TH E TORCH OE REASON, S LVER ION. OREGON, JANUARY 2«. 181»
For the Torch o f Reawon.
God’s Good(?) Answer.
BY MBS. M. M. TURNER.
The answ er to the following
,
. , , j . .
prayer was a long and bloody frat-
P •
ricidal war:
TO THE
STATES.
the united
A RECOMMENDATION.
PEOPLE
OF
‘‘W ashington, Dec. 14, 1860.
‘ N um erous appeals have been
made to me by pious and patriotic
associations and citizens, in view of
the present distracted and danger
ous condition of our country, to re
commend th at a day be set apart
for hum iliation, fasting and p ra y
er throughout the Union.
“ In compliance with their request
and my own sense of d u ty , I desig
nate F riday, the 4th day of J a n u
ary, 1861, for this purpose, and re
commend th at the people assem ble
on th a t day, according to th eir sev
eral forms of worship, to keep it as
a solemn fast.
“ The union of the states is at
the present m om ent threatened
with alarm ing and im m ediate d a n
ger; panic and distress of a fearful
character prevail th ro u g h o u t the
land; our laboring population are
w ithout em ploym ent, and conse-
„„entlv
1
*
deprived
1
of
overrule existing evils f(,r perma-
nent good. He can m ake the w rath
of m an to praise him; and the re-
m ainder of w rath he can restrain,
Let me invoke every individual, in
w hatever sphere of life he may be
i
Ji ,
placed, to feel a personal responsi-
bilitv to God and his country for
keeping this day holy and contrib-
u tin g all in his power to remove
our actual and im pending calam i
ties.
J ames B uchanan .”
the
m eans of earning their bread.
Indeed, hope seems to have d esert
ed the m inds of men. All classes
are in a state of confusion and dis
may, and the wisest counsels of our
best and purest men are wholly d is
regarded.
“ In this the hour of our calam ity
and peril to whom shall we resort
for relief hut to the God of our fa
thers? Ilis om nipotent arm only
can save us from the awful effects
of our «»wn crim es and follies — our
own ingratitude and guilt toward
our heavenly father.
“ Let us then with deep contrition
and penitent sorrow unite in h u m
bling ourselves before the most
high, in confessing our individual
and national sins, and in acknow l
edging the justice of our p u n ish
ment. Let us im plore him to re
move from <>ur hearts th a t false
pride o f opinion which would impel
us to persevere in wrong for the
sake of consistency rath er than
yield a ju st subm ission to the un
foreseen exigencies hv which we are
now surrounded. Lot us with deep
reverence beseech him to restore the
friendship and good will which pre-
vailed in form er days am ong the
people of the several states, and,
above all, to save us from the hor-
rors of civil war and ‘blood guilti-
neHs’. Let our fervent prayers as-
cend to his throne th a t he would
not desert us in th is hour of ex
trem e peril, but rem em ber us as he
did our forefathers in the d ark est
days of the R evolution, and pre-
serve our C onstitution an d our Un-
ion, the work of th eir hands, for
ages yet to come.
An om nipotent providence m ay
o
After being there in cam p tor now that we are civilized, we have
some tim e and getting pretty well no excuse, and future generations
acquainted with s o m e of the b a d - will bold us responsible. I advise
ing m em bers of the church, I was you to open your eyes.
taken very ill, the com pany got
1 hold revival services whenever
m arching orders and I. with some I can, seeking to revive in the hu-
others, was left at S alt Lake, and man m ind the slum bering reason of
never heard an y th in g more of th e men. I am a preacher of the bless-
com pany of soldiers After getting ed Religion of H u m an ity . I w ant
well, I took a trip south, saw some to m ake new converts. I w antpeo-
of t h e relics of the notable M ount- pie, who are still in the toils of su-
ain Meadow m assacre, but w’hen I p ern atu ralism , to take a new sta rt
got ready to come home, the ques- in life; to tu rn over a new leaf. I
Bible people say now th at “ God
tion was how to do it. The jour w ant to m ake new soldiers of the
thought best th a t it should be as it
ney was too long and dangerous to law th a t is, and was, and alw ays
was.” Seated in the happy home
undertake alone, so Brigham told will be.
\\ ho will begin now ?
he m ade for him self with the an
me to wait a short time, th a t he T his is the cry. Some young m an
gels w hich, according to the cate
was going to send a delegation of or woman comes to me and says:
chism , ‘‘he created to adore and
m inisters to the states, and th a t I “ W hat is the new religion you
enjoy h im ” , and, being om niscient,
could accom pany them as one of preach? W hy is it better than the
he looks on hum an agony and suf
the team sters if I wished. This religion of Jesus C hrist, the church
fering as though he enjoyed it.
was a G o d - s e n d to me, and the way and th e Bible? W hy should I tu rn
C h ristian s say he is working to
I got home.
from the teachings of my m other?
some “ far off divine ev en t” . He is
Now, I wish to bay this, th a td u r - I learned my prayers at her knee,
either not om nipotent or not good. ing mv three years experience in a n ( j w ^ e n Hhe died she m ade me
In Isaiah 23:10 God says, “ Before the western world, I never was
.
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.,
. with
. . more respect
’
. and j civil-
• i prom
ise to m eet her over there.
treated
H
me there was no god formed, nei-
shall there be after me.” We cer itv by strangers th an while in My m other was t h e noblest of wo-
m en. H er love was poured out to
tain ly have come into the tim e U tah, and I see more im m oral con
duct in the various forms Of so-call me from the tim e of my b irth until
“ a fte r” this god, against whom 1 ed C hristian churches in one day
she went home to God. My m oth
bring an idictm ent for all hum an here than I did all the time of my
e r’s religion is good enough for me,
stay am ong the Mormons. I am
suffering.
not a polygam ist, neither am I a why should I give it u p ?”
My friend, listen. To love your
believer in the doctrine of endless
punishm ent, but I find them both m other and to reverence w hat she
For the Torch of Reason.
My Experience in the Land of '» “ gh/
the Bible, and the Mor- reverenced is n a tu ra l— indeed so
d i
j mon has ju s t as good au th o rity for n atu ra l th a t the sam e is true of
” ° y £ a m y*
his belief as any C hristian church
has for its fool rites, ceremonies and brutes. I would not for the world
BY JOEL M. BERRY.
beliefs. I can sec no more sense or h u rt your feelings, but facts are
.
<Oern
1 r e a 8 ° i ' f o r - u n s e a t ing a congressm an stubborn things.
Y our good m oth
In the spring of 18o3 Colonel p ,r believing in th e one than the
er was m istaken.
M any other
Steptoe was sent with a sm all de- other. It is a poor rule th a t won’t
m others have been good and loving
tachrnent of U. S. soldiers to pro- work both ways.
tect the em igrants, then going the
I he constitution says th at church though they followed B uddha,B rah
m a or some other “ savior of the
i n d j ro u
... te to C
n a i:r
organ-
o v e rla
lifo rn ia a ...,/i
n d and
.
. state are two separate
u
»
,
.
.
.
izations and the one shall not in- world.” Men or women are not
the w estern world, from ihe «8- tBrf,,re w j|h thp ()lhpr. how> then>
good or bad because of w hat they
saults of the Indians and o th e r d e s - are We going to bring a m an ’s re-
believe. But belief in dogma helps
peradoes along the route. It fell ligious opinions in question under
to m ake them bad often, as history
to my lot to be one of that detach- these conditions and rule him out
can m any tim es prove. I ask you
m ent, and we organized a t Fort!?}' .hi9J l ?ea.t T
“ "P u
_
... * .
U nited States? W hat would W ash- to give up faith and set your rea-
eavenw orth, a is s o u r i
ington, Jefferson or Paine say in a ! 8on free The religion we offer—
I was chosen one of the team- c 8e o, .h is k in d ? We know w hat we j nfide,8_ BayB. Do right; obey
sters, and drove a six m ule g o v ern -* they have said, and we d o n ’t sup-
,
m ent team fron. there to S alt Lake pose they would change their opin- law i llve ,<>r Fo,,‘ • h
erB
C ity, U tah.
We were some three
» partiele. I look -P «» the is no escape for punishm ent tor sin
.
.
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.
, whole thing as a hum bug. • ne All sin is dependent on m atter; I
m onths ,n m aktng the tr.p , and writer 8ayB the people of th is co n n - i neTer knew o, a gioner after be was
went by way of F ort C arney, For t
,ik t0 be hum bugged, and if dpad bu, j have heard of d„ad ain.
L aram ie, Chim nev Rock to S alt they think this a good chance, let
. .
..
Lake. I would like here to give in them pitch in.
j ,
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.............. n„n a
lie, you not only know you are a
detail gome of t h e rem arkable inci-
u
The Religion of H um anity.
liar, hut, worse yet, the laws of the
dents th a t we witnessed on th a t
m ind will so operate th a t by and by
trip, anil some of our encounters
BY C. ELTON BLANCHARD.
you cannot tell yourself w hether
with the In d ian s, buffaloes, prairie
dogs, grasshoppers, rattlesnakes, E xtract from a lecture delivered at Paine you are telling the tru th or not,
and I excuse a great m any preach
etc., which would be iu reality th e
’
most interesting part of my sub-
C hristians are im pervious to any ers on th is same principlel (F o r
thing th a t is funny about super- the greatest of these is C harity).
ject, hut space will not perm it.
If a man eats too much dinner,
After going into cam p at Salt stition. T heir eyes and ears are
Lake, our curiosity soon led us to shut. They follow the advice of or drinks too muc
er
on t
an investigation of the wonderful the Q uaker, who said to His son on Gr*n k myself, i t s against my re
ligion— he would be ju s t as con
city. We were kindly treated by his wedding d ay:
the M orm ons and invited to attend
“ My son, when thee w ent a court- sistent to get down upon his knees
and pray, “ Oh, Lord, please for
th eir church, were introduced to ing, I told thee to keep th y eyes
give me, I have eaten too m uch,
B righam and his apostles, and talk- wide open. Now thee is m arried, I
spring chicken. My stom ach aches
ed with them for hours at a tim e tell thee to keep them half sh u t.’
I ask you to remember th a t rev- terrib ly . O h,take aw ay this p a in ,”
They invited us to take dinner
with them , which we often did, but erence is'a fetish. Reverence noth- ~ th e C hristian who says: “ D ear
Savior, I have sinned in th y sight.
when it came to sitting down at the ing th a t reason cannot respect,
I am not w orthy of thy love. I
table with four or five women as My friends, let me modify the
five dollars and forgot to
wives and only one mi an, it looked Q uaker’s advice. W hen we w e re . .,av
j h a(j a little toot last
pay
a little odd to me at first, but I savages we could be excused for night, and, dear Jesus, please for-
»
• sh u ttin g our eyes ag ain st tru th , but give me
soon got used to it.