% 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.