4
THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 1898.
TOf*Ch
Of Reason
1
v
1 ^*eClH
I.' »“ ti to tbe ebil-
dren; and when we come to an un-
The Only Paper of Its Kind. ! d< rstandin of the effects <»f truth
and falsehood,of confidence unhrok-
Published W eekly by th e Lil»eral U ni­
en and tru st betrayed, on the minds
versity Com pany, in the In terests of
C onstructive, Moral Secularism .
of the little ones, we will he a long
_ ~
way on the road toward solving
J. E. H osm er......................... E d ito r
.
M anager 1 ,e great problem of how to in-
P. W. , Q eer
C rease the retaining faculties of the
brain.
Evolution will
E ntered at the postoffice at Silverton, hum an
Oregon, as secpm l-class m ail m atter.
bring it, and evolution will work
rapidly under favorable conditions,
SUBSCRIPTION RA TES.
'
One year, in ad v an ce.......................... $1 00 .
The only wav thin great evil can
be eradicated from our schools,from
onr country and from the world, is
by Secular education, and this is
why we are trying to establish a
university where all the branches
of knowledge in ay be tau g h t with-
* .
«11 i
out the students m inds being tilled
with these false ideas.
Of course this im p o rtan t subject,
ns well as all leading subjects of
our time th a t would be of the most
benefit to the children if the tru th
»»» regard to them could he discov­
ered, is carefully avoided in teach-
era’ meetings, hut we live in hopes
th a t some time all men can discuss
all im portant questions and settle
the same w ithout prejudice and
w ithout political or superstitious
fea r8.
Two new students entered school
last week, and at this writing f0Ur
have entered this week. Our Y p
S. S. C. is increasing; seven m-ni-
hers were installed last Frida v ev­
ening, and everything seems to
point to a splendid success in the
future. There is one thing, how­
ever, we dislike to mention, that is
not in our favor; and th at is, the
building we occupy at present. It
was not made for a school. It is a
good building, and we are making
Six m onths, in a d v an c e ....................
5C i H o w C a n w e F re e th e P u b lic
the best of it, hut it was made for
T hree m onths, in a d v a n c e ................
25 j
S c h o o ls ?
other business, and our lease runs
In clubs of five or m ore, one year,
in a d v a n c e ..........................................
75
out next term. Now. we have an
We attended a teachers’ m eet­
Money should l>e sent by registered
excellent nucleus, as far as the edu­
le tte r or m oney order.
ing held here on the 19lb ilist., and
cational part is concerned, in over
although it was above th e average
Notice!
forty working young men and
as far as being free from the o rtho­
young ladies, all doing their very
A pencil m ark here denotes th a t your dox blight is concerned, yet one
subscription will ex p ire w ith the next
best for them selves and for the
n u m b er. You are earn estly requested who knows w hat every Secularist
school. N either is this nucleus of
to renew so th a t you m ay receive th e pa­ knows could not help feeling sad
O u r P ro s p e c ts .
per w ithout in te rru p tio n . We have de­
spontaneous growth, but it repre­
cided th a t it is l>est for all concerned when he realized what the young
sents two years’ honest endeavor
th a t we do not send papers longer th an people who come under the instruc-
In m aking our paper a sttni- and is as stable as any school in
th e tim e paid for unless so ordered.
T his will p revent any loss ami we will tion of m any of these teachers are m onthly it m ight appear to some of the United States.
know ju st where we stand.
obliged to listen to day after day our friends a sign of weakening,but
The only question now that trou­
We request you to semi us the nam es
bles us is the financial one. While
of Secularists who m ight become sub- until the most absurd and blight- it is far from it. We let go to get a
¡C
hristians are sending millions to
scrifiers and we w ill m ail sam ple copies. ing lies are forever fixed in th eir ¡better hold, and our plan is prov-
heathen lands, we can certainly
defenseless brains or I hey are fore- ing very successful. From the ex- raise enough to build one school,
T H U R S D A Y , M A R C H 24, E. M . 298 ed into the useless and dam aging tra work we have been able to do
and we will, ju st as soon as the
m ental b attle between tru th and even in this short time, nevvstu- friends of progress investigate our
T h e T h ir t e e n t h P s a lm .
m ytli—-bet ween science and super- dents are coming in, our financial work and find what it means. We
To th e F reeth in k ers c a 'le d Secularists
stition — between knowledge and prospects are looking up and our invite every progressive thinker to
become acquainted with the L iber ­
The oppressed of kingcraft and*priest­ faith — between courage and fear. A teachers have more tim e and can al U niversity I dea and we are
cra ft
num ber of these teachers are pro- thus do better work.
Now we will sure th a t all will do something to
Are stretch in g th e ir bony hands
For the rich and th e m ighty to save feesors of religion and some of t hem bend every effort to get our new further F reethought education.
them ,
Please do not th in k this an or­
are m inisters of orthodox churches, building ready for the opening of
B ut help is for “ poor h eathen lan d s” .
dinary
newspaper plea for help. It
and the following from W h ite’s the fall term , and we mean just
is not. We have one of the finest
How long!
W ilt thou alw ays forget
Pedagogy, the hook which the asso- w hat we say when we state th a t the school sites, 01 e of the finest pieces
th em ,
O wise of our m ighty race?
eiation is studying at present, tells J prospects are very encouraging. of land, in one of the finest valleys
How long, for the love of self-interest,
the story of their work belter than There are some people who are near in one of the best states in the
U lit thou hidest th y g u ilty face?
we can. Here is what it says:
sighted and never can see anything greatest country under the sun. We
H ow long shall a few holdeth council
“ It is doubtless true th a t the until it is stuck right under their also have a fine school started and
In w eakness ’g ain st the great hordes of
ill?
most impressive forms of present- noses. Some who call them selves more students coming. We can’t
How long shall the (d)evil he victor,
build the building and paint it, we
ling religious sanction to the mind
And th e world w ith its sorrow’ be
Secularists
and
F
reethinkers
will
ca n 't buy the seats and apparatus
and heart ol the young are prayer,
filled?
’ silent or spoken, and the reverent be astonished in the near future to and fix things up the way they
We will do ail
C onsider and hear them — the weepings reading of the bible, especia 11 v th a t b»‘d just « h i it we have all been should be, alone.
Of poverty, w ant and of crim e!
, .
• • .
...
“ In union there is
To lighten th e eyes of the blinded,
Pn i?enl hu.in a" d u t-v 1,1 1,8 »elation wishing for a uid declaring to he we can.
R ight now is surely th e tim e
IO the divine will— forms Mill per- j ust , he tl.ing, alreudv established stren g th .'’ Who will unite with us
in this grand work of training the
The traito rs to tru th and to justice
schools. . . . At least three " " h" UI lh ''"' hilV ,nga l,and 1,1 lL F reethought youths of our country,
Rejoice at the m ischief thev do;
avenues are open for the in trod uc- Of course the more progressive, as th at they m ay free the world from
And thou, () wise of our nation,
A rt only a few—scattered few.
tion of religious ideas and sanction, rt°on as they hear of our work, be- its greatest curse?
These are sa- come much interested and begin to
B ut w e’ll tru s t, an d w e’ll work w ith re­ in all our schools.
tie
d
songs,
the
literatu
re o f t hrist- investigate and then to help in any
joicing ;
C h ris tia n B o y c o tt.
W e will sing of salvation on e a rth ,
endom, and, best of all, f ithful and
.,
fearless C hrietian teachers, the liv- way th e-v caK-
For we know th a t rig h t now evolution
Perhaps there has been no great­
Is giving h er ch ild ren “ new b ir th ” .
ing epistles of the tru th . Against
BaleP, of Vancouver, W ash- er factor in the suppression of Free-
these there is no law.’’
ington, has been thoroughly con- thought than the C hristian boycott.
F a iry S to r ie s
^ ° ’ there is no law against these vinced th a t we mean business and We can hold F reethought meetings;
living epistles of lies, and the laws th a t our plan contains the elem ents we can publish F reethought litera­
Some teaeheis recommend fairy we do have are disobeyed by them of success. The cons« quence is th a t ture; we can discover scientific
stories for young children to rend, J jn their endeavors to please their we have in our school today a tru th s which contradict Christian
but we think it is time children Jesus. The teaching of these worse bright girl, twelve years of age, in m yths, hut although C hristians
should be taught that which they than ghost stories as gospel tru th s training for the grand future work have ears, they will not hear: al­
will not he obliged to unlearn. It cannot be stopped, for the officers against ignorance and superstition, though they have minds, they will
not understand, for they fear tie-
hurts the ch ild ’s mind when it dis- or interested parents cannot afford and the advancem ent of all th a t is disapproval of their god or their
covers that it has been bed to, and to 8lay in tlle gchoo, h(>uge a „ the g<>od> l)()h,e and true
priests’ displeasure. We have often
there are (we speak from experi­ tim e,and honor stands a poor show
Mr. Coleman, of Coburg, thinks wondered if an opposing boycott
ence) true stories, and stories th at when it comes in coutact with re- of startin g his sixteen-year-old son would not bring these misled bro­
.ire not impossible, that will enter- Rgious fanaticism .
next M onday, so th a t he can finish thers to a proper understanding of
things; but we believe the more hon­
tain, in stru ct and alw ays rem ain a
Some of the teachers in their the P reparatory Course this year orable way is to force the recogni­
benefit to the children. Secularists, otherw ise excellent speeches and and be ready for the three years tion of Secular tru th s and suppress
we should he careful w hat we fill papers spoke of God just as though Scientific Course next fall. Mr. C hristian m yths bv Secular eduea-
the m inds of these children w ith; it were a settled fact th a t such a John Diamon, of the same place, tion. If we succeed in sending out
we should teach them to hate all being exists and it would be absurd has helped us again financially. He young, energetic graduates from our
school, arm ed with the great truths
kinds of spook and m yth stories, to suppose th at such teachers would sends us word th at he is a wild
of science,
being unbiased by
and especially those which are apt not thus speak before their stu d en ts Irishm an and will try to come and any theological nonsense, the result
to deceive or confuse the innocent. jn spite of the fact th at somepeople see ns next sum m er. We wish there will astonish the most sanguine. If
Most of these stories were w ritten do not w ant their children taught
ble boycott with honorable scien-
and tau g h t to the children in th e , hese> lo them a t least, foolish no- w e d build this university in a ’ tific
wisdom, it is needless to say
dark ages when nu n did not know I (ions.
burry.
< who will be victorious.