R eason .
OF
VOL. 1.
S IL \ ERTOX, OREGON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER K). 1S9B
THE BEGINNING
P rio r to the great beginning
W hen th ere was no heaven or e a rth ,
W hen th ere was no sta rlig h t, su n lig h t,
W hen creation had no b irth ,
Wiu*n a black and boundless nothing,
B reathless, lifeless ’round him fell:
W h at occurred to wake his slum ber,
W h at occurred to break th e spell?
who thought that ‘One world at a
t u n e w a s a good idea.
‘ He thought this a good place to
he happy as is shown by his won
derful love for liberty and mercy.
No, I can tru th fu lly say, A braham
Lincoln was not a C h ristia n .’’
MARRIAGES AND FUNERALS-
S tarless, w orldless, all pervading,
B reathless, lifeless, boundless n ig h t,
\\ as th e nothing at beginning
O ut of which sprang worlds of light,
O ut of which were m ade th e heavens,
C ountless worlds rem ote and near.
And all living, m oving creatu res
In th e dep th of sc. and air.
There are no rights more sacred
th an the right to lie m arried w ith
out m eaningless m um m ery, and
the right not to be m isrepresented
at one’s funeral.
The im portance of secular funer
Yet we know not w hat aroused him als and m arriages cannot be fully '
estim ated, for the world will still
To begin th is m ighty plan
Of creation, in its vastness,
sn e e r a t our in c o n siste n c y , a n d th e
F orm ing lastly sinful m an.
church
folks still sm ile com
W hy did he not leave great nothing
placently and declare th at ‘‘liberal
In its sinless, silen t space,
ism is neither lit to live by nor to
R a th e r th an m ake m an so sinful
die by,’’ so lo n g as professed liber-
As to dam n th e h u m an race?
als continue to call on th e clergv to
B ut ’tis said th a t m an was sinless
solemnize th e ir m arriages and bury
U ntil tem pted, when he fell,—
grapple; who ever knew T ru th put not recognize them as defects when
to the worse in a free and open en- they are pointed out.—The Princi-
counter?-r-John M ilton.
pies of Ethics.
Some tell us th a t it is the desire
of G<»d th a t we should worship him.
W hat for? \ \ hy does he desire
worship? W e cannot assist the in-
finite, but we can assist our f< Row
men. We can feed the hungry and
cloth the n a k e d , and enlighten the
ignorant, and we can help, in some
degree at least, toward covering
this world with the m antle of joy.
I do not believe there is any be-
¡ng in th is universe who gives rain
J' . *
•
■
.
lH a ’6e who gives . sunshine
for p ra y e r, or who blesses a m an
sim ply because he kneels.— Inger
soll.
Man can never he so sufficiently
a s s u r e d o f th e course of h is th o u g h ts
as to sw ear fidelity to this or th a t
system , which for the time being
t h e i r dead
«lend.
lie
ira rd a as s tin»
t n ,., one.
T em pted by a su b tle serp en t,
their
he tnav
m ay re
regard
the true
C raw ling from th e d e p th of h ell—
Doubtless this is often doire not All th a t he can do is to conse-
P ure and spotless as a lilly,
t h rough choice, hut lieeause there . crate him self to the service of T ru th
In its early opening bloom,
is no one near, except the preacher, w hatever she m ay be, and to in-
I n til tem pted by th e devil
cline his heart to follow her wher-
in to shades of sin and gloom.
who is prepared to officiate.
ever h« th in k s th a t he sees her,
A. R. A yres .
\\ hen th a t black and boundless n o th in g ,
H arm less, voiceless round him fell,
aV.d this though a t the cost of the
SECULAR FLASHES-
H hy did he create th e devil,
most painful sacrifices.— E arnest
Or eoncieve an endless hell?
The profoundest of all infidelity Renan.
If creation sen t forth evil,
is the fear lest Ihe tru th he had— I Rea8on, O bservation and Exper-
Or an evil conies of good,
H erbert Spencer.
iehoe th e H()lj T rin jty of
Then where is th e p o in t dividing
S a ta n ’s works from works of God?
M hen th ere was no sta rlig h t, su n lig h t,
H hen th ere was no heaven or hell,
H hen th ere was no place for sinning,
Nor for sinful m an to dw ell,
W hy was silence ever broken?
W hy was m an to w eakness born?
Why were devils m ade to te m p t him
And th e n leave him here to m ourn?
The civilization of m an increases
as th e secular power of the church
,
T
1,
decreases.— Ingersoll.
E ”ro ro f opinion m ay be tolerated
when reason is le ft free to com bat
it.—Thom as Jefferson.
NO. B.
have tau g h t us th a t happiness is the
1 only good; th a t the time to beh ap p v
Jo.
I au
a , ,
.
w now’, and the way to be happy is
m, • .
e " J*rs so’ H us is enough
f°
" 118 hehef we are content
h> 1,ve a,,d die’ l f hy any possibil
ity th e existence of a power superior
Skepncsm is the highest of du-
and independent of, nature shall
ties, and blind faith the one unpar-
demonstrated, there will tl.en 1«
donahle sin.— I. H. Huxley.
time enough to kneel. Until then
V ast and searching are these q uestions,
Piercing, probing to th e core;
Peering hack beyond creation,
W hat an im m ense hook m ight
To g reat n o th in g , n o th in g m ore.
.
,
,.
, .
Vast though sim ple is th is q u estio n ,
>e compose! on a t ie things once
1 believed, of which it is necessary to
lercing, probing to th e core.
doubt
Y< lta ir
*
Is it tru e th e re once was noth in g ,
N oth in g, noth in g , noth in g m ore?
All tru th is safe, and nothing -
—S elected.
------- — -------
else is safe, a n d he who keeps back
Clergy an d flock alike act in the
sp irit of self-interested
corpora-
tion. 1 hey feel th a t if children
are not train ed to accept C hristian
doctrines b e fo re they can reason
^()I them selves, the chances are ten
,o o,,e l *i.tt they will not join an y
church in later life. T he dissen-
tin g ciergy therefore insist th a t
the m ain C hristian
doctrines
shall be tau g h t in th e schixils,
h a v in g the churches to coinjiete
_
I
.
am ong them selves for the a d
herence of the taught, when they
have left school.—Jo h n M. R obert
son .
a
i
The central proposition of the
whole ‘‘Discourse” (R ene D escar
t o ) are these. There
1 here is a p path
ath
1 hat leads to tru th so surely, th a t
any one wdio will follow it m ust
needs reach the goal,whet her hisca-
Pacity ,,e great . or sm all. And
" IH* g n’(ling rule by which
a n,an » W alw ays find this p ath
a " d keep him self from straying
when lie lias found it. This golden
rule is— Give unqualified assent
to no propositions but those the
tru th of which is so clear and dis
tin ct th a t they cannot be doubted.
I he enunciation of this great first
com m andm ent of science consecra-
„ . .
.
ted Doubt. I t rem oved doubt from
/.
the seat of penance am ong the
grievous sins to w bich it had long
been coudem ned ft|ld en(ht,
•oned
it in th a t high place am ong the
prim ary duties, which is assigned
to it by the scientific conscience of
these latter days.—T. H . H uxley.
a
i
let us stan d ei ect.— Ingersoll.
QUESTION BOX-
T able-talk proves th a t nine out
Do Catholics and M ethodists love
r f
,
,♦
u v .
* ten
° P e r d w’,at am uses each other?
them rath er th an w hat instructs
Could a ll good men and women
them ; and proves,
together
and v..w
work — for the ad-
.
.
. also, th a t the , join
------
o ---------------
last thing they read is som ething vancem ent of righteousness?
W hy
WAS LINCJLN A CHRISTIAN? the tru th , or w ithholds it from mo- which tells them disagreeable don’t they?
The venerable S outhern ju rist, ^ ve8 ” * expediency, is eith er a tru th s or dispels groundless hopes.
Do all who prav for daily bread
Judge Leachm an, was one of Lin- coward or a crim in al, or both.
He -------------------
T h a t -------------------
popular
education results
in i l l g get
------- ---------------
— -
. o c u u r
C L I it?
L .
..................
coin’s
in tim ate and valued friends- who knows only one religion, an extensive reading of publica- ; Does an unbeliever get his daily
tions which foster pleasant illu- bread?
He is a C hristian, but candidly con- knows none.— Prof. Max M uller.
es th a t Lincoln was not a be-
I f any *• m an is able to convince : sions ra th e r th a n those which in-
Could
cyclones,floods,poverty
and
fesses
------- "’W----
VJ «A V*
o r
T 1» ^ 1» ^ .
i
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«1 .. - T
K lm t n n
h n rJ
1 I I iz u .
—
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liever. In the autum n of 1389, at me and show me th a t I do not 8’Ht on h a r,l realities, is beyond disease exist if there was an all
A nniston, Ala., Ju d g e Leachm an think or act right, I will gladly question.—The Man vs the Starte. wise and good intelligence gov-
1______
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I
_ _
f
•
a.
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m ade the following statem ent to change;
for I seek the tru th , » by
To the
m ass of people
nothing
ern in £ the universe?
,
.
V ..V m t x n n
p c ’ip ie
I l O U J i n g j - - - - - o ------ --------- ■—
V . W.
\v S.
a And
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i. ortsm outh,
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Mr.
res. of r P
which no m an was ever injured, is so costly as thought. The fact
Do good men pray for th e sal-
Ohio:
B ut he is injured who abides in his th a t, tak in g the world over, ninetv- vation of tho world? Is it a good
“ Lincoln was not such a C hris error an d ignorance.— M. A urelius n jne people out of a hundred ac‘ Pra yer?
W hy isn ’t it answ ered?
tian as th e term is used to im ply A ntoninus.
cept the creed to which they were
Should parents be th an k ed for
by ch u rch m em bers and church-
Though all the w inds of doctrine born, exemplifies th e ir m ental at- not killing th e ir children? Should a
going people.
H e was in th e, were let loose to play upon the titu d e tow ard things a t large. f?°d
th a n k e d for perm itting us
strictest sense a m oralist.
He ea rth , so T ru th be in the field, we N early all of them pursue m echan- to liva?
looked to actions and not to belief, do ingloriously, by licensing and ically the routine to which they
W hy is the word “god” said to
o o g
a
f _______
a
a
a
ta
Reu .egrae: d \ admired r‘hX G n leU Pr° hibiK ng;
nuie, and was oue of the those strength.
t°
mi^
Ub,‘ ? el ha-
a
n
d
are not
Let her and Falsehood only blind to its defects, but will W hy?
1
^ e s tio n a ,
1