*
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.