than any other men? Why is
it that ministers as a class are no better than doctors, or lawyers, or
merchants, or mechanics, or locomotive engineers? And a locomotive
engineer is a thousand times more useful. Give me a good engineer and
a bad preacher to go through this world with rather than a bad engineer
and a good preacher; and there is this curious fact about the believers
in the supernatural: The priests of one church have no confidence in
the miracles and wonders told by the priests of the other churches.
Maybe they know each other. A Christian missionary will tell the
Hindoo of the miracles of the bible; the Hindoo smiles. The Hindoo
tells the Christian missionary of the miracles of his sacred books; and
the missionary looks upon him with pity and contempt. No priest takes
the word of another.

I heard once a little story that illustrates this point: A gentleman in
a little party was telling of a most wonderful occurrence, and when he
had finished everybody said: "Is it possible? Why, did you ever hear
anything like that?" All united in a kind of wondering chorus except
one man. He said nothing. He was perfectly still and unmoved; and one
who had been greatly astonished by the story said to him: "Did you hear
that story?" "Yes." "Well, you don't appear to be excited." "Well
no," he said; "I am a liar myself."

There is another trouble with the supernatural. It has no honesty; it
is consumed by egotism; it does not think--it knows; consequently it
has no patience with the honest doubter. And how has the church
treated the honest doubter? He has been answered by force, by
authority, by popes, by cardinals and bishops, and councils, and, above
all, by mobs. In that way the honest doubter has been answered. There
is this difference between the minister, the church, the clergy, and
the men who believe in this world. I might as well state the
question--I may go further than you. The real question is this: Are we
to be governed by a supernatural being, or are we to govern ourselves?
That is the question. Is God the source of power, or does all
authority spring, in governing, from the consent of the governed? That
is the question. In other words, is the universe a monarchy, a
despotism, or a democracy? I take the democratic side, not in a
political sense. The question is, whether this world should be
governed by God or by man; and when I say "God" I mean the being that
these gentlemen have trea