THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, MAY 19, 1S98.
The War and Prayer.
The chaplains <>f the senate and
of representatives as well as
.. .mV clergymen all over the land
i ;ive not thought it inconsistent or
irreverent to pray that success may
crown the American arms in the
nrci-ent war. In Chicago on Sun-
( v a Catholic priest, Rev. Fa.her
j. M. Cartan, a veteran of the civil
war, in blessing the national flag,
said: “We are about to raise great­
est emblem of justice and civiliza­
tion on earth, next to the cross.”
On the other hand, that good Cath­
olic. the archbishop of Madrid, in
his latest diocesan letter, says this
war is a conflict of good and evil,
with Spain all white and the Unit­
ed States all black. He promises-
if the newspapers report him accu­
rately — all good Spaniards invul­
nerability against American bullets.
This, it strikes us, is making
things rather difficult for provi­
dence. A better, more dignified
view is that of a New York clergy­
man, Rev. W. S. Clowe. In the
course of a sermon on ‘‘Prayer and
War”, last Sunday, he said:
“In a speech from the throne the
other day, the queen regent appeal­
ed to God for victory of the Span­
ish arms. Several of our congress­
men have made a like appeal to
the Almighty for the success <>f the
American arms. These prayers of
the two nations for the destruction
of each other are offered to the same
god, whom they both call our fath­
er. That two nations of the same
faith should appeal to the same god
for vengeance on each other is a
theological difficulty, a doctrinal
embarrassment, a religious absurd­
ity, which the thinking people of
the world cannot much longer
abide. The very sentiment of
prayer is fatally compromised. If
prayer is to hold its place in the
thinking world it must assume a
less vulnerable attitude.
“We cannot believe that God ev­
er sided with any of the armies in
the wars of the past. The modern
world has thought its way up to
such a vest conception of God that
the idea of his taking part in any
human struggle is supremely re­
pulsive. If God were on our side
and if he ever works a miracle,how
easy it would be for him to disable
(he Spanish fleet. If he sided with
the queen regent, how simple a
matter it would have been to cause
the destruction of the Maine, to be­
tray the Paris on her homeward
voyage, to produce a scries of acci­
dents that would make all of our
battleships useless. I cannot be­
lieve that there is even a Spaniard
with any quality of the soldier in
him who would rejoice at such a
miracle. Neither do I believe that
any American would pray for such
a miracle against Spain if he faint­
ly suspected that it would he
granted. We can plant our mines
under the water and speed our tor­
pedoes in the night, hut the rever­
ence which our common Christian­
ity teaches forbids us attribute these
dark schemes of death to him who
is the father of us all. Let ns fight
our own battles in a manly fashion,
depending on our own strength and
gtuius. Let us trust that Ameri­
cans and Spaniards, having fought
it out as brave and respected ene­
t>
Stayton is six miles from Aums­ days, during which time I secured
ville, on the Santiam river, and thirteen subscribers for the Torch
and a donation for the University.
thirtv minutes’ ride
found
me
there.
.
I will remain in Silverton a week,
I had not been in Stayton for sev- after which time I expect to take a
eral years, and many changes have short trip in the Columbia River
taken place, but it is still the same country and then go to Eastern
bustling little city. Mr. Derbyshire Oregon to arrange for the conven-
• i • n - _____________________________
tion.
P earl W. G eer .
and , Mr. Cooper expressed i 4i
their
terest in the cause hv taking thei
Torch, and in a few minutes I was
on my way to Sublimity. I found
Mr. Myers at work in bis field near
town, and although a stranger to
me, we soon became acquainted, •
and Mr. Myers made a donation of •
If you want the latest
five dollars to the University, ex- ®
news in detail of the
pressing his intention to do more at
A m erican-Spanish co n ­
flict. subscribe at once
another time. Arriving at Sublim­
for the
ity, I called on Mrs. La Croix, who •
has for years been identified with
the Secular work, and it is needless
to say she takes a great interest in
o u r work at Silverton. Mrs. La
Abroad.
Croix also subscribed for the Torch
Fullest telegraphic re­
Friday morning, May 6, in com­ of Reason and w ill do all she can to
ports, which can be re­
pany with our professor of elocu­ assist the cause.
lied on. Daily and S u n ­
day, 85c per m o n th ;
tion and music, I had a very pleas- J Sublimity is twelve miles from •
weekly, 12 pages, $1.50
ant bycicle ride to Salem, a distance Silverton, and at 7 o’clock we start- • •
per year. A ddress
of fifteen miles. Leaving my com­ ed towards home, visiting some on •
panion at her boarding place, I the road and staying over night at J OREGONIAN PUBLISHING CO.
PORTLAND. OR.
transacted some business in thecitv •/ the home of an uncle, Phil. Bowers,)
and
arriving
in
Silverton
Sunday
and called on some of my sriends.
In the evening I left for Turner,' morning, after a journey of two ; • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
eight miles distant, where I arrived
a little after supper.Jime, hut on
calling at the home of F. S. Matte- j
son I was informed that I was nev­
er too late for a meal there. I was
soon refreshed and had a very nice
visit with the little frmily. Miss
Katie has graduated from the pub­
lic school and her ambition is to
finish her education in the Liberal
University. Let us hope that what T H E O N LY S C H O O L OF T H E K IN D
she desires may he accomplished.
The next morning I called on
some of the friends about town,
hut the Secularists of Turner are
quite scarce, and with a few excep­
tions, are exceedingly inactive. I
secured three new subscribers, how­
ever, and have no cause for com­
plaint. Bidding farewell to Tur- P u p ils are (liven Every O p p o rtu n ity to Learn With ou
ner friends, our next point of attack
B eing H am pered by S uperstitions and Dog Mmas.
was at Aumsville. On the road
between these two points lives one
Gibson, whom we found at work
half a mile off the road. The bi­
cycle soon took me there,and I was
well repaid for the trip, for Mr.
Gibson is now’ one of the Torch of
Reason family, and we hope he A Splendid Corps of Teachers and Good Facilities for
Teaching.
For information, address
will he willing to remain so.
On arriving at Aumsville, I call­
J. E. HOSMER, Ph.D., B.S.D , President,
SILVERTON.
OREGON.
ed on Mr. Murphy, who also ident­
ified himself by subscribing to the
Torch. He directed me to the
home of C. H. Mitchell, whom I
found in a field a mile from the
-DEALERS IN-
house. Accompanying him home,
I was made requainted with his fa­
ther and mother and enjoyed a vis­
it and a good dinner. Mr. Mitch­
ell is an enthusiastic Secularist,
and is now a reader of the Torch
Corner Main and Water Streets,
of Reason. Returning to the town,
SILVERTON, ORE.
I met Mr. Amend, Mr. Bryant and
Mr. Gilbert, all of whom subscrib­
ed for the paper and expressed a
willingness to assist more, later.
mies, shall meet in the higher life
as friends.
“God has placed all earthly
affairs in our hands and we must
work out our national destinies. If
God should elect to work miracles
we should expect him to prevent
war and not to assist. A few quiet
miracles several years ago to relieve
Cuban taxation, to prevent Wey-
ler s barbarism, to insure wiser
treatment of all their colonies, to
modernize and moralize the entire
Spanish people, would have been
vastly better than any miracle now
to help us destroy the Spanish navy.
Every great battle is the dawn of a
better time for the human race. If
the loss of life and the destruction
of property which we have author­
ized shall lift the West Indies from
barbarism and shall compel Spain
into a nobler intelligence, history
will record the accomplishment in
letters of gold.”—[The Voice.
War News
Oregonian
LIBERAL
UNIVERSITY
F ree from S u perstition
S trictly N on-Sectarian
L o c a tio n H e a lth fu l
S o c ie ty G ood.
E x p e n s e s M o d e ra te
C u s ite r & D a v e n p o rt
...GENERAL M E R C H A N D IS E
T ry th e Torch for Job w ork.