a
R eason .
OF
VOL. 2.
SIL V E R T O N , OKEGON, TH U R SD A Y , JA N U A R Y B, 1898.
For the Torch of R eason.
al a com prehensive discussion of so
great a subject.
In tu rn in g my
thoughts to the subject before us, I
BY JOHN PRE8COTT GUILD .
n atu ra lly sought the recorded
„ “'itK V & tiu“ ■
s r «
k
»
o« ie ,igP ,,fOu ,er Ine„. , was
a n F iK X n u i™ most “ v rw h e ln ie d with the great
m ass of history concerning m yth,
In the garden of g reat W isdom
magic, m ystery, and the persons
Grew the m ighty Know ledge T ree ;
em ploying these influences u p o n
Rooted in the firm creatio n ,
To hear fru it for you am i me.
hum an thought.
P runing th e K now ledge Tree.
Wnler its branches spread and higher
Shoots its sk y w ard -ten d in g stem ;
Mankind all m ight seek its fruitage,
Wisdom willed it u n to them !
and you have only th e anim al left.”
Language then becomes th e vehicle
of reason or ab stract thought,
W hat a wonder is languag««! It is
1 thp light withi|1 U8 O u r » Mlieg are
hut conglom erations of cells, no
more perfectly arranged than that
of the ox. Y et thr few sm all stran d s
of muscle fibres form ing our vocal
chords represent the greatest of all
n atu re’s works.
W ith them the
early man m ade sounds which stood
for what he knew as precept, ju st
as the dog knows bone. These sm all
fibres of tissue are alone the cause
which m ade it possible to say, as
did one of our great th in k ers:
Some one has said, if men would
but define th eir term s we would
Have half onr discussions. In this
Parasites of su p e rstitio n
paper the im portant term s are:
Found th a t fruitful Know ledge T ree,
Fastened on its bloom ing branches,
Science, which is the revelation of
Blig.iting them w ith infam y.
tru th ; M ysticism, the m isunder-
Up and flown the tree they travelled,
Doing havoc everyw here,
standing, m isinterpretation and
Till the tree looked wan aud d e ath ly ,
m isapplication, ignorantly or self­
’Stead of frag ra n t, green an d fair.
‘‘There is nothing great in the
ishly,
of
tru
th
;
S
uperstition,
the
world hut m an, and nothing great
Pruning knife of L ib ’ralism ,
Took in band h u m a n ity ,
individual faith which allows the jn man hut m ind.”
Low and loft it m ade incision—
harm ful influence of m ysticism
up-
w ul
u i s idea?
- j
Cut the thieves off Know ledge T ree.
j v v.. . .
\V ith tnese sym bolsof
came
In tiie Haines were cast th e frag m en ts, on the individual m ind.
the birth of reason; then imagin-
Burned were they w ith lid icu le,
My investigations lead me to the ation and abstract thought. W hat
Wit and scorn and laugh and loathing,
The p arasites w hich lost th e ir rule.
conclusion th at m ysticism has usu- a story it would he could we know
Now with renew ed stre n g th of reason
ally been disadvantageous to hu- as history this era of hum an devel-
Grows again th e K now ledge T ree,
m an welfare and happiness. As o p m e n t. Let us p ain t a picture:
Flourishing in every season,
Bearing fru it for you and me.
an argum ent supporting this con-
fl)re8l g|
,ookj
That good tree will live forever,
Freethought rip ’ning every day :
The parasites of su p e rstitio n
Evermore m ust keep aw ay.
elusion let as c o n s id e r the subject j (>llt
u n d e r th r e e h e a d s :
„
thc
,
n8e of
. ocean,
„
* d i s «i
i l
stan
the rude
hut of e some
NO. 10.
doubt death from burning, taugh t
him that the good became evil oft­
en, hence t h e welfare of m an de­
pended upon keeping the favor of
the unknow n being.
As late as the Greek civilization
Helios was the sun god, and Selene,
the m oon, his goddess. The light
from thji moon was w eaker th an
from the sun, so this m ust be a fe­
m ale power, since women were
known to he w eaker th an men.
T hus it can he seen th at wom en’s
rights reform ers can blam e the
moon for th eir subjection, instead
of the “other sex.”
The m oaning wind at night tim e
sounded like the stricken w arrio r’s
death groans, and it soon became
connec ed with the idea of spirit.
The philologist traces back the
word spirit to the sam e root as the
word wind. Showing th a t the con­
ception of soul had a common pre­
cept with the idea of wind.
How late these influences of th e
m ystic elung to the m ind of m an is
shown by the study of m ythology.
In the Greek Prom etheus, the hero
of the tale falls out with Zeus and
thus addresses th e older gods:
(1) Mysticism in prim itive life;
aborigine. Thia forefather of ours
(2) M ysticism in an cien t and looks with wonder am i awe upon
B o h e m ia n E v e n in g No. V.
m odern religion, and
the rising sun. It moves upw ard E th e r of H eaven an d W inds u n tire d of
wing,
By C E lto n Blanciinni.
(3) M ysticism in science.
horn out the unknown depths of Rivers whose fountains fail not. and
thou Sea,
To this discussion I ask vour at- tl,e g,eMt ocean’ The ,>ri8ht Inorn‘
I. MYSTICISM IN P R IM IT IV E L IF E .
L aughing in waves in n u m e ra b le !
()
eention not with the utm ost confi- in g ra .VK touch the savage face, and
E
a
rth
,
It hail b e en suggested at th e last
tin* w arm th.
Ib is single A ll-M other!—Yea, a n d o n th e Sun I call
meeting of the young inen with the deuce in my ability to interest you.
W hose o rb scans all th in g s ; look on m e
The Zulu tradesm an chews a piece phenom eL adouhtlessaroused much
and see
Old Doctor th a t it was certainlv
How I, a god, am w ronged by gods.
thought
in
the
m
ind
of
prim
itive
selfish to enjoy the valuable les­ of certain wood w h-n about to eon-
duet a trade, in order to soften the n ,a n ’ a,,d to « *P lain ’he »»»any like
As has been said before th is in ­
sons without wishing others to hear
heart of the man with whom he is Phenom ena which he saw, such as stitu te by an abler m an, the vener­
them also. A ccordingly I)r. Brown
trad in g th a t he m av get the best of
rush of waves, the falling and able I)r. H ahn, fire being warm ,
had consented to deliver the next
the bargain. If I had some of this risin* of the ,id e’ the w i,,d> th u n d er and a live m an being warm, while
lecture at the H all of the Uniied
magic wood, I would chew a piece and lightning, etc., was one of a dead one was cold, the two soon
Bohemian Societies, a beautiful and
th a t vour h earts m ight he softened. the firKl taakH th a t daw ning reason j assumed a m ysterious connection.
commodious assem bly room, owned
Since, however, magic is less re.
Rhout.
Som ething had left the body, like
by the organization, and to these
Let us see what mysticism did unto th a t which leaves the fire,
people it was the Y. M. C. A., with speeted here th an in Zululand, I
the religious side om itted.
'The must throw myself upon your char- for m an at this tim e. However, Smoke, steam and white clouds rise
T h at
following reports are prepared as ¡table consideration and what I the religion and philosophy of sav- from burning substances.
the l>e.-t verbatim possible to se- mi£ht sa> rnu^t im press you as it age man presents such a jungle of which leaves m an a t death m ust be
cure:
will, w ithout the aid of magic.
thought th a t we despair ever reduc- like this. N atu ral reasoning. T his
The president, Mr. Volapek, an
considering the influence of Dig ’’ ,o a n y th in g th at could he soon gave us th e concept of sp irit
elder brother of our friend of form- ’he m ystic in prim itive life we m ust likened to a system . Some of you as a form of cloud m ist. On dis-
er evenings, introduced the Old not forget the n atu re of thought, know already Mr. F razer’s hook, ta n t m oorlands, the m orning fog
Accepting as most men of science the “ Golden Bough”, an d G erJand’s was thc hovering of departed spir-
Doctor, who s a id :
Ladies and G entlem en, Fellow do, the theory of m an’s developm ent ‘ A nthropologie der N atu rv ö lk er.” its. I he w riters of the bible still
U nprotected by even the savage s ta in e d th is prim itive conception,
Students,—T he subject as announc- from ’he hiwest form of organic
ed abotu which I am to speak to life, we can easily think of onr race hut, and with no clothing, the f°r we notice th a t all reference to
as an anim al specie. For the pur- prim itive m an was doubtless m uch 8P’r Dual beings connects them with
yuu is,
p o se of our discussion it m atters m ote subject to influence of w eath- cl°ud8, tire a ,,d smoke,
MYSTICISM and t h e pa r t it
has
not w hether the prim itive m an was er th a n his savage descendants.
If good comes from this m ysteri-
flayed in man ’ s d ev elo pm en t .
hairy, w alking on fours, with tail The warm sun was soon a friendly oUB sun, if the w’ondrous waves of
1 am honored with the privilege of and fa need teeth or not. We can, power, and when fire became known the sea tossed up blessings in the
presenting for your consideration however, realize th at articulate it was ea*y to connect the two. form of fool, or if the w inds sen t
ai d discussion the subject of m ysti- speech is a m odern a rt in the race When we wish to please those who falling fru it or n uts a t the feet of
’ Ml , seeking to discover if possible history. The very n atu re of Ian- do us good we praise them , com pli- needing h u m an ity , these were bless­
part it has played in m an ’s de- guage gives us the best evidence of m ent them — some flatter. So the ings, kind deeds from good beings
' - pinent to th e present day. I the prim itive m an ’s m ental status, prim itive m ind sought to keep with- or gods.
But evils c a m e — cold,
' ' b *«8 to you a t th e beginning of and the influence of the m ystic in in the good pleasure of this myste- hunger, d e a th ; from w hat
were
1 paper my in ab ility to condense bis daily life. Max M uller says, rious pow er—th e fire and the fire these?
1,1 Die space of time at my dispos- «Take away from m an his language god. No doubt accidental fires, no
From beings not good.
From