Do not W ish to Offend. One of our subscribers asks us the following question: “ Do you think it really wise to antagonize a society counting its num bers bv thousands which passes such resolutions as the following; “ First. We recognize S pirtualism as the science of right and the re ligion of hu m an ity. “Second. T h at no property should be exem pt from taxation be ca u se owned by any religious body. “ T id ’d. We dem and th at no leg islation shall be enacted which seeks a union of church and state. •‘F ourth. T hat while we favor the attain m en t of the highest educa tion possible for youths of our land, yet we most earnestly protest against the use of the public funds for the support of schools where sectarian ism is tau g h t in any form. and will furnish a hall if anv one who is wholly or in part opposed to our doctrine of “one world at a tim e” will furnish us a good lecture. We believe in bearing all sides. Is this narrow? Because we now have a test for our speakers is r o sign that we refuse to listen to others, in fact we are a n x i o u s to hear th edoctrines of all, but at present we believe in " orking for the good of this life with out reference to any other and we invite all who believe in th is doc trine to join with us in spreading the good news of the com ing m ental em ancipation of m an. W hen a V irginian started on a journey to N ew York he m ade his will and hade farewell to his friends, as though he never expected to see them again. — [New O rleans Timcs- Democrat. Belief is Ignorance. 1 he most intelligent spiritualists There was not one public library und erstan d the situ atio n and a re ' in the U n ite d States. not at all offended but th in k it far B o o k s were very expensive. “ The belter for their workers to work for Lives of the P o e ts ” w ere $ 1 5 . their own society. We believe in A day laborer received two shil m ental liberty but we do not believe lings per day. in deception and the best way to A horsem an who galloped on a find the tru th is through honest city street was fined four shillings. straight forw ard work. Crockery plates were objected to If the word spirtualism in the fir-t resolution was changed to Ad b e c a u s e t h e y dulled the knives. ventism, Catholicism or Mohamed* A man w ho jeered a t the preacher anisiu the case would be the same. or criticised the sermon was fine J. e do not wish to fiurt any one but T hree-fourths of the books in the time has come when we can every lib rary came from across the not afford to be m isunderstood. A tlantic. Let all who would reform the Twenty day* were required for a world stand boldly forth and declare t iieir every thought being ever ready letter to go from New York to to accept the tru th and when con C harleston by land. vinced of error forsake it and the Dances we <*given in Philadelphia world will soon be free from the un every two weeks; hut young men necessary e v ils tiiat now afflict our under tw enty and girls under rac e. eighteen were not adm itted. We hope th at our friends will A New E ngland girl was not 1 ot think us narrow for we are not, allowed to m arry until she could and we would be very much pleased bake a loaf of bread and cut it t‘> hear a good sp iritu a list lecture into smooth, even slices while it ( and in violation of, and out side of knowledge, facts, and reason cause one to act the role of insanity. Religions are based exclusively upon belief, and one asserts a belief as a positive fact for no other reason th an th a t he feels things to be so. They think th at things were created by some one, and so through the narrow ness of th eir E ditor T orch of R e a s o n : Allow me to state th a t the ex pressions “ I don’t know,” and “ I believe convey the sam e m eaning. If I say I believe so and so, I convey the idea that I do not know. To avoid open confession of my Our Country a Century Ago. ignorance, I use the word believe. A m an will say, I believe so and so E very gentlem an wore a queue and then act upon his im aginary and powdered his hair. ideas as though they were positive A gentlem an bowing to a lady facts, w hich being mere assum ption alw ays scraped his foot on the ground. “ Fifth. Believing th a t all days All the population of a village are equally holy, we desire th a t no assem bled at the inn on “ post d a y ” special S unday laws shall restrict to hear the news. the rights of sects who worship on Six days was required for a other d ay s.” journey between New York and In answer to this question we will B o s to n . say th a t we do not wish to antagon- 1 he church collection was taken izeany o n e,an d th a t we are pleased in a hag a t the end of a pole with to help the sp iritu alists in all things a bell attached to arouse tip* sleepy pertaining to the good of this life contributors. and th a t in all the above resolu An old copper m ine in Connecticut tions excepting the lirst one, we can was used as a prison. join our friends and work with all Im prisonm ent for debt was a our m ight. We would like the a s common thing. sistance of everyone as far as they V irginia contained one-fifth of can give it conscientiously, but it is a fact th at it is far better for our o r the whole population of the coun ganization th a t sp iritu alists do not try. I wo stage coaches bore all the act as our regular licensed lecturers. Even if they should be able to say travel between New York and nothing of the “ spirit life” etc. etc. B o s to n . it is one of the wor.*t pieces ot hy 1 he Mississippi valley was not, so pocrisy th at could be practiced, to well known as the heart of Africa deceive people by silence, and the now is. effect is th a t when those who have Q uinine was unknow n. When a been deceived find out the facts they m an had ague fits he took Peruvian become disgusted. hark and whiskey. J was still warm. m inds assert created by th a t thev a personal were God and stick to it. Through orthodox m ethods it seems to be proven be yond doubt th a t a lie well stuck to will for a tim e supercede the tru th . H u m an ity has been sky scraping long enough. Let us work. A ddison R. T itus . Soldiers Home, Dayton, Ohio. Oregon State Secular Union O rganized 1 8 8 9 .... Incorporated 1893. UNIVERSAL MENTAL LIBERTY ~7 The Liberal University T h e O n ly School of the K ind In the W o rld STRICTLY NON-SECTARIAN S ilv erto n , Oregon. For term s and p a rticu la rs address .1. E. HOSMER, President, Silverton, Ore. A nnouncem ents will be o u t th e first of A ugust. -1 T o rc h of R e a so n issued every week c ih e o a s t. Secularism . The only S ecular p ap er pu b lish ed on th th e Pa- \ fe a rle ss a d v o c a te of C onstructive, E ducational Moral ) Subscription price, $1.00 per year. P b e U ittle C a n d le A weekly p ap er for th e young people. E n tirely free from su p e rsti tion. Devoted to Secular Sunday-school work. P er year, 25 cents. P ile . ------- S e ■ c u ........ l a .... r S u n d a y S c h o o l Q u a rte rly A carefully ed ited , n eat pam phlet, co n tain in g m oral an d scientific lessons for e a c h S unday. Price, 10 cen ts each, o r 40 cen ts per vear.