“ 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 .