reason .
VOL. 3.
earth. M en’s m inds, indeed, rose
to a conception of th. c< lestial and
Strike for Liberty.
universal atm osphere through the
study of the terrestrial and local
BY JOHN PRESCOTT G U ILD .
one.
From the phenom ena of
A IL ! ye who strik e for lib e rty !
sound, as displayed in the air,
A cheer for each an d all
Who1 risk th e ir lives or shed th e ir they ascended to the phenom ena of
blood
light, as displayed in the ether;
To break th e ty r a n t’s th ra ll.
which is the name given to the in-
Why should you live and suffer on,
The su p p o rt of a k nave?
te rstellar m edium .
For the T orch of Reaeon.
H
Far b e tte r rise and w ar w ith w rong,
To die, th a n be a slave!
NO. 9.
SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 1899.
The notion of th is m edium must
not be considered as a vague or
fanciful conception on the part of
scientific men. Of its reality most
But who shall strik e for lib e rty ?
»hall those of lordly blood,
Alone, l>e fit to th u s redeem
T hem selves from m a s te r’s rod?
W ho gave them blood th a t th ey m ig h t
f (h
a8 c o n v jn c e d „ „ t h e y
boast
j
They should have b e tte r w eal?
are of tho existence of the sun and
The Uselessness of Religion.
From it, as a center, waves would
issue in all directions, and a wader
BY JEAN MESI. I ER.
as he approached the place of die-j
turbanee would be met by stronger ;
and stronger waves. T his gradual
H E world is a necessary
augm entation of the im pression
agent; all the beings which
m ade upon the wader is exactly
compose it are united to
analagous to the augm entation of each other, and cannot do o th er­
light when we approach a lum in- wise th an they do, so long as they
ous source. In the one case, how- are moved by the same causes and
ever, the coarse common nerves of possessed of the same qualities. If
the body suffice; for the other we they lose these qualities, they will
m ust have the finer optic nerve. act necessarily in a different way.
But suppose the water w ithdraw n; God him self (ad m ittin g his exist-
the action a t a distance would then ence a moment) can not be regard-
cease, and, as far as the sense of e(j ftg a free a gen(. jf there existed
touch is concerned, the wader a god, his m anner of acting would
would first be rendered conscious necessarily be determ ined by the
of the m otion of the wheel by the qualities inherent in his n atu re ;
blow of the paddles. The transfer­ nothing would he able to alter or to
ence of motion from the paddles to oppose his wishes.
T his consider­
the water is m echanically sim ilar ed, neither our actions nor our
to the transference of m olecular prayers nor our sacrifices could
motion from the heated body to the suspend or change his invariable
eth er; and the propagation o f 1 progress and his im m utable designs,
waves through the liquid is me­ from which we are compelled to
chanically sim ilar to the propaga­ conclude th a t all religion would be
tion of light and rad ian t heat.
entirely useless.
As far as our knowledge of space
If theologians were not co n stan t­
extends, we are to conceive it as ly contradicting each other, ihey
the holder of the lum inous ether, would know from th eir own h y p o th ­
through which are interspersed, at eses, that m an can not be called
enorm ous distances ap art, the pon­ free for an instant.
Is not m an
derous nuclei of the stars. Associ­ suppose«! to he in a continual d e­
ated with th e star th at most con­ pendence upon God?
Is one free,
cerns us we have a group of dark wlieu one could not have existed or
p lanetary masses revolving at v a r­ can not live w ithout God, and
ious distances around it, each when one ceases to exist at the
again rotating on its own axis; and pleasure of his suprem e will? If
finally, associated with some of God created man of nothing, if the
these planets we have dark bodies preservation of man is continual
of m inor note— the moons. W h eth ­ creation, if God can not lose sight
er the other fixed stars have sim i­ of his creature for an in stan t, if all
lar planetary com panions or not is th a t happens to him is a result of
to us a m atter of pure conjecture, tfie divine will, if man is nothing
which m ay or may not enter into of himself, if all the events which
our conception of the universe. But he experiences are the effects of di-
p roBably every thoughtful person vine decrees, if he can not do any
Believes, with regard to those dis- good w ithout help from above, how
suns, th at there is, in space, Can it be pretended th a t m an en-
som ething besides our system on joys liberty d u rin g one m om ent of
T
™
Tl» 'un.inifero.te ether has
. ,
„
definite m echanical properties. It
W ho shall be struck for lib e rty ?
1
is alm ost infinitely more aten u a te d
Some second-rated crew ?
Shall first in stre n g th presum e to break, than any known gas, hut its prop­
T h at thev m ay take anew ?
0 boasting o n e s ! W h at is th e ir dow er, erties are those o f a solid ra th e r
T h at they th e e a rth should rule?
th an those of a gas.
It resembles
If t h a t ’s th e ir trad e, th e n curse th e hour
jelly ra th e r than air. T his was
They ever w ent to sc h o o l!
not the first conception of the e th ­
Oh, strik e, each one, for lib e rty !
er, hut it is th a t forced upon us by
No m a tte r who ye be;
Ob, strik e at those who m ake you slaves,
a more com plete knowledge of its
No m a tte r th e ir d e g re e :
The sighing sain ts, th e kneeling knaves, phenom ena. A body thus consti­
A like, s o m e d ay, shall see
T h a t th ere is dug for th em deep graves, tuted m ay have its boundaries; hut
By sons of lib e r ty !
although the ether m ay not be co­
extensive with space, it m ust at »til
events extend as far as the most
The Constitution of Nature.
d istan t visible stars. In fact, it is
the vehicle of their light, and w ith­
BY JOHN TY N D A LL.
out it they could not be seen. This
all-pervading substance takes up
E can not th in k of space their m olecular trem ors,and coveys
as finite, for w herever them with inconceivable rap id ity to
in im agination we erect our organs of vision.
It is the
a boundary, we are compelled to tran sp o rted shiver of bodies co u n t­
think of space as existing beyond less m illions of miles distant,w hich
it. T hus by the incessant dissolu­ tran slates itself in hum an Con­
tion of lim its we arrive at a more sciousness into the splendor of the
or less adequate idea of the infinity firm am ent at night.
of space. But though compelled to
If th e ether have a boundary,
think of space as unbounded, there
masses of ponderable m atter m ight
is no mental necessity com pelling
conceived to exist beyond it, but
us to th in k of it either as filled or
they could emit no light.
Beyond
em pty; w hether it is so or not
the ether dark suns m ight burn,
must be decided bv experim ent and
there, under proper conditions,
observation. T h at it is not entirely
com hustion m ight be carried on;
void the starry heavens declare; fuel m ight consum e unseen, and
hut the question still rem ains, are m etals be fused in invisible fires. which they shine.
From this general view of the
the stars them selves hung in vacuo? A body, moreover, once heated
Are the vast regions which su r­ there would continue forever heat­ present condition of space, we pass
round them , and across which their ed; a sun or planet once molten to the inquiry w hether things w e re
Was
light is propagated, absolutely would continue forever molten. so created at the beginning.
em pty? A century ago, the answer For, the loss of heat being sim ply space furnished a t once, by the fiat
to .hi» question, founded on the the abstraclion of m okcuiar motion of O m nipotence, with these burning
In presence of the revela-
Newtoman theory, would have by (he ethe(. where t)lis mediun) ¡, orbs?
b e en , No, for particles of ligiit are abaenj no coo|j ng could occur. A tions of science this view is fading
continually shot th rough space.” 8en, ien, bejngi „ „ a p |,r(Mching 8 m ore a n J n)Ore
Be|ljnd the or()8
rhe reply of m odern sc.ence also
region> wollld
neg».,ve, but on dtfferent grounds.
j
f no
en(ation
It has the heat possible reason for
gradations of wh,ch
haVe *Wen con'1eni"id -
rejecting the idea of lum iniferous w arinth depeI)deDt on th e law8 of And w ithout going so far back as
particles; hut in support of the con- ra d ia |jo n would n(>, exift) a n ,l a c t- , 'h e nebulae, the m an of sciencecan
W
< t'l-inti that the celestial spaces are
(» „ ta c t would first reveal the
d with m atter, it is a b le to oth r ^eat of an extra ethereal sun.
proofs almost as cogent as those
which can be adduced of the exist-
Im agine a paddle wheel placed
ence of an atm osphere round the in w ater and caused to rotate.
fiis life? I f God did not save him
in the m om ent when he sins, how
could m an sin? If G«»d preserves
him, God, therefore, forces him to
live jib order to sin.
-------- —---------
If pain is sent by G od’s ordinance
aH a schooling either to its victim s
or to its witnesses, is it not b las­
phem ous presum ption to try to re­
lieve it? Much danger, according
to th is theory, is to be apprehended
from the everlasting painlessness of
heaven And even on earth m ight
(>ur ^ g , #
prove th a t out of common non- few clergym en at stated intervals,
lum inous m atter this whole pomp th a t they m ay not m erely excite our
.
sam p ath y by their suffering, but
of stars m ight have been evolved.
galso set us an exam ple of C hristian
[F rag m e n ts of Science.
resignation?— Tolleinache.