1 10 2 https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/25778/archive/files/d272e403cd0885fb3df9f1bd79eb35d9.pdf?Expires=1779926400&Signature=Wv5yekemvte%7EjAKLUa3V-7-74SNu4LvyZY8SlpgvH498Bq7%7Ep08VMBCg-HiMy1y9f9nqhJhOrHayLi-ugtTOX5rRGR39l4D3Gaoe4LwlclLxAUVajGZaE703WJvSZjDV9h4HMwEJQWGqSQlob121NsaO7En0G7tSvk3KZ5kMIRoK6loDFLWW0HiGztaZ8tY66XYW9G3peEV9y-clnMjlwsWEa57C6%7ENK66FBv8p8k3pjSNi8NSAviVKBLiaj4lBHOo5IjQRM4lvKIU6t459wm0MEgTtTsGLwwV0N8ndSEncBsK1WhEmCnbNtgVFd-d0oVm0WNlpuChyackGIhkRPJg__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 2798588ae7539cd91b13bf1d33b7dc5c PDF Text Text A LAST WORD Spoken at the Athenaeum, on the closing of our Services there, June 27th, 1880, BY ONWAY, ONCURE ^nnbrrn : PRINTED BY WATERLOW AND SONS LIMITED, LONDON WALL. l88o. �E™— —. �A LAST WORD. It was on the seventh day of this month, 1868, that I gave at the little chapel where this society was cradled its first anniversary discourse. Thirteen years have brought us to its closing hour. As I have already stated, my ministry here ends by my own action based upon personal considerations, but having reference to the cause we have at heart. I repeat this because it would be unjust to those who have so long and earnestly worked with me, unjust to the large and sympathetic audiences which have steadily gathered here, to have it understood that it has been or is through any suggestion from others, or from any dis­ couragement about the condition of this society, that I have resolved on this step. On the contrary, this �4 society appears to me more vigorous to-day than at any time of its life, and it is a distress to me that I must adhere to my resolution to close it. That resolution was formed under a sense of failing health which has passed away; but there remains a conviction that my future work will be better done if concentrated upon one society. If it were not that I have hope of retain­ ing the friendships formed here, and that a good many of you will be able to unite with us at South Place, it would be a greater grief than it is to speak this last word. I trust it is not a parting word. I feel sure that my friends at South Place will welcome with warm hearts those who have so valiantly, amid evil as well as good report, sustained this evening society, to the work of enlarging the strength and influence of that stronghold of religious liberty. In that anniversary discourse of 1868, to which I have alluded, I sounded for our then small society a key-note caught from him who wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews. “ Seeing that we also are compassed about by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” I claimed that as that Hebrew, setting out upon a novel path against the faith of his fellows, still felt the good and great of his race to be witnesses around him, so we were surrounded by the witnesses of �5 liberty and truth in all time ; and never more than in abandoning their opinions in the same spirit in which they also abandoned the outgrown creeds and con­ ventionalised errors of their time. I protested against the limitation of the great religious leaders within the mere letter of their faith, maintaining that we could be related to them and derive strength from them only as we shared their spirit, their independence, their courage, love of truth and justice ; laying aside, as they did, every weight, even their own authority, and running with patience the race set before us, not that which was before them. On reading over that discourse I feel a strong desire to quote this evening some passages from it. “ Each great teacher, amid many limitations, added a fresh tint to -the holy ideal which our life exists to attain, and a new impulse towards it; and each from being a wing becomes a fetter if we accept his thought or work for our own, instead of receiving his spirit as the inspiration of our own.” “ He who gives men great names as authorities does much, as if he should ask us to put out our eyes because near by are excellent guides for the blind.” ‘‘There is no arrogance in refusing the absolute guidance of the greatest authority. Aristotle taught �that an amethyst worn on the breast would prevent drunkenness. Does one claim to be greater than Aristotle because he refuses to accept that supersti­ tion 1 Lord Bacon believed in witchcraft. Can one not accept the wisdom of Bacon without his errors ? Nay, to follow out faithfully the ethics of Aristotle and the philosophy of Bacon, I must reject their errors.” “Jesus said, ‘ If ye believed in Moses, ye would believe in me J by which he would say, Moses was not like you, a preserver of rotten systems and antiquated errors : he was a reformer, an emancipator of the people, and though now long ages after he is dead, you worship the letter and form of Moses, I, in being a reformer and emancipator, am nearer him than you ; he is my witness.” “ It is sometimes said of those who leave narrower church relations for larger ones that they have changed their faith. But no—they have deepened, widened, realised it. As you can trace the blossom in the apple that grew from it, so shall you find in such the essence of that which has apparently fallen from them.” “ As a liberal society of believers and thinkers, not fettered to the world’s infant speculations, nor con­ �7 fined in any denominational grooves however wide, it is important we should recognise our relations to the past. We have no thought of ‘ sundering the sacred links which bind together the generations of men,’ or *of rudely cutting off the solemn perpetuity of the religious commonwealth.’ We know that from along and noble past come the burning visions of the future brotherhood; but we also know that the perpetuation of the commonwealth of faithful souls up to the realisa­ tion of these visions depends on the courage with which the hearts of the present can lay aside every weight, and that dogmatism which so easily besets sects, and run with patience the race set before us in our own time.” “We should surely have learned from the ages of cruel dogma, of paralysing creeds, from which we are emerging, enough to prevent our forging new chains for our children. I would fain trust that we who have gathered into this company of worshippers recog­ nise as the course set before us a maintenance of the spirit in its absolute purity, apart from any opinions whatever, vaulting like a pure sky above all temples, domes, spires, yet a gentle air and soft light enfolding and illumining all who worship in sincerity, even amid their errors.” “ The race we are running is not always to the swift. �There was an Olympic race in which each competitor bore a lighted torch ; he won the race who came in first with his torch still burning. They who cared more for swiftness than to guard their torches, had them speedily extinguished by the opposing currents their motion excited. Let us remember, friends, that promoting a great movement here were no success at all if our torch were not kept bright—if for such success we should have sacrificed one ray of the freedom in worship and inquiry for which we exist. The rushlight that sends its light to the night-wan­ derer is of far greater worth than a candlestick of gold that bears no flame. No doubt, by compromising our truth—by accommodating popular superstitions, we might grow big. The appeal to pure reason is slower work. Let us press on unfaltering, unwearied, taking care above all that our torch shall not be ex­ tinguished, but shall send into the darkness and superstition of the land a steadfast light, leading all who follow it to that supreme and universal Light at which our torch was kindled. Let us press on, and though every star should set, and suns wax dim, be sure every spark of truth shall burn and glow in the firmament of God for ever and ever.” Such were my closing words at the outset of our society. Well, it has now, in one sense, reached its goal, and, I will venture to claim, with torch still �9 lighted. A good many winds have blown upon it, but it has not been extinguished. Some of us may remember that it flickered considerably at one time under an internal disturbance. In the course of my inquiries some changes in my own point of view have occurred, and one of these grieved some excellent men and women who started with us. I came to the con­ clusion that the custom of public and formal prayer was not in harmony with our fundamental principles and convictions. It appeared to me inconsistent with the belief in Supreme Wisdom and Love that we should suggest anything to the one or petition the other. I explained this as well as I could, and with tenderness for the traditional feelings of our reverent circle. They were asked to consider whether they would like to have their own children petition them daily for their love and care ; whether they would not feel this to be rather a reproach than a truly filial feeling. Some that we loved and could little spare were never­ theless offended and left us, though we were happy to find that our personal relations with them were not im­ paired. But by this our movement did not seriously suffer. The larger number showed that they had counted the cost of a life of intellectual and religious progress, and were resolved to stand by every position to which they should be led by honest and logical in­ quiry. It is my belief that our reverence grew as the �■S^B io old forms, which confined rather than expressed it, fell away from us. It became necessary to continue this kind of selfcriticism. In the course of it our use of the Christian name came under re-consideration. The name of the little iron building in St. Paul’s Road, which some of us remember with much affection, was the “ Free Christian Church.” But it appeared to myself and others that there was justice in the orthodox assertion that it was a misuse of language to call ourselves Christians. If a man call himself a Mohammedan, it implies a belief in the position assigned to Moham­ med by the Moslem world, and in the authority of the Koran. If a man call himself Christian, it conveys a similar impression of his belief in Christ and the New Testament. It is not a question of what the word ought to mean, or of its etymology, but of the sense it actually does convey to those around us. The word ‘ Catholic ’ means ‘ universal ’; the word ‘ orthodox ’ means ‘ right opinion ’ but because we might in an etymological sense call ourselves 1 catholic ’ and ‘ orthodox,’ it would none the less convey a false impression to so call our­ selves by names whose popular meaning is different. To call ourselves ‘ Christians,’ when to ninety-nine in every hundred persons that term must convey the impression that we held the opinion of Jesus above the science and discovery of our own time, was felt by �II us to be the suggestion of policy rather than of simple truth. We felt, too, that our old name, ‘Free Christian,’ was a contradiction ; we could not fairly claim to be free, and in the same phrase limit our free­ dom by the name of a particular system of belief. So we abandoned that name. In so doing I believe that we took a step nearer to Christ himself, who, in his time similarly abandoned all the pious titles and labels which might have gained him favour; and we shared the freedom of the apostles, among whom the Christian name was known only as an epithet of con­ tempt, under which they suffered as much as is now suffered by its rejection. Therefore we surrendered this title to popularity; and it is my firm conviction that thereby our society gained much in religious life and force. We left be­ hind us the realm of disputation about words and entered a region where it became necessary for us to concentrate 'ourselves upon realities. We could no longer build our spiritual abodes out of the debris of crumbled creeds and the relics of tradition. We were compelled to repair to the laws of nature, to the facts of our own mind and consciousness, to build our new shelter as best we could ; and in the energies which this demanded, in the freedom of spirit and earnest­ ness which the new necessities evoked, we found a deeper, larger meaning in religion itself. We had �ft fr i SK 12 undergone inward experiences of our own; we had made some sacrifices of our own; and had discovered that the religious life consisted not in any doctrines whatever, but in the spirit in which truth was pursued and the fidelity with which that which we be­ lieved right and true was maintained. Our trust in this principle was not without test. We were severely arraigned and criticised in high quarters. The chief clergyman of the neighbourhood denounced us as blasphemers and infidels ; the champions of the Christian Evidence Society were summoned to preach against us; the pulpit fulminated, and the press teemed for a year with hostilities ; they who admitted us to this hall, and even the servants belonging to it, were persecuted for not persecuting us. that ordeal we grew strong. But under There was not one single instance, within my knowledge, where any member or friend of this Athenseum Society failed in heart or interest because of these denunciations. the contrary, we were greatly benefited. On It led to a complete revision of the ground on which we stood. Point by point, text by text, fact by fact, we went over the whole history of the evolution of liberalism with our opponents; and many of our number, who had not done that before, were reassured by discover­ ing the incredible fictions, the antiquated delusions, the defiances of common sense and common senti- �*3 ment, upon which Christian theology is founded. Many of our young people, who had not participated in the controversies through which the intellect of Europe and America had emancipated itself, were re­ inforced by that memorable discussion which showed us accomplished and scholarly men driven by the remorseless necessities of their position to defend the wild speculations of primitive man about religion while rejecting the notions of corresponding times on every other subject. On that controversy which so long agitated this community I look back with unalloyed satisfaction. It appears to me to have been a genuine and thorough one. I have always respected the clergyman who began it. When he saw what he believed a wolf near his fold he did not flee like a hireling shepherd ; he grappled the supposed wolf and did his best to slay it. He did not conceal his opinions; he did not jesuitically smooth over his dogmas ; he stood by them honourably, even when the community was shudder­ ing at them. By originating and maintaining that controversy he did us so much good; he added so many to our years as a society, that I cannot grudge him and his church any satisfaction they may feel at our departure from their neighbourhood. They are welcome to their relief, for they have aided us to sow our seed as widely in thirteen years as without them we �14 might have done in many more; and we know that the seeds of thought and freedom are of the kind that do not die, but must bear their fruit manifold. This society was not begun in any formal way, and it has not been continued out of any dry sense of duty. A few families, dissatisfied with the ministra­ tions of the chapel to which they had belonged, with­ drew from it. It was not because of a doctrinal dis­ agreement, but for other reasons. That which was so begun has been continued after the occasion for it had ceased, simply because we had come to love it. Nobody has had any pecuniary interest in keeping up this society; indeed, it has required a good deal of self-denying energy to support an evening service in a community where most people were already supporting other societies. Had I been free to give my Sunday mornings to this place there is no doubt that this society would have grown too large for our hall. We have no reason to be ashamed either of its dimensions, its character, or its zeal. It has not catered to popu­ lar prejudices, it has had no dissensions, it finishes its course after having fought a good fight for that freedom to think and speak honest convictions, which an un­ just and oppressive vote in Parliament last week shows us to be a cause not yet won. Our work has not been repaid in money, but it has not been without its reward. At least, so I feel it, and I trust it is so �i5 felt by you. We have seen the steady expansion oi our principles in social influence; we have grown in love and sympathy for each other ; we have seen in­ tellectual and moral activities awakened such as cannot slumber again : and as we go to our homes to return here no more, we shall be carrying our sheaves with us in the religious emotions and aspira­ tions, the personal relations and friendships which will always be associated with our unity and co-opera­ tion in this society. Thirteen years represent a long time in the brief life of man. The years which we have passed together as a society represent for some of us the best years of our lives. So far as they have been well lived their fruits are with us still, will remain with us, can never be taken from us. This society as a visible body ends; but the thoughts and feelings we have had here, the resolutions that have here been formed, shall never end; they have become parts of our being, they shall for ever radiate in our influence, and when we are no more they will still work on in the life and influence of our children and of those affected by us, however un­ consciously. And, whatever may have been my shortcomings as your minister, this at least I have never forgotten for a moment since I first stood before you,—that every principle we were here incorporating into our lives �i6 would be one of endless influence. The community would be better or worse for it; many families would be happier or unhappier for it; children unborn, and children’s children, would be made more glad or sad, weaker or stronger, wiser or unwiser, by our every thought and word. This responsibility has not been upon me alone but upon you also ; for I have spoken to men and women able to think for them­ selves, to those who had nothing to attract them here except their sympathy with our principles, and who are amply competent to sift truth from error in what they hear. Nevertheless, we have had the young here also, and I have felt profoundly the responsibility under which I uttered my thoughts in their presence, for errors do not die so easily or pass so harmless as many suppose. And now, as I prepare this my last word, it would be to me a happy relief could I recall and reverse every mistake I have made, and remove every error committed. But who can understand his errors? Perhaps time will reveal them. Perhaps when I am no longer able to stand here and point them out I shall discover that on one point and another I did not see so far as I thought while here. But I shall have this reflection also, that you and I travelled our thirteen years’ pilgrimage together; my heart and thought were shared with you; we have grown so far together: therefore if I shall gain a new experience, �i7 or attain a riper thought, it will be my consolation to believe that you also have attained the same, and will be able to modify and correct the errors of years less mature, both for yourselves and your children. For at least I may claim never to have tried to lord it over your conscience or your judgment. I am conscious that truths, however valued, have not been here made into absolute formulas, but every mind has been taught that its chief end is to grow. No question has been closed ; all questions are open. I have heard, from time to time, not without satisfaction, that outsiders complained that we did not label ourselves with a name, and they could not tell just what we did believe. When on one occasion the magistrates who license this hall ques­ tioned the applicants about our meetings here, and showed some signs of interference, it appeared difficult to give any clear account of us. The magistrates in­ quired our belief, and what we were, but no clear answer could be returned by the applicant, who was not one of us. I believe he said we were “ seekers after truth and a long time finding it.” not far wrong. If so, he was It has certainly been less my aim to urge and defend any doctrine that appeared to me true than to cultivate the spirit that seeks truth, the fidelity that follows its lead, and the hope that every idea reached as truth may presently pass like a blossom before the fruit of a larger conception of truth. And �i8 this evening, in parting with this society, it is with a trust that the spirit of growth, of progress, of inquiry, of thought unfettered by authority however kindly exerted, will be antidotes against any particular mis­ takes or partial views which I have uttered. It is my real belief, it was stated in that first anniversary dis­ course which I gave at our foundation, and it shall be repeated in this last, that religion means to me no doctrine at all but a spirit and a life. An atheist, earnestly seeking truth, and speaking what he believes truth, bearing the cross of his denial in the face of the world, is a religious man,while they who persecute a man for his fidelity and scourge him for his veracity are irreligious men, though they may seem to themselves the protectors of omnipotence. It is my belief that until this principle animates society, there will be no general religion at all. The dogmas which are estab­ lished in hngland are not more self-confident than the established dogmas which poisoned Socrates, or those which crucified Jesus ; as those proud systems turned out to be no religion at all, but the reverse of religion, so will the dogmas of our time which poison intellect with hypocrisy and crucify humanity, turn out to be the real irreligion. The coming man will preserve such dogmas as fossils belonging to a Saurian epoch of psychology, when men fancied that to crawl before a god, and venomously bite all who did not crawl with them, was religion. �But beyond these dogmas, even the finer specula­ tions of philosophy, even many attractive generalisa­ tions, must pass away ; the best statements of truth cannot share the immortality of truth. Therefore, let US subordinate all opinions to the spirit of truth; let US cultivate in our hearts such a love of it, that when we meet one who disagrees with our opinions, but shows veracity of mind and the earnest desire for truth, we shall recognise in him a worshipper of the holiest, a brother of the best and wisest. Nor let us confuse this love of truth with a defence of any particular doctrine or proposition. Truth is one thing; a truth another. A man may defend his opinions; the opinions may be true; yet he may not be a lover of truth ; he may not reverence the spirit of truth when it denies his own opinion; he may not love truthfulness in his neighbour when it goes against his interests; or, if he holds an unfashionable truth, he may not bravely acknowledge it, seek to diffuse it, and be willing to suffer with it. But why repeat this now? I should regard our thirteen years as worse than wasted if this were not now felt by every one of us as the true religion. Yet I desire that my last word here should impress it upon old and young that it is in this spirit our inquiries must move if they are to elevate our mind, life, and character. It is this alone which makes any �20 opinion we may reach more than a mere opinion, makes it also an experience, an inspiration, something that quickens the moral life within us, interprets for us the wisdom of the past, and enables us to minister to the higher life'of the present and future. As it is not so much to give our children wealth as to foster in them habits of prudence, industry, and enterprise ; so is it of far less importance to give others our opinions than to stimulate in them the powers, and evoke the resources by which they can form wise opinions of their own. And I will add, that it is of less importance to give them set maxims and rules of morality than it is to awaken in them the love of rectitude, the passion for justice, the sentiment of virtue, which will lead them securely through paths we cannot foresee, and instruct them in emergencies where our best maxims may be inadequate. Finally, my friends, be of good courage ! Do not be cast down because this particular society ceases, or because its enemies rejoice. That search for truth, for which this society has stood, will not end nor fail; that standard of a purer religion, which it has up­ lifted, will not trail in the dust. The constituents of this body will not lose their vitality; they will com­ bine in other ways, let us trust in higher, larger ways, and for more effective work. It will be a pain to us that we shall no longer gather here to sing our �21 hymns, to meditate on things dear to us, to clasp each other’s hands, and smile in each other’s faces ; but we shall still be near each other, we will still feel that wherever separated we are still one in loving and serving the good cause ; and when, after this society is dissolved, we too shall fall out of the ranks, and our hands be folded on our breast, it rests with ourselves to leave behind us the memory and influence of lives faithfully lived, of tasks honestly performed, of having done our best. And so I bid you farewell. �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Victorian Blogging Description An account of the resource A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library &amp; Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Conway Hall Library & Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Conway Hall Ethical Society Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Pamphlet Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A last word: spoken at the Athenaeum, on the closing of our services there, June 27th 1880 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Conway, Moncure Daniel [1832-1907.] Description An account of the resource Place of publication: [London] Collation: 21 p. ; 15 cm. Notes: Printed by Waterlow and Sons, London Wall. Morris Miscellaneous Tracts 2. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available [Waterlow and Sons] Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource [1880] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context G3345 Subject The topic of the resource Free thought Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br /><span>This work (A last word: spoken at the Athenaeum, on the closing of our services there, June 27th 1880), identified by </span><span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a></span><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource English Christian Doctrine Free Thought Moncure Conway Morris Tracts Rationalism https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/25778/archive/files/b6272afe222e6e6109d7044e22c0060d.pdf?Expires=1779926400&Signature=bXWF%7E51HYojQPGQS1-sVpvNaEEKWoIc-FcaUayuBTrGPwbIeKLGywLII4zh9y%7EmKzqwqdB0He9mj4K1eXMoYNo9SOhgdfqjRAGqPdXCUDFpRmcDPQa2uNNQxSMn%7EUpJ%7EikIAOqt6HZaBh2qkJuUSgBYIfaL9lqwRELF0ETHBOlZO3EdbtOF3yUTy3ly41kFr5S5NJO0JIX51H8rWahQDF4fh1xB0eOuyd7GFUbCcOmRZoo87ICkiwCZHa%7E-Ypb1twX4dCFB7vF2qbsdcYJQCxS%7Evz3eKU9YQIApUF1JqW7%7EOga%7EFG10UXS%7EJgBtY0H3ocENGq5499BKKgDn5fVNkRA__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 9bf579171d4afe1ef6e28774ac425930 PDF Text Text HEAVEN & HELL: WHERE SITUATED? A. SEABCH AFTEIi THE OBJECTS OP MAN’S FERVENT HOPE & ABIDING TERROR. BY AUSTIN HOLYOAKE. Heaven ia the hope of the Christian —Hell is his dread, his fear, his abiding terror. What would Christianity be—that is, the modern faith of Europe—without these two ideas, or sentiments, or beliefs, or whatever they may be called? Simply a mild kind of superstition. The hope of an eternal reward for doing right, appeals with much force, there can be no doubt, to the selfish; and the fear of eternal, never-ending torments, will keep many a wretch in awe. But all who are swayed by such motives must be inferior morally to those who do good because it is right to do so, and because it will benefit men individually, and society generally, regard­ less of all consideration as to whether the doers of good will receive advantage themselves. Man’s clear duty is to do right, to speak the truth, not only without reward, but even at his own cost if need be. I say at the outset, that I do not believe in the Christian’s Heaven. It involves too many difficultiss and contradictions for me to comprehend, or for anyone to explain. To disturb the Christian’s greatest hope, to destroy his fondest illusion, to rob him of his sole consolation, without giving him an equivalent in return, is denounced from every pulpit and every religious tract, as a deadly sin. But if the Christian is trusting to a delusion, if he is self-deceived, who is to blame? Surely not he who points out the error—the blame lies rather with those who have deceived him, or, it may be, with himself, for not having examined more closely the foundations of his belief. Ministers every day in the year preach about and promise to their devotees a heaven of bliss, when they have not the minutest particle of evidence upon the subject to justify their promises. Thus is the world deluded; and out of the delusion thousands thrive and fatten, while the bulk of the nation are taxed to uphold the deception. For many centuries, and in many countries, the idea of a future state, or world beyond the grave, has existed. How this idea first arose, we have no clear conception. That it has varied in different countries, according to the amount of intelligence or civilisation possessed by each, is certain. The poor savage, whose untutored mind Sees God in clouds, and hears him in the wind, has pictured to himself the happy hunting grounds of the Great Spirit, covered with boundless herds of wild buffaloes and other animals dear to the heart of the child of the prairie, which he will be always chasing and always catching. The Mahomedan of the East believes in and hopes for a Paradise where all his sensuous enjoyments will be increased tenfold— shady groves, refreshing springs, and beautiful houris. The Christian believes in a future state of spiritual existence, where all his earthly wants and necessities will leave him, where hunger and thirst, pain and sorrow, will torment him no more. In short, he expects to live in a state of ecstatic delirium for ever and ever. We will examine how far this belief is warranted by facts. �2 Heaven and Hell. What is the Christian’s Heaven? Where is it situated? In what part of the so-called Sacred Writings shall we find a clear and intelligible description of this abode of bliss—this promised land of never-ending pleasures, which is to be the reward of all true believers ? It appears to be situated, by common consent, up above—beyond the clouds—beyond im­ measurable space—and yet in the clouds. Whether in the torrid or the frigid zone, we are not informed. What its climate will be no man knoweth. Will there be there the severe winter, with its snows and chilling blasts; the genial and budding spring, giving promise of the warm and sunny summer, when all nature, in the plenitude of her wealth and beauty, showers her blessings on mankind; to be followed by the mellow and glowing autumn, when the seasons, resting as it were from the labours of production, smile upon the bounties scattered broadcast over the earth? Men of all climes are to go to Heaven, who believe in the proper number of orthodox nostrums, but how will the Laplander fare in a climate which is suitable to the Asiatic ? How will the Englishman live and be happy, where the African can thrive, or the Russian of the wilds of Siberia will be at home ? Are all to be dumb there, or are all to speak one language ? If all are to have the power of articulation, are those only of one country to talk together, except the happy few who may possess the gift of tongues ? If so, it will be but a repetition of the educational inequalities of this world, which the schoolmaster is now making strenuous efforts to rectify. Will all retain the same intellectual power which they possessed when on earth ? If so, what gratification will the change bring to the idiots from birth, who are not capable of comprehending anything ? They cannot be restored to their senses, seeing that they never possessed any. After death they would have to be reorganised. Will the cripples be made perfect, and those who have lost limbs have them restored to them ? These may seem to the Christian considerations beside the question, but on reflection he will be bound to admit that they are questions needing an answer. It is in vain for the Christian to say that man in Heaven will be a spiritual, and not a material being. In the first place, we have no con­ ception, and cannot possibly convey to another, an idea of what a spiritual being is. There is a contradiction in the very terms, and we have no analogy by which to judge. This involves the interminable controversy about spiritual substance, etherealised bodies, and so on. But is it not manifestly absurd to promise to man eternal happiness in a future state of existence, when you take away from him all those faculties whereby he will be alone capable of feeling either pleasure or pain, joy or sorrow? See the insurmountable difficulties involved in this notion of life after death. I am promised all this bliss; then, unless I go to that land beyond the grave as I am—that is, with all my human faculties unimpaired—1 cannot enjoy it ? I am known from others to all who see me by my outward form, and by what they hear me say and see me do. I receive pleasure from certain things, and experience pain in virtue of being what I am. Destroy my individuality, my body, and where am I ? Ano longer exist. That same principle of life which animates my body has animated countless millions of other human beings ; but my form as it now exists has never been pos­ sessed by another. What attraction is it to me to be told that when I die I shall go to another and a better world, if I am not to be I when I get there ? It is a place clearly intended for a different race of beings or exist­ ences, whose happiness will depend, not upon what they may have believed or disbelieved here, but upon the suitability to their constitution or organisation of the circumstances surrounding them. No Christian can imagine himself to be other than he is on this earth. Disguise the fact as �Heaven and Hell. 3 they may, those who desire a life after death believe it will be one calcu­ lated to promote their own special enjoyments. Some time ago, the Rev. J. C. Ryle, B.A., Vicar of Stradbroke, pub­ lished in the Quiver—a publication issued by Cassell & Co.—an essay en­ titled “ Shall we know one another?” in which he singularly confirms this view of the matter. He is a Churchman, and of course quite orthodox. He quotes three short passages from Thessalonians (1, iv. 13,14), which he says “ all imply the same great truth, that saints in heaven shall know one another. They shall have the same body and the same character that they had on earth—a body perfected and transformed like Christ’s in his transfiguration, but still the same body—a character perfected and purified from all sin, but still the same character. But in the moment that we who are saved shall meet our several friends in heaven, we shall at once know them, and they will at once know us.” But this declaration complicates the subject farther than ever. What does he mean by the same body ? How can it be the same body if it be “ perfected and transformed?” It is as unintelligible as Daniel’s dreams or St. John’s visions. The rev. gentleman candidly remarks:—“ I grant freely that there are not many texts in the Bible which touch the subject at all. I admit fully that pious and learned divines are not of one mind with me about the matter.” The best Scriptural description to be found of Heaven, appears to be in the Revelation of St.John; and as it is put as the grand climax or perora­ tion to the sacred writings, we must accept it as the only authoritative account to be had. St. John “ writeth his revelation to the seven churches of Asia, signified by the seven golden candlesticks.” What light does John put into these said candlesticks, which is supposed to illumine a benighted and ruined world ? This revelation is the most in­ coherent jumble that perhaps ever came from the mouth of a sane man. In fact, it is only equalled by the insane ravings continually heard from those unfortunate creatures, now too often to be met with, who have been stricken with the revival mania. We shall be told that some parts are symbolical, and are not to be taken as written. As they stand, there is no earthly meaning in them; but where does the symbolical end, and the literal begin ? There is no internal evidence to guide U3; then who is to be the sworn interpreter ? The Catholic Church has settled that question for itself, but in the Protestant Church we go upon the principle, if not the practice, of each judging for himself. We in England have some thousands of ordained and self-appointed ministers and expounders of the Gospel, who do the interpretation business for the multitude, and for such as are too indolent or too much occupied to think for themselves. What light do we get from them to guide us through the perilous paths of life which lead from the cradle to the grave? Too many of them are like St. John’s seven candlesticks—they are merely sticks, and have no light in them, not even so much as the glimmer of a rushlight to shed on the dark pages of Gospel history. Any one who takes the trouble to search for authentic information about the locality and nature of the Heaven in which all Christians pro­ fess to believe, will find a total absence of any knowledge upon the subject. Like the alleged existence of God, it is simply a belief, and not a reality. Yet all the Churches speak of this phantom of the imagination with as much confidence as though the “ celestial regions ’’ had been surveyed and mapped like a tract of country, and their boundaries placed beyond the possibility of dispute. But so long as people will not think, but content themselves with believing, there will be no lack of traders upon their cre­ dulity. �4 Heaven and Hell. We now turn to the second part of our subject. What shall we say about that other place of abode for departed spirits, the climate of which is so warm that the natives of centraPAfrica will find it uncomfortable ? Where is it situated ? Ob, down below, of course; all Christians say so, and they alone know. Did not Christ descend into Hell ? And yet it cannot be far from Heaven, for did not Dives and Lazarus hold a conversation toge­ ther from their respective abodes ? We are not quite sure that Hell is not in Heaven itself, for in Revelation xiv. 9 and 10, it says, “ If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.” We are not to suppose that a little hell is kept among the holy angels for special use, or that they often go where Lucifer alone is King; and yet we cannot tell how men are to be tortured in their presence unless Hell is in Heaven. However that may be, we are assured that God himself is in Hell. If you doubt it, you need do no more than go to that royal prophet, that inspired writer, that man after God’s own heart, who, in one of those sacred oracles which the Holy Spirit itself has dictated to him, acknowledges and owns it. “Whither shall I go,” says David, “ from thy spirit ? or whither shall I flee from thy presence 1 If I ascend up into Heaven, thou art there ; if I make my bed in Hell, behold thou art there." We have Psalm 139 for our authority, and no one dare dispute that. There seems to be no doubt in the minds of Christians, that the brim­ stone pit is somewhere within the interior of 7 A is planet, but that the Abode of Bliss is up in the clouds, or beyond them. Now if the other planetary bodies are inhabited by human beings—and scientific men are not aware of any reason why they should not be—if the Maker of all things punishes his children with burning torments who do not believe in Christ and Him crucified, where are the inhabitants of other planets to be sent when their hour comes? Are they sent here, or has each of the other vast worlds in space a nice little Hell of its own in which to put its erring sub­ jects ? If they come here, an enlargement of the premises must be con­ stantly taking place. If Heaven is not upon this earth, and is never to be realised here—I prefer believing that Hell also is far up in the clouds, and a very long way too, so that the journey thither may take as much time as possible in its accomplishment. The warm world beyond the grave is popularly known by many names. Hell is perhaps the most general term used by Christians; though it is sometimes designated by the appellations of Infernal Regions, Perdition, Abode of the Damned, and so on. Most orthodox Christians mean by the term Hell the everlasting lake of brimstone and fire; though there are still some in the Church, and we believe they are of the best, who do not believe at ali in a literal Hell of fire. The Catholics have a place which they call Purgatory, which is a sort of House of Detention, and not the penal settle­ ment our Hell is supposed to be. There sinnerscan be released on tickets-ofleave after certain regulations have been complied with; our religious convicts are condemned for life (or death, whichever it may be) without the slightest hope of pardon. The Catholics themselves admit, that once in Hell, you are in it for ever, Michael Angelo, the celebrated painter, executed, by command of Pope Julius IT., a splendid picture representing the Day of Judgment. Now Michael Angelo had placed among his other figures in his scene of Hell, several cardinals and prelates. They had pro. bably been guilty, like Bishop Colenso and some of the most intelligent men �Heaven and Hell. 5 of our Church, of thinking for themselves, and, worst of all, of publishing the result of their thinkings. And this, we know, has been sufficient in all Christian ages to render any man quite unfit for the company of saints. However, some of the dignified and proper churchmen of Julius’s time, who had probably never been guilty of an original thought in their lives, were extremely enraged at the picture, and made complaint of it to his Holi­ ness, and entreated that he would lay his injunctions on the painter to efface them. To whom the Pope replied—“ My dear brethren, Heaven has indeed given me the power of recovering as many souls from Pur­ gatory as I think proper; but as to Hell, you know as well as I do, that my power does not extend so far, and those who once go thither, must remain there for ever!” What is Hell? Where is it? Is it really the lake of fire some repre­ sent it to be? You will be eternally bewildered and completely con­ founded if you try to determine this question from the Bible itself. If Hell be below, it must be contained within the earth, for wherever you go en the surface of this globe, you will find the firmament still above and around you. If within, which is the way to it? Strange that no one has ever even by accident discovered it. The only entrance one can imagine to it, is the mouth of Vesuvius. But that cannot be the way, as it is not a brimstone pit, though sulphurous exhalations arise from it. No devil that we ever heard of, was seen to emerge from it—not even by the miracle-working monks who infest the country round about. We know the right place has a door or grating, and that St. John saw the angel who kept the key. But it is bottomless, and therefore who knows but that Vesuvius is the other side—the front door in the rear, out of which the Devil pops when he wants to go roaring up and down the world ? A bottomless pit full of liquid must be like a pot without a bottom filled with water, where all things are not only in a state of solution, but the solution itself is held in suspension 1 We continually hear pious Christians say that the souls of unbelievers have gone, or are going, to Perdition. But there is a consolation in know­ ing that it is not Hell. Revelation xvii. 8, says that the beast which was so obliging as to carry the scarlet lady of Babylon, ‘ ‘ shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and shall go into Perdition.” Perhaps Perdition is the Catholic’s Purgatory 1 Who knows ? But then there is no mistake that Hell is Hell, and that the Freethinker will go there 1 Not quite so sure. Read Revelation xx. 14 —“And Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire.” Where does this lead us? We have heard of a house being turned out of window, but we never heard of a pit being thrown into itself 1 This is one of those mysteries which “ passeth all understanding.” We still have the lake of fire, where human beings are to be burnt for ever and ever, and yet never consumed. Now this is simply an impossi­ bility. The human body, if thrown into a large fire, would be utterly destroyed in a very short time, and nothing could prevent it. “ Men cannot live in fire. It is the nature of fire to burn up, to destroy, to decompose any animal or vegetable substance that is cast into it. It would require the properties of life to be altered before men could live in it for ever. Some will say, God can work a miracle. But we have no reason to suppose that he can. We know nothing of what God can do—we only know what is, and miracles do not take place.” We must discard the idea of a burning Hell as a fiction conceived by a brutal and revengeful monster in human form, and afterwards taken up and added to by fanatics, whose minds had been worked upon by superstition, till they believed as a reality, that which existed only in their own disordered imaginations. �6 Heaven and Hell. The believers in what is called philosophical religion, to the credit of their better nature, reject the brimstone part of the Bible, but cling to the fascinating hope of an abode after death of everlasting bliss. But they occupy a wholly illogical position. They have no more reason for believing in the existence of the one place than in the other, as both rest on precisely the same foundation—that of belief anti. not knowledge. They say that the Heaven of the Bible is real, but that, the Hell is figurative, and that the suffering will be only spiritual, and not material. But it is in vain to say that men in Hell will suffer all the torments promised to the damned, in the spirit, and not in the flesh. This is absurd. Besides, the Bible, with its usual disregard of probabilities or possibilities, says that in the regions of the damned will be heard weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. These are material operations, and who knows what are phantom grinders, spiritual molars, or immaterial jaws ? There are some sects of Christians who reject the brimstone Hell as a fiction, but they scarcely go so far as to say that all mankind will go to Heaven. They firmly believe that man is immortal, therefore he must go somewhere after he leaves this earth. Wherever it may be, it must be a region inhabited by the choicest spirits the world has produced. By painters, poets, sculptors, orators, statesmen, warriors, authors, reformers, philanthropists, beautiful and gifted women, and innocent children, who died without the redeeming blessing of Baptism. Every man, woman, and child, without exception, born before the Christian era, must be in this glorious land. They had no Christ crucified to take them to the Heaven of St. John, inhabited by angels and beasts. In this new world (assum­ ing that men live after death), may be expected to be met with, all the most grave and gifted personages of antiquity — Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Demosthenes, Pythagoras, Epictetus, Seneca, Pliny, Herodotus, Thucydides, Polybius, Livy, Suetonius, Tacitus, Plutarch, Anaxagoras, Ptolemy, Cicero, Homer, Pindar, Euripides, Sophocles, Ovid, and Horace, all assembled in one grand philosophic academy. And what a glorious phalanx of earth’s mightiest intellects and greatest benefactors have been sent thither since their day! And only think that of all those who are alive now, and who adorn the age in which we live, how few will find their way into the heaven of Revelation. St. John and his beasts will have none but the saints, the hypocrites, the miserable sinners, the priests, the criminals, both on the throne and in the hovel. They will reject John Stuart Mill, and accept Richard Weaver; shut the door in the face of Bishop Colenso, but open it wide for Wright the converted thief; receive Louis Napoleon with a flourish of trumpets, but hurl anathemas at Garibaldi; welcome the Pope with incense, but threaten with brimstone and fire the noble Joseph Mazzini. Who, with human sympathies and affections, would like to go to a place where the nearest and dearest ties are broken? Where the husband is separated from the wife, the parent from the child, the brother from the sister ? And not only separated, but where you will know that those you loved are writhing in agony unutterable. It is a doctrine which requires a fiend or a saint to believe it. We are told that a certain king of the Frisons, named Redbord, when on the very point of being baptised, took it into his head to ask the Bishop, who was preparing to perform the cere­ mony, whether in the paradise which had been promised him in conse­ quence of his changing his religion, he should find his ancestors and pre­ decessors. The Bishop having told him, that as they had all died Pagans, they could enjoy no portion of the heavenly inheritance, but were all in Hell, “Nay, then,’’ replied the King, lifting his foot out of the font into �Heaven and Hell. 7 ■which he had already dipped it, ‘ ‘ if that be the case, take back again your baptism and your paradise; I had much rather go to Hell, and be there amongst a good and numerous company, with my illustrious ances­ tors, and other persons of my own rank, than to your Paradise, from which you have shut out all these brave people, and filled it up with none but paupers, miscreants, and people of no note.” And is not Heaven filled with miscreants, if the Christian theory be correct ? Who is the most acceptable to Heaven ? Is it not the repentant sinner? Have not men of the most notoriously abandoned and profligate lives, who, when they were too ill to sin any more, expressed their sorrow for what they had done, in the hope of being rewarded with happiness in another world ? And have not priests in all times assured these monsters of a sure and certain resurrection to eternal bliss ? How forcibly, how beautifully has Thomas Moore depicted this hateful doctrine in his en­ chanting poem of “ Paradise and the Peri.” A Peri in the East is sup­ posed to be one of those beautiful creatures of the air who live upon per­ fumes, but still is a kind of fallen angel, who mourns after Paradise— “ And weeps to think her recreant race Should ere have lost that glorious place.” The Peri is represented as hovering about the entrance to heaven, and the angel who keeps the gates hears her weeping, and taking pity on her, gives her a chance of re-entering Paradise. The angel imagined by Moore, who is a much more estimable person than St. Peter, speaks thus:— “ Nymph of a fair but erring line!” Gently he said—“ One hope is thine. ’Tis written in the Book of Fate The Peri yet may be forgiven Who brings to this eternal gate The gift that is most dear to heaven! Go, seek it, and redeem thy sin— ’Tis sweet to let the pardoned in.” She then starts on her mission, and with a true human instinct, thinks that the patriot who dies nobly for his country, will be a welcome guest among the blessed. She goes to the field of carnage, where a battle for freedom has been raging, but where might and not right has triumphed. She catches the dying sigh of the patriot, who has fallen in his country’s cause, and takes that to the celestial gatekeeper:— “ ‘ Sweet,’ said the Angel, as she gave The gift into his radiant hand, ‘ Sweet is our welcome of the Brave Who die thus for their native Land. But see—alas!—the crystal bar Of Eden moves not—holier far Than e’en this drop the boon must be That opes the gates of Heav’n for thee!’ ” Oh no! Heaven is no place for patriots. They are disliked there. They have been meddling people, disturbing the reign of divinely-appointed rulers — a thing very obnoxious to the ministers of God’s holy word. Lazarus, as soon as he got to heaven, refused a drop of water to cool the parching lips of Dives, showing what moral effect that place had upon him. Now comes the orthodox climax to this tale of injustice. The Peri takes �8 Heaven and Hell. her last flight over the vale of Balbec. from his horse, with a brow— She there sees a ruffian dismount “ Sullenly fierce—a mixture dire, Like thunder-clouds of gloom and fire 1 , In which the Peri’s eyes could read Dark tales of many a ruthless deed: The ruined maid—the shrine profaned— Oaths broken—and the threshold stain’d With blood of guests—there written, all, Black as the damning drops that fall From the denouncing Angel’s pen, Ere mercy weeps them out again.” This guilt-stained wretch sees a child at play, who, when the vesper calls to prayer, begins to pray. He thought of his own childhood: ‘ * He hung his head—each nobler aim And hope and feeling which had slept From boyhood’s hour, that instant came Fresh o’er him, and he wept—he wept!” And it is with this crocodile tear that the Peri returns to the Gates of Light, and instead of its being spurned’with^contempfifit is pronounced the gift most dear to heaven, and she is rewarded with admission into the Eden which is made up of such characters as this. Well might Redbord exclaim, that such a heaven is filled with none but paupers, miscreants, and people of no note. This Heaven, for which Christians yearn, and for which they fight, per­ secute, and murder, is a creation of the brain, appearing to each what each desires. There is no line in the Revelation which will warrant the belief that it is the abode of bliss some would have us believe. There is no love, no sympathy, no warmth of affection, which can alone make life endurable. Who would be happy in the presence of angels, who pour out the vials of the wrath of the Lord upon all mankind? We have had too much of this wrath from his ministers on earth, who seem never able to exhaust the vials. The Bible, or any other book, which teaches the doctrine of Hell tor­ ments, is not, cannot be, a revelation from a God of mercy and love. It is the crude production of an ignorant, a superstitious, a priest-ridden, and brutal people. The Bible alone, of all books in the world, first promul­ gated the monstrous, the fiendish doctrine of eternal, never-ending tor­ ments prepared for all men, not one-millionth part of whom ever saw or heard of it. This doctrine, so far from keeping men good, makes good men bad, and brutalises all who believe in it. It distracts men’s minds from the duties of this life, and deludes them into the belief of another which, when looked at calmly and with reason, will be seen to contain no element worthy of their acceptance, or capable of promoting their perma­ nent happiness. PRICE ONE PENNY. London: Printed and Published by Austin & Co., 17, Johnson’s Court, Fleet Street, E.C. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Victorian Blogging Description An account of the resource A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library &amp; Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Conway Hall Library & Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Conway Hall Ethical Society Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Pamphlet Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Heaven and hell: where situated? a search after the objects of Man's fervent hope and abiding terror Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Holyoake, Austin [1826-1874] Description An account of the resource Place of publication: London Collation: 8 p. ; 19 cm. Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Presented in Memory of Dr. Moncure D. Conway by his children, July Nineteen hundred & eight. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Austin & Co. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource [187-?] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CT18 Subject The topic of the resource Heaven Hell Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Heaven and hell: where situated? a search after the objects of Man's fervent hope and abiding terror), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource English Christian Doctrine Conway Tracts Heaven Hell