• TRUTH BEARS THE TORCH IN THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH.”—ZnCZCilMS-
A OL. 3.
NO. 40.
SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1899.
give him credit for what he has rated, and while we now mourn
his death, we should gratefully re­
done.
What we need at present is an member the worth of his life and
application of the methods of sci­ the blessings which he leaves be­
[W e tra n sfe r from M r. W ak em an ’s
ence to the problems of religion, hind. His very enemies owe him
lecture on F re e th o u g h t tw o passages
w hich he gives from th e F ifth Act of th e
and this is being done now, since more than they dare to acknowl­
Second P a rt of F au st. In them G oethe
Bible criticism and a philosophical edge.—[Freethought Magazine.
bsushes away th e dangerous illusions of
all spook-religions,and describes th e solid
interpretation of the facts of relig­
foundation upon w hich m an k in d m ust
ious life begin to receive recognition
sta n d and work to b ring in th e “ E a rth ly
For the Torch of Reason.
P a ra d ise ” w hich th e Law of E volution
today.
Dogmatism
is,
as
much
as
g u a ra n tee s to o u r race. R eader, if you
The Theological Hind.
mythology, a phase in the religious
liappen to catch on to th e h eig h th ,
d e p th and b rea d th of these passages, Ingersoll —The Exponent of an evolution of mankind; it is grad­
you will cu t th em out and keep them
BY G. W. MOREHOUSE.
Important Phase in the Re­
ually passing away now, and yields
am ong your precious th in g s for ever!]
ligious Evolution of
its place to a scientific world con­
och h a b ’ ich m ich ins F re ie n ich t
T is our greatest duty to so ed­
ception. Mankind appreciates more
Mankind.
gekaem pft ;
ucate and influence the rising
K o e n n t’ ich M agie von m einem
and more the religious holiness and
Pfad e n tfe rn en ,
generation that the succeeding
moral significance of truth, which
BY DR. PAUL CARL’S.*
Die Z au bersprueehe ganz und gar v erler­
nen !
will result in a new interpretation men and women may avoid, so far
S tu e n d ’ ich, N atu r! vor d ir ein M ann
E side with Col. Ingersoll of the factors that produced the re­ as possible, mental,moral and phys­
allein,
Da w a er’s d er M uehe w erth ein M ensch
when he opposes the su­ ligious systems of the past. Time ical errors, and acquire, all around,
zu sein !
perstitious notions of old will show whether the religion of the health, tone and discipline nec­
Das w ar ich sonst, eh ic h ’s im D u e stern
essary to accurate thought and cor­
su ch te,
theologies; but we urge, like many the future, the synthesis that re­
M it Frevel-w ort m ich und die W e lt,v e r­
of his opponents, that he should sults from the thesis of dogmatism rect judgment.
fluchte.
The mind should never cease to
and the antithesis of agnosticism,
Nun ist die L u ft von solchem Spuk so not take “something of value from
be open to conviction, remaining
voll,
the life of man” unless he can give will build up new organizations, or
Das n iem and weiss, wie e r ihn m eiden
be the leaven in the dough of the through life as plastic and recep­
something
more
valuable
in
its
soll.
tive as the changing, aging tissue»
W enn auch ein Tag uns k la r vernuenftig stead. We do not live for the pres­ churches of today. In either case,
lac h t,
we must recognize the significance permit.
In T rau m g esp in n st verw ickelt uns^die ent only, and not merely to make
Needless memorizing and repeti­
Nacnt.
ourselves happy here, but must of Col. Robert G. Ingersoll.
W ir keh ren froh von ju n g er F lu r zurueck ;
In summing up, we must repeat tion should be avoided, or we are
build
up
the
future.
We
are
the
E in Vogel k ra e c h z t; was k raech zt er?
certain to fall into worn paths and
M isgeschick !
continuation of the past, and what we stated in the introductory
Von A berglauben frueh und sp at u m ­
remarks. Humanity forms a great think the same thoughts, as a wag­
should
feel
our
solidarity
with
fu­
g a rn t—
on wheel follows the rut, or the
Es eignet sich,es zeigt sich an,es w arnt :— ture generations. We are not iso­ unity, and the development of hu­
stream follows its wonted channel.
U nd so v c rsch u e ch te rt,ste h en w ir allein !
lated individuals, but phases of the man ideas constitutes one great The endless repetitions of the pul­
Not y e t in to The C lear have I fought whole life evolution, which relation and uninterrupted wave. In the
m y way.
religious evolution of mankind, the piteer have made his brain a laby­
O th a t 1 could banish all m agic from my should not only increase our rev­
negative standpoint of agnosticism rinth of ruts, and it is as hopeless to
p a th ,
erence
for
our
ancestors,
but
also
And all of its in ca n ta tio n s wholly
reason with him and introduce to
open our eyes to the responsibility as represented by Col. Ingersoll is, him new facts as it would be to at­
u n le a rn .
Stood 1, O N atu re, before thee free — a we owe to posterity. We are fac­ in the interest of religion, very Im­
m an !
portant and beneficial. It repre­ tempt to remove a patch of Canada
T hen w ere it w orth w hile a m an to be. tors for the ages to come, and thus
T h a t once was I, ere I ’gan h u n tin g in we live not for the moment alone, sents the antithesis to the theolog­ thistles by moral suasion.
Sow sure seed in the fresh soil of
th e m ists,
ical thesis.
And w ith words of folly cursed m yself not merely for our own happiness,
Agnosticism, being a mere nega­ youth, and waste no valuable time
an d w orld.
but
for
the
duties
which
we
owe
to
nor good seed on old highways and
And now ’s th e a ir of every kind of spook
the future. The origin of things, tive view, will not stand; it will intellectual dry bones. The theo­
so full
T h a t how to sh u n them no one know s at the destiny of man, the unseen die on the very same day that its
logical mind is mental tissue hard­
all.
enemy
expires.
And
by
the
syn­
Though one day w ith reaso n ’s b rig h t­ world of his spiritual life are not
thesis will produce the religion of ened into bone.
ness sm iles,
unsolved
problems
which
lie
be­
Soon n ig h t involves us in a web of
science—a religion purified by crit­ Take the case of the Rev. Henry
yond the pale of knowledge, but
d ream s.
M. Field, D. I)., as an example.
Though from life’s young field we come topics open to investigation. They icism from pagan supernaturalism
elate,
and from the monstrosities of dual­ He has the good fortune to live in
Some bird will croak
w h at croaks he? are of paramount importance, and
ism, a religion which is in accord­ an age when science is making its
È vii fate !
must
not
be
neglected.
Philosophy,
T hus early and late by su p erstitio n e n ­
ance with truth and will serve us most rapid strides toveard the fund­
science
and
historical
research
are
sn ared ,
amental truths. Unfortunately,
It grows upon us, leads our way, th en busily engaged in approaching a as a guide in life, affording a basis
“ d a n g e r!” cries ;
of ethics—not the cloister ethics of early in life he acquired the theo­
So like birds in fright we stan d helpless solution which will find expression
logical mind, and ever after re­
alone !
in a new religious con viction, which the Middle Ages, but the ethics of mained nearly stationary, while
practical life. This religion will
[Again F a u st says]:
we characterize as a trust in truth,
teach man howto keep in harmony the world of thought moved on out
Der E rd en k reis ist m ir genug b e k a n n t; or the religion of science.
with the conditions of his exist­ of his sight.
Noch d ru eb en ist die A ussicht uns ver-
The religious views of the people
Several years ago Mr. Field had
ra n t.
ence. This religion will elevate
T hor, w er d o rth in die Augen blinzend have changed considerably during
man, ennoble his aims and beauti- a discussion with Col. Ingersoll in
ric h te t,
i the latter half of this century. The
the North American Review. In
Sich ueber W olken seines G leichen
fy his life.
crudeness
and
narrowness
which
d ic h te t !
Although Col. Ingersoll has not justice to him it must be said that
E r stehe fest und sehe h ie r sich um !
prevailed in Col. Ingersoll’s child­
Dem T uechtigen ist diese W elt n ic h t
spoken the last word on religion, he made a very ingenious argu­
hood,
have
passed
away,
and
we
do
stu m m .
ment, but it failed to make up for
W as b ra u c h t e r in die E w igkeit zu not hesitate to say that we owe he is a representative man, and be­
came the exponent of a significant his cause what was lacking in evi­
schw eifen !
much progress to his bold denunci­
Was e r e rk e n n t, la te st sich ergreifen.
phase in the development of relig­ dence, and the victory of his more
E r w andle so den E rd en tag e n tla n g ;
ations and vigorous protests. He
W enn G eister sp u k e n , g e h ’ e r seinen
ious thought by his unusual gifts, masterly opponent was complete.
I
prepared
the
way
for
a
purer
relig­
G ang.
his oratory, his genius, his courage, The lesson did not disturb an out­
ious
conception,
and
the
time
will
On o u r e a rth circle to live I know
i his wit, and last, but not least, his work of his theological mind. This
come when even the churches will
enough ;
honesty. His work for the purifi­ abnormal condition leads to easy
Above th a t our vision is b a rre d .
i ___ _
Fool! who blin k in g upw ards tu rn s his
cation of religion can not be under­ acquiescence in and even preference
• E d ito r Ojien C o u rt, Chicago.
A Solid Liberal Lesson—In Ger­
man and English.
Poetizing our like beyond th e skies!
H ere let him firm ly sta n d , look ro u n d
him h ere!
To th e C apable th is world is never d u m b !
In to E te rn ity why needs M an to w an ­
d e r?
W ith w hat he really know s le t him
g ra p p le ;
.
, T hus safeiy jo u rn ey th ro u g h his E a rth ly
day;
If G hosts spook keep stra ig h t on his way ;
In striv in g for m ore h e ’ll find luck an d
p ain ,
Y et, a t every tu rn unsatisfied rem a in .
N
I
W
dazzled eyes