Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903, February 17, 1898, Image 1

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    VOL. 2.
SIL V E R T O N , OREGON, T H U R SD A Y , F E B R U A R Y 17, iS98.
f o r the Torch of Reason.
has h ith erto been the cas.», but it
Soul a n d D uty
will constitute an uniform aequisi-
tion of the whole species. How far
BY TIM R A T IN G .
hum anity itself will at the same
Y„u say the change which we call death time undergo developm ent m ay be
fluence of family, position, race,
w ealth, <fce., in the interest of por­
j sonal preferences.
N evertheless
the impulse of hum an
n atu re
Tow ards movement and nroer. s« b
Hiffi/ml* u a
, r
,
,
,
I
M I ” fe1 !
‘ term m e beforehand; common ami uniform progress of so considerable that it a tta in s it>
but, in hi rm ony with the change in hum anity has become a more prob-I object even under the m ost unfavor-
K itfree s our life 8 im m o rtal b re a th ,
W hich, having finished time on earth,
'Goes upward through celestial h irtn .
come?
But inasm uch as this displacem ent
or replacem ent m ay take place un-
der present circum stances without
acts of violence and merely by th e
irresistible power of conviction, the
|
'
L 0 ie ?f ruggle
exist- able course than ttiat of the sup-
Where dwells th e pow er that calls it ence, this developm ent will certain- pression of races. At pr. sent, in-
home?
ly be ra th e r intellectual than cor- deed,
mere exam ple generally
springs it from som e su p ern al source
W ithout the realm s of n a tu re ’s course? , poreal, or in other words it will a.l- suflices am ong civilized nations of
it hut m a n ’s especial dow er,
vanee pari passu’ with a greater the earth to render every progress,
Or is it shared by bird and flower?
evolution of the tendencies and file- every im provem ent, e v e r y increase
Sot so. T his story all should sp u rn ;
ulties now slum bering in the brain of knowledge common property.
Man has no soul to bless or b u rn .
That soul Is hut a savage d ream .
of m an.
For as now adays man
Thus in the lapse of tim e and bv
Which d isappears in R easo n ’s gleam .
carries on bis struggle for existence the progress of civilization the
Im agination gave it b irth ;
No part of m an will leave th is e a r th ;
. chiefly by m eans of this organ, ami struggle tor the m e a n s of existence,
Our bodies on th is e a rth rem ain ,
this will he the case more and more such as we witness in all its unniit-
And grow in flower or golden g rain ,
While n a tu re ’s force, th e soul of m an, ! hereafter, so the beneficial and pro- igated violence in the life of ani-
Appears again as best it can.
pulsive consequences of this strug- m als and in the lower stages of hu-
Search space th ro u g h all th e day and
gle will also he favorable to th is or- man developm ent has become rath-
n ig h t;
No soul is seen to tak e its flight.
gan ami its activity, as indeed we er a struggle lor existence itself and
Look through your g lass; look n ear and
know from experience it has been a contention both of individuals
far
*
in the past. Even backward peo- and of peoples for th# a c q u is ii ion
And gaze upon th e farth e st s ta r ;
No store-room for o u r souls is th ere,
pies or races when, favored by their ' of the highest earthly b e n e fits , in
No heaven to grace th e scene so fair.
Search on through all th e sta rry hosts,
sm all personal reqrrem ents, they j which we have to do less with mu-
We see no gods, we see no ghosts ;
come into com petition with eiviliz- , ttial suppression than will, m utual
M an’s life in n a tu re had its source,
’Tis n atu re rules th e universe.
cd m an (as in the case of the C hi-j com petition ami overreaching,
nese and Africans in A m erica), can i j t niust not, how ever,beconclud-
M an’s life to d u ty should he given—
¡ S' 5 ' T S S ^
NO. Hi.
able circum stances; but bow m uch
more would this bte the cas- if these
obstacles and inequalities were as
far as possible removed, leaving a
free stage, unaflf cted by injustice
and oppression, for the action of
I he n a tu ra l law |
T he struggle of
man for existent e is also far more
full of suffering than that of th e
anim al, inasm uch as m an, wm liter
as a class or an individual, general-
ly feels the consequences of neglect,
oppression or conquest very heavily
and painfully, whilst the anim al
only sees a blind n atu ra l destiny
in his lot anti hows before it u n ­
resistingly.
This sentim ent in
m an becomes especially painful
w hen th e general consciousness of
the good or better is more or less in
advance of the actually existing a r­
rangem ents. It is in such a criti-
8tand lhi8TO"'l«-tUion perma- ed fro,,, this th at the a.rupgle itself « ‘I l.ei-i«»«l that we now find our-
; iteiith wile,, they a, the sam e time ),;, k heretofore become weaker or selves, for there has probable never
D
Apgibt h im ; do w hate'er you can.
^
r- i ad° p ' " " ; hfu 1';x isti',,g aids of civil-
« •—
Scorn all the gtxls and ghosts and devil ; | ,z a ,o n ami follow the sam e gener- «m the dom ain of m orals, to which
Comm
Commend
th e good condem n the evil;
al course by which h u m an ity is at jt has been transferred as violent-
Let’s free our lives from sin a n d vice,
jpiescnt s tiltin g to reach its ideal ! jy ah(j inexorably as it formerly
And m ake th is e a rth our p arad ise.
, of civilization.
But bv this means did on the physical fit hl. Moreover,
they also are c a i i icd away, perhaps ! ¡^
become more com plicated
S tru g g le fo E xistence.
, unw illingly or at least unconscious- a n d m ultifarious than the rude
By I >r. L. B uchner
Iv, » by
the ” general
m ovem
struggle
with
nature,
long-
j
...................-
........ . ent of j , m
i u g g ie w
h ii n
a t u r e , a as s u it n no
o lo
ng-
There is no great room to expect civilization which has been s< t go- er relates m erely to the sim ple sup-
the form ation of new and more ing by the more highly developed port of existence, but to a great
highly endowed races of men, but brain of the Europeans, and th u s, num ber of advantages of political,
nevertheless th is need not im pair
m ine or less as especially ch a r- | aocial or m aterial position which
the prospect of the progressive de- j a(,tei*ized races.
are connected th e re w ith . On one
velopment of h u m an ity an d of the! So far it would appear t i n t all ( hand this has produced the advan-
l" - " • ''eri,,d ¡„ r t W l
<(^ so great a disproportion between
requirem ent and fulfillm ent, be­
tween idea and actuality, between
thought and being, as at present.—
[Man in Past, Present, ami F uture.
Ministi *rs are m aintained at great
cost, and are exempt from certain
duties devolving uj on other ci'i-
z»*ns, such as serving in the arm y
and navy, sitting on juries an d
working tin* public roads, u p o n ’h e
ground that they are the “c id c d
human race itself.
T he progress j the momenta which are connected tage that the struggle has called and qualified” agents of an a l­
remains the
sam e or becomes still with the progress and dissem ina- f'»rtb in m an a whole series of im ­ m ighty. all-wise and infinitely good
mure considerable, but th e mode or tion of civilization over th e e a rth ’s pulses and faculties which are la ing, called G(»d. W hv should
the means bv which it is atta in e d surface are less in favor of the scarcely, if a t all, developed in the [ the) be «•••n dered a« G od’s agents?
are d ifferen t.
W hilst the struggle form ation of new races of m an, anim al, and in this way lias become is it rca*ouab!>* to su p p o se th a t an
between peoples was form erly a th an of the diffusion of a more or a principal cause of both general ah n ig h t) b« illy would n q u ire the
contest of weapons, strength o f 1 less uniform type of high h u m a n and individual progress,—w h ils t on 1 agency of a certain H ass of men in
body, courage and ferocity, it now culture,— and this would also be the o th er hand it has given rise on dealing with the rest of m an k in d ?
consists in em ulation in good and the issue of hum an developm ent the moral dom ain to horrors and An all-wise being eonld as easilv
useful arts, in discoveries, contriv- which, in accordance with the gen- barbarities w ithout num ber, of just com m unicate Ids will directly to the
anees and sciences. The time is eral principles of hum anity and the sam e kin<l as those which for- people as to t be m inisters, and. con­
pa.-t in which one people eu b ju g at- justice, must appear most desirable. merly existed in physical life. In sidering w hat tbe m inisters cost the
ed another or ex term in ated it to The suppression of a lowly race or comparison with the mere struggle people, I should think an infinitely
take its place; it is not by d estru c­ people by a higher or more power- with nature, the social struggle of good being would prefer to do so,
tion, but by peaceable competition, ful one has alw ays produced such a man has the further great disad- God, we are told, is infinite in
that one can obtain a superiority mass of m isery and injustice, th a t vantage th at the effects of the nat- power, presence, wisdom and go<xl-
over the other. But by this m eans the repetition of such a process can ura, laws are m ore^or less preju- news. Now is it not more reason-
that uniform ity of cu ltu re and th a t o n ly evoke the most disagreeable diced by the will and the contriv- able to suppose th a t such a being
interm ixture of races are brought sensations ii every friend of hu ances of m an, and th a t in this case would com m unicate his will to
about which so pow erfully oppose inanity.
In the present s ta te of therefore it is by no m eans alw ays J each individual hum an being th a n
the separation of new species. The the hum an const ience such sup- the best, the strongest or the best that he would select a few individ-
•ubject or displace the others, as • must in itself be regarded as just, ual intellectual gr< atness by the in- of G o d —[Independent Pulpit.