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F
VOL 1.
A Free Thought Hymn.
SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, JULY 15, ¡897
NO. 37.
world give to it its m oral ideals.
LITTLE TORCHES.
In the wrong done them justice
The W o rld is N eith er W h o lly
Good Nor
o h ! my bro th er, h e ar me,
and right are violated, hut in their
“ It is well to glory in art, re­
W h o lly Bad.
If you would ransom ed !«•
devotion
to
principle
in
the
face
of
ligion and the m arch of C h ristia n ­
From th e th ra ll of p riestc raft.
Ami m ingle w ith the free.
ity
which has elevated the classes.”
to rtu re and death, m ankind are
George Eliot said that she was
If old-tim e fears enchain thee,
taught by exam ple, tin* loftiest — Bishop Ninde, in a sermon at
(»h^ east them all asid e;
neither
an
optim
ist
nor
a
pessim
ist,
M iddletown, Conn., Ju n e 27.
Let faith in Man su stain th ee,
m orality is inculcated, and the
And Reason be thy guide.
*'ut a tnehorist. It was she who
Yes, dear Bishop, hut renaember-
noblest type of ch aracter is ex­
c<mtribute<l the word meliorism to
that the “classes” have been elevat­
Why, my bro th er, tell me,
alted.
Dost thou weep and pray ?
our language to express a mean
ed just in proportion as C hristian
W hat is it dost ini|»ell thee
I he great m ass of the m artyrs
between optim ism a n d p e s s im is m .
doctrines have been relegated to the
To cry in wild dism ay
are those uncrowned and unknow n
To a m ythic Saviour
1 he world, as we k now it, is cer­
rear. I here has not been a single
Who once, a m an like thee,
to fame. All who have sacrificed
ta in ly not perfect.
Ihe theory
change m ade in the C hristian re­
Ami scorning priestly favor,
and suffered for the t r i l l h and for
Was slain on C alvary?
th a t “‘everything is for the best,”
ligion for a t h o u s a n d years except
the good of others, belong to this
Stand up, my b ro th er, firm ly ;
in the sense that all events ami
to lake som ething away from it.
great arm y. Says a writer: “ Cross­
W hat h ast thou got to fear?
actions are such as adm it of no im ­
The more you take away from it,
No C hrist can bear th e burden
ing the ocean in a steam ship, see­
the better it becomes.
T hat thou hast got to bear.
provem ent, destroys all distinctions
ing how the ladies ami gentlem en
Erect in conscious m anhood,
between ju st and unjust, between
B e righteous for th e rig h t—
m arch up and down the s ta ’el v deck
right and wrong, and renders im ­
Disdaining every falsehood,
\Ye were horn in a state of origin­
— the men airily pulling th eir al sin; th at is, w ithout an y th in g
Rejoicing in th e light.
possible any rational conception of
— C h a s . J. R a e .
cigars, the ladies c h a t t e r i n g ih 'e ir hut purely n atu ra l gifts and gr 'aces,
morals. On t> e other hand, the
idle gossip, a hundred
people in a slate accursed before God be­
theory that the universe is essen­
stretched out in easy chairs, read­ cause we inherited a state of de­
We Build.
tially evil, th a t m an is wholly <le
ing novels, sittin g a t table eating base«! and fallen nature which ca n ­
praved and corrupt, that life is not
not he restored except by some
Is it nothing to free th e mind? worth living, is contrary to general delicious food. I have thought of special a c t o f G«>d.— New York
Is it nothing to civilize m an k in d ? experience, and if com m only be­ those men down below, a hundred Catholic News, J u n e 30.
If th at he true, then God m ust
Is it nothing to fill the world with lieved to he true, would be the or more, sooty, grim y, black, ig­
norant,
feeding
th
e
furnaces,shovel­
have dam ned us before he create«!
light, with discovery, with science? paralysis and despair of philan
ing the coal, dragging out ashes, us; the child is horn with an en d ­
Is it noihing to dignify man and thropy.
doing it night and day, day ami less sentence in the divine pene-
exalt t he intellect ? Is it nothing
H istory, observation, and com
to grope your way into the dreary mon s>*nse unite in declaring th at night, scarce ever having a glimpse ten tiary branded upon his heart.
prisons, the dam p and dropping our world is one in which t h e r e are of the sun. never seeing the glory \\ hat a devlish, nice God he must
dungeons, the d ark and silen t cells both good and evil, right and of- the sea, never w atching the be!
serene moon, seeing nothing but
of superstition, where the souls of wrong, and in which m a n ’s volition
“ W hat moral right has a C hris­
men are chained to floors of stone; counts as a factor in helping or these awful fires, now and then tian to put a tem ptation in the wav
only pushing th eir black faces out
to greet them like a ray of light, h im h rin g hum an progress.
A lib­
of his fellow -m an? If the contents
of
some
port-hole
to
get
a
little
of the glass which I offer to mv
like the song of a bird, the m u rm u r ertine m ay destroy the peace of a
whiff
of
the
air
lest
they
die—
th
a
t
guest cause him to stum ble, he
of a stream ; to see the dull eves fam ily; a p h ilan th ro p ist m ay add
is
the
history
of
h
u
m
a
n
ity
.”
stum bles over me. 1 am a p artn er
open and grow slowly b rig h t; to t<> the sum total of the happiness
This vivid picture, which illus­ in his sin .”— Rev. Theodore L.
feel
yourself
grasped by the and comfort of a com m unity; a
Cuyler, I). D., in the Evangelist,
shrunken and unused bands, and ty ra n t m ay bring war, orphanage, trates the inequalities of hum an J u ly 1.
hear yourself th an k ed by a strange ind m isery upon a n atio n ; a wise condition to some extent m ay also
T h a t’s exactly w hat you C hris­
serve
to
rem
ind
us
of
the
folly
of
and hollow voice?
tians do when you sit aro u n d the
statesm an, a great ruler, m ay lift a
m
aking
display
or
notoriety
the
N it nothing to conduct these people Io higher conditions by se­
com m union table and d rin k liquor
test
of
the
value
of
hum
an
service,
souls g rad u ally into the blessed curing to .them the blessings of
in mem ory of the divine wine
or of ju d g in g men by conventional m aker of Cana. An appetite for
light of «lay— to let them see again prosperity and peace.
stan d ard s of social respectability. liquor is as certain to he formed by
he happ\ fields, the sweet, green
E vidently the true view of man
earth, and hear the everlasting and n a tu re is th a t the world is The m an “ down below” f«*eding d rin k in g grog at the “ L ord’s Sup­
music of the waves? Is it nothing neither perfect nor hopeless; that the furnaces does a m ost useful per” as by d rinking th e sam e
to make men wipe ihe dust from things are neither wholly good nor work, and he may he m orally, and m iserable stuff in the foulest b ro th ­
their swollen knees, the tears from wholly had, hui th a t conditions of even intellectually, above m any of el of San Francisco.
their blanched a nd furr-oved cheeks? hum an life are im perfect and can those who walk the steam er’s
We m ust look forw ard, not be­
Is it a sm all thing to reave the be im proved; th a t hu m an ity is in stately «leek, and his service to the
heavens of an in satiate m onster a process of growth which can lie world m ay he far more valuable to hind, lest we he betrayed into the
folly of heathenism .
Lot’s wife
and write upon the eternal dome, accelerated or retarded; th a t c h a r­ m illions who, in however hum ble lo«»ked hack and was turned to a
glittering with stars, the grand acter and conduct are not what station, have perform ed faithfully pillar of salt.
Moses looked for­
the
duties
of
life,
have
by
their
ward and attain ed success.”— Rev.
w o rd — F reedom ?
they should b»-, hut th at they can
labor
and
sacrifice
m
ade
th
e
world
Jo
h n H all, D. I)., in his sermon at
I” it a sm all thing to quench the he elevate«!; th a t the n atu ral and
tiaineg of hell with the holy tears social conditions of life are defec­ better, and they are entitled to our the F ifth Ave. P resbyterian church,
New York City, J u n e 27.
"t pi’y; to unbind the m arty r from tive, but adm it of am elioration, and gratitude none th e less, because
Then why look back to collect
the stake; break all the ch ain s; put th a t it is the duty of every m an to they were of th e common people.
the scoundrelism , dogm as, super­
" ’*t the fires of civil war; stay thej m ake the world better, in some way,
“ T he ran k is b u t th e g u in ea ’s stam p ,
stitions and obscenity of a th o u s­
T he m a n ’s th e gowd for a ’ t h a t . ”
S"ord of the fanatic, and tear the for his having live«! in it.
To this
and years ago for rules of life in
hloody hands of the C hurch from result everyone contributes who
“ The grow ing go«wl of the w orld“,” the present.
One trouble with
he white throat of Science?
discovers a new tru th , invents a as Dr. Liadon once said, “ is p artly C h ristian s is th a t th ey look hack
L >t a sm all thing to m ake men new m achine, lightens the burdens dependent on unhistoric acts; and
like L ot’s wife; th ey are tu rn ed in­
fUly free—to destroy th e dogmas of labor, breaks down the harriers th a t things are not so ill with you
to church steeples instead of pil­
ignorance, prejudice and power b e tw e e n m an k in d , battles against and with me as they m ight have
lars of salt. Quit searching am ong
—the poisoned fables of su p ersti­ p o p u lar error and wrong, or teaches been, is h a lf owing to the num ber
m um m ies for the spooks of p ro p h ­
tion, and drive from the beautiful a larger view of m an, his duties and who lived faith fu lly a hidden life
ets and work for the good of the
face of the earth the fiend of F»*ar? his destiny.
and rest in unvisited tom bs.”
present. There is plenty to do,
I ngersoll .
The self-sacrificing heroes of the
B. F. U nderwood .
Dr. Jo h n .— W. E. J.
HELlORISfl.