Image provided by: Silverton Country Historical Society; Silverton, OR
About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (April 27, 1899)
R eason . T orch of S IL V E R T O N , O R EG O N , T H U R SD A Y , A PR IL 27, 1899. VOL. 3. NO. 16. forts td d e d to civilization; the sys- the right because we shall know the moon in the valley of Ajalon. tern of associated charities; the in- beyond all doubt th at it is best. An E nglishm an of average educa- clin atio r of all tow ard pity and The tru ly enlightened person is tion at the present day w’ould BY HARVEY R EESE. sy m pathy are forceful argum ents, a belter m ar , better woman, in the n atu ra lly dem and a greater am ount ETTER to know th e tr u th th a t showing the steady advance of a home, in society, every where, knows of evidence to prove th a t th is oc- m aketh free, high m oral sentim ent. The old better how to utilize his powers currence took place th an would Than revel in th e tre a su res of th e days had their virtues, h u t they and the powers of the universe. have satisfied an Israelite in the x dead; Better to open th in e own eyes and see were not superior to the present; if People fail in life because not en- age succeeding M hat of Jo sh u a, Than blindly tru s t to w h at m en m ay so, then progress would be dead. lightened. T heir work would be For to the one, the m iracle prob- have said. T he good qualities of the past bettor if they knew the way to ably consisted in the stoppage of a Better th an dream s of h e a v e n ’s fu tu re have blossomed in the present, m ake it better. They stum ble, fiery ball less than a y ard in dia- bliss, Or phantom pictures of a n o th e r life, F lotir and yeast were m ixed last they blunder, they err. Show m eter, while to the other it would It is to live th y fu tu re life in th is— Bring heaven down in to th is vale of night th a t there m ight be good them a little, and the path they be the stoppage of an orb fourteen strife. bread today. W ith better schools, tread grows bright and beautiful, j hundred thousand tim es the earth Better to touch w ith g en tle h and a h e a rt nobler system s of education, the The way is always upw ard and o n in size. And even accepting the T hat h a th l>een w ounded in th e sh ad e developm ent of thought, h um anity ward, and the com m and to every interpretation th a t Jo sh u a d ealt of d eath , Than from th e sinful turm oil sta n d a p a rt has grown larger, expanded—by one is— “ Friend, go up higher.”— with w hat was ap p aren t m erely, And gaze e n ra p tu re d and w ith bated no m eans perfect, hut showing fine [R ight Living. but th a t w hat really occurred was b reath the suspension of the e a rth ’s ro ta grow th and h ealth y promise. Into a vision-land th a t fancy weaves tion, I think the rig h t to exercise a T here is displayed greater in te r Beyond th e clouds th a t deck e te rn ity . Better th an p a in tin g angels on th e leaves est in m oral goodness and g re a t Remarks on M iracles. greater reserve in accepting the Of book or serm on, tale or hom ily, m iracle, and to dem and stronger ness, in m aking the conditions of It is to show th a t angels walk th e e a rth BY JOHN T Y N D A L L, F. R. S. evidence in support of it than th a t h um an life better, in san itary regu- j Clad in th e flesh of p ure h u m a n ity ; To open w ell-springs in a land of d e a rth , lations, in gradually abolishing which would have satisfied an And prove m an ’s stre n g th in his in IT H regard to the influ ancient Israelite, will still be con child labor, in helpfulness to the ; firm ity. ence of m odern science, ceded to a man of science. —[S ecular Songs. u n fo rtu n ate and weak. one obvious effect of it There is a scientific as well as an T he b ru ta lity th a t revelled m scenes of ' bl'oodHl.ed and horror i n i ' 3 10 enhance the m agnitude of Progress; or E nlightenm ent. historic im agination, and when, by the dim , d ark ages of the f a s t has ! " « n y of the recorded m iracles and the exercise of the former, the given place to pity, sy m p ath y and : increase proportionahly the d.f- stoppage of the e a rth ’s rotation is BY SUSAN I I . W IX O N . ficolties of belief. The ancients clearly realized, the event assum es love. Friend, go up h ig h e r.—S crip tu re . There are yet, however, many knew but little of the vastness of proportions so vast in com parison Progress is o u r bein g ’s m otto an d hope. G aining and losing in th is world, ills to blot out, much wrong to the universe. The Rev. Mr. K irk with the result to he obtained by it rising and falling, enjoying and suffer overcome. But all will he accom man, for example, has shown what th a t belief reels under the reflec ing are bu t th e incidents of life. L e a rn inadequate notions the Jew s e n te r tion. The energy here involved is ing, aspiration, progress is th e hope of plished by the eternal law of Right. life.—Dewev. Science, with her flam ing torch, tained regarding the “ firm am ent of equal to th a t of six trillions of H E R E are those who con leads the way to still grander heaven;” aniï Sir George Airy re horses working for the whole of fers to the case of a Greek philo the tim e em ployed by Jo sh u a in stan tly decry the present, heights of g r e a t e r b le s s e d n e s s . sopher who was persecuted for the destruction of his foes. The and who adore the past; P ro ;ress is enlightenm ent. It is the assertion, then am ount of power thus expended some who think the world has d ay lig h t instead of darkness. E n hazarding made no advancem ent, b u t is lightenm ent is knowledge where deemed m onstrous, th a t the sun would be sufficient to supply every rather going backw ard, especially once was ignorance. It is assured m ight be as large as the whole individual of an arm y a thousand country of Greece. T he concerns tim es the strength of th a t of in morals and m ethods of living. fact where once was doubt. It is . , , , _ .» • , , . .. . . ... of a universe, regarded from this Jo sh u a, with a thousand times the This cannot be true. G reat and the duty of all to become enlight- . , . ' * t A v point of view, were much more fighting power of each of Jo sh u a ’s beneficent changes and im prove ened, for th u s we learn better how , , . , i . • • com m ensurate with m an a tiu h is soldiers, r o t for the few hours ments are noted w ithin the present to live, how to become better citi- . ..«Sv«««. century such as railroads, steam zens, more helpful to ourselves and concerns than those of the universe necessary to the extinction of a which science now reveals to us; handful of Amorites, hut, for m il ships, improved farm im plem ents, to one another. and hence th at to suit m an ’s p u r lions of years. All this wonder is friction m atches, illu m in atin g gas “Good and evil are the circum poses, or th a t in com pliance with and electric light; the telegraph, silently passed over by the sacred stances of life.” Bv enlightenm ent his prayers, changes should occur historian, m anifestly because he telephone and phonograph; the ca we learn th e way to control them, ■! in the order of the universe, was knew nothing about it. W hether, loric engine, cooking ranges, the so for as possible. Io the well-being morR Rasy ()f beHM in th e ancient photograph and very m any other ♦ tr-wv o a * . • therefore, we consider the m iracle of m an world than it can be now. In th e as purely evidential, or as a p rac evidences of m arked progress in E n lig h ten m en t is the recognition very m agnitude which it assigns to m aterial points of view, m ay be tical m eans of vengeance, the sam e of tru th . It is the rejection of p re n a tu ra l phenom ena, science has seen on every band. W ith this lavish squandering of energy stares judice, delusion, superstition, error. augm ented the distance between m aterial progression has followed us in the face. I f evidential, th e It is illu m in atio n . them and man and increased the a steady advancem ent of m orals. energy was wasted, because the popular belief in th eir orderly pro- T he m ind should he kept open, P unishm ent for opinion’s sake, Israelites knew nothing of its free to receive and to perceive, gression. am ount; if sim ply destructive, then belief in w itchcraft, sorcery; the th e W hy? Because in this way only As a n atu ral consequence abolition of slavery and the slave e the ratio of the quantity lost to the can we arriv e at enlightenm ent dem and for evidence is more exact- qlIan(ity em ployed m ay be inferred trade; the abandonm ent of flog ging in the U. 8. navy; the custom and to th a t condition where we jng th an it used to he w henever it from lhe foregoing figureg. rp() m iracles sim ilar re- of selecting teachers for th eir note th e difference between right is affirmed th a t the order of n atu re j has been disturbed. Let UK take m a rkH ap p iy . T ransferring our ability to wield the rod— the silent and wrong. The forces of a tru e m oral educa- as an illu stratio n the m iracle by thoug^ tH from t jjjH little sand-grain putting aw ay of these and other earth to the im m easurable relics of savagery; the establish tion he r directly upon opening which the victory of Jo shua over channels of enlightenm ent, the - ----- A m orites was rendered . com " heavens, iieavenR, wnere where u countless m e vunmiciB ............ ouhucph n worlds u riu t ment of societies for the prevention the freights of life probably re of cruelty to children and to the J How else shall we know the uses of plete. In this case th e sun is re- ported to have stood still for “ about vo|ve unseen, the very suns which anim al kingdom ; the laws enacted living, th e worth of the virtues? C oncluded on 6 th page. for the unprotected; the new com- ; Being enlightened, we shall do a whole d a y ” upon Giheon, a n d , The Better Part. B w T