%
T H E TORCH OF REASON, S IL V E R T O N , O REG O N , TH U R SD A Y , FE B R U A R Y 25, 1897
were reduced to a svstem
l»v
«
V Pto-
lemy, and im proved by Coperni
cus. The g u itar was known 1500
B. C. G unpow der was known to
the Hindoos 355 B. C. Iron as
well as the
precious
metals,
was known
to
the
ancients.
J u p ite r was know as a planet to
the C haldeans 3000 B. C. Looms
were known in India centuries ago.
M agnets were discovered by the
G rctks, and known centuries before
by the Chinese. The m arin er’s com
pass invention is claim ed by tin
Chinese em porer, Hong Ti, 2634
B. C. The earliest au th o r on med
icine whose works have been pre
served from Christian vandalism ,
are those by H ippocrates w ho lived
A g e o f Ig n o ra n c e .
about the 5th century B. C. The
C o n tin u e d fr o m fit]), P age.
invention of the microscope is gen
The
the 4th century and introduced erally ascribed to Galileo.
into Spain by the Sarcens, A. 1). first reaping m achine on record,
9U0. A natom y became a branch was di scribed by P liny A. 1). 60.
of the medical a rt under H ipi )O- The fabled tower of Babel is sup
crate 420 B. C. Anchors with one posed to have been the first obse.-
Huke were invented by the Tuscans. vatory erected, hut the first men
The second Huke was added by• I tioned in au th en tic history, was
A nacharsis a Scythian philosopher erected by Ptolemy Soter a t A lex
in 594 B. C. The old.-Kt treatise an d ria about 300 B. C. is it any
on A rithm etic was w iitten by E u wonder then, th a t in the face of
clid 300 B. C. and introduced from such history, inventions, and dis
Egypt into Greece by Thales in coveries, th a t not a single sun,
600 B. C. Notation by nine digits moon, planet, or star, bears a
C h ristian s
in
and zero was known in India as Christian nam e?
early days were not searching for
early as the 9th century.
A stronom y is supposed to have knowledge of th a t kind, they were
originated with the C haldeans hut employed inventing instrum ents of
the most ancient astronom ical ob torture, vieing with each other in
servations known are Chinese; one the devilish ingenuity of th eir cruel
bv M ontucla was made about 2,.500 appliances.
But oh, how have the m ighty
B. C. A solar eclipse was calcu
lated in Greece by Thales, about fallen, fro m being the m akers of
600 B. C. The height of the a t laws, rulers of nations, crowners of
m osphere was calculated to he 800 kings, and guardians of the souls
stadia by P asadonius 79 B. C. and conscience of the hum an race!
Backgammon was invented by One by one these powers have *
P alaim d es of Greece 1224 B. C. slipped from the bloody grasp, till
B anks were in stitu ted in th e tim e not one rem ains as a relic of her
of Demosthenes 385-322 B. C. at form er power. H er cruel burning
A thens. B illiard s were supposed of the im m ortal Bruno an d m any
to have been introduced into E u others, has been the m eans bv
rope from the East, date unknown. which her ty ran n ica l • yoke was
C alculating m achines invented by taken from the intellects of men.
Plat«» 400 B. C. Coin, is spoken No more will the cross be borne
of by H om er as existing 1184 B. C. aloft by her m yrm idons, o’er the
C opper and silver money was first m urdered bodies of noble men, help
coined by Pheidon, king of Argos less women, and innocent children,
Æ a in a 895 B. C. Comedy first as the symbol of power, and divine
acted at Athens, by Susarion and love. The death groans of the
D«don 562 B. C. I he drum is an noble m arty rs of F reethought are
oriental invention introduced by echoing and revibrating forever
tin-m oors into Spain A. I>. 713. am ong the everlasting vales of time
H ospitals and schools established and eternity. T heir once b rillia n t
by ancient Rome, Greece and most m inds and eloquent tongues which
all the pagan nations, hundreds of ever battled for the right, are now
years before the C hristian era, and stilled in death; and th eir m anly
forms have long since resolved hack
by the M oham m edans also.
It was from M ohammedan Spain to m other nature. They sleep be
th a t appeared the first gleam s of neath th e sta rry canopy o f space,
light which illum inated the dark hut th eir names are w ritten in the
horizon of C hristian Europe. T het im m ortal scroll of tim e, never to be
electrical properties of c e rta in bod erased, and though kingdom s m ay
ies were discovered about 600 B. C. come and go; republics rise and
by T hales of Miletus. The Roman fall, th eir noble nam es, honest
S enate sent geographers into all deeds, and glorious efforts to free
countries then known, to gain in m ankind from the toils of ignorance
form ation, 100 B. C. and we have and superstition, will he loved,
also the well known geographies of honored and respected long after
P au san ias and Mela 79 B. C. which C hristianity lives in fable only.
E le m e n ts A ffe c tin g O u r P ro g re s s . childish fancies ns did these ch ild has not
Con t i n net I f r o m 4 t h . P a g e
The neglect of the Oregon State
Legislature to pass the bill taxing
alike the property of this state and
thus lessening the great burden of
taxation upon those who are su p
porting toe legislative body was a
sham eful victory for the favored
organizations which are opposing
equality and justice. The slavery
of the masses to support in luxury
an<J ease the few. the power of
money t-ofree crim inals, i he control
of legislation by m onopolists are all
great victories for the enemies of
m ankind.
<), friends let us all, farm ers, m er
chants, mechanics, editors, teachers,
doevery thing in our power to assist
the great m ovem ent tow ard b i d d
ing the beautiful heaven on earth,
the highest state o f civilization of
which m an is capable. But how
shall we b esteom bat this destructive
enemy? It seems that if the great -
est weapon of the enem y could be
destroyed we could then have an
easy and rapid victory; but what is
destructions
greatest
weapon?
S uperstition— the d a rk , narrow ing,
blighting superstition.
In studying this the greatest weap
on of the enemy, three questions
n atu rally arise. F irst, w hat is the
cause of superstition, second, w hat
nourishes it ; and th ird , what in the
name of all th a t is good ami noble
an d true is the remedy? W ay back
when men fir>t began to think,
when the faculties of im agination,
judgm ent and reason were sufficient
ly developed, they began to look
around them and wonder and
enquire into the great problem s of
life. The great laws of nature were
not understood.
They did not
know th at the earth is round or the
cause of day and night. They did
not understand the great law of
gravitation.
T he rain bow, the
river flowing on anil on and the
lightening’s flash were great m ys
teries to these feeble children of
h u m an ity and so, like children,
they began to ask questions. W hat
is the cause of our existence? How
do all these things around us live
and move, an d does death end all?
The frightful th u n d er bolt! 0 ,
what does it all mean? And when
the dem and was great enough,
some, a little more shrewd th an
the rest saw th eir advantage and
pretended to have the power of
knowing all about these m ysterious
things and so the questions were
answered and the shrewd ones
were respected, adored, worshiped.
T hus did different system s of re
ligions originate. Then did man
begin to sacrifice his time, his
goods, his offspring and even his
own life to su p p o rt w hat to him
was divinest of divine tru th .
And today in the face of our
boasted civilization, all over our
land m ay be found full grown men
and women who believe in just as
ren of old. Nor are tic se su p e rsti
tions harm less for people who differ
only in regard to them i. e. the d if
ferent sec’s keep aloof from each
other and even now we hear of war
and bloodshed between groat a rm
ies of religions fanatics.
How much belter it would be if
they were all free from these su p er
stitions and would unite in the
grand work of lifting h u m an ity to
a higher plain of civilization. The
fact th at religion m akers have
made b e lie f essential to th e great
rewards prom ised, and disbelief or
doubt very dangerous, to say the
least, has been one of the greatest
reasons for the perpetuity of th eir
teachings. Then a g a in religion has
b e c o m e a money m aking scheme for
m any. Take the money out of t he
business anil bow soon would m any
of the brave soldiers now m arching
onw ard as if to war, leave th e
ranks and su rren d er the cause?
Large publishing
houses
have
made thousands and thousands of
dollars p rin tin g religious trash,
tracts and traditions.
A short tim e ago an orthodox
m inister said in th e pu lp it th a t
more bibles are printed now th an
ever b'-fore. W hat a large sum of
money the publishers receive for
this work and what a tine paying
business it m ust be. Then again
people have been afraid to oppose
these religious teachings on account
of business and m an y an honest
m an has found to his cost th a t h s
honest, earnest work, for what he
sincerely thought to be the tru th ,
was met with boycott, ridicule and
persecution.
At a Sunday school convention a
short time since the m ain idea ad
vanced was th a t the children should
be early tau g h t the teachings of the
church. “ W hy,” said a M ethodist
leader “ ¡h»* Catholics claim th a t if
you give them a ch ild u n til he is
seven years old th a t the r.-st of the
world m ay have him after that.
He will alw ays be a Catholic and
we should follow the Catholics in
this respect.
We should train
the children iu
this
blessed
religion and when tin y are old they
will not depart from it.”
W’e
w’anted so much to tell the audience
where the fallacy was in his foolish
argum ent. T hink of it,— how much
b etter;—-how much more logical
and scientific to train the ch ild ren ’s
faculties of sense perception, m em
ory, analysis, classification, judg
m ent and reason bv studies which
they can com prehend and then
when they are old they will have
the ability to detect error and find
th e tru th . But no, these foolish,
blind leaders of th e blind m ust
teach the poor children these dog
m as and theories which no one can
possibly dem onstrate or understand.
Instead of teaching them to believe
and be saved they should be taught
to behave and be saved.
We can all see th a t hum anity
reached the highest p in
nacle of its journey up the rough
and rugged steps of tim e, and as
we look around for assistance, the
only god in which we can find faith
enough to pray for deliverance
from the galling chain of supersti
tion is h u m a n ity itself.
0,
friends, as we go about our work
let us pray as m an never m an
prayed before; let us work, preach
and pray to the only god who has
power to save the race. Let us ap
peal to our friends everywhere to
preach the glad tidings of liberty
and the beautiful religion of h u
m an ity . For if m an does not save
himself no other power will.