The immortal generation of 1789, by dint
of courage and many sacrifices, secured for us benefits which we must
bequeath to our sons as a most precious inheritance. Never can our
gratitude equal the grandeur of the services rendered by our fathers to
France and to the human race. . . . The Revolution was based upon the
rights of man. It created a new era in history and founded modern
society."

This is literally true. The freethinkers of France have taught mankind
the doctrines of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. They have taught the
dignity of human reason, and the sacredness of human rights. They have
broken the bondage of the altar, and severed the shackles of the throne;
and it is to be regretted that at the centennial celebration held in
this city on April 30th, 1889, the appointed orator [See the Centennial
Address of the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew.] did not realize the grandeur of
the occasion, and did not, like Carnot, pay a just tribute to our
allies, the reformers of Europe, as well as to the fathers of the
republic. But the people of America will remember what the politician
has forgotten. They will remember the names and deeds of their foreign
benefactors as well as of the American patriots of '76. When they recall
the illustrious Europeans who fought for our liberties they will
remember the name of Lafayette; when they think of the Declaration of
Independence they will not forget the name of Thomas Jefferson; and when
they speak of "the times that tried men's souls" they will recall with
gratitude the name of Thomas Paine.

Although the ecclesiastical conclave at Rome claims the power of working
miracles in defiance of Nature's laws, yet with or without miracles,
they have never answered the simple arguments advanced by Jean Meslier;
although they claim to hold the keys of Paradise, and bind on earth the
souls that are to be bound in heaven, yet year by year their waning
power refutes their senseless boast; although they boldly assert the
dogma of popish infallibility, yet the loss of the temporal power once
wielded by Rome, and the death of each succeeding pontiff, attest both
the Pope's fallibility and the Pope's mortality. Indeed, the successor
of St. Peter is but human--the sacred college at Rome is but mortal; and
faith and dogma cannot forever resist the influence of light and
knowledge. The power of Catholicism is surely declining throughout
Europe; and if it has become aggressive in our American cit