a new murderer is ready to suffer a like fate. Men steal; they\nare sent to the penitentiary for a certain number of years, treated\nlike wild beasts, frequently tortured. At the end of the term they are\ndischarged, having only enough money to return to the place from which\nthey were sent. They are thrown upon the world without means—without\nfriends—they are convicts. They are shunned, suspected and despised.\nIf they obtain a place, they are discharged as soon as it is found that\nthey were in prison. They do the best they can to retain the respect of\ntheir fellow-men by denying their imprisonment and their identity. In\na little while, unable to gain a living by honest means, they resort\nto crime, they again appear in court, and again are taken within the\ndungeon walls. No reformation, no chance to reform, nothing to give them\nbread while making new friends.\n\nAll this is infamous. Men should not be sent to the pentitentiary as a\npunishment, because we must remember that men do as they must. Nature\ndoes not frequently produce the perfect. In the human race there is a\nlarge percentage of failures. Under certain conditions, with certain\nappetites and passions and with a certain quality, quantity and shape of\nbrain, men will become thieves, forgers and counterfeiters. The question\nis whether reformation is possible, whether a change can be produced\nin the person by producing a change in the conditions. The criminal\nis dangerous and society has the right to protect itself. The\ncriminal should be confined, and, if possible, should be reformed. A\npentitentiary should be a school; the convicts should be educated. So,\nprisoners should work, and they should be paid a reasonable sum for\ntheir labor. The best men should have charge of prisons. They should be\nphilanthropists and philosophers; they should know something of\nhuman nature. The prisoner, having been taught, we will say, for five\nyears—taught the underlying principles of conduct, of the naturalness\nand harmony of virtue, of the discord of crime; having been convinced\nthat society has no hatred, that nobody wishes to punish, to degrade,\nor to rob him; and being at the time of his discharge paid a reasonable\nprice for his labor; being allowed by law to change his name, so that\nhis identity will not be preserved, he could go out of the prison a\nfriend of the government. He would have the feeling that he had been\nmade a better man; that he had been treated with justice, with mercy,\nand the money he carried with him would be a breastwork behind which he\ncould defy temptation, a breastwork that would support and take care of\nhim until he could find some means by which to support himself. And this\nman, instead of making crime a business, would become a good, honorable\nand useful-citizen.\n\nAs it is now, there is but little reform. The same faces appear again\nand again at the bar; the same men hear again and again the verdict of\nguilty and the sentence of the court, and the same men return again and\nagain to the prison cell. Murderers, those belonging to the dangerous\nclasses, those who are so formed by nature that they rush to the crimes\nof desperation, should be imprisoned for life; or they should be put\nupon some island, some place where they can be guarded, where it may\nbe that by proper effort they could support themselves; the men on\none island, the women on another. And to these islands should be sent\nprofessional criminals, those who have deliberately adopted a life\nof crime for the purpose of supporting themselves, the women upon one\nisland, the men upon another. Such people should not populate the earth.\n\nNeither the diseases nor the deformities of the mind or body should be\nperpetuated. Life at the fountain should not be polluted.\n\nV. Homes for All.\n\nTHE home is the unit of the nation. The more homes the broader the\nfoundation of the nation and the more secure.\n\nEverything that is possible should be done to keep this from being\na nation of tenants. The men who cultivate the earth should own it.\nSomething has already been done in our country in that direction, and\nprobably in every State there is a homestead exemption. This exemption\nhas thus far done no harm to the creditor class. When we imprisoned\npeople for debt, debts were as insecure, to say the least, as now. By\nthe homestead laws, a home of a certain value or of a certain extent,\nis exempt from forced levy or sale; and these laws have done great good.\nUndoubtedly they have trebled the homes of the nation.\n\nI wish to go a step further. I want, if possible, to get the people\nout of the tenements, out of the gutters of degradation, to homes where\nthere can be privacy, where these people can feel that they are in\npartnership with nature; that they have an interest in good government.\nWith the means we now have of transportation, there is no necessity for\npoor people being huddled in festering masses in the vile, filthy and\nloathsome parts of cities, where poverty breeds rags, and the rags breed\ndiseases. I would exempt a homestead of a reasonable value, say of\nthe value of two or three thousand dollars, not only from sale under\nexecution, but from sale for taxes of every description. These homes\nshould be absolutely exempt; they should belong to the family, so that\nevery mother should feel that the roof above her head was hers; that\nher house was her castle, and that in its possession she could not be\ndisturbed, even by the nation. Under certain conditions I would allow\nthe sale of this homestead, and exempt the proceeds of the sale for a\ncertain time, during which they might be invested in another home; and\nall this could be done to make a nation of householders, a nation of\nland-owners, a nation of home-builders.\n\nI would invoke the same power to preserve these homes, and to acquire\nthese homes, that I would invoke for acquiring lands for building\nrailways. Every State should fix the amount of land that could be owned\nby an individual, not liable to be taken from him for the purpose of\ngiving a home to another, and when any man owned more acres than the law\nallowed, and another should ask to purchase them, and he should refuse,\nI would have the law so that the person wishing to purchase could file\nhis petition in court. The court would appoint commissioners, or a\njury would be called, to determine the value of the land the petitioner\nwished for a home, and, upon the amount being paid, found by such\ncommission, or jury, the land should vest absolutely in the petitioner.\n\nThis right of eminent domain should be used not only for the benefit\nof the person wishing a home, but for the benefit of all the people.\nNothing is more important to America than that the babes of America\nshould be born around the firesides of homes.\n\nThere is another question in which I take great interest, and it ought,\nin my judgment, to be answered by the intelligence and kindness of our\ncentury.\n\nWe all know that for many, many ages, men have been slaves, and we all\nknow that during all these years, women have, to some extent been the\nslaves of slaves. It is of the utmost importance to the human race that\nwomen, that mothers, should be free. Without doubt, the contract of\nmarriage is the most important and the most sacred that human beings can\nmake. Marriage is the most important of all institutions. Of course, the\nceremony of marriage is not the real marriage. It is only evidence\nof the mutual flames that burn within. There can be no real marriage\nwithout mutual love. So I believe in the ceremony of marriage, that it\nshould be public; that records should be kept. Besides, the ceremony\nsays to all the world that those who marry are in love with each other.\n\nThen arises the question of divorce. Millions of people imagine that the\nmarried are joined together by some supernatural power, and that they\nshould remain together, or at least married, during life. If all who\nhave been married were joined together by the supernatural, we must\nadmit that the supernatural is not infinitely wise.\n\nAfter all, marriage is a contract, and the parties to the contract are\nbound to keep its provisions; and neither should be released from such\na contract unless, in some way, the interests of society are involved.\nI would have the law so that any husband could obtain a divorce when the\nwife had persistently and flagrantly violated the contract; such divorce\nto be granted on equitable terms. I would give the wife a divorce if she\nrequested it, if she wanted it.\n\nAnd I would do this, not only for her sake, but for the sake of the\ncommunity, of the nation. All children should be children of love. All\nthat are born should be sincerely welcomed. The children of mothers\nwho dislike, or hate, or loathe the fathers, will fill the world with\ninsanity and crime. No woman should by law, or by public opinion,\nbe forced to live with a man whom she abhors. There is no danger of\ndemoralizing the world through divorce. Neither is there any danger of\ndestroying in the human heart that divine thing called love. As long as\nthe human race exists, men and women will love each other, and just so\nlong there will be true and perfect marriage. Slavery is not the soil or\nrain of virtue.\n\nI make a difference between granting divorce to a man and to a woman,\nand for this reason: A woman dowers her husband with her youth and\nbeauty. He should not be allowed to desert her because she has grown\nwrinkled and old. Her capital is gone; her prospects in life lessened;\nwhile, on the contrary, he may be far better able to succeed than when\nhe married her. As a rule, the man can take care of himself, and as a\nrule, the woman needs help. So, I would not allow him to cast her off\nunless she had flagrantly violated the contract. But, for the sake of\nthe community, and especially for the sake of the babes, I would give\nher a divorce for the asking.\n\nThere will never be a generation of great men until there has been a\ngeneration of free women—of free mothers.\n\nThe tenderest word in our language is maternity. In this word is the\ndivine mingling of ecstasy and agony—of love and self-sacrifice. This\nword is holy!\n\nVI. The Labor Question.\n\nHERE has been for many years ceaseless discussion upon what is called\nthe labor question; the conflict between the workingman and the\ncapitalist. Many ways have been devised, some experiments have been\ntried for the purpose of solving this question. Profit-sharing would\nnot work, because it is impossible to share profits with those who are\nincapable of sharing losses. Communities have been formed, the object\nbeing to pay the expenses and share the profits among all the persons\nbelonging to the society. For the most part these have failed.\n\nOthers have advocated arbitration. And, while it may be that the\nemployers could be bound by the decision of the arbitrators, there has\nbeen no way discovered by which the employees could be held by such\ndecision. In other words, the question has not been solved.\n\nFor my own part, I see no final and satisfactory solution except\nthrough the civilization of employers and employed. The question is so\ncomplicated, the ramifications are so countless, that a solution by law,\nor by force, seems at least improbable. Employers are supposed to\npay according to their profits. They may or may not. Profits may\nbe destroyed by competition. The employer is at the mercy of other\nemployers, and as much so as his employees are at his mercy. The\nemployers cannot govern prices; they cannot fix demand; they cannot\ncontrol supply; and at present, in the world of trade, the laws of\nsupply and demand, except when interfered with by conspiracy, are in\nabsolute control.\n\nWill the time arrive, and can it arrive, except by developing the brain,\nexcept by the aid of intellectual light, when the purchaser will wish to\ngive what a thing is worth, when the employer will be satisfied with a\nreasonable profit, when the employer will be anxious to give the real\nvalue for raw material; when he will be really anxious to pay the\nlaborer the full value of his labor? Will the employer ever become\ncivilized enough to know that the law of supply and demand should not\nabsolutely apply in the labor market of the world? Will he ever become\ncivilized enough not to take advantage of the necessities of the\npoor, of the hunger and rags and want of poverty? Will he ever become\ncivilized enough to say: \"I will pay the man who labors for me enough to\ngive him a reasonable support, enough for him to assist in taking care\nof wife and children, enough for him to do this, and lay aside something\nto feed and clothe him when old age comes; to lay aside something,\nenough to give him house and hearth during the December of his life, so\nthat he can warm his worn and shriveled hands at the fire of home\"?\n\nOf course, capital can do nothing without the assistance of labor. All\nthere is of value in the world is the product of labor. The laboring man\npays all the expenses. No matter whether taxes are laid on luxuries or\non the necessaries of life, labor pays every cent.\n\nSo we must remember that, day by day, labor is becoming intelligent.\nSo, I believe the employer is gradually becoming civilized, gradually\nbecoming kinder; and many men who have made large fortunes from the\nlabor of their fellows have given of their millions to what they\nregarded as objects of charity, or for the interests of education. This\nis a kind of penance, because the men that have made this money from\nthe brain and muscle of their fellow-men have ever felt that it was not\nquite their own. Many of these employers have sought to balance their\naccounts by leaving something for universities, for the establishment\nof libraries, drinking fountains, or to build monuments to departed\ngreatness. It would have been, I think, far better had they used this\nmoney to better the condition of the men who really earned it.\n\nSo, I think that when we become civilized, great corporations will make\nprovision for men who have given their lives to their service. I think\nthe great railroads should pay pensions to their worn out employees.\nThey should take care of them in old age. They should not maim and\nwear out their servants and then discharge them, and allow them to be\nsupported in poorhouses. These great companies should take care of the\nmen they maim; they should look out for the ones whose lives they have\nused and whose labor has been the foundation of their prosperity. Upon\nthis question, public sentiment should be aroused to such a degree that\nthese corporations would be ashamed to use a human life and then throw\naway the broken old man as they would cast aside a rotten tie.\n\nIt may be that the mechanics, the workingmen, will finally become\nintelligent enough to really unite, to act in absolute concert. Could\nthis be accomplished, then a reasonable rate of compensation could be\nfixed and enforced. Now such efforts are local, and the result up to\nthis time has been failure. But, if all could unite, they could obtain\nwhat is reasonable, what is just, and they would have the sympathy of a\nvery large majority of their fellow-men, provided they were reasonable.\n\nBut, before they can act in this way, they must become really\nintelligent, intelligent enough to know what is reasonable and honest\nenough to ask for no more.\n\nSo much has already been accomplished for the workingman that I have\nhope, and great hope, of the future. The hours of labor have been\nshortened, and materially shortened, in many countries. There was a time\nwhen men worked fifteen and sixteen hours a day. Now, generally, a day's\nwork is not longer than ten hours, and the tendency is to still further\ndecrease the hours.\n\nBy comparing long periods of time, we more clearly perceive the advance\nthat has been made. In 1860, the average amount earned by the laboring\nmen, workmen, mechanics, per year, was about two hundred and eighty-five\ndollars. It is now about five hundred dollars, and a dollar to-day will\npurchase more of the necessaries of life, more food, clothing and fuel,\nthan it would in 1860. These facts are full of hope for the future.\n\nAll our sympathies should be with the men who work, who toil; for the\nwomen who labor for themselves and children; because we know that labor\nis the foundation of all, and that those who labor are the Caryatides\nthat support the structure and glittering dome of civilization and\nprogress.\n\nVII. Educate the Children.\n\nEVERY child should be taught to be self-supporting, and every one should\nbe taught to avoid being a burden on others, as they would shun death.\n\nEvery child should be taught that the useful are the honorable, and that\nthey who live on the labor of others are the enemies of society. Every\nchild should be taught that useful work is worship and that intelligent\nlabor is the highest form of prayer.\n\nChildren should be taught to think, to investigate, to rely upon the\nlight of reason, of observation and experience; should be taught to\nuse all their senses; and they should be taught only that which in some\nsense is really useful. They should be taught the use of tools, to use\ntheir hands, to embody their thoughts in the construction of things.\nTheir lives should not be wasted in the acquisition of the useless, or\nof the almost useless. Years should not be devoted to the acquisition of\ndead languages, or to the study of history which, for the most part, is\na detailed account of things that never occurred. It is useless to fill\nthe mind with dates of great battles, with the births and deaths of\nkings. They should be taught the philosophy of history, the growth of\nnations, of philosophies, theories, and, above all, of the sciences.\n\nSo, they should be taught the importance, not only of financial, but of\nmental honesty; to be absolutely sincere; to utter their real thoughts,\nand to give their actual opinions; and, if parents want honest children,\nthey should be honest themselves. It may be that hypocrites transmit\ntheir failing to their offspring. Men and women who pretend to agree\nwith the majority, who think one way and talk another, can hardly expect\ntheir children to be absolutely sincere.\n\nNothing should be taught in any school that the teacher does not\nknow. Beliefs, superstitions, theories, should not be treated like\ndemonstrated facts. The child should be taught to investigate, not to\nbelieve. Too much doubt is better than too much credulity. So, children\nshould be taught that it is their duty to think for themselves, to\nunderstand, and, if possible, to know.\n\nReal education is the hope of the future. The development of the brain,\nthe civilization of the heart, will drive want and crime from the world.\nThe schoolhouse is the real cathedral, and science the only possible\nsavior of the human race. Education, real education, is the friend of\nhonesty, of morality, of temperance.\n\nWe cannot rely upon legislative enactments to make people wise and good;\nneither can we expect to make human beings manly and womanly by keeping\nthem out of temptation. Temptations are as thick as the leaves of the\nforest, and no one can be out of the reach of temptation unless he is\ndead. The great thing is to make people intelligent enough and strong\nenough, not to keep away from temptation, but to resist it. All the\nforces of civilization are in favor of morality and temperance. Little\ncan be accomplished by law, because law, for the most part, about\nsuch things, is a destruction of personal liberty. Liberty cannot be\nsacrificed for the sake of temperance, for the sake of morality, or for\nthe sake of anything. It is of more value than everything else. Yet some\npeople would destroy the sun to prevent the growth of weeds. Liberty\nsustains the same relation to all the virtues that the sun does to life.\nThe world had better go back to barbarism, to the dens, the caves and\nlairs of savagery; better lose all art, all inventions, than to lose\nliberty. Liberty is the breath of progress; it is the seed and soil, the\nheat and rain of love and joy.\n\nSo, all should be taught that the highest ambition is to be happy,\nand to add to the well-being of others; that place and power are not\nnecessary to success; that the desire to acquire great wealth is a kind\nof insanity. They should be taught that it is a waste of energy, a waste\nof thought, a waste of life, to acquire what you do not need and what\nyou do not really use for the benefit of yourself or others.\n\nNeither mendicants nor millionaires are the happiest of mankind. The man\nat the bottom of the ladder hopes to rise; the man at the top fears to\nfall. The one asks; the other refuses; and, by frequent refusal, the\nheart becomes hard enough and the hand greedy enough to clutch and hold.\n\nFew men have intelligence enough, real greatness enough, to own a\ngreat fortune. As a rule, the fortune owns them. Their fortune is their\nmaster, for whom they work and toil like slaves. The man who has a good\nbusiness and who can make a reasonable living and lay aside something\nfor the future, who can educate his children and can leave enough to\nkeep the wolf of want from the door of those he loves, ought to be the\nhappiest of men.\n\nNow, society bows and kneels at the feet of wealth. Wealth gives power.\nWealth commands flattery and adulation. And so, millions of men give\nall their energies, as well as their very souls, for the acquisition of\ngold. And this will continue as long as society is ignorant enough and\nhypocritical enough to hold in high esteem the man of wealth without the\nslightest regard to the character of the man.\n\nIn judging of the rich, two things should be considered: How did they\nget it, and what are they doing with it? Was it honestly acquired? Is\nit being used for the benefit of mankind? When people become really\nintelligent, when the brain is really developed, no human being will\ngive his life to the acquisition of what he does not need or what he\ncannot intelligently use.\n\nThe time will come when the truly intelligent man cannot be happy,\ncannot be satisfied, when millions of his fellow-men are hungry and\nnaked. The time will come when in every heart will be the perfume of\npity's sacred flower. The time will come when the world will be anxious\nto ascertain the truth, to find out the conditions of happiness, and to\nlive in accordance with such conditions; and the time will come when\nin the brain of every human being will be the climate of intellectual\nhospitality.\n\nMan will be civilized when the passions are dominated by the intellect,\nwhen reason occupies the throne, and when the hot blood of passion no\nlonger rises in successful revolt.\n\nTo civilize the world, to hasten the coming of the Golden Dawn of the\nPerfect Day, we must educate the children, we must commence at the\ncradle, at the lap of the loving mother.\n\nVIII. We Must Work and Wait.\n\nTHE reforms that I have mentioned cannot be accomplished in a day,\npossibly not for many centuries; and in the meantime there is much\ncrime, much poverty, much want, and consequently something must be done\nnow.\n\nLet each human being, within the limits of the possible be\nself-supporting; let every one take intelligent thought for the morrow;\nand if a human being supports himself and acquires a surplus, let him\nuse a part of that surplus for the unfortunate; and let each one to the\nextent of his ability help his fellow-men. Let him do what he can in the\ncircle of his own acquaintance to rescue the fallen, to help those\nwho are trying to help themselves, to give work to the idle. Let him\ndistribute kind words, words of wisdom, of cheerfulness and hope. In\nother words, let every human being do all the good he can, and let him\nbind up the wounds of his fellow-creatures, and at the same time put\nforth every effort, to hasten the coming of a better day.\n\nThis, in my judgment, is real religion. To do all the good you can is to\nbe a saint in the highest and in the noblest sense. To do all the good\nyou can; this is to be really and truly spiritual. To relieve suffering,\nto put the star of hope in the midnight of despair, this is true\nholiness. This is the religion of science. The old creeds are too\nnarrow, they are not for the world in which we live. The old dogmas lack\nbreadth and tenderness; they are too cruel, too merciless, too savage.\nWe are growing grander and nobler.\n\nThe firmament inlaid with suns is the dome of the real cathedral. The\ninterpreters of nature are the true and only priests. In the great creed\nare all the truths that lips have uttered, and in the real litany will\nbe found all the ecstasies and aspirations of the soul, all dreams\nof joy, all hopes for nobler, fuller life. The real church, the real\nedifice, is adorned and glorified with all that Art has done. In the\nreal choir is all the thrilling music of the world, and in the star-lit\naisles have been, and are, the grandest souls of every land and clime.\n    \"There is no darkness but ignorance.\"\n    Let us flood the world with intellectual light.\n"
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