Produced by David Widger THE WORKS OF ROBERT G. INGERSOLL "The Destroyer Of Weeds, Thistles And Thorns Is A Benefactor, Whether He Soweth Grain Or Not." IN TWELVE VOLUMES, VOLUME I. LECTURES 1901 THE DRESDEN PUBLISHING CO. TO EVA A. INGERSOLL, MY WIFE, A WOMAN WITHOUT SUPERSTITION, THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. FOR THE USE OF MAN, CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. THE GODS. (1872.) An Honest God is the Noblest Work of Man--Resemblance of Gods to their Creators--Manufacture and Characteristics of Deities--Their Amours--Deficient in many Departments of Knowledge--Pleased with the Butchery of Unbelievers--A Plentiful Supply--Visitations--One God's Laws of War--The Book called the Bible--Heresy of Universalism--Faith an unhappy mixture of Insanity and Ignorance--Fallen Gods, or Devils--Directions concerning Human Slavery--The first Appearance of the Devil--The Tree of Knowledge--Give me the Storm and Tempest of Thought--Gods and Devils Natural Productions--Personal Appearance of Deities--All Man's Ideas suggested by his Surroundings--Phenomena Supposed to be Produced by Intelligent Powers--Insanity and Disease attributed to Evil Spirits--Origin of the Priesthood--Temptation of Christ--Innate Ideas--Divine Interference--Special Providence--The Crane and the Fish--Cancer as a proof of Design--Matter and Force--Miracle--Passing the Hat for just one Fact--Sir William Hamilton on Cause and Effect--The Phenomena of Mind--Necessity and Free Will--The Dark Ages--The Originality of Repetition--Of what Use have the Gods been to Man?--Paley and Design--Make Good Health Contagious--Periodicity of the Universe and the Commencement of Intellectual Freedom--Lesson of the ineffectual attempt to rescue the Tomb of Christ from the Mohammedans--The Cemetery of the Gods--Taking away Crutches--Imperial Reason HUMBOLDT. (1869.) The Universe is Governed by Law--The Self-made Man--Poverty generally an Advantage--Humboldt's Birth-place--His desire for Travel--On what Humboldt's Fame depends--His Companions and Friends--Investigations in the New World--A Picture--Subjects of his Addresses--Victory of the Church over Philosophy--Influence of the discovery that the World is governed by Law--On the term Law--Copernicus--Astronomy--Aryabhatta-- Descartes--Condition of the World and Man when the morning of Science Dawned--Reasons for Honoring Humboldt--The World his Monument THOMAS PAINE. (1870.)