VOL. 2. S IL V E R T O N , OREGON . T H U R SD A Y , D EC EM B ER 30, 1897. NO. 9 1 • I The Devil is Dead. lie \e , a greater nun her of others pie, and have prepared them for feels onlv as an individual being Sigh, priests, cry aloud, bang your pul- n,ake ’hemselves believe, not com- J opinions which they represented as and carries on his struggle for ex JUIO "Mil u*wviw« ¡.its with b lack : prehendfng w hat it is to believe. In essential to the glory of divinity istence upon bis own account alone i Let ♦ sorrow IkAiv « . e ! 1 I i bow dow n n ovorv every hou/1 b e a d : • a word, whoever will consult H)tn- and to the happiness of em pires. and guided by mere personal or The good friend who bore all your eins on bis back— mon sense upon religious opinions,' e have seen, a thousand tim es, in egotistic _ .......... ................. ....... 1/V1C»- motives. Man , is , „ a O socia- Your l>est friend, th e Devil, is dead. and will carry into this exam ina- all p arts of our globe, infuriated fa- ' ble or social being and can evident- Y <ir church is a corpse; you are guard- tion the atten tio n given to objects oatics slaughtering each other, ly attain his destiny and conse- The soul of your system has fled. ot o rdinary interest, will easily per- lighting the funeral piles, com m it- . quently also happiness, only in Ibat do o iir"011 iS t,ll!ng your teiril,|e ^‘‘ive th at these opinions have no ting without scruple, as a m atter of conjuction wit h his like, or in other doom ; solid foundation; th a t all religion d u ty , the greatest crim es. W hy? words, in the m idst of hum an soci- I t (ells us the Devil is dead. ’Twas knowledge gave S atan a te rrib le is hut a castle in the air; th a t all To m aintain or to propagate the ety- The individual is all that he blow ; theology is hut ignorance of n a tu r- im pertinent conjectures of enthusi- can be only in and with h u m an ity Poor fellow ! he took to his bed. Alas! idle p riests, th a t such th in g s al causes reduced to a system ; th a t i «sts, or to sanction the knaveries at large, or by its m eans, and his should be so— it is but a long tissue of chim eras of im postors on account of a being endeavors after personal happiness Your m aster, th e Devil, is dead. and contradictions; th a t it presents who exists only in th eir irnagina- are therefore most in tim ate ly Con- You’re hid to th e fu n eral, m in isters all : to all the different nations o f the tion and who is known only by the nected with lh e striv in g < »f m ankind \\ e ’ve dug th e old g e n tle m a n ’s bed : earth only rom ances devoid of prob- ravages, the disputes and tli the follies Your black coats will m ake a m ost e x in general after prosperity and pro cellent pall ability, of which the hero him self is which he has 1ms caused upon e < a rth .— gress. To cover your friend who is dead. m ade up of qualities im possible to [Preface to Common Sense. Ay! lower him m ournfully in to th e reconcile, his nam e having the In such a stale of things the col S tru ggle for Existence. Let show ers of tear-d ro p s he sh e d ; power to excite m all hearts respect lective body cannot well feel as Your business is g one; there are no and fear, is found to be a vague such; it must perceive th a t it is souls to save— , , . , . ,, BY L. BUCHNER. Their tempter, the devil, is dead. word, which men continually utter, better th a t all should strive with ... , being able to attach to it only such \\ oe comes upon woe; you can ne er get | united forces and m utual support All arrangem ents in the state, in vour dues— ideas or qualit ies as are belied by tow ards the sam e goal, tow ards lib Hellflb"'’en_tl>e ,U"ined 6OU,B have the facts, or which evidently con- society, in the church, in education, eration from the tram m els of the Thev took to their heels when thev heard : trad ict each other. The notion of in work, etc., in consequence of a forces of n atu re, th an th a t t h e best T h e h j a ^ S v i i , is dead.' ' h i“ being, or rath er the most prom inent law of in ertia, powers should destroy each other ained far behind w hat word by which we designate him , • 1,5,8 rem ---------- by m utual contests. C om petition, needed no m o re; would be of no const quence did it j 18 requir«d by the general hum an which in itself is so beneficial, may Revivals are knocked on th e h e a d ; j not cause ravages w ithout num ber I eonsc^onene8s, elevated as it is by and will continue, but it m ust be The orthotlox vessel lies stran d ed on ., , P eru into the hC‘e n tific knowledge, reflection and shore• upon the earth transform ed from the old and rude I f the forces Her c ap tain , th e Devil, is dead. (»pinion th a t this phantom is for m aterial progress. form of and <i destruction v/. Contest .1.11 i iiciiori in p- —W in. Denton, to progress had not so great .u < i r • . them a very interesting reality, opposed . ... ....„ ............. . tl_ f the struggle for existence in to the men, instead of wisely concluding a,,d powerful a reserve in the ind«»- nobler and essentially hum an form Theology is Ignorance. from its incom prehensibility th at le,,ce H" <1 im m obility rf th e great o f c o m p e t i t i o n for the highest gen they are exempt from thinking of and ignorant masses, a very differ eral well-being. In o th er words, BY JEAN MESLIER. ent state of t h in g s would long since it, on the contrary, conclude th at th e struggle for the m eans of exist When we wish to exam ine in a they cannot occupy them selves have taken th»' [»lace of th a t which ence will he replaced by the stru g cool, calm way the opinions of men, enough about it, fct.at they must has h ith erto prevailed. gle for existence, m an by hum anity we are very much surprised t o find m» d ilate upon it w ithout ceasing, In such a position of affairs as at large, m utual conflict by u n i that in those which we consider the reason w ithout end, and never lose this ___ there ______.... can he r,................. no greater „ or .........~ more versal harm ony, personal m isfor most essential, n o th in g is more rare sight of it. The invincible ignor- elevating task for the philanthrop- tune by general happiness, an d gen than to find them using common ance in which they are kept in this int th an the investigation of those eral hatred by universal love! sense; th a t is to say, the portion of respect, far from discouraging them , I points in which this disproportion W ith every step in this path man judgment sufficient to know the does hut excite their curiosity; in- makes itself most strongly felt and w ill depart more and m ore widely most simple tru th s, to reject the stead of puttin g them on guard in which the struggle f<»r existence from his past anim al condition, most striking absurdities, and to against tlm ir im agination, this ig- may be rendered easier and more ir»»m his subjugation to th e forces lie shocked by palpable contradie- noranee makes them positive, dog- advantageous both to the individ- of nature and th eir inexorable laws Hons \\ e have an exam ple of this niatic, im perious, and causes them ual man and for m ankind in gener- and approach more and more to the in theology, a science revered in all to quarrel with all those who op- al. These are at th e sam e tim e the id« a! of hum an developm ent. On tunes, in all countries and by the pose doubts to the reveries which very points at which man is best u this lIP „ course , UrBc ne win nnu th a a t t lie will find again again th greatest num ber of m ortals; an o h - their brains have brought forth, able to show his dom inion over the Paradise, the ideal of which floated • .......... ............................. "• .......- ................ . ' - .......... ......................ru d ,\ " a lu ra l cor.litionH, a n d thus before Ihe fancy of .he moat ancient ject considered the most im p o rtan t, W hat perplexity when we under H e most useful and the most indis- take to solve an iinsolvohle prob- to raise him self fu rth est above his nations, and w hich, according to pensahle to the happiness of socio- lend A nxious m editations upon lowly past. I he farth er lie departs trad itio n , was lost by the sin of the ty. If they would hut take the an object im possible to grasp, and from the point of his anim al origin first m an. f he only difference will trouble to sound the principles up- which, however, is supposed to he and relationship and replaces the be th a t this P aradise of the future °n which th is pretended science very im portant to him , can hut put forces of n atu re, which form erly e x - will he not im aginary but real rests itself, they would be com- a m an in a bad hum or and produce erted an unlim ited influence over th a t it will come not a t the begin- peJed tc adm it th a t the principles in his brain dangerous transports, him, by his own free and rational ning, l»ut a t the close of our devel- " bich were considered incontesta- W hen interest, vanity and am bition spontaneity, the more does he he- opm ent, and th at it will not he the ’•le are hut hazardous suppositions, are joined to such a morose dispo- come m an in the true sense of the gift of a deity, hut the result of the conceived in ignorance, propagated sition, society necessarily becomes word, and th e more does he ap- labors and m erits of m an and of H.v enthusiasm or had intention, troubled. This is why so m any na- proach th a t goal which we m ust the h u m an in te lle c t—[M an Past adopted by tim id credulity, pre- tions have often become the thea- regard as th e future of m an and of Present and F u tu re served by habit, which never reas- tres of extravagances caused by the h u m an race. B ut for th is pur- °r:s. and revered solely because not nonsensical visionists,who, publish- pose it is above all things necessary , comprehended. Some, says Mon- ing th eir shallow speculations for for him to recognize th a t his natur- .i / m.U t^ trouble taigne, make the world lielieve th a t the eternal tru th , have kindled the al destiny can never lie attained by w ouhfit*be wise for^T b»Sunth^na'ke "bich they do not them selves be- enthusiasm of princes and of pe »- him so long as he, like the anim als, to enforce the laws of God?— [¿el.