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About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 1899)
“ TR U TH HOLDS T H E TORCH IN T H E SEARCH FOR T R U T H .” — Lucretius. VOL. 3. Declaration of the Free. BY ROBERT G. INGERSOLL. S IL V E R T O N , OREGON, TH U R SD A Y , AUGUST 17, 1899. NO. 32. Love is th e ever gleam ing sta r been more traduced b y t h e clergy, Edison is great as an inventor, T h a t leads th e way, T h at shines, not on vague worlds of bliss, or will be more traduced th an he. Reed as a p arliam en tarian , Clemens B ut on a p aradise in this. H is power therefore will not die as a wit, Longfellow as a poet, with him . He will live in the love We do no t p ray , or weep, or w ail; W e have no dread, e have no falsehoods to defend— and veneration of m ankind, when No fear to pass beyond th e veil W e w ant th e fa c ts ; those who now revile him will have T h a t hides th e dead. O ur force, o u r th o u g h t we do not And yet we q u estio n , dream and guess, passed to oblivion’s peaceful shore. spend B ut know ledge we do not possess. x In vain attac k s, T he contum ely and censure which And we will never m eanly try Is th e re beyond th e silen t night the clergy bestow’ upon skeptics, To save som e fair and pleasing lie. An endless day? Is d e a th a door th a t leads to light? are invariably equivalent to certifi The sim ple tr u th is w hat we ask, We can n o t say. Not th e id e a l; cates of good character. T heir op T he tongueless secret locked in fate W e’ve set ourselves th e noble task We do not know . W e hope and w ait. position and calum ny have ever To find th e real. If all th ere is is n a u g h t bu t dross, proven the brightest tribute th at We w a n t to know’ and l>ear our loss. G ran t as a general, and Sherm an as a financier; but their spheres have been circum scribed by one faculty. B laine and Conkling were great politicians. They died bated and adm ired. Ingersoll, like them , died equally hated and adm ired— hut loved. Unlike them , he was not lifted to fame by the applause superstition and ignorance can pay of listening senates, bv the praise An A gn ostic’s Tribute to Ingersoll. We will n o t w illingly l>e fooled to virtue and wisdom. Q uietly does which magnifies the im portance of By fables nursed ; the clear light, shining day nfter political ascendency and power, O ur h e a rts by e arn est th o ’t are schooled BY J. B. WILSON, M. D. To bear th e w o rst; day, refute the ignorant surm ise but by the m ight of his own in te l And we can sta n d erect and dare and m alicious tale which has thrown lectuality, by the tru th th a t was in All th in g s, all facts thg.t really are. right shone the noonday sun, d irt on a pure character. him, and by the loveahleness of his We have no god to serve or fear, Rerene were all the ele No hell to sh u n , Instead of his power dying with nature. He was not great like ments, and peaceful the ex No devil w ith m alicious leer. hrm, he uttered thoughts which Bismarck, through em ploym ent of W hen life is done piring scene. There was no recan have become th e-b a ttle-c ry of an I those sly schemes of state by which And endless sleep m ay close o u r eyes, tation such as has been so fre q u e n t-1 A sleep w ith n e ith e r tea rs nor sighs. epoch. H is was the m asterful will the people are tricked, deceived, ly predicted; no despairing cry of a We have no m aste r on th e la n d — which compressed life-thoughts into robbed, and rendered passive and No king in a ir— lost soul; no groans of repentance; pregnant words and phrases, and subm issive to th eir yokes. Fam e W ith o u t a m anacle we stand, no gnashing of teeth; no remorseful W ith o u t a pray er, sent them ringing through the cen is easy th a t springs from political W ith o u t a fear of com ing nig h t, appeals for mercy; no quaking fear; turies. U nsw erving and heroic, he leadership, w hether honestly or dis We seek th e tr u th , We love th e light. no agonizing prayer. took his stand by the a lta r of tru th , honestly acquired. E x tra v a g a n t is We do not bow before a guess, In full realization th a t death and from th a t a lta r neither sophis praise for the statesm an, or party A vague unknow n ; m ight come at any m om ent, with a A senseless force we do n o t bless try , fear, calu m n iati >n, nor hypoc boss, even when m erit and justice In solem n tone. high brow and tran q u il m ind he! risy could expel him. He honored are w anting. W hen evil comes we do not curse, Magnified beyond aw aited the inevitable hour. O r th a n k because it is no worse. tru th and d u ty by an allegiance all reason is the greatness and As silently as the snow falls in W hen cyclones rend — w hen lig h tn in g based on principle. He spoke the goodness of the founders of relig blights, the deep hush of a still w inter tru th with love, th a t it m ight fall ions and creeds. ’Tis n a u g h t b u t fa te ; night, as gently as a cradle-lullaby upon the hearts of men and subdue T here is no god of w rath who strik es But never magnified is the fame In h eartless h a te . soothes to quick rest a tired child, them by its winsome beauty. By th a t springs from civil life; which B ehind th e th in g s th a t in ju re m an as softly as the dying day blends this he awoke religious prejudice, T here is no purpose, th o u g h t, or p lan . springs from the lowly of earth; with the tw ilight, death came and and gave offense, hut if an offense which develops with the m inority; We w aste no tim e in useless dread, touched his fluttering pulse, and he. In trem b lin g fear; came out of tru th , better is it th a t which proceeds from the ran k s of The p resen t lives, th e past is dead. I was “ B etter!” the offense come th an th a t the tru th despised F reelhought; which rests And we are h ere, There are those who have de All welcome guests a t life’s g reat feast— be concealed. upon the defense of justice as We need no h elp from ghost or p riest. clared th at his power died with him . Every tru th is the denial of ac against the established order of In the light of history, this cannot cepted error, and its first utterance O ur life is joyous, jocund, free— things; against hereditary tyranD y N ot one a slave be. From the day th a t Socrates W ho bends th e trem b lin g knee, is ever m et by clam orous opposi and religious degradation. But, dran k the hemlock on down to the tion. W hile tru th is the plainest A nd seeks to save after all, it is the fame th a t e n A cow ard soul from fu tu re pain ; present age, the best test of a m an ’s Not one will cringe or craw l for gain. and sincerest of all things, too often dures. Its very disadvantages greatness, his most positive assu r is it forced to gain recognition in make it the test of true greatness. The jew eled cup of love we d ra in , ance of deathless fame, m ay be disguise, and court the world in A nd frie n d sh ip ’s wine It is the fame of the great philoso Now sw iftly flows in every vein m easured by the hate, contum ely, m asquerade. phers and scientists of the earth . W ith w arm th divine. m isrepresentation and persecution And so we love, and hope, and dream B ut “ T ru th ,” in the words of Mil- Ingersoll was g reater th an Bis T h at in d e a th ’s skv th e re is a gleam . with which religion assails him in ton, “ in some age or other will find m arck—the greatest of statesm en. life, and traduces his m em ory in We walk according to our lig h t, her witness, and shall he justified Many tim es more are his followers, P ursue th e p a th death. T h a t leads to h o n o r’s stain less h eig h t, at last by her own ch ild ren .” and a m illion tim es more will his The tru th , the nope of any time Careless of w rath Col. Ingersoll was th e age’s g reat m em ory lie cherished and loved. Or curse of God, or p riestly sp ite, m ust he sought in the minorities. Longing to know and do th e rig h t. In their own day the friends of the est witness o f tru th . I m ean its The one cham pioned freedom of We love o u r fellow m an , o u r k ind, great liberators of the- brains of greatest public proclaim ed The thought and speech, the o th er exer- * W ife, ch ild , and friend, cised tyrannical au th o rity over the shafts of m alice of the whole theo To p h a n to m s we are deaf and blin d , men were few. They are ornam en B u t we ex ten d tal now, because such men are the logical world have been hurled m inds of th e people; the one pro The helping h a n d to th e distressed ; against him , and he withstood claim ed liberty to all the people of By lifting o th e rs we are blessed. conscience of the world. all th« world, the other tram pled By the sam e m easure we may them all. From now on his g reat Love’s sacred flam e w ith in th e h e a rt upon every hum an rig h t th a t king And frien d sh ie ’s glow : calculate the fame and im m ortality ness will continue to f)e m easured W hile all th e m iracles of a rt craft should he established and re- of Robert Ingersoll. There has by the religious calum ny heaped T h eir w ealth liestow cognized as a call from God; the Upon th e th rille d and joyous b rain . been no m an of this century th a t upon his m emory. And p resen t ra p tu re s banish pain. Averaged up, and taken from one was a h u m a n ita ria n , the other has dealt the C hristian superstition a despot; the fame of th e one rests We love no phan to m of th e skies, such deadly blows; r«o m an who every point of view, he was the But living flesh, upon justice and love, th a t of the W ith p assio n ’s soft and soulful eyes, has stood for the known as against greatest m an of his time. O ther L ips w arm and fresh, men have been greater in one spe other upon b ru tal m ight. And cheeks w ith h e a lth ’s red flag the unknow n; for reason as against G reatness lies not alone in being u n fu rled , blind faith ; for fact as against fable cial line of thought, but deficient in The b rea th in g angels of th e world. the m any qualifications which strong, but in the right use of and m yth, as he. The h an d s th a t help are b e tter far Concluded on 3d page. And no m an of this country has, round up the fame of Ingersoll. W B T h an lips th a t p ray .