abominable place and life a long series of terrifying torments. If I
were to advocate a belief, or faith, in a God, I would seek the
embodiment of those things diametrically opposite to the attributes of
the popular God of to-day. Such a creature is not worthy the sacrifice
of ourselves and our thoughts.

Let us examine and investigate the system and arrangement of the
world--that is, that portion of which we are a part and which so vitally
concerns us.

The result of our most extensive study and labor shows us that the
earth, after an illimitable duration of time, has gradually attained its
present peculiar development. In other words, Nature has taken millions
of years to produce the earth as it is now formed; and if it were made
particularly for human beings it is not yet completed, for we still find
spots, aye, vast areas, where human life is incapable of subsisting. The
climate is either too hot or too cold; there is too much water or too
little moisture; the means of cultivation are too meager or utterly
unobtainable.

In short, after eons of labor, Nature has failed to be able to present
to every one of us, for our habitation, a parcel of earth commodious and
comfortable enough to be perfectly desirable for life and its living.

Surely, if the earth were made for our benefit, Nature has been not only
a very poor provider, but a very thoughtless parent.

Some say that man is Nature's best product, that the earth was made for
us, that we are particularly selected by God, and that a certain race is
his chosen people. But that is not true. The Jews are no more God's
chosen people than the jay is his chosen bird, or the mosquito his
chosen insect.

It is not true that Nature particularly works for us--facts prove the
contrary.

Facts prove that we are nothing but an undesirable by-product, to make
our way and to live our life as best we can within a cruelly turbulent
space, imprisoned by invisible, impenetrable walls of limitation.

No, it is not true that our life is favored by Nature. After we build
our homes, make our cities and add improvements, what happens? Nature,
with her forceful winds, blows them down; her cruel storms and rising
floods wash them away as so much refuse, and a tremor of the earth
destroys not only our homes but ourselves also, leaving no traces of our
efforts, treasures and sacred ties.

Even as individuals we "curse God" for the shortcomings with which we
are afflicted. The exce