THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1S!>7.
FIELD
NOTES.
Sunday I again took up the ban­
ner of Secularism and the I or « h ,
• nd started on my trip south. I
spent a very pleasant day with a
I'ricml in the Wald«» Hills, and in
■}i ;j f i r r .<>.>n w»*nt on to Salem,
where we arrived just in time to
witness a baloon ascension. I was
w eI<■*<n.ed to the pleasant lionic of
1.1 old school friend, when- I spent
the night. In the evening we a t­
tended th«- Congr«*gational church,
,4 'which Rev. Mr. K ant nor is pas­
tor. He took for his subject, “ I lie
Survival of the Fitt«*st, ’ and he
tried to sh >w that modern ( hris-
tiau ity , as he termed it, contains all
th a t is good of I he «»Id religions and
that it is in ever) sense“ th esu rv iv al
of the fittest.” He acknowledged
that the golden rule was u tb -n d by
Confucius several hundred years
before C hrist, “ but,” he said, “ was
not Cod in the beginning, and did
he not reveal this to Confucius?”
thereby virtually acknowledging
th at the religion of Confucius was a
revealed religion. Blit 1 m ust say
that the sermon was a very liberal
one, and showed plainly the ad ­
vance in the C hristian religion.
Monday brings rain, hut by
eleven o’clock I am in 1 tim er, at
the home of Mr. Matteson, that, old
pioneer of Freethought who has
sent us so many valuable specimens
for our museum. Mr. and Mrs.
Matteson are about the only out­
spoken Liberals in the place. I
spent a very pleasant afternoon
conversing with them , and about
eight o’clock we went to the hall.
The night was quite storm y and we
did not have a very large audience,
but Mr. Matteson said it exceeded
liis expectations. Miss Kate M atte­
son, a prem ising young F reethinker,
kindly lent a hand and presided at
the organ.
After the lecture we
announce«! that the subject was
open t«»r discussion and called upon
M r . E arh eart, pastor of the P resby­
terian chuieh, to m ake a few re­
m arks. He did so, and m ade the
statem ent that ‘‘in saying we do
not know regarding the future life
we put a limit to kn«»wle«lge; th a t
I talked a great deal about uplifting
h u m an ity , but when I tried to de­
stroy faith in the bible I denounced
liU" units ; and th at the church has
ck »ate«l wom an.” I answered th a t
as far as lim bing knowledge is con­
cerned, 1 put no limit to knowledge;
th a t I was open to conviction ami
would accept whenever proof was
placed before me, hut I thought he
was the one who limit«-d knowledge
when he declared lie did know. As
far as religious power is concerned,
is there any intelligent person today
who will sav that the church has as
much power as formerly? The very
fact that I am lecturing on this
subject wouhl show the decline of
religious power
Then as to de­
nouncing hum anity when I «1«*-
stroy faith in J« sus C hrist, I aske«l
word God in this inspired acknow ­
N E W S AND NOTES
him if he thought I denounced a
ledgem ent? Science needs no lies.
little child when I destroyed its
W e need a few more team s right
If God loved the world why did
faith in Santa Claus? M any ch il­ now. Can we get them ?
he “ put a lying spirit in the m outh
dren firmly believe th a t S an ta
A fine specimen of a goat’s skull of a |j these
tliv
p ro phets?”
Claus exists, hut that does not m ake i i,as been added to our collection, I Kings x x ii :23.)
it true. He replied that it was not The doner is Chas. Page.
W hile C hristians are praying and
There have been about fifty vain- repeating psalm s, Secularists are
a parallel case, hut I t«»ld him th a t
able hooks added to the lihrarv this studying science and arousing the
to me »t was; that we had no proof
week. Keep them com ing
people to depend on th eir own
of the existence of C hrist, or of his
Another unabridged dictionary strength. The fittest will survive,
divinity, and that because some had
Pne bible savs th at after we are
faith it di«l n<»t make it so. He and a tine dictionary stan<l has
dead our Tove ami hate and euvv
never offered to give me any proof. been added to our school out fit.
Then I quoted for him a few passag 1 Many interesting and instructive all peri-li and that the dead do n«»t
C hristians do you
es from the bible relating to women, exp rim ents can he performed with know an y th in g
and what the go»»d old sain ts Aug­ our new m agneto-electric machine. believe the hibl e : ( Read Eccles.
ustine, Jerom e and Gregory had to
Miss D ePeatt started on her IX.)
say about women. Tin* gentlem an Southern Oregon lecture tour last
“ Verily I say unto y u , this gen­
d« d in e d any further discussion, and Sunday, delivering her first lecture eration shall not p iss away, till
after Mr. Malt« son m ade some tell­ at Turner.
fearful sights and great signs from
ing points the meeting adjourned.
One o f t h e um st h ig h ly prized heaven” (See Luke x x i) will he
1 will say th a t th “ gentlem an was
artic les ad d ed to o u r schoolroom considered by civilized people as
very courteous, and treated me outfit this week is a very n ic e ly ! old heathenish superetions.
with the utm ost fairness ami re­
articulated skeleton.
’ An A labam a m urderer addressed
spect.
I explained ouc work t o
II. C. Page an d fam ily m o v d the following note to the governor:
him, as he is from t I k * ea-t ami un­
“ I wish you would grant me a
acquainted with -ur plan of work. to Silverton this week. Miss Ada
th irty -d ay respite. I am short on
I m ust say, however, th a t there will act as assistant in the kinder-
garten departm ent <>f the U ni-f religion. Intended to get it last
was some of tin* audience whose
versify.
week, hut was too busy.”
conduct was not very adm irable,
Eliza Mowry Bliven is enrolling
A Secularist was talk in g with a
for their sneers ami talk became
pretty loud, thereby showing th eir 1 tract distributors in m any states, j C hristianized Indian and asked
conception of the refining touches The last person to enroll is in Mass- him a question that he co u ld n ’t
of C hristianity. Mr. Eat heart, in achusetts, and lie will lake $2 j answer. The In d ian was puzzled
, w hat to say for a m om ent, hut fi-
the debate on the woman question, worth of the tracts.
F ranklin S teiner gave us an o th er I nally thought of his C hristian
rem arked that lie was very sorry to
see one of my sex denounce the lib­ very interesting Freel hough t lecture medicine-man, and excitedly ex­
erator and savior of women.
I last Sunday evening. He m ay he claim ed, “ Ask preacher, he know!”
would advise him to read “ The with us again one week from next
The C hristians who selected and
W om an’s Bible.” I sincerely hope Sunday. W atch for th e announce­ compiled the hooks now known as
th a t he will make a stuily of the ment.
the new testam ent were very iguor-
principles and workings of Sec­
We are assured th a t another a nt and superstitious men.
They
ularism , see th«* true way and come Liberal fam ily will soon move to believed th a t dem ons were the off­
to the light.
Silverton on account of the U niver­ spring of angels who loved the
This m orning I will go on to sity. The children were here on a daughters of men; th a t the hyena
Albany, wh«*ie I lecture W ednesday visit last w inter ami went to our changed its sex every year; th a t the
evening.
K ate D e P eatt .
school a short time. The more hare had as m any young as it was
Secularists th at come the better it years old, etc., etc., etc. Were such
C om ing to T he Fore.
will suit us, and vv« will do all men com petent to select w hat is
in onr power to m ake their coming a n R w hat is not the word of a god?
E ditor T orch of R eason :
both pleasant and profitable
us G ath e r.
Fnclosed find $1.50 in paym ent
r
>ne y ear’s subscription to the
LITTLE POINTS.
E ditor T orch of R eason :
T orch of R eason and the Free-
Enclosed you will find money
thought Magazine. My subscrip­
Honest doubt is a strong wall of
tion to the T orch ran out wi’h the defense; blind faith is a cesspool of i order for $6. five of which is for the
college fund, donated by the Rock
issue of Septem ber 2
Please h*t it ignorance.
6
begin with the next issue of the
People would have much more s Pri"Ks
Im provem ent S<-
9th.
.
I knowledge now, ¡ f i t had not been ciety, and the other one to pay for
I am glad to set the progress
°
,
.
. . .
,
i
i of interest to the priests to keep a y ear’s subscription to the T orch
th a t is being m ad“ tow ards build- ,
. .
ing the Liberal lln iv e rd y, and the them
'* nori,',ce-
_
of R eason .
Both Mr. Davis and I
success of Oregon Freethought in
God controls the universe. Yes?
coiuiug to t h f<»r<* under vour in- I wonder why he don’t coll intelli
, gent men like Chae. Darwin and
fluence.
Yours for tru th ,
Oregon.
C. W. S aunders . | Col. Ingersoll to preach Chris-
tian ity ?
H iss D e P e a tt’s L ecture D ates.
“ Out of the m outh «>f babes and
sucklings” is a very appropriai»-
SOUTHERN OREGON.
T urner ...................
A1 ba n v .....................
H arrisburg
Ju n ctio n UitA
Eugene ...................
< ’«»burg.....................
R oseburg...................
(»rant’s P a s s .............
C entral Point
Medford
T a l e n t .......................
13
15
t< IS
<» 19
(( 20
si 22
(( 24
M 26
si 27
(( 28
« 30
are glad to hear th a t steady pro-
gress is being made tow ard the
eslab|is h „,H„ t of , he L ib era| Uni-
vg
We would like very much
to be in Silverton and to he able to
help th is cause more. It will only
|)e a nJa tte r of time, however, for
e old dogmas.
your school. At present we m ust
If a Secularist should w rite th “ be sati**fie«l t«> let well enough alone.
Bowing, what would the Chris- Mr. Davis is doing quite well this
Mr. Davis joins me in well wishes