evidently we are not meant to remain children always. The time comes
when we must put away childish things and obey the summons of truth,
stern and high. A people who fear the truth can never he a free
people. If what I will say is the truth, do you know of any good
reason why I should not say it? And if for prudential reasons I should
sometimes hold back the truth, how would you know _when_ I am telling
what I believe to be the truth, and when I am holding it back for
reasons of policy?

The truth, however unwelcome, is not injurious; it is error which
raises false hopes, which destroys, degrades and pollutes, and which,
sooner or later, must be abandoned. Was it not Spencer, whom Darwin
called "our great philosopher," who said, "Repulsive as is its aspect,
the hard fact which dissipates a cherished illusion is presently found
to contain the germ of a more salutary belief?" Spain is decaying
today because her teachers, for policy's sake, are withholding the
disagreeable truth from the people. Holy water and sainted bones can
give a nation illusions and dreams, but never,--strength.

A difficult subject is in the nature of a challenge to the mind. One
difficult task attempted is worth a thousand commonplace efforts
completed. The majority of people avoid the difficult and fear danger.
But he who would progress must even court danger. Political and
religious liberty were discovered through peril and struggle. The
world owes its emancipation to human daring. Had Columbus feared
danger, America might have slept for another thousand years.

I have a difficult subject in hand. It is also a delicate one. But I
am determined not only to know, if it is possible, the whole truth
about Jesus, but also to communicate that truth to others. Some people