Image provided by: Silverton Country Historical Society; Silverton, OR
About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 1898)
THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1898. insanity. W hat is it? Allow me to give my ideas of what it is. Im agination is one of the noblest attrib u tes of m an, and builds c a t tles in th e air. So long as its practical im possibility is confessed, it is well and useful. W hen one’s mind dwells upon its im agination, to th at m ind it becomes an existing fact, which results in w hat is termed belief. W henever the per son or m ind acts upon th a t belief, then he is insane. T h at is insanity, hut not noticed as such, because it exists in a m ild form and is common to all believing in orthodox creeds and dogmas. U n fo rtu n ately for h u m an ity , in sanity is recognized only in ratio to personal inconvenience and injury received from the insane. Many a person joins the crowd of the in sane in hopes of gain, which usually results in his own in san ity , hut the poor fool don’t know it. A ddison R. T itus . when we can lay aside the present | “ golden ru le’’. Even as ye would th a t others should do unto you, do ye likewise unto all m an k in d ”, w hich is an em bodim ent of selfish ness, and replace it with the true golden rule, “ Do all for others” .— [W . H. Bach. W hom the Church Loves. We hear much silly tw addle in the ranks of the church about God prospering the C hristian business m an. The church offers an induce m ent to the man of money to enter the church; put its 'cloak on, and it will help you steal from your neighbor with less stinging of the conscience. If some of the modern C hristian theories were true, the poor and oppressed are the devils of the world w ho are receivirg due retrib u tio n , while the m illionaire is receiving the blessings of the A lm ighty.— [Ex. it, hut because, like witchcraft or astrology, it has ceased to interst them. The great ship of your church, once so stout and fair, and well- laden with good destinies, is become a skeleton ship; it is a phantom hulk, with warped planks and -ere canvas, and you who work it are no more than the ghosts of dead men, and at the hour when you seem to have reached the bay, down your ship will sink like lead or like stone, to the deepest bottom .—Jo h n Mor ley, M. P. How “ God” Helped the Barber. As I was w alking in Madison Square one day. I heard a fam iliar voice exclaim ing, “ Buy some nuts, sir; ten for a cent.” I looked up and recognized an old barber. “ W hat! are you selling nuts?” said I. “ Ah, sir, I have been unfortu nate.” “ But this is no business for a m an likejyou.” “ Oh, sir, if you could only tell me of som ething better to do,” re turned the barber, with a sigh. I was touched. I reflected a mo- m ent; then tearing a leaf from my m em orandum hook, wrote for a few moments and handed it to the m an, saying: “ Take this to a printing office and have half a hundred cop ies s'ruck off’. H ere is a dollar to pay for it. Sell then; at ten cents a copy, and you will have bread on the spot. The strangers who visit New York cannot refuse this trih- m e ,o the nam e of God, p r in t'd in so m any different ways.” The barber did as lie was hid, and is now alw ays seen at the en trance of one of the big buildings selling the following handbill o name of God brought you good luck?” “ Yes, indeed, sir. I sell on an average a hundred copies a day, at two cents each, or two dollars; but th e strangers are generous; some give me ten cents and others tw en ty. I have even received h a lf a dollar for a copy; so th a t all told I am m ak in g five dollars a d ay .” “ Five dollars a d ay ?” “ Yes, sir; th an k s to your k in d ness.” “ The deuce!” thought I, as I walked aw ay; “ if I were not a lit erary man I would tu rn peddler.” — [F ra n k Fulton. In flem oriam . Died, at her home near Dayville, Oregon, S unday, Sept. 11, 1898, F rankie, beloved daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. P. Snyder. She was horn March 17, 1879, and had spent her whole life on the farm where she died. Deceased was a member (>f the The True Golden Rule. To the Preachers. Oregon State Secular Union and was a firm believer in Secularism . You have so debilitated the The world has been blind to the We laid her to rest in the Dayville inconsistencies of the Bible. The m inds of men and women by your burying ground, W illiam W yllie reason has been th a t people h a v e 1 prom ises and your dream s th a t reading the Secular burial service, not dared to study it. P riestcraft m any a generation m ust come and while m any of her friends joined in has stood by hurlin g an ath em as go before E urope • can throw oft’ the singing. H er funeral was very against any one who used the same yoke of your superstition. But we largely attended. reason regarding it th a t they would promise you they shall he genera F ran k ie’s life was one continual in the ease of any other book; when tions of streuous battle. We give round of kindness and love, not people read th a t Jehoram was the you all the advantages you can get only to her parents and sisters, h u t father of several boys two years be from the sincerity and pious worth to all who knew her. Dayville has fore be was born, thev took it as a of the good and sim ple am ong you lost one of the fairest flowers th a t We give all that the bad am ong m atter of course. ever bloomed. H er character was To-day the Bible is being studied. you may get by resort to the pois beyond reproach. She was beloved The u ltim ate salvation of my fam ily oned weapons of your profession and will he deeply m ourned by all is as much to me as the salvation of and your trad itio n s — its bribes Io who* knew her. “ Amiable, she won any m a n ’s fam ily can be to him. m ental indolence, its hypocritical all; intelligent, she charm ed a ll; I wanted to know. Therefore I affectations in the pulpit, its ty ra n anti dead, she saddened all.” “ searched the scrip tu res” in tern ally ny in the closet, its false specious Their m any friends unite in sym and ex tern ally . Not from infidel ness in the world; its menace at the p athy for the heart-broken father, writings but from C hristian. I found deathbed. W ith all these you may mothei and sisters, in whose home th a t the concordance called a tte n do your worst, and still hum anity THE NAME OK GOD IN FORTY-EIGHT one chair will ever he vacant and tion to passages th at were favorable will escape you; still the conscience LANGUAGES. one bright, sm iling face will ever to the church. The opposite were of the race will rise away from you; Hebrew, Elo ’•irn <»r E lo a h ; C hai-1. i o - be m is se d . not listed. The C om m entators ex still the growth of a brighter ideal daic, Elah; ’ Assyrian, r->n Ellah; Syriac plained all about the things th a t and a nobler purpose wdll go on, and T urkish, A lah; M alay, Alla; She was hut aw a smile Which glistens in a tear, were favorable to C hristian doc- leaving further and further behind Language of Magi, Orsi; Old E gyp Seen but a little w hile, trines; hut o ther passages werp them your dwarfed finality and tia n , Tent; A rm orian, T e u ti; Mod B ut oh, how loved, how d ear! ignored or passed off with some re- leaden, moveless stereotype. We 1 ern E gyptian, Tenn; Greek, Theos; One of her true friends, m ark th a t neither explained r.or shall pass you by on your flank; C retan, Thins; yEolian and Doric, E d ith W y l l ie . your fiercest d a rts will only spend Ilos; L atin, Deus; Low Latin,Diex; m eant an y th in g . D a y v ille , O re., S ept 26. I believe in religion. Not a re them selves on air. W e will not a t Celtic and Old Gallic, Diu; F rench, ligion th at m akes me believe in in tack you as V oltaire did; we will Dieu. Spanish, Dios; Old G erm an, Club Rates. hum anities and absurdities, and not exterm inate you; we shall ex Diet; Provencal, Dion; Low Breton, H isto ry will p la c e 1 Doue; Ita lia n , Dio; Irish, Die; 01a- pictures the creator of the universe plain you. The W eekly Oregonian is the as a m onster degraded below hu- your dogm a in its class, above or la tongue, Deu; G erm an and Swiss, best newspaper published in the inanity of today, hut in a religion below a hundred com peting dog Flem ish, Goed; Dutch G odt; E ng Pacific Northw est. The subscrip of love. The advent of that relig- m as, exactly as the n a tu ra list c h s - 1 lish and Old Saxon, God; Teuton- tion price is 81.50 per year. We ion has been delayed and nearly sifies his species. From being a ic, G«»th; D anish and Sw edish,G ut; will give it, together with the Torch drivt n from h u m an ity by the pre- conviction it will sink to a curiosi- Norwegian, Gud; Slavic, Bnch; of Reason, for the exceedingly low tensions of so-called advocates of ty, from being the guide to millions Polish, Bog. Polacca, Bung; Lapp, price of $1.75. Y ou will get tw o rev eal'd religions. They have of hum an lives it will dw indle down Ju b in a l; F innish, Ju m a la ; Runic, papers f o r a little more th an the stultified the brains of a large pro- to a chapter in a book. As history As; P an n o n ian , Isu; Zem blian,Fet- price of one. portion of h u m an ity , acted as a bar explains your dogm a, so science zo; H indostanee, R ain ;’ Corom an- ------------------- Io progress, opposed im provem ents will dry it up; the conception of del, Brarna; T a rta r, M agatal; Per- Remember, if you send us the in m aehinerv and intellectual dc- law will silently m ake the concep- wian, Sire; Chinese, Pussa; Jap a n - nam es and addresses of 25 of velopinent, brought on the “dark tion of the daily m iracle of your ese, Goezur. M adagascar, Z annar; your Liberal friends and acquaint* ages” and even at the present day altars seem im posrihle, the m ental P eruvian, Puchocam ae. ances, we will m ake yon a present indict men for heresy for the exer- clim ate will g rad u ally deprive your . . . . of a copy of the Torch of Reason A few d ay s after giving the bar- Song B(>ok N<> j This wH| onIy cise of reason. All under the holy sym bols of their nourishm ent, and cost you a few m inutes’ work and a nam e of religion. men will tu rn their hacks on your her this idea, I met him. “ W ell,” said I, “ has the holy (2 cent stam p. Let us hope and work for a day j system , not because th e y c o n fu te d