, but many. You are divided into
sects, torn by factions. From the teachings of history I would think
that the multitude of denominations you support was your greatest
safeguard. You know from times past, when a religion becomes too
powerful it becomes also intolerant, and persecutions follow. I am loath
to accept the Christian theory of the origin of man or his probable
destiny. Science teaches us that the human being has existed for
millions of years longer than the churches admit we have existed. The
idolatry practiced by the Catholic church repulses me, and yet its
stability has strongly appealed to me. You will remember what Macaulay,
in reviewing Ranke's History of the Popes, said of this church. After
reviewing its history, its defeats and its triumphs, he added: 'And she
may still exist in undiminished vigor when some traveler from New
Zealand shall in the midst of a vast solitude take his stand on a broken
arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul.' And yet, neither
the age of the church nor its stability is conclusive to my mind of its
divine origin. I am rather convinced from these facts that it has been
governed by a skillful set of men, who were able politicians and
financiers, as well as religious enthusiasts. Certainly no protestant
church can lay claim to divine origin. We know too well that the
Episcopal church was founded by an English King, because the Pope of
Rome refused him a divorce. Luther quarreled with his church and broke
away from its restraints. Wesley founded the Methodist church, Calvin
the Presbyterian church. The more I study the religious history of the
world, the more I am convinced that religion is founded on fear. The
immortal bard, from whom nothing seems to have been hidden, lays down
the foundation of all religion in those words from 'Hamlet,' where he
makes the melancholy Dane exclaim:

"To die:--to sleep,--To sleep! perchance to dream:--ay, there's the
rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have,
shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause."

"Do you realize that Ingersoll, by his teachings and his denunciations
of what he termed the 'absurdities of orthodox religious beliefs,' has
done more toward shaking faith in many church doctrines than any man of
this age'? And, after all, is not his doctrine a sane one? He says, in
effect: 'I can not believe these things. My reason revolts at them. They
are repugnant to my intellect. I can not bel