T orch of
VOL. 2.
S IL V E R T O N , OREGON, T H U R SD A Y , OCTOBER 20, Ì898.
V
.... —
------
.
p T 'H E world was n e ’er im proved
*
Bv tim id , fearful m en ;
• Nor niiyhty wrongs rem ov’d
By slavish tongue or pen.
& O ur noble sires of obi
W ere d au n tless and w ere
b ra v e ;
Their h e arts to tru th not cold,
Dared prison-cell am i grave.
*****
li.-t .—
way transposed.
** *
t IJ 111
« w . «
-ill I I
c rin g e d Lv ihe a a -rë F W T P rffW period. It is only since m an began
m an, and it is ihe height of folly to to think th a t this m onstrous b ar
attem p t it.
barity has stopped, and ouly stop
ped when he found out th a t a witch
The last day will he a very busy was not a reality, but a fiction. If
one fo r all concerned. Not only he will think a little more he will
wiI1 ever? hum an body th a t ever reach the same conclusion about
lived be re(l uired to h u n t up the the soul and the supposed au th o r of
PCatte,ed Pa rts which once consti- this m onstrous edict.
m ill i
i
Man is but a part of the earth
and the atm osphere which sur-
rounds it. H is being is due to ex-
isting conditions and to n atu ral,
not su p e rn a tu ra l, causes. Change
the conditions, stop the earth in its
They suffered for th e rig h t,
revolutions upon its axis, or in its tuted its »«»tom y, in order to ap-
They won th e m artyr-crow n,
A Great Change.
They fought th e noble tight,
course around the sun, and there Pear for sentence, but the Suprem e
They braved th e p riesth o o d ’s frown.
could be no such thing as m an. J u d 8e wil1 have to exam ine the
Help on w hat th ey l>egan,
There was a tim e when an unbe
And strive for objects g re a t;
The earth and universe were not countless billions of records in or-
liever, open and pronounced, was a
Let us th e ir e rro rs sh u n ,
created for his sole use. H e is but der to reacb a JU8t conclusion,and at
T h eir virtues im itate.
wonder. A t th a t time the church
—[Selected.
an incident of circum stances and ^he same time will be obliged to re had great power; it could retaliate;
present existing conditions. There a »range the wnole order of the uni- it could destroy. The church a b a n
w a s a tim e when he did not exist, verse Inade necessary by the de doned the stake only when too
For the Torch of Reanon.
but the earth was going through its struction of the earth.
m any men objected to being b u rn
Unprejudiced Opinions.
revolutions as now. There will be
ed. At that tim e Infidelity was
a tim e when be cannot exist, owing
The tree does not put on its ra i clad not sim ply in novelty, but
BY C H A R L E S K . T E N N E Y .
to changed conditions, but the earth m ent of green in the spring-tim e, often in fire. Of late years the
will continue in its accustomed or the flower put forth its beauty thoughts of men have been turned,
A day is but the space of time orbit.
and fragrance by reason of any by virtue of modern discoveries,
occupied by the earth in m aking
***
special providence, but because, in as a result of countless influences,
oue com plete revolution upon its
M atter is ever changing form and obedience to the action of the su n ’s to an investigation of the founda
axis. As the earth revolves towards
h ic h i« h nnrt
nnr ra - vs upon
the earth,
it cannot do tion of orthodox religion. O ther
the sun, its beginning and ending 4=3 | n la 1 c e j T 1 h a t w
wnicn
is
a
p
ari
o.
our
i
.
’
.
1 P 1 1 p 1 • z»
i
h
1
N either » is £« lUzv
the irtll
fall of religions were put in the crucible
cannot be the sam e a t any two dif- )oc*y f°day, and full of life and an- otherwise.
ferent places in its path; hence, the im ati°n ,
tom orrow, when it has the sparrow to the earth due to of criticism , and nothing was fouud.
same space of time cannot c o n s ti-1 Performed ’fs p art in our life, cast special providence, but is in direct hut dross. At last it occurred to
tute a day in any two different od’ an(‘ becomes lifeless, until in obedience to the laws of attraction. the intelligent to exam ine our own
H um an laws and prisons, the religion, and t h is exam ination has
parts. At some point on the earth due ProCP®8 °f ti»ne it is absoroed
the day is always ending and al- bv o iber anim ate m atter, and be- product of m an ’s genius for the bet excited great interest and great
ways beginning. As a day is but cornPH full of life, until again cast term ent of him self and fellows, com m ent. People want to hear,
the tim e required by the earth in °^* ^bus m atter is ever passing keep more men from evil than all and they want to hear because they
m aking one com plete revolution, a t ^rom hfe to death and from death to the churches ever founded or so- have already about concluded them
called divine laws ever w ritten. selves th a t the creeds are founded
what point in the revolution should life.
Abolish out laws and prisons and in error.
***
we mark the beginning of the day
the com m andm ents would have a
T housands come to hear me be
embraced in the time known as
The soul of m an is but an idle sorry time in keeping our hands cause they are interested in the
“sacred”? In view of what consti fancy. Its existence cannot be de-
from our neighbors’ pockets, or from question, because they want to hear
tutes a day, is there any ra monst rated by fact or reason. It th eir throats. Self-imposed restric-
a m an say what they think. They
tional reason for believing th at is the p r o d u c t of fa ith ,a n d is based tions, not divine edict, m ake men
w ant to hear th eir own ideas from
the time occupied by the earth in on a m isconception of m an ’s true good.
the lips of another. The tide hat-»
m aking any one com plete revolu- relation to the universe. W hen we
turned, and the spirit of investiga
***
tion from any given startin g point ]Parn our true relations to it, and
tion, the intelligence, the intellect
is anv more sacred than th a t occu realize the fact th a t we are hut a
Man wil1 hase his actions, course ual courage of the world is on the
pied in m aking any other com plete very insignificant incident of crea- in life and belief in future cxitence
other side. A real good old fash
revolution? All believe th at there tion, we will cease to chase phan- u Pon the naked, unsupported state-
ioned orthodox m inister who be-
should be a tim e for rest and re tom shadow» and pay more atten- m enti of others; evidence th at would | ievPS the th irty . Iljne articleB with
creation for man and beast,perhaps tion to ourselves an fellows, and not be tolerated in a justice court a | ( hig m ig)lt jg re
ded todav aH
more frequent th an now, but this thereby benefit the race.
to convict a chicken thief, and yet * tlleological mumm
a Uind of
does not signify th a t th e first or
we are called an enlightened people.
_ , , .
_ .
,
corpse acted upon by the galvanic
***
seventh com plete revolution from
In the business affairs of life super-
t
i-
a., battery of faith, m aking strange
any given point is any more sacred
I hat there is a suprem e ruler can stition and tradition count b u \ t , little
motions, alm ost like those of life —
than the tim e occupied by the in- n°f be dem onstrated; th at there is with m an, but when an y th in g ap
not quite.— [Ingersoll.
term ediate revolution.
T h at an y not, except in the sense th a t the pears to him m ysterious he seems
one revolution is any more sacred whole universe, acting together, is to lose his ordinary good judgm ent
Colonel M urray, of the Seaforth
the suprem e power, can be m athe- and th e word of the religious faker,
than an other is an absurdity.
m atically proven. Is faith, based however foolish or absurd, becomes H ighlanders, who was a t the battle
of A thara, pays a tribute to the re
! on absurd trad itio n , better evidence solemn tru th .
Much is said by our C hristian
ligious sincerity of the Arabs. T hey
than the dem onstration of an exact
***
friends about “ sacred and profane
believe th a t if they kill an unbe-
science?
h isto ry ” . H istory is a tru th fu l re
“ Thou sh alt not suffer a witch to liever they will certainly go to par-
***
cord of past events. W hat is true
live” , is the gentle com m and of the adise, and have a good place in its
m ust be sacred.
T h at which is
“ The prayers of the wicked avail- merciful F ath er, and acting on this very best departm ent. Accordingly,
false is not history, and in
th a t eth not.” This is equally true of com m and thousands of innocent they are reckless in battle, courting
sense is profane. As much of t h a t the righteous.
No prayer was or men and women ha ve suffered death rath er than shunning death. “ Ev-
which is denom inated “sacred ever will he answered, for nature by the most cruel torture. T hat ery one of those m en,” Colonel
plainly bears upon its face
the does not act in response to our ap- there could he no such thing as a M urray says, “ believes in his relig-
prom inent year m arks of falsehood peals, hut only in obedience to its witch never occurred to the chosen ion, which we do not.—[The Free-
and im possibility, it would seem laws. No law of n atu re can he until w ithin a com paratively short thinker.