T H E TORCH OF REASON', SIL V E R T O N , OREGON, T H U R SD A Y , JU N E 24, 1897.
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1
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.
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m e t k s o i ir an creation
is not
filled
and ter by being reasonable; belief in
never got upon bis knees. He kept tiroes, and to the eyes of the reallv | calo.neled, exhorted, th rea te n ed ’ m iracle is being superceded bv
right at work, an d m ade others do live people, the skiesgleam b rig h ter prayed for cursed a.id outlaw ed as practice of m orality, and we re­
the same. I d o ubt if he had any and the ea rth grows richer every it was in the d a y . of saddle-bag m em ber the former tim es mostly to
profit by their blunders; we review
faith beyond m s bve senses; b u t year.
‘
stone drags and h»dy-office.
the history of the fathers not so
.h a t he did believe in, he believed o ld granddaddy stick-in-the-mud
W ben the work was to be resum- m uch to em ulate their wisdom a s t »
in persistently. I he world to him 9, t beside the fence weHping , o
was no vagary, but a stubborn fact: his son remove a big rock from the ed on the then uncom pleted shaft avoid their errors.
I am not afraid the people will
he had battled with it heroically, drivew ay. He knew it was better to the m em ory of the father of the
until he had gotten the better of it, out, but then it d id n ’t look as it republic, it was discovered by the ever get too wise. There is no
and owned and com m anded his used to and its absence witnessed investigating engineers that it was reason to think th a t an y one will
cwm - ship.
H e had received m any his neglect in not rem oving it long built above a two-feet deep stratum ever be to rational. No one will
of quicksand, and declared th a t it ever the less respect the tru th bv
a hard knock and passed through before.
would never do to top out the understanding what he reads or
a thousand difficulties, and by
I do not propose to go back to stum p of the \\ ashingt« n m onum ent by discovering m istakes in the
sheer pluck had won the day. His
my cradle to take up my abode. I unless that at first overlooked docum enlsor by discarding forgeries
wite was with him , a bright and
shall not seek the wigwam of the defect in the site could be remedied. in the signatures.
comely woman, and well read.
aborigines to finish m y education. 1 he first thought was to pull down
I he form er times were doubtless
Besides being som ewhat of a
I sh all not concede th a t barbarism and rebuild the structure. But an better than these, to the people of
philosopher, she had the shrew d
is superior to civilization. I do excavation was made wide about form er times; and times like the
common-sense of her country folk
not believe th a t savagery is to be the base of the pyram id; little by form er would now he b etter th an
and a touch of fancy and sentim ent
prefered to culture. I have no little earth was scooped from u n ­ these for those of today who have
such as glows in the pages of Scott
faith th a t cannibalism is the acme der the tall pile; stone by stone, it not been elastic enough to comply
and Burns. She was fond of both
of sp iritu al perfection. I do not was sub-underpinned
until
a with present conditions.
these writers, and knew them by
boast th at I shall gain eternal foundation broad and deep repL c d
The Indian prefers his teepe to a
heart. She could play upon the
salvation by d rin k in g either the dirt and drift and mud and mire; palace. If a troglodite were set
( to be contin ued .)
literal, the tran ssu b stan tiated or all was m ade doubly secure with down
in
P h ilad elp h ia at the
the make-believe blood of a dead iron hands, and the tall cenotaph porch of th * C ontinental or the
For the Torch of Reason.
god or dead m an, w hilst those who was shot upw ard to pierce the G irard hotels, he would not know
Bible T im es an d O ur T im es.
aie too refined to stom ach such clouds.
how io get his dinner; he would not
gospel d irt are dam ned to e t e r n a l l y
Some, perhaps, thought it pre­ lave money to pay for h is f a r e nor
“Think not to say, the former
roast as part of the devil’s toast, or sum ptions or cranky to undo and ability to there earn a dim e to buy
times w e re better th a n these, for 8n« pr
fnp
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. , ’
suner toss tor any tune all because and do over the work of the original a plate of baked beans. Ship a
thou -lost not in q u .re wisely con- they wou)d ,,ot
man or architects; hut done it was, despite biji can n ib al to London and the
cerning these th in g s.”
m ind, on a fellow’s life-ice like the lam ent th a t the form er times first thing he would say would be__
If those who m ake so much ado gloating wolves.
The form er tim es were b e tte r th a n
were better th an th e s e , and I have
about the present questioning and
these,
I he story of w hat one m ay have not yet learned th a t the proud pier
Take me back to F iji, please;
interpreting of the bible knew or
F e! fo! f«m ! I w ant th e blood of an
endured in the former tim es, in con­ is in danger of toppling over, nor
thought more of w hat is in it
E n g lia h m u n !”
sequence
of
its
bigoted
adoration
of
observed
th
a
t
it
has
sprung
an
inch
they m ight profit thereby.
Id o not know but civilization
custom s more ancient still, may away because it was put upon a
I he bible has had m any advocates
will ceaseand barbarism come back.
sei ve to point a moral or encourage profounder foundation. This testi­
who have been as innocent of its
I do not know but steam engines
the wise to a like heroism , but it is monial obelisk to hum an integrity
contents as a m ule is of music.
w ill be beaten into boomerangs and
Many a one has advocated the bible
Perverrtenes^ ,,f stu p id ity and and moral sagacity and energy is cotton-m ills become c a ta m o u n ts’
as a code of moral« w»,.n
' 8na'uel^ e s s of hypocrisy to su p ­ bottomed on terra firma, buttressed
as a code of m orals when they
...
.
,
lairs. I do not know but the
pose
anil
profess
th
at
repeating
Withiro.1
bands
and
we
tru
st
will
“
wheel» o f tim e” will reverse th eir
knew and cared about as m uch
parrot-like the phras»*—“ Saved b\ aland so long a» a free |« .p !e ahall m otion and the revolution ofp lan ete
about both the bible and morals as
the blood’’—has a n y th in g in it of revere t h e nam e of one of the and people will tu rn backw ard,
(Joes a farm brute. This kind of
p u rity or savors of holiness.
n a tio n ’s m u ste r m a so n s.
like King H ezekiah’s dial, and
people are the fiercest to denounce
W
e
are
told
th
a
t
we
have
got
too
1 here are those, even those who chaos come ag a in — if ever there
’he infidelity of thoughtful and
moral men who have made the far ahead of the “ faith of the are set a t the head of college in- were o n e —but I don’t believe it.
bible a study from y o u th and whose fathers, th a t we are getting too struetion, who echo the com plaint Is that too agnostic?
I do not know but somewhere in
purpose in life is the advancem ent wise above th a t which is w ritten in th a t the former times were better
the
W
estm
inster
Catechism
or
than these, They know not. bow the ages to be will be forgotten the
of the hum an race; whose th o u g h t
is not of th eir own salvation, but W inchester Confession. T hat we to leach except from th»* well benefits we have today. I do not
their chief desire is to do the most m ust turn about and retrace the old thum lred “ catechism ” or much know bur freedom will be buried
good in th eir power. Those who paths, if we would get on. Old dogeared “ m an u al.” They would b -neath the re-established tem ples
are farthest behind the tim es most stick-in-the-m ud sits on a log by not know how to handle a geography of supei stition and ty ran v twirl its
ibuse those who are in advance of the side of h is tum ble down cabin with a m ap of a new state in it, but bloody scepter from a throne recast
and m utters as the electric car would petition congress to order from the B artholdi’s statu e of
the age.
I suppose th a t ever since A dam ’s shoots by—“ I shall be glad when th at ail atlases should bound the Liberty E nlightening the W orld.
children were born, or from the first we get the stagecoaches again.” L nited States by F lorida and th e I do not know but the p rin tin g -’
up corning of the second generation, \ ' ° US R etro8P«c ‘>un reads a modern M ississippi river, as it was in the press shall be used to flatten witches
the same deprecating cry has come
*n r
hook a i>d m ourns at the beginning, is not now, and never instead of publishing the daily in-
So they call a halt telligence, the m achine-shops set at
up
from grouty
conservatism .
s
n d°g
I ! l r e i U » i i h a b shall he again.
worn garm ent th a t has 0,1 th e th o u g h t of other teachers work to supply im plem ents for th e
The old m an is alw ays appearing of
,,f some
8ome out wor»
and in n cicu
the w
nam
e o a f' ri to connneu
rtu re of heretics, and a rt confined
hopping
••vppuig mad
mau if
ir the
m e youngster
youngster gets
gets . . eh ^ Ut ° n <,eca*u°nally J for c< »nven- an(I preachers,
--------- » -----ui
, anu
ahead of him , and yet he is proud Ience> a,,<1 expresses tlm hope that th e old apostles and pedagogues to picturing birds in hum an shape
in
heart th
th a a t t he
he has
has so
s h '411 8OOU gel ^a<k
,o the
fu rth er,’’
saying, “ .»
it is but
w ithout
other piuiua^c
plum age mmi
than
]n his
his heart
so sm
sm art
art a a
- - --
— unit-
...... Hay,
. . “g
o ’ no -----------
,
- ..........
- - - ........
->on. T h at is, if he has any sm art- G< aCCep,a' lCe of the 0,d cree l, and ,iarig, r °UB to tu rn new leaves, do impossible wings; when the people
th a t this, t h at and the other cast «»If n° t get beyond the pictures, you * h o »Io the work shall live in
ness himself.
ina-
N otw ithstanding the burden of absurdity - and disgorged
- - - abom
- ........
- . are . lo" rationalistic or too spiritual- huts and hovels and the only in-
flibtl
Will
11
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^
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1
i
iolL. N
XT..a
1*
• is /<•
i • • .. habitable
I I • . « ■ a buildings be the castles
the speech of all the old men in t1' ”1 wlJi
yet preached and accept- 18tlc-
atu ralism
“ infidelity,”
♦ very age and every country, about ed a “ lhejr were fortT* four-hundred spiritualism is lunacy, only the of butchers of hum anity and the
the degeneracy of the day, lam ent- ° F I,’UI ‘thousand years ago.
KUl* r* n atu ral is w orth w orshipping tem ples of u n earth ly divinities,
uig the d ep artu re from the gods of
d o cto r O ldbury and Deacon and only holy we worship it a rig h t.” It m ay be possible th a t the school
.uperetltious. and in wildest d anger those who cared only for the old paregoricked, bled and blistered
-
j
.
.
* - ir grandfathers, yet the world I)r’^ “ P want to see things restored
But the MUn of science is rWng house shall become a barracks the
n,l T ^ ' 1, ° n at itf WO,?te(d rat,: ‘o t h e " ld b « ' ’. and they diagn«e and the roi.ts and myth» of dark- college be a horse »table, and he
has g o ,o n very well
for a l l .d .r e
d iw rd e r and
prognosticate, „e»8 and fear are clearing a w a v
oai
-HL c le a r i n g
aw ay.
T~~
( continued
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—
page .)
on sixth