« T orch VOL 2. J of - is ' R eason . * NO. 6. S IL V E R T O N , O REG O N . T H U R S D A Y , D EC EM B ER 9, 1897. Do We Know Each Other Here? provinces of his em pire were colo- lions of stars, all worlds, m any of ity under our ridicule. We have nized by refugees from the ty ra n n y far greater m agnitude th a n ours, tender reminiscences of the days BY JOHN P. G U ILD . of clerical autocrats. H is absolute while far beyond these and Nep- when th e world was young, of the tolerance protected even tho Jesu- tune are other solar system s of dim and storm y flight of ages Oft I hear th e C h ristia n s singing Of th e “ land th a t know s no c a re ,’’ its, expelled by the C atholic rulers worlds stretch in g out through il- stretching between A braham and ••Jn those heavenly ar, tics ringing, ’ Ur of the Chaldees am i the day of F rance and Spain. D uring th. lim itable space. “ S mil we know each o th e r t tie re? hall we know , shall we know , reign of th at crowned philosopher Y ou “created” not these, 0 God; that Col uniha founded you a ' Shall we know each o th e r th e re ? ’ the religious and political dissent- we crea(ed yoUt You are church or. Io n a’s lonely isle. You T h en I h e ar th e sp irit people ers of P russia expressed th eir views njade in the imMge of n ia n ; in the have waded with our fath ers W ith a faith both rich and rare. with a freedom which in semi- ¡,nage of nian are you m ade. Long through rivers of blood and lakes Sing in tiall w ithout a steeple— “ We shall know each o th e r th e re ; republican E ngland would have in- ftgo were ma(ie o,lt of the m ists of tire when, on the p illars of We shall know , we shall know , volved them in a maze of endless of our ignorance; ye wore dyed in carnage, rested the thrones of the We shall know each o th e r th e r e .” world. You were th eir g u ard ian , law suits. Among th e fruits of th a t the stream s of our blood. We Of such m usic I am w eary; freedom were products of science knew little of the expanse and glory God, in th e ir few day s of peace W h at has it th is world to cheer? I re tu rn to all th e q u e ry — and philosophy which have m ade of the subject and objective w orld. when the sun glinted down through •'Do vou know each o th e r h e re ? ” th a t period the classic age of G er And, even in our rude savagery, the forest leaves, and when the Do you know , do you know . Do you know each o th e r h e re ? ” man literatu re. “ Before the a p the stale contingencies of life were hills lay dream ing u n d er the silent pearance of K a n t’s ‘C ritique of Pure too narrow for us; and in the in stars. Y our blessings were invoked W hen w e’ve crossed the chilly river, Shall we m eet w ith g reetin g d e ar Reason,’ ” says Schopenhauer, “ the cipient longings of our im m ortal over the cradles of our sires, and From those we give a shiver, works of duly installed governm ent energies, we invented you. We your benison over their graves. As we never knew them here? N ever knew , never knew . professors of philosophy were most made you rude as the stone cairn In old churchyards, ami in c h u rch Oh, we never knew them here! ly m edleys of sophism s, p re te n d in g ’ we .je(j oyer our dead> and gory y ard s which the dead never en ter now, hut which are streets over __________ ’ ................. Then 1 >e kind tint«» each other, to _____ reconcile science and dogma, as the ax with which we did battle Deem each one a neighbor n e a r; Here, at with our foes. You were then the which the feet and wheels of com D o n 't rejiel those who would b ro th e r— reason and despotism . L et us know each o th e r here. last, a state university could boast best god we w ere capable of m ak merce clash and w hirl, there are L et us know , let us k low, of a man who lived at once by and ing. And th a t we had even a god memories and relics of you. W e Let us know each o th e r h ere. —[Lowell, M ass., Sunday Press. for the service of tru th — a phenom like you kept alive in our hearts dig down to the broken m arbles enon m ade possible only by the the vestal flame of aspiration and and th e ancient g.aves, and we Freetbought. circum stance th a t, for the first time hope, and differentiated us from find references to vour Book and since the days of the great A urel th e steed th a t obeyed our bridle you m ixed up with the epitaphs of By F. n Oswald. ius and the greater J u lia n , a F ree and the boar overthrow n by our ephem eral and our im m ortal dead. The blood th a t rui s in our veins is Religious lih irty guarantees ev th in k er had m ounted the throne of spear. draw n from those who lie under ery other kind o f freedom, as every an independent m o n arch y .” Even you, 0 God, rude aR we had the ancient and broken gravestones form of slavery walks in the train The protection of F reetbought is m ade you, were yet the highest line th a t call you God. And the wed of priestly despotism . In America likewise the best safeguard against on th e shore to which the tide- ded love of the m o 'h e rso f our race rel gious em ancipation led the way th a t virus of hypocrisy th a t has m ark of our thought had risen— for more th an a thousand years to rho D claration of Independece, underm ined the moral health of so the loftiest cloud whose fringe had has been, in your nam e, consecrat and still continues to m ake this m any m odern nations. ever been touched by the white ed at, the a lte r, and the fruits of continent t he chosen home of thous “ W hat an incalculable a d v a n - wings of our hope. You gave a their love in baptism offered to ands of L iberals whom the m aterial tage to a nation as well as to its d ep ,h and m eaning to the busy you. And y et we m ust desert you, prosperity of the New world would ruler,” says a m odern philisopher, day alld t j,e m elancholy night 0 God, even as we deserted other have failed to a ttra c t. It is possi “ to know th a t the pillars of state while we were yet strangers to the deities to w orship you.—[G<d and ble th a t a policy of intolerance are founded on the eternal verities, m arch of th o u g h t and the discipline His Book. would have averted or postponed on n a tu ra l science, logic, and of schools. The lightning was the the fate of the Moorish em pire, arithm etic, instead of casuistry and gleam of your sword, the th u n d er G ive Us One Fact. which was u ltim ate ly overthrow n im m aculate conceptions!” was the battle-cry of god. You by the fanatics of a creed which the We have heard talk enough. W’e The consciousness of th a t advan are not fram ed, 0 Jehovah, for the followers of a more ratio n al faith tage has more th an once upheld age when the steam -engine rushes have listened to all the drow sy, had perm itted to survive in th eir the b irth lan d of P rotestanism in th ro u g h the glens an d crashes idealess, vapid serm ons th a t we m idst; yet it is not less certain th a t its struggles ag ain st the allied throegh the bowels of the everlast wish to hear. W’e have read your for nearly five hun dred years relig powers of despotism , and should ing hills; when, on the wings of bible, and tin* works of your best ious tolerance m ade the realm of W e have heard your uphold in th e inevit- th^ w-- ----- - our -- republic * * lightning, we speed our mes- m inds. the S panish caliphs the one b rig h t able struggle against the allied 8age8 over the nations of the con- prayers, your solemn groans, and Goshen in a world o f intellectual reverential aniens. All these despots of the tw entieth century.— tin e n ts and under the billows of • vour » darkness. In northern Europe the th e oceans; and when the press am ount to less th an nothing. W’e [Bible of Nat ure. history of civilization begins only lays at the feet of th e hum blest w ant one fact. W’e beg at the with the trium ph of R ationalism . Jehovah B ecom ing Obsolete. the m ind w ealth of th e world. doors of your churches for ju st one P rotestantism , in th a t wider sense Such an era needs not, and never little fact. W’e pass our hats along which m ade the revolt of the G er BY SALA DIN. would have fram ed, a god like you. your pews and un d er your p u lp its m anic nations an insurrection T he appearance of more th a n W e are parting company with and im plore you for just one fact. against the power of superstition, seven h u ndred com ets belonging you, Jehovah, impelled to do so by We know all about yo u r m ouldy has laid the foundation of n ational to our system has been recorded, th e civilization of m ankind rising wonders and your stale m iracles. prosperity in G reat B ritain, in the These are new worlds thrown off to loftier levels. You have played W’e w ant a th is-v ear’s-fact. W’e N etherlands and in the rising em from the sun, in gaseous form, your p art, and now w e-m ust play ask only one. Give us one fact for pire of N orthern G erm any. The Y«>ur m iracles are too traveling through space for mil- ours; and, in the interest of our ch arity . real founder of th a t em pire was at lions of ages before assuming a race, argue you and jeer you out of ancient.— [R. G. Ingersoll. once the greatest statesm an and the solid form or producing vegetation; the world. But we are students of boldest F reethinker of the last four “ Come let us reason together, and this is the process our sarth history and anthropology, and we teen centuries. His capital became had to pass thro u g h . In gating are not ungrateful. There lies an saith the L o rd .” I accept the in a citv of refuge for the philosophers beyond the planets we behold mil-1 awe un d er our levity and a solemn- v ita tio n .— [Ingersoll. of C hristian E urope. The eastern I ------------ A t. - I Illr t U C J t / U 1 ------------------- c / ■