purposes those abominable texts of the Old Testament, 

 " Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," and " Neither 

 shalt thou countenance a poor man in his own cause." 



The Middle Ages bear attestation to the fidelity of 

 the priesthood to their sacred oracles. Have not two 

 honest citizens of London quite lately undergone one 

 whole year's imprisonment for the grave sin of ridicul- 

 ing the notion of the Hebrew and Christian gods being 

 other than creations of man's imagination ? This very 

 lecture will probably be the means of bringing down the 

 wrath of the priesthood State Church and Noncon- 

 formist alike upon its author. And why ? Are the 

 facts untrue ? Just the reverse. The writer, historian, 

 or pseudo-scientist who writes volumes of falsehoods 

 for the purpose of propping up for a short time longer 

 priestcraft and tyranny will assuredly fare well at the 

 hands of these insinuating gentlemen of the cloth ; but 

 let the man who dares to write the honest, unvarnished 

 truth beware ! His fair name, his business, and his 

 social and family ties will be undermined and destroyed 

 in an incredibly short space of time. All honor, there- 

 fore, be given to those brave ones who have dared to 

 stand before the world and speak out the truth in the 

 cause of humanity ! They have done their share in 

 helping forward the march of intellect, in stifling super- 

 stition, and in uprooting ignorance '1 he state of Europe 

 to-day, as compared with its condition two thousand 

 years since, is overwhelming evidence of the continual 

 progress of civilization, which, in spite of the opposition 

 from its old enemy, the Church, in the past and, to a 

 limited extent, in the present, has proved to the world 

 that it must, of necessity, continue for all time as one 

 of the great and immutable laws of Nature. 



