THE TORCH OE REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, JANUARY 19. 1899.
Secular Union
W hile
th a t the ~
* American
>•
............. separate
f------
--’ — men l>elieved
' • • ' - -
from th e F reethought Federation, earth was the fixed center around
and that it should be composed of which sun, moon and stars revolv-
delegates from th e S tate Secular ed, and the am azing distance of the
Unions.
I 0t PHCh
stars was as yet unsuspected, space
nwnrnniisn of nnnn 111 t h
kanQo /Will 1 si kn
and write to
p rin t the a c c o u i------------
r
of the papers containing them to
prom inent Secularists throughout
-----. ------
x__
OUr great
country.
W hen enough states have organ-
>zl izA n m o w o n t i f
i l l z>oll
ized to w arran t it, we m
will
call a
n atio n al convention for the p u r
pose of electing officers, hiring lec
tu rers and devising ways and means
of carrying on the c o n st r ic t iv e
h
work of
’ q
q
S ecularism .
W e wish to warn those interest
ed not to neglect placing their state
organizations on an ethical basis.
Let those who call it narrow’, be
long to the broader Freethought
Federation, but let these state and
national organizations be in perfect
harm ony, and be sure to keep out
all elem ents th a t will not harm onize
with C onstructive M oral Secular
ism and our success will be cer
tain.
We m ust not expect to accom
plish all this in a short time. It is
the work of earnest, honest work
ers, who know no defeat. Take
hold, if you are of the right stuff, and
if not, m ake yourself what you
should be as soon as possible, and
help us in this great work.
W e must have state organizers
and lecturers, who will place organ
izations in every place possible.
Each state organization m ust
have its officers, whose business it
is to attend to the business of the
Unions and have no other work.
Money has been squandered in the
past.
Secularists, let us go at this w’ork
as we should, and it will be easier
and we will accomplish a million
times more.
Secular papers, please publish the
idea and join in the work.
o
very remote. E v ery th in g was very
dark to the hum an toad. He was
in
. m tellectu
. v . ivzv . v ally
u i . j caged.
The discovery by Copernicus
t h n t t h e e a r t h a n d f li p n t h p r n l a n .
th a t the ea rth and the other plan-
ets revolved around the sun, a
body m uch larger th an the earth ,
and located at a vast distance
therefrom , dissolved into nqthing-
ness the foundations, firm am ents,
crystal spheres, and all the metes
and bounds of creation and space
th a t had been so learnedly and la
boriously dream ed out by the a n
cients.
The m ath em atical dem onstra
tion of the distances of the celes
tial bodies, and the discovery and
application of the telescope set the
world thinking. Old beliefs had to
be patched up and revised.
The space lim its required indefi
nite extension to take in the new
additions of Copernicus, Kepler,
Galileo and Newton. The stars,
already being m apped and c a ta
logued, began to be m easured and
weighed.
The way was opening
for the study of th eir nature. Cer
tain ty was taking the place of
child-like guesses. E laborate phil
osophical theories fell before the
newly discovered scientific facts.
I t is ever thus.
The opposite
is c»
evident-
j 'vz. * IV pm psition
nn/11 ir*
MU ill” ’ of
»1 trees.
11 O. Those
1 |
near me are of gi-
ly not ra tio n a lly thinkable, any gantic size; in the distance they
more th an the boundary line fence 8ee,n ®ni«ller and sm aller, fading
of the universe is optically visible. ^Fa.<luaV-v u n t‘l the utm ost lim it of
W ords
a •«
fail to convey to our clearing is to be seen. The ground
_ *1__ - —
___1 _LL - _1
........... ........ __...........................v ___
We use the words infinite, bound-1
less, lim itless, but to have them
-------
-----
-
m
an
t much
n u v A
n - ---
u» us
u -•*
s - it
n r requires
e q u i ' r e » a a
m e ean
to
strong m ental effort, a long and
w a a r i e n m a I n n m n » , zAr. i
if»
wearisom e journey on the .-..
swift
wings of thought, straig h t outw ard
into the im m ense known, and still
onward into the vast realm s of the
unknow n, universe. Let us think!
— [The W ilderness of W’orlds.
¡ h ^ d ^ UeeS’
dead, and the p ro strate1 m oulderine
x—
’ » s —
• a • a wonderful,
’ -
i i u i n
i K k
tru
—a n i fair,
but ®
r.atural scene.
I r a i s e IllV
y e y ts and look o u t
ward into space. I see the w ilder
ness of worlds. The oue on which I
stand seems of immense size. The
innum erable m ultitude beyond fade
in th e distance. I run to the tele
scope; my vision is extended a
thousand fold; m illions more come
into view, and in the thousand
)< X X X X < X X X X X X > < X X > < K X > < X X X > < X > (
tim es more d ista n t circle of vision
fade g rad u ally until in the outer
BOOK NOTICES.
lim its only glimpses can be caught
> < X X X X X )< X X X X X X X X H X K > < > < > < X X > < > !
of faint points of light. The worlds,
The Blue L aw s of C o n n ecticu t, too, are of all ages like the trees’
and the great deep of space is
T aken from th e p u b lic records of th e strewn
with th eir dust, - » and
is puls-
e
— - —
colony of C o n n ecticu t previous to 1666, a t i n g w ith th e p o ten cy of new
U
za
as p rin te d in a com pilation of th e e arliest
laws and o rders of th e ° general co ---
u rt ----
of
C o n n ecticu t, troni th e original records
rem ain in g in th e office of th e secretary
of s ta te ; and also from Dr. L ew is’ l>ook
on S unday leg islatio n ; also an e x tra c t
from th e c o n stitu tio n , or civil com pact,
en tered in to and ad o p ted by th e tow ns of
W indsor, H a rtfo rd an d W ethersfield in
1638-9, as confirm ed by th e general co u rt
of C on n ecticu t, an d show ing th e Biblical
basis of colonial legislation. Nine illu s
tra tio n s specially m ade for th is volum e.
Sjjecial cover design in colors.
This is a q u ain t and interesting
little work, and one very useful to
Freethinker?. It shows the great
gulf between the past and present
and how far we have advanced be
yond the ideas of our ancestors. It
shows, too, w hat the God-in-the-
cor.stitution p arty are trying to get
us back to. Everyone has heard of
these laws arid seen them quoted,
but few know the facts as to them
— w hat is real and w hat fabulous,
and w hat basis the fabulous ones
have. This book is interesting and
useful, and will have a large sale.
Price, paper covers, 25 cents. Send
your orders early to The T ruth-
seeker Co., 28 L afayette Place, New
York, N. Y.
b irth s .
“ How grand,
com plete ,, and sub-
------ , ---—
l-UU-
lim e are the works and workings of
nature.
We stand with bowed
heads, entranced an d speechless in
the presence of the universe. Held
in its all-em bracing arm s, we are of
it—one and inseparable.”
The W ilderness of W orlds is
printed from large clear type, on
fine paper, and is su b stan tially
bound in brown, silk ribbed cloth,
with gilt top and specially designed
side stam p. The engraved illu s tra
tions add interest and value to the
text ; and, to insure a large sale, the
price has beeu placed a t $1.00 per
copy. P eter Eckler, publisher, 35
F ulton St., N. Y.
Ideas of the extent of the space
in which we exist were rap id ly en
larged. The eyes had before seen
w ithout understanding. Thev were
Two Parables.
now opened in a new sense. They
were not only opened, but their vis
UNANIMITY.
ual powers were greatly extended
A l l an g ry mob pelted an aged
in every direction by the telescope.
m an with heavy stones, while their
The new in stru m en t gave d istan t
victim faced them with his shield,
vision,—a general panoram a of the
and defended him self m ightly w ith
visible universe. The invention of
al.
the com pound microscope gave
close vision. Space too sm all to be
B ut one of meek and tender dis
Space.
seen by the unaided eye, or too d is
position passed by the way; and he
wept in sym pathy.
Concluded from 1st page.
ta n t for its reach, was dilligently
L ittle value would attach to the searched. There began to he caught
“ Why do ye use him thus u n
The
Wilderness
of
Worlds.
belief of an anim alcu le to whom a a glim m ering of the overw helm ing
fairly ?” sobbed he. “ W hat evil h ath
pint of w ater is a world. N either fact of the infinity of space.
he done th a t ye m altreatest him
A
S
ecular
and
U
p
-
to
-
date
S
cien
should the seeker for tru th tie him
so?”
The invention and perfecting of
tific
W
ork
.
self to the dead and com paratively the achrom atic refracting telescope
“ Peace!” cried the mob. “ Know-
ignorant past. The space required followed, with the construction o f
This book is a popular treatise est thou not he is a R ationalist?”
to contain the universe is im m eas large reflectors, w ith great light on t h e ‘‘Evolution of M atter from
“ \V b a t!” said the meek m an, tir
urably beyond th e grasp of the collecting and space-penetrating Nebula to M a n , and the Life Orbit
ing up. “ Give me a stone! I ’ll
prim itive or in fan t mind.
powers. T he bounds of the visible of a S ta r.”
e’en have a t him m yself!” ‘
It would be a most egotistical universe were extended m any-fold.
The facts given by Mr. G. W.
and presum ptious toad, th a t, on Still no lim it was reached. W ith Morehouse are based on the latest
ENCO UR AG EMENT.
jum ping against a tight fence, our latest telescopes, with greatly discoveries of m odern research; the
A hoary sin n er went to ch u rch ,
*
• a a
would assum e th a t space in th a t increased
light-collecting power,the authorities quoted include the most
direction ended there, an d beyond sam e story is told. The old bound- advanced th in k ers and specialists And the p arson fixed him with his
of ............-..un
the loving k ind-
the fence there could be absolutely ary has disappeared, and forever, in the various branches of scientific eye,
* ' and spoke
'
nothing.
ù et, such a conception I he philosopher who reasons th a t if I inquiry; the argum ents used are as ne88
^’od, and his great affection
n e a r l v a at t »111
it 11 t the
k o ! o n i n . Z.
___ Î
1 •
9 1
*
. I
•
would h be e nearly
par r W
with
an im aginary lim it to sj ace
in any plain
and clear as they are concise fer sin n ers, and salvation at the
idea of space en tertain ed by men direction is asserted, it m ay legiti and convincing, and the entire vol
eleventh hour, and so on, and so
who could believe the world to be m ately be asked, what lies beyond? ume is as interesting as it is in
forth. T ill the hoary Oiuuvi
sinner aiVDC
arose,
-----—
—
••• - —
fiat and resting
on
foundations.
.
-
bas been justified by th e results of structive— as eloquent as it is pro- at length, comforted and refreshed
-m tarrassing questions arose as to the grow th of astronom ical science, found. In his preface, the au th o r and entered with a th an k fu l heart
what lay beyond the edge, or b e-| So to the philosopher
and astrono-
says: t
‘
--- - -----w
n o uuiaiugue
upon next week’s catalogue of sins
neath the foundations.
m e r alike, space is w ithout lim it. I “ I have in my m ind a wilderness —[E . R. W., in F reethinker.