Born in Baltimore, Maryland, September 12, 1880: Henry Louis Mencken.
H. L. Mencken at his piano, 1942. Photo from the Library of Congress, via Gibbons
Mencken is the guy who invented the Millard Fillmore bathtub hoax.
As a quintessential curmudgeon, Mencken took a cynical pose on many issues. Why? His creed explains:
Mencken’s Creed
I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind – that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking.
I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent, can be anything but vicious.
I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must necessarily make war upon liberty…
I believe that the evidence for immortality is no better than the evidence of witches, and deserves no more respect.
I believe in the complete freedom of thought and speech…
I believe in the capacity of man to conquer his world, and to find out what it is made of, and how it is run.
I believe in the reality of progress.
I – But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.
The Mencken Society in Baltimore plans a commemoration of Mencken at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, on Saturday, September 13, 2008, starting at 10:00 a.m.
It would be a great day to be in Baltimore.
Posted by Ed Darrell 
