第23章

The truth which the several systems possess，serves to cover and perpetuate the errors which they contain；but those errors are most obvious to all who have not from infancy been taught to receive them.

Is proof demanded？Ask，in succession，those who are esteemed the most intelligent and enlightened of every sect and party，what is their opinion of every other sect and party throughout the world.Is it not evident that，without one exception，the answer will be，that they all contain errors so clearly in opposition to reason and equity，that he can only feel pity and deep commiseration for the individuals whose minds have been thus perverted and rendered irrational？And this reply they will all make，unconscious that they themselves are of the number whom they commiserate.

The doctrines which have been taught to every known sect，combined with the external circumstances by which they have been surrounded，have been directly calculated，and could not fail，to produce the characters which have existed.And the doctrines in which the inhabitants of the world are now instructed，combined with the external circumstances by which they are surrounded，form the characters which at present pervade society.

The doctrines which have been and now are taught throughout the world，must necessarily create and perpetuate，and they do create and perpetuate，a total want of mental charity among men.

They also generate superstitions，bigotry，hypocrisy，hatred，revenge，wars，and all their evil consequences.For it has been and is a fundamental principle in every system hitherto taught，with exceptions more nominal than real，'That man will possess merit，and receive eternal reward，by believing the doctrines of that peculiar system；that he will be eternally punished if he disbelieves them；that all those innumerable individuals also，who，through time，have been taught to believe other than the tenets of this system，must be doomed to eternal misery.'Yet nature itself，in all its works，is perpetually operating to convince man of such gross absurdities.

Yes，my deluded fellow men，believe me，for your future happiness，that the facts around us，when you shall observe them aright，will make it evident，even to demonstration，that all such doctrines must he erroneous，because THE WILL OF MAN HAS NO.

POWER WHATEVER OVER HIS OPINIONS；HE MUST，AND EVER DID，AND EVER

WILL BELIEVE WHAT HAS BEEN，IS，OR MAY BE IMPRESSED ON HIS MIND

BY HIS PREDECESSORS AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH SURROUND HIM，It becomes therefore the essence of irrationality to suppose that any human being，from the creation to this day，could deserve praise or blame，reward or punishment，for the prepossessions of early education.

It is from these fundamental errors，in all systems which have been hitherto taught to the mass of mankind，that the misery of the human race has to so great an extent proceeded；for，in consequence of them，man has been always instructed from infancy to believe impossibilities he is still taught to pursue the same insane course，and the result still is misery.Let this source of wretchedness，this most lamentable of all errors，this scourge of the human race，be publicly exposed；and let those just principles be introduced，which prove themselves true by their uniform consistency and the evidence of our senses；hence insincerity，hatred，revenge，and even a wish to injure a fellow creature，will ere long be unknown；and mental charity，heartfelt benevolence，and acts of kindness to one another，will be the distinguished characters of human nature.

Shall then misery most complicated and extensive be experienced，from the prince to the peasant，in all nations throughout the world，and shall its cause and prevention be known，and yet withheld？The knowledge of this cause，however，cannot be communicated to mankind without offending against the deep-rooted prejudices of all.The work is therefore replete with difficulties，which can alone be overcome by those who，foreseeing all its important practical advantages，may be induced to contend against them.

Yet，difficult as it may be to establish this grand truth generally throughout society，on account of the dark and gross errors in which the world to this period has been instructed，it will be found，whenever the subject shall undergo a full investigation，that the principles now brought forward cannot，by possibility，injure any class of men，or even a single individual.On the contrary，there is not one member of the great family of the world，from the highest to the lowest，that will not derive the most important benefits from its public promulgation.And when such incalculable，substantial，and permanent advantages are clearly seen and strongly felt，shall individual considerations be for a moment put in competition with its attainment？No！Ease，comfort，the good opinion of part of society，and even life itself.may be sacrificed to those prejudices；and yet the principles on which this knowledge is founded must ultimately and universally prevail.

This high event，of unequalled magnitude in the history of humanity，is thus confidently predicted，because the knowledge whence that confidence proceeds is not derived from any of the uncertain legends of the days of dark and gross ignorance，but from the plain and obvious facts which now exist throughout the world.Due attention to these facts，to these truly revealed works of nature，will soon instruct，or rather compel mankind to discover the universal errors in which they have been trained.

The principle，then，on which the doctrines taught in the New Institution are proposed to be founded，is，that they shall be in unison with universally revealed facts，which cannot but be true.

The following are some of the facts，which，with a view to this part of the undertaking，may be deemed fundamental：