“They believed that somebody had made the universe!” said the boy, “how very strange!” “No, not somebody as you comprehend it,” replied the father gently, “but some vague, infinite being who punished the evil and rewarded the good. Men could form no idea of a creator that did not in some way resemble themselves; and as they could subdue their enemies through fear and by the infliction of pain, so did they believe that God would punish those who did not please him. Some people long ago believed that God’s punishment was inflicted after death for eternity. The numerous beliefs about the personality and laws of the creator caused more bloodshed in the gloomy days of the past than anything else. Religion was the foundation of many of the most horrible wars. People committed thousands of crimes in the name of the God of the universe. Men and women were burned alive because they would not believe certain creeds, and yet they adhered to convictions equally as preposterous; but you will learn all these things later in life. That picture before you was the last queen of England, called Victoria.” “I hoped that the women would not have such repulsive features as the men,” said the boy, looking critically at the picture, “but this face makes me shudder. Why do they all look so coarse and brutal?” “People living when this queen reigned had the most degrading habit that ever blackened the history of mankind.” “What was that?” asked the youth. “The consumption of flesh. They believed that animals, fowls, and fish were created to be eaten.” “Is it possible?” The boy shuddered convulsively, and turned away from the book. “I understand now why their faces repel me so. I do not like to think that we have descended from such people.”