THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, lS '.lfi. □mum "entinient" of V oltaire ami Paine, It is said in the Hebrew S cript­ it hav* been creatures more or less a id yet invoke the gracious favor ures, “ God m ade m an in his own like'itself. Im agine such a crea­ Un the eight \ - hun t I» anni v i -it \ image.” 1 urn th e statem ent up­ ture trying to form and ex press ot A lm ighty G o il. side down, and it becomes tru e: a conception of the forms of ex­ ni L iicoln b i n l u g - r.-oll (h - “ Y oh also say. ‘T his God’ “ Man m akes God in his own im ­ istence of the plants ami anim als llA .rcl ill New Y rk hi" li.;t"t« l i\ (m eaning the God whose favor Lin- as known to us! — such an attem pt or bimi <>ii A braham Lincoln. in coin invoKml) was not the D eists’ age.” A nd w hether the represen­ m ust he in vain. Then suppose tation consists of the clay figure iiii" oratinn h<- a li n i ned th it the God.* Tie- Deists believe in an further this tin v creature trying to made by an African negro, the conceive he idea of God, th'- cause r •, > ì of L‘ i ' »1 u w;i- ! h»* re!¡¿i .? o d d i l c .J i d ii g , « h o .. c ...... re a te d ami m enial iirragc constructed Ly-..v-i-. ■ 'a ’ > i i * i V i i »• w . ;; n > 1 to ilr-i ru t- Ini.', ion of V o lta ire am i Pane-. Iniined- p resei ves the universe. The C h ris -1 ized mail, it is equally a vain and as mi invisible shell-fish, w ith a i i o ly alter it s de.i »’er a Gem ! j ti;l ns believe no more. Deists a n d ; foolish idol. T he most ignorant shell enoroinously large an d te n ta ­ of New York, a'ldr.-">ed the fol l o w - , c h r i ^ t i a u H believe in the sam e God, -a \a g e and the A rchbishop of ( ’a n ­ cles infinitely long: in fact a m ag­ ing note to Col. Ingersoll. Hut differ as to what this God te bury are eq u ally unable to form nified im age of itself. The folly of •D ear Col. Ingersoll: I ( jias done, and to what this God j any true conception of the n atu re this attem pt to enter what was to ju."t returned home from listening wiu y o u fu rth er say that of G»»d. Let us suppose one of the shell-fish the legion of the u n ­ to your most entertaining b-< Gio , •Uncoln worshiped his God under knowable would he very plain to upon the life of A braham Lincoln. ' , he forillH (,f- the C hristian C hurch. those small shell-fish in the slime at the bottom of the ocean trying us. Hut let us suppose still fu rth er 1 th in k you sin<*enl\ I'd' all that of which he was a m ember. Again to form a conception of the loi ms ilmt this little creatu re not only wa." good in ii, and imn cntii b-s j y (),, {J1.e m istaken Lincoln was of existence on the surface of I In­ formed i his conception of God hut iiu* t«> be frank in condem ning w hat never a member of any church earth. It knows ami can know u-lt so confident of its virtues as a 1 couHiler was bad. You say th at Mrg j j nco|„ stateked ‘the gracious liial (i,.„ied ’ the inspiration of the forms of existence know n to am use a ch ild .—Joh n Wilson. f a v » r o f A lm ig h ty G o d ’ in every the Scriptures, and th a t he alw ays effort of his lif.* w ith nm rc a p p a re n t insisted th at C hrist was not the fervor than did lie. ami this 1 * 'L S()n of God, and th a t the dogma of was not the D eists’ G > I lmt ihf the atonem ent was and is an a b ­ God whom he worshiped under the surdity. for iis of the C uristian C mrcli, of “ 1 will very gladly pay you one w '¡eh he was a member. thousand dollars for your trouble “ I do not write this in defense of to show th a t one statem en t in your Tablets, Papeteries, his religion or as objecting to yours, letter is correct—even one. And m aterial or for luii I think it was better for the now, to quote you, ‘Do you not books call at Uitv trut h of history th a t you Hiink it were better for th e tru th maev. hl.m e him for w hat he was than l)f history t |,.H V()ll should state com m end him for what lie was the facts about Lincoln, and that G U IS S & S O N n »t. Sincerely y<>ur- n you should commend him for wh it “ C iirle II. f. J »11 i s ” he was rath er than for what he was WAS LINCOLN A CHRISTIAN? In a n sw e r to th e above, Col. In ­ not?’ gersoll penned tin* following reply: “ Gen C harles IL T. Collis,— My Dear sir: I have just received your letter in which you criticise a Ma lenient made by me to the effect th a t Lincoln's religion was the re­ ligion of V oltaire and Thom as Paine, and you add, ‘I know not w here you get your au th o rity for tins, hut if the statem ent he true, Lincoln him self was untrue, for no man ever invoked tin» favor of Al- j • « 4 e i : m ighty God m every effort ot his life with more apparent fervor than did he.’ “ You seem to he laboring under the impression th a t V oltaire was not a believer in God, atid th at he could not have invoked tin* favor of A lm ighty God. The tru th is that V oltaire was not only a believer in God, but even in special Provi­ dence. I know th a t the clergy has alw ays denounced \ oltaire as . / , . . ac­ an Atheist, hut this can he ac- counted for in two wavs: F irst bv * *■ the ignorance of the clergy, and Second, by their contem pt of tru th . Thom as Paine was also a believer in God, and wrote his creed as follows: ‘I believe in one God and no more, and hope for im m ortality.' T he m inisters have also denounced Paine as an A theist. “ You will, therefore, see th at first statem ent is without the • your » slightest foundation in fact. Lin­ coln could he perfectly true to him ­ self if he agreed with the religious Yours t r u l \ ’ “ K G. Ingersoll." S C IE N C E VS T H E j LO G Y. (C o n tin u e d fr o n t l i s t Issu e.) The argum ent for the existence of the hum an a ttrib u te of goodness] O T T O W E T T S T E IN ’S P o p u la r F r e e t h o u g h t B adge. “ A pin whose torch and golden sh een , W ould grace th e b reast of S h e b a ’s queen ; And will lend grace (now and) in com ing tim e To q ueens of lieauty m ore su b lim e .’’ in God is founded on the sam e im ­ perfect reasoning as th a t we have Should be worn bv every m an and woman favoring just considered. Facts producing results such as a good m an m ight th e cause of F reeth o u g h t and reform . See design produce, are cited as proofs of the in heading of th is paper. Now is th e tim e to buy. goodness of God: while facts such H ’ , . , , as only the most cruel and wicked would or could be guilty of, are O tto W e tts te in , either passed over unnoticed, or put , aside labelled “ m ysterious.” A The Liberal jew eler and w riter, Designer of the O tto healthy and beautiful child is taken W ettstein W atch ,’ the C ol . I ngersoll S ouvenir as proof of God’s goodness; hut nothing is said of infants horn in S poon , and the beautiful F reethought B adge . Es­ a state of disease or deform ity, tablished in R ochelle,‘Illinois, in 1857. Send for destined to a short and m iserable existence. W hat, again, is to be price-lists of goods ami work. said of creatures so form ed th a t . . , .. life to them is possible only bv the . . , ., . .. Do all you can yourself, and get o th ers to help. sickness, pain and death of other living creatures? L ib e ra l U n iv e rs ity P o p u la r S u b s c r ip tio n It facts sim ilar to w hat hum an goodness would produce are proofs of God having the attrib u te of h u ­ IS! Hi. m an goodness, it follows th a t facts sim ilar to w hat hum an cruelty and I hereby prom ise to p ay ................................. dollars to wickedness would produce—and the Oregon State Secular U nion on dem and, for the erec­ they are just as num erous— are equally proofs of God having the tion of a Liberal U niversity at S ilverton, Marion county, attributes of hum an cru elty and Oregon, provided, th a t the sum of five thousand dollars wickedness. But the tru th is neither one nor the other is any is subscribed by good, responsible parties before said de­ proof at all th a t th e n a tm e of God mand is made*. is man-like.