ence between
brute force and brain.

--_The Times_, Chicago, Illinois, February 21, 1884.

GENERAL SUBJECTS.

_Question_. Do you enjoy lecturing?

_Answer_. Of course I enjoy lecturing. It is a great pleasure to
drive the fiend of fear out of the hearts of men women and children.
It is a positive joy to put out the fires of hell.

_Question_. Where do you meet with the bitterest opposition?

_Answer_. I meet with the bitterest opposition where the people
are the most ignorant, where there is the least thought, where
there are the fewest books. The old theology is becoming laughable.
Very few ministers have the impudence to preach in the old way.
They give new meanings to old words. They subscribe to the same
creed, but preach exactly the other way. The clergy are ashamed
to admit that they are orthodox, and they ought to be.

_Question_. Do liberal books, such as the works of Paine and
Infidel scientists sell well?

_Answer_. Yes, they are about the only books on serious subjects
that do sell well. The works of Darwin, Buckle, Draper, Haeckel,
Tyndall, Humboldt and hundreds of others, are read by intelligent
people the world over. Works of a religious character die on the
shelves. The people want facts. They want to know about the world,
about all forms of life. They want the mysteries of every day
solved. They want honest thoughts about sensible questions. They
are tired of the follies of faith and the falsehoods of superstition.
They want a heaven here. In a few years the old theological books
will be sold to make paper on which to print the discoveries of
science.

_Question_. In what section of the country do you find the most
liberality?

_Answer_. I find great freedom of thought in Boston, New York,
Chicago, San Francisco, in fact, all over what we call the North.
The West of course is liberal. The truth is that all the intelligent
part of the country is liberal. The railroad, the telegraph, the
daily paper, electric light, the telephone, and freedom of thought
belong together.

_Question_. Is it true that you were once threatened with a criminal
prosecution for libel on religion?

_Answer_. Yes, in Delaware. Chief Justice Comegys instructed the
grand jury to indict me for blasphemy. I have taken by revenge on
the State by leaving it in ignorance. Delaware is several centuries
behind the times. It is as bigoted as it is small. Compare Kansas
City with Wilmington and