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About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (May 13, 1897)
* VOL. 1. S IL V E R T O N , OREGON , TH U R SD A Y , MAY 13, 1897. F o r th e T o rc h of Reason. Now, m atchless torch, e x alted high A postrophe to Torch of Reason. Thy rays bid m illion souls to cry : Torch of reason, th o u q u en ch less flame From out th e realm of n a tu re cam e, Do*n through th e evolution plan And settled on th e brow of m an. Through prim al law s, evolving th o u g h t T hou’st o rd er out of chaos brought. By evolution’s m agic plan Deiflc force evolved a m an — The flower of creation. All m atter now before m an lies In e arth , in air, in sea, in skies. No atom on th is e a rth ly ball Is to his ken too g reat or sm all Not to l»e m easured by his reed And tru th from e rro r dark to lead. Thou lookest hack adow n th e vista Of ancient tim e, d ark and m isty — And revealest th e gods of law and “ H ail! holy light, effulgent l*eam, T ru th from th v blaze doth ever gleam Piercing th e covers of m en tal night And u shering in the reign of right A gainst th e power of ignorance — A ssisting m illions to advance Along th e line of p ro g ress!” Aye, torch of reason, m atchless flame From out th e w om b of n a tu re cam e— Thy p o ten t light illum es th e soul And takes m an from false creed s’ con trol And lifts him to th e highest plain Of reason grand, th e re to rem ain. No creeds will now his m ind e n th ra l W ith dogm as c ru d e ; a t reaso n ’s call H e now will d are to speak his m ind. —W . F. B E N JA M IN . force. R oseburg, O re., April 18, Thou b rillian t to rch , exalte«! h igh, Gives m an sweet joy for so rro w ’s sigh. Thou g u ard est well th e j>early gate W here wisdom sits e n th ro n e .1 in sta te , Dispelling s u p e rstitio n ’s pall Ami m arsh als ou t a t reaso n ’s call— A m ighty host of th in k e rs. Thou b rillia n t light, with m agic power, Illum ines th o u g h t and cheers th e h o u r W here m en tal gloom and «lark d isp a ir < dice b u rth en e d all th e am b ien t air W ithin th e cells of prison pens, More to in? feared th a n lio n 's d e n s; W here priestly h ate w ith scourge ami chains Would rack and to rtu re flesh and brains For d ear opinion s sake. Hail torch of reason, quenchless flame, From out th e realm s of n a tu re cam e, And, struggling upw ard, in thy m ight Thou h a st from d ark n ess brought to light An age of th o u g h t and reason pure Ami given th e m ind a p o ten t cure For freedom ’s blight and folly’s doom , S uperstition and m ental gloom — The curse of wild fan aticism . Torch of reason, th y m atchless flame Has opened u p to deathless fam e Those m arty rs who for tru th and right Have d ie d ; and from crow n and c ro sier’s blight Have suffered w rongs no tongue can tell. They tried to banish dow n to hell The noblest souls in tim es of old, More precious th a n th e m ines of gold, More precious th a n dogm atic lore That wielded such soul-blighting power— G’er m en, forsoot h, who dared to th in k . Aye, torch of reason, holy flam e, Thou hast throw n back from w hence ye cam e A flood of lig h t to cheer am i bless, And handed dow n th ro u g h type and press, The m atchless pow er of th o u g h t am i b ra in — And m ighty w onders in th e ir tra in — How men from th rald o m were set free To g ath er fru it from know ledge’s tre e — W here no se rp en ts dare«! lteguile. But now thy to rch , tra n sc e n d e n t lig h t, Disjieis th e «lark am! «lismal nig h t Which like a pall hung o ’e r th e m ind Of nearly all th e h u m an kin«! For ages, in th e ir weary flight From m ental gloom to m ental light, Awakening th o u g h t, reviving hope, Hisj»elling fear—th e m ind to o|»e— Be cause som e m en «lid d are to think. S tru g g le for E xistence. By D arw in’s adm irable investi gations we have been taught to recognize as the principal cause of the tran sm u tatio n and evolution of the organic world in its n atural state th a t struggle for existence, which has now become so celebrat ed, in com bination w i t h the in fluences of v ariab ility , n atu ral selection, inheritance, etc. All these influences, (p«*rhaps with the exception of in h eritan ce), m ust act with the more in ten sity , the greater the power of nature over the o r ganic being. This applies also to the momentum of m igration, upon which much stress has lately been laid, and to the influencé of a l teratio n s in the ex tern al conditions of life, which Darwin, as is well- known, did not sufficiently estim ate. For the less the individual being was able to resist these influences by intelligence or independency, or by the extrem e sim plicity of its conditions of existence, the more strongly m ust they have made i heir dom inion over it felt. If the perfectly purposeless co-opera I ion of all these causes, in them selves pure ly m echanical, has produced not merely a tran sm u tatio n but at the sam e time a general advance in the organic world, so as finally to lead to th e birth of a being destined to put its own spontaneity in the place of the m echanical forces of nature, this is due neither to any preconceived plan, nor to any per sonal m erit, but it is merely the necessary consequence of definite n atural conditions coinciding pre cisely in a p articu lar m anner and no other. Man has therefore no one to th an k for his existence, and must seek the purpose of his exist ence only in him self am i in his own welfare and th a t of his race 'Phis welfare, however, is synonym ous with the greatest possible em an cipation from the influence of, ami dom inion over those n atu ral forces which originally called him and the whole organic world into exist- ence. If the struggle for existence be the vital phenom enon which m ost closely unites m an w ith ani- m ality, then this m ust be strongest and fiercest in the prim itive or n atu ra l state, and at first so occupy the whole of life that no opportunity is left f o r intellectual developm ent, such as we now regard as the task of m ankind. On th e other hand, however, the unfavorable position of m an in the n a tu ra l state and his n a tu ra l defencelessness face to face with the anim al world, m ust have forced him all th e more to the greatest possible exertion of his m ental and bodily powers in the struggle with the n atu re which hemmed him in and overpowered him, thus becoming a m ain incite m ent to hum an advance in the m atters of weapons, dwellings, clothing, food, etc. The difficulty of the struggle also im pelled him to m utual assistance ano social union, and this union again be- come a m ainspring of progress. It was only when the struggle with the anim al world had been brought to a successful issue, th at th e con tests of m an with man com m enced, leading to those perpetual san g u i nary wars which constitute the history of all tribes and nations in the backw ard state of civilization. But w hat more th an any thing else assisted m an in his struggle for existence, was the circum stance th a t the knowledge or experience gained by the individual did not die with him as is the case of anim als, but by the agency of ed- ucation and trad itio n each success- ive generation was enabled to develop a greater power of resist ance th an its predecessor in its struggle for existence. T his in fluence m ay have been very im perfect in its action in those earliest periods of h u m an ity when man ap proached most closely to the anim als, and thus tn e advance d u rin g those periods m ay have been excessively difficult and slow’; but the conditions m ust have become more and more favorable the further m an developed from his anim al origin and brought into use the innum er. b’.e aids of advancing civilization. In the present state of our know l edge tin re can lie no doubt th a t corporeal peculiarities or a d v a n t ages of organized beings (w hether congenital or acquired «luring life) are inherited by their progeny, to which, when they are useful in the struggle for existence, they coiumti- NO. 28. nicate an im pulse tow ards a more perfect developm ent. Experience leaves no doubt th a t this is the case also with intellectual peculiarities, advantages, etc., in an equal, if not in a higher degree. The m aterial reason for this may lie in the e x tra o rd in ary delicacy and flexibility of the organ of intellectual activity, the brain, the gradual im provem ent of which, both in the an im al an d the hum an species, adm its of no serious doubt. By m eans of this organ and by the aid of its activity m an has easily com pensated for all the disadvantages of his bodily or- ganization in com parison with ani- m als, and has gradually elevated him self to the position of the u n disputed lord of creation. Even the powers of nature he has con- quered and forced into his service to such an extent, th at in his case the original relations of n atu re to the organized being are exactly re versed. The struggle for existence itself, which was at first, as in the anim als, alm ost entirely a struggle p)r Die external conditions of exist- ence, has become changed in i t s whole n atu re by the progress of the hum an intellect— from the dom ain of m ere m aterial life, it has passed to the region of the m ind— to the political, social, and scientific do m ain. At all events this is the ease in the civilized nations, but it is tru e that am ong savage tribes and on the more unfavorably situated parts of the e a rth ’s surface the struggle for mere existence still rages here and there in its rudest form. — Buchner. W hich Is T ru e? D ivinity has revealed itself in the different parts of our globe in a m anner of stich little uniform ity, th a t in m atters of religion men look upon each other with hatred and disdain. The partisans of the different sects see each oth er very ridiculous and foolish. The most respected m ysteries in one religion are laughable for another. God, having revealed him self to men, ought at least to speak in the same language to all, and relieve th eir weak m inds of the em barrassm ent of seeking w hat can be the religion which tru ly em anated from him, or what is the most agreeable form of worship in his eyes. A universal God ought to have revealed a universal religion. By w hat fatality are so m any different religions found on e a rth ? W hich is the true one am ongst the great num ber of those of which each one pretends to be the right one, to the exclusion of all others? We have every reason to believe th a t no one of them enjoys th is advantage. T he divisions and the disputes about opinions are indubitable signs of the uncertainty and of the obscurity of the principles which they profess.— Mealier.