TU E TOUCH OF PEASu.v, SILVERTON. ORPOON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 189«. be called a suprem e power, any more than all the political powers ,,f the world could l»e called a su­ preme political power when they are at war with one another. To he sure, the political attitu d e th a t the great nations of the earth take ¿ives a certain result, hut there is no suprem e or head governm ent as vet, neither can the effect produced bv their different political tactics be called a suprem e political power. Let us sum up th en : We do know th a t there are m any natural forces or powers at work in the u n i­ verse and th a t the resu ltan t of these antagonistic forces is the u n i­ verse as we find it; we do know that “ m atter acting on m a tte r’’ m anifests itself in m any different forms or powers and th a t the re­ sultant is as we see it, hut the re­ sult is not the cause. We know there is a result of all powers act­ ing as they do, or better perhaps, we know th a t m atter continually acting on m atter in various ways produces the activities we call phys­ ical and chemical changes and life, but we do not know th at there is nor th a t there is not one suprem e power. If there is such a power, what is its nam e? The worshipper knows no more about it than we do, but he h as been told by his priest th a t there is surely such a power and its nam e is the G reat Spirit, Brahm a, Nue Pu Nuc, Zeus, .Jove, God; but F riend Tenney, ac t­ ing as his own priest, seems to a r­ rive at the conclusion th at its name is M atter. Notice his last statem ent. Leav­ ing out some of the modifiers, he says th a t “ we do know th a t m atter . . . is the suprem e power.” So we have found Mr. T enney’s god, and his god (m a tte r) acting on it­ self (m a tte r) has made the universe and kept it in motion, but while the m anifestations of m atter pro­ duce the phenom ena of nature, yet m atter itself cannot be called a su­ preme power, any more than the iron of which a m achine is compos­ ed could be called the power th a t runs the m achine. The powers th a t cause m atter to act m ay be in­ herent in m atter; they m ay have existed forever; there may he one power which is suprem e and from which all other powers come, but we “do not know”. W e do not know the m eaning of forever, nor can w e grasp the th o u g h t of a be­ ginning. Is there one suprem e power, or are the m any powers co-equal. M atter acts on m atter, but w hat is the cause? “ A god.” th in k s the heathen; “ M atter,” th in k s our friend; but we know th a t W E do not KNOW. Agree to disagree, hut never let uny one do your th in k in g or form your beliefs. Each one by observa­ tion can learn to know things for them selves.— [ Ex. H o ra lity B e tte r T han Religion . seek salvation. Individual im por­ tance m ust give way «o the g e n e r a l Below m an there ¡«only a brute good. Every m an w ants to h a m struggle for existence— a fight for th at he gets more from the world life, One problem only dem ands than the world gets from him. We solution— ’he problem of food, m ust condemn th e mean m orals of N ature did not become moral until salvation; condemn the religion or she became m an. There is no jus- philosophy which bribes conduct tice in the jungle, no idea of right with promise of heaven or fears of in the forest, no m oral d u ty in the hell. sea. The moral purpose of civilization We do not claim th at m orality is to reduce the suffering and in- is in h eren t in hum an nature. It is crease the happiness of m ao, and I rath e r the compromise of individu- cannot see th a t work, which is done al liberty. Only one hum an being for the im provem ent of man de- can live on this earth at a tim e rives any necessary support from and enjoy’ absolute liberty’. \\ here w orship, which is sim ply a service there are two or more beings there to please the priest. Man m ust m ust be m utual surrender of indi- live for satisfaction, not for salva- vidual freedom. When m an found tion; for this world, not for another, th a t he gained nothing by killing M orality is better for man than another, there was born the com- is religion. The noblest inheri- m and, “ Thou sh a lt not kill.” tance of the hum an race is not All m oral laws have come from faith, hut conduct. N othing shells hum an experience, not from the a richer glory on the earth th a n mouth of Deity. Man has found the sacrifice o f m an for m an, of a T w e n ty Forerunners. TO B U IL D SE C U LAR HOM E. O n d e m a n d , we th e u n d e r sig n e d prom ise to pa y th e L ib ­ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ « e r a l U n iv e r sity C o m p a n y F iv e H u n d r e d D o lla r s {$500) fo r a n d in co n sid e r a tio n o f a good a n d su fficie n t w a rra n ­ ty d eed fo r one acre o f th e tr a c t o f la n d ly in g west o f th e L ib e r a l U n iv e rsity a n d the c ity of S ilv e r to n , „M arion C o u n ­ t y , O regon, kn ow n as S e c u la r H om e, a n d a w r itte n p ro m ­ ise fr o m s a id co m p a n y th a t w ith in n in e ty d a y s a ft e r r e ­ c e ip t o f s a id F ive H a n d red D o lla r s [$500J s a id co m p a n y w ill co m m en ce th e erectio n o f a d iv e !lin g h o u se on s a id a cre, to cost not less than, F ou r H u n d red D o lla r s [$400J, s a id b u ild in g to be b u ilt on such p la n s a s th e s a id p a r tie s m a y agree u p on a n d to be fin is h e d w ith in si.v m o n th s fr o m d a te o f b e g in n in g : P r o v id e d th a t not le ss th a n n in eteen r e lia b le persons have m a d e s im ila r p ro m ises w hen s a i d d e m a n d is m a d e. S ig n e d .................................... ................................ If you wish to become one of the T wenty ’ F orerunners , cut out or copy the above, sign it and forward with answers to the following: F o u r N a m e ............................................................................................................... A g e .................................................. F a m i ly .................................................... R e lig io u s B e l i e f ............................. ...................................................................... w hat is best for him self by living, not by revelation. M orality, in a certain sense, is the defeat of N ature. It is action regulated hv experience and determ ined by the fate of suffering. It m ight alm ost be said th a t m oral duties have been dictated by pain. Man m ust seek th at which will result in the grandest destiny of the race. In all m oral effort there . , , .. e ,, rr , m ust be obliteration of eelf. The m an who holds u p hie little eonl to be saved has no com m endable con- ceptinn of hum an obligations. Ac- cording to C hristian teaching, self- ishness is a celestial virtue. Let us be willing to he neglected while we live and forgotten when we die We can no m ore endorse the philosphy which says: “ Perfect thyself,” th an the religion which says: “ Save thyself.” It is as self- ish to seek perfection as it is to í> T y ra n n y and S u p e s titio n O f­ fic ia lly Indorsed. S om e tw o in o n ’ h« ago a foreign m u sic ia n , th e D utch p ia n ist Sive- king, was passing through the streets of a town in Upper A ustria, when he met a priest carryii g a viaticum . In Roman C atholic Jin- go the viaticum is the com m union,, or eucharist, given to persons in th eir last m om ents. T he m usician paid no attention to the priest, but passed along about his business., For this neglect to pay hom age t«» a superstitious rite he was arrested, held for six weeks, and then sen ­ tenced to im prisonm ent for three days. It was an act on the part of the A ustrian government calculated to arouse the indignation of every believer in civil and religious lib er­ ty, and to cause such persons to hold in detestation both th e < ivil and religious authorities who per- petrated it. Especially ought a citizen of a secular republic like the U nited S lates to show his d isap ­ proval byw ord and deed.* Above all, we should expect th a t the men who represent the people of this country in office would w ithhold their official sanc­ tion. But what are the facts? U p­ on the recent death of an A u strian sovereign the president of the U n it­ ed States more th an complied with the dem ands of in tern atio n al cour­ tesy in expressing the sym pathy of him self and the people of the U nit­ ed States, add in addition to thia he, with m em bers *of his cabinet, attended church where mass was said in honor of the deceased em ­ press by prelates of the eeclesia -tic- al body which is responsible for the ty ran k y exercised in the case above cited. I t is difficult to conceive of any way in which the president could have shown him self more re­ creant to the principles of his gov­ ernm ent. He is not a m onarchist; he is not a Catholic, and no worthy m otive could have induced him to lend the influence of his high office to an exaltation of ty ran n y an d superstition.— [T ruthseeker. _____ ________ m other for her child, of a d au g h ter for her p arent. The love of m an, of which m orality was born, is higher and holier th an the love of ^he religion th a t keeps people find, from which religion has come. from speaking ill of th eir neigh- Man has the exam ple for m an to hors, m akes no distinction between follow. God has not toiled for wealth and poverty, m akes men m an, wept for m an, nor died for m anly and women w’om anly, th a t '» an , hut m illions of hum an beings 18 a Part of the people’s every day have given th eir toil, th eir tears, life, exemplified in kind deeds, lov- th eir blood, for their fellows. ln g actR> cheerful words, is the re- . ligion th a t is needed in th e world H()w p e |ly ¡8 a), the rd ig io n of , he com pared with the m ora[ virtU(,8 of InahUind. The hands help the world when they work for Don>t ** afrai T h at kjnd of education th a t any pious perform ance.—[Investi- C(>rn(.8 frOm im itation m akes ninety- nine fools to n atu re’s one. gator.