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 . . , ., . 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 . 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 . . . . . , 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 , * .............. 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.