Image provided by: Silverton Country Historical Society; Silverton, OR
About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1897)
T H E TORCH OF REASON, S IL V E R T O N , OREGON, T H U R SD A Y , OCTOBER 21, 18iT about H am let, and ten thousand conjectures upon every other crea [ a ROMANCE BY SAMUEL P. PUTNAM.] tion of his m aster m ind, hut not reciprocity depends. I his is one of one question raised about the m ys n atu re’s most persistent laws, and tery ol his ow n creation, or what it will seek until it rinds what sa t were those rare and wondrous in isfies this dem and. Science, then, fluences which conjoined to mould must teach men and women how Huch a consum m ate genius. But to construct m arriage, for a happy the secret is there; in his parentage and abiding m arriage can lie found resided those subtle affinities, those ed only on these principle«. Do felicitous conditions, which flowed you want faithful loves? They ex to such magnificent ends “ Now, it m ust he the work of ist hy reasons which science can unfold, and hy none other shall we science to find what are these have them . Social evils m ay also sources of greatness. She need not find remedy through these truths. despair, she has conquered greater W hen men and women are fitly difficulties than these. Astronomy joined they will not w ant to change. trium phs through the persevering T he hem ispheres would fall ap art calculations of centuries. Medicine betpre a m an will leave a woman laughs at the impossible, hut <>nlv at the price of vigilance, her disci heim ost loves. “‘‘One true love holds in it thees- ples also holding counsel with each sence of all other loves, and a true other through the ages, scanning love will never fail. It has the every form and trea tm en t of d is .q u alities of perpetual youth; it ease, and com piling exhauf-tless W hat never grows old, except as the ra r treaties in their behalf. est wines gr<»w richer and stronger might not he done with the sam e w ith age; it is alw ays fresh, because zeal in this new science? It s a It draw s its essential life each from sham e th a t in th is nineteenth cen -the other, and so renews itself. tu ry of wonders she has scarcely a ¡Bulwer gives th is b rillian t ep ig ram : resource at her com m and, out of all ‘H e who has loved often has loved the treasure-house of the past. fiever? Power is cum ulative, and Golden opportunities have b»jen m ust centralize to become strong. lost; but tln-re are plenty left, it The sam e with love. Love will man will wake up and use them .| not yield her utterm ost « w e ts and lie • m ust carefullv studv * and define d e p th s except to one, hence various every force, condition, and fact rand sim ultaneous loves a r e not con which enters into th e ancestry of sistent a t once with depth and en- genius. Instances m ust he noted, durence of love, and promiscuous d ata and stati-tics gathered, which loves are possible only as they are shall form an encyclopaedia of superficial and selfish. When m an every m anifestation and circum stance entering into the physical seeks women he loses woman. “ I say we ca n ’t afford to let the and psychical constitution of genius church or state monopolize all the and w hich shall furnish a com plete au th o rity on this subject anv longer. sum m ary of the organic qualities, It w'orks to the regeneration of o u r 1 tem peram ents, dispositions, tastes, race; and, as s«eh, science must pursuits, intelligence, a n d culture, take a part in it. belonging to the parentage of every x‘Th«Te are deep and underlying philosopher, poet, inventor, and principles at the root of m arriage artist known to fame. W hat in v al o f more im portance to the world uable aid it won 1<I he to science if th an it has ever dream ed. They it had preserved a record of these are m any; hut I speak now of hered ancestral facts in the lives of Ho ity, because the laws of love are mer, Galileo, P lato, Byron, Shelley, one with heredity. They w’ork to Elizabeth B arrett Browning, George the-sam e end and integrity. Love Eliot, C harlotte Bronte, and the is true to its own. Every strong innum erable dead, whose rapt and and abiding love is made up of glowing visions still keep us coin strength and virtue, energizing and panv, and form a living h o s t” creative principles which do not “ If these tru th s are so im portant end with themselves, hut reach on and far-roaching, ought they not to the fulfilm ent of loves purpose, to speak for them selves, and m>t de and so restanip and perpetuate pend oil science to expound them ? themselves. A great and enduring W hat can outreach hum an feeling? love im plies such an adaption of If th at cannot guide us, may we m eans to ends as must involve the not well despair of science? In harm ony of its whole scheme, and deed, if feeling is worth anything, so give a prom ise to its fruits. Who should it not agree with science, shall say th a t Beethoven was not w hether conscious of the agreem ent th e product of such harm ony,— or not; and so, justifying itself him self an embodied sym phony, eqally with science, m ay we not whose source was pre-arranged, ami dis|w?nse with the science?” set in these m ighty processes of “ I cannot sav to w hat extent life and love? Loqk at i t ! How feeling is blind, and must he edu absurd th a t the world lias never cated like every other sense. I a d thought to ask one question about mit the im pulse to love, as an in the m other of Shakspere, as helping stinct, can he left to itself, the same to solve the problem of his great as m an’s appetite for food; hut what n ess’ Volumes have been written to eat—-what is poison, and what GOLDEN THRONE. nourishm ent— has not been left to iuglv do these laws act, as noted mere taste alone. Science and ex by observation and study, th at, perience has long ago broadened given sufficient d ata, the chances m an’s knowledge here. Besides, we of success in love may he calculated don’t know w hat feeling m ight do, as easily as an eclipse! Like a if everything was right to start m athem atical problem , you can Given the with. Ignorance and sin have prove it both ways. m ightily disordered things, and known q u a n tity — love—and the or tnrowu obstacles in the way of feel ganic constituents of the lovers, ing. Feeling is broad, but the con and I will tell you the sum of it ditions for its exercise are narrow. all; or, given the result of a love or Thv fact is, th a t feeling has never m arriage, I will tell you the organic had a respectable chance for itself, relations of the other q u an tities.” “ Well, your enthusiasm does especially with woman. For in stance, give a woman the privilege am ount to the sublim e,” laughed of «election out of al, the eligible C harlie; “ you could make a h an d men in the world, and say, ‘take some trade out of your science, tell your choice, hut choose wisely,’ and ing the fortunes of lovers.” “ This is the idea,” answered the I believe her choice woubl show a perfect concurrence between feel doctor. “ I f science doesn’t go so far ing and science. Be this as it may, as to tell folks where to find suc we need all the help we can gel cessful loves, it can at least tell from knowledge; there will still be where they won’t find th em .” “ I believe,” said W ill, “ that trouble enough. As things go now, it is the merest accident if a man thoughtful minds are brooding over or woman falls in love right; and these things more th an is generally the chances arc ten to one th a t m ar supposed. There is much feeling riage will end in a tragedy. M any vaguely afloat th a t som ething is unfortunate episodes of love are wrong, either in m arriage as a sys due to various interventions throw n tem, or in its abuse.” “ Yes,” continued the d o c t o r , in the way of aflection, which, if unchecked at I he outset, would “ health, intellect, and heautv are flow to no evil; hut, impeded, it l)e- all at stake in this m atter. I re eomes a disease, which, once fast cently heard a lady severely con ened to a victim, is hound to run its demn another because she refused course. It is <1 mgerous, ami should to live with her husband. Said she, he deprecate d .—these u n n a tu ra l re “my m other alw ays lived with my strain ts to feeling. A bnorm al con father, although she perfectly hated ditions of m ind and body ensue to him ; >et f<>rthe sake of her children induce too great susceptibility, and she would not leave him .’ I in the im agination is ready to lay wardly rem onstrated against such hold of almost any available— and a m istaken sense of duty, and too often it happens the most incon wished for the sake of science I gruous—object. V ictor Hugo u n could know the fruits of such a I have since learned derstands this phase of love, when m arriage. he writes of ‘dangerous m om ents to th a t some of the children had been an isolated young girl, whose heart insane. One was alm ost imbecile, is like th<* tendrils of a vine, which while an u tter lack of sym pathy seiz • hold, as chance determ ines, of and love existed between them all ’ he capital of a colum n, or the sign I t is a curse to bear children in post of a tav ern !’ There is much hatred. Forced m otherhood is in that passes for love th a t is only a iquitous; and a system is either deep and awful w ant of love; and it wrong in itself,«or has much in itself is th is wild hunger th a t is left to to reform , which makes it necessary grow upon one, th at blinds the soul or possible for children to lie born for a tim e to its finer needs of love. except in love. The prim e motive But these needs of a fine and noble to m arriage should be love and hap love will not long he denied. If piness. If this is not so. of what not realized, another hunger fol use is m arriag e?” “ M arriage is deemed necessary lows, to the disgust and death of love. H appy for such, if not bound j to insure responsibility and order fast when love’s illusion wrapped in the protection of ch ild ren ,” a n swered C harlie. them in a h alo!” “ G ran ted , and you m ake virtual “ How can you help these th in g s?” ask' d W ill; “ folks will alw ays m ake adm ission th a t m arriage, as a legal in stitu tio n , rests upon no claim s of fools of them selves.” “ W hy, th a t’s what I’ve been ta lk its own, but upon those of offspring. ing about; teach them the science If a t this point all su p ern atu ral of th is thing. It won’t h u rt any- dictum for m arriage is removed, its claim s become reduced to those hodv, and may do a little good.” “ The trouble in such cases is,” which are purely n atu ral. It is to said the doctor, resum ing the same these n a tu ra l claim s I would ap argum ent, “ that lovers don’t want peal, as the true and only sanction to cool down. True, science m ight tion for m arriage. We have found n«»t keep them from the h allu cin a th a t m arriage has no object or value, tion, and its first and tran sito ry and should therefore have no claim s phases of passion, but it woubl save in itself, except those of love. Now, them from m arriage, by showing when love ceases to such a degree them at fitst their co n stitu tio n al i as to m ake m arriage »»dious, and unfitnes* for each other. “ W hy, do you know, mo u n e re -, subvert the very purpose for which