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of the inspiration of the Scriptures. He takes the
ground that the Bible must be inspired, because so
many people believe it.
Mr. Talmage should remember that a scientific
fact does not depend upon the vote of numbers;--
it depends simply upon demonstration; it depends
upon intelligence and investigation, not upon an
ignorant multitude; it appeals to the highest, in-
stead of to the lowest. Nothing can be settled
by popular prejudice.
According to Mr. Talmage, there are about three
hundred million Christians in the world. Is this true?
In all countries claiming to be Christian--including
all of civilized Europe, Russia in Asia, and every
country on the Western hemisphere, we have nearly
four hundred millions of people. Mr. Talmage claims
that three hundred millions are Christians. I sup-
pose he means by this, that if all should perish to-
night, about three hundred millions would wake up
in heaven--having lived and died good and consist-
ent Christians.
There are in Russia about eighty millions of people
--how many Christians? I admit that they have re-
cently given more evidence of orthodox Christianity
than formerly. They have been murdering old men;
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they have thrust daggers into the breasts of women;
they have violated maidens--because they were Jews.
Thousands and thousands are sent each year to the
mines of Siberia, by the Christian government of
Russia. Girls eighteen years of age, for having ex-
pressed a word in favor of human liberty, are to-day
working like beasts of burden, with chains upon
their limbs and with the marks of whips upon
their backs. Russia, of course, is considered by Mr.
Talmage as a Christian country--a country utterly
destitute of liberty--without freedom of the press,
without freedom of speech, where every mouth is
locked and every tongue a prisoner--a country filled
with victims, soldiers, spies, thieves and executioners.
What would Russia be, in the opinion of Mr. Tal-
mage, but for Christianity? How could it be worse,
when assassins are among the best people in it?
The truth is, that the people in Russia, to-day, who
are in favor of human liberty, are not Christians.
The men willing to sacrifice their lives for the good
of others, are not believers in the Christian religion.
The men who wish to break chains are infidels;
the men who make chains are Christians. Every
good and sincere Catholic of the Greek Church
is a bad citizen, an enemy of progress, a foe of
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human liberty. Yet Mr. Talmage regards Russia
as a Christian country.
The sixteen millions of people in Spain are claimed
as Christians. Spain, that for centuries was the as-
sassin of human rights; Spain, that endeavored to
spread Christianity by flame and fagot; Spain, the
soil where the Inquisition flourished, where bigotry
grew, and where cruelty was worship,--where
murder was prayer. I admit that Spain is a Chris-
tian nation. I admit that infidelity has gained no
foothold beyond the Pyrenees. The Spaniards are
orthodox. They believe in the inspiration of the
Old and New Testaments. They have no doubts
about miracles--no doubts about heaven, no doubts
about hell. I admit that the priests, the highway-
men, the bishops and thieves, are equally true be-
lievers. The man who takes your purse on the
highway, and the priest who forgives the robber,
are alike orthodox.
It gives me pleasure, however, to say that even in
Spain there is a dawn. Some great men, some men
of genius, are protesting against the tyranny of Cath-
olicism. Some men have lost confidence in the
cathedral, and are beginningto ask the State to erect
the schoolhouse. They are beginning to suspect
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that priests are for the most part impostors and
plunderers.
According to Mr. Talmage, the twenty-eight mil-
lions in Italy are Christians. There the Christian
Church was early established, and the popes are to-
day the successors of St. Peter. For hundreds and
hundreds of years, Italy was the beggar of the world,
and to her, from every land, flowed streams of gold
and silver. The country was covered with convents,
and monasteries, and churches, and cathedrals filled
with monks and nuns. Its roads were crowded with
pilgrims, and its dust was on the feet of the world.
What has Christianity done for Italy--Italy, its soil a
blessing, its sky a smile--Italy, with memories great
enough to kindle the fires of enthusiasm in any
human breast?
Had it not been for a few Freethinkers, for a few
infidels, for such men as Garibaldi and Mazzini, the
heaven of Italy would still have been without a star.
I admit that Italy, with its popes and bandits, with
its superstition and ignorance, with its sanctified
beggars, is a Christian nation; but in a little while,--
in a few days,--when according to the prophecy of
Garibaldi priests, with spades in their hands, will
dig ditches to drain the Pontine marshes; in a little
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while, when the pope leaves the Vatican, and seeks
the protection of a nation he has denounced,--asking
alms of intended victims; when the nuns shall marry,
and the monasteries shall become factories, and the
whirl of wheels shall take the place of drowsy prayers
--then, and not until then, will Italy be,--not a
Christian nation, but great, prosperous, and free.
In Italy, Giordano Bruno was burned. Some day,
his monument will rise above the cross of Rome.
We have in our day one example,--and so far as I
know, history records no other,--of the resurrection
of a nation. Italy has been called from the grave of
superstition. She is "the first fruits of them that
"slept."
I admit with Mr. Talmage that Portugal is a Chris-
tian country--that she engaged for hundreds of years
in the slave trade, and that she justified the infamous
traffic by passages in the Old Testament. I admit,
also, that she persecuted the Jews in accordance
with the same divine volume. I admit that all the
crime, ignorance, destitution, and superstition in that
country were produced by the Catholic Church. I
also admit that Portugal would be better if it were
Protestant.