The refusal cannot injure Professor Briggs. It will leave him where it found him—with too much science for a churchman and too much superstition for a scientist; with his feet in the gutter and his head in the clouds.
I admire every man who is true to himself, to his highest ideal, and who preserves unstained the veracity of his soul.
I believe in growth. I prefer the living to the dead. Men are superior to mummies. Cradles are more beautiful than coffins. Development is grander than decay. I do not agree with Professor Briggs. I do not believe in inspired books, or in the Holy Ghost, or that any God has ever appeared to man. I deny the existence of the supernatural. I know of no religion that is founded on facts.
But I cheerfully admit that Professor Briggs appears to be candid, good tempered and conscientious—the opposite of those who attack him. He is not a Freethinker, but he honestly thinks that he is free.
FRAGMENTS.
CLOVER.
* A letter written to Col. Thomas Donaldson, of Philadelphia,
declining an invitation to be a guest of the Clover Club of
that city.
I regret that I cannot be "in clover" with you on the 28th instant.