The monarch of the skies will be dethroned--the flames of hell will be extinguished. Pious beggars will become honest and useful men. Hypocrisy will collect no tolls from fear, lies will not be regarded as sacred, this life will not be sacrificed for another, human beings will love each other instead of gods, men will do right, not for the sake of reward in some other world, but for the sake of happiness here. Man will find that Nature is the only revelation, and that he, by his own efforts, must learn to read the stories told by star and cloud, by rock and soil, by sea and stream, by rain and fire, by plant and flower, by life in all its curious forms, and all the things and forces of the world. When he reads these stories, these records, he will know that man must rely on himself,--that the supernatural does not exist, and that man must be the providence of man. It is impossible to conceive of an argument against the freedom of thought--against maintaining your self-respect and preserving the spotless and stainless veracity of the soul. II. ALL that I have said seems to be true--almost self-evident,--and you may ask who it is that says slavery is better than liberty. Let me tell you. All the popes and priests, all the orthodox churches and clergymen, say that they have a revelation from God. The Protestants say that it is the duty of every person to read, to understand, and to believe this revelation--that a man should use his reason; but if he honestly concludes that the Bible is not a revelation from God, and dies with that conclusion in his mind, he will be tormented forever. They say:--"Read," and then add: "Believe, or be damned." "No matter how unreasonable the Bible may appear to you, you must believe. No matter how impossible the miracles may seem, you must believe. No matter how cruel the laws, your heart must approve them all!" This is what the church calls the liberty of thought. We read the Bible under the scowl and threat of God. We read by the glare of hell. On one side is the devil, with the instruments of torture in his hands. On the other, God, ready to launch the infinite curse. And the church says to the readers: "You are free to decide. God is good, and he gives you the liberty to choose." The popes and the priests say to the poor people: "You need not read the Bible. You cannot understand it. That is the reason it is called a revelation. We will read it for you, and you must believe what we say. We carry the key of hell. Contradict us and you will become eternal convicts in the prison of God." This is the freedom of the Catholic Church. And all these priests and clergymen insist that the Bible is superior to human reason--that it is the duty of man to accept it--to believe it, whether he really thinks it is true or not, and without the slightest regard to evidence or reason. It is his duty to cast out from the temple of his soul the goddess Reason, and bow before the coiled serpent of Fear.