T H E TORCH OF REASON, SILV E R T O N , OREGON, OCTOBER 12, 1899.
o
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for fam iliar error and to the rej
tion of known tru th .
' “ r8 ^ , “^ ' ¿ ’"A m erican Re
Ingersoll, the
de-
view (Sent., 1899) rep rin ts his de-
L 1 1
fh I
the5asi8of all living organisms that ion to it as an auxiliary;
" h / Bastian had heated
ing water chemical H asis
and had of so doing.
Nor did he do this to
said a t t he iast Oregon Secular U n- be with the m ajority, for the con-
in boil- ion Convention th a t tl.e president vention was about evenly divided
contain- (M r. R e.nsburg) and the secretary on the question, and it was ,n
in^ in
infusions
rich in infusorial life. (M r. Reichwald)
ational doubt when he spoke an d voted.
ing
fu sio n s n e t. in tniusor.a. m e. v......
....... / - of the - N ........
In his rem arks on this subject,
fence of Agnosticism, together with They were hermetically sealed to - c u U r t n t o n , - - ^reelovers.
A gnosticism
From the statem ents of reliable be stated both sides of the question,
as he sup-
an articJe b▼ Mr« ITielcLon T h e In exclude germs, and **>• after,
■«»«>.»,
- --.•,”•‘•8’» • -i,vin.f‘;"’ ♦ l^ J.^ rid in stating the opposition side
M .
posed, mi me llrtU iX-
I n a l n r X r d ^ .X w L g more'inde'l’li- within them , in the course of time there m ust be some m isappreheii- lie referred to w hat he hau heard
, by ut,num bered Repetitious, h e -( living organism s began ,o grow io sion about these statem ents; and as f a c t - th a t free-love influences
c ,m R a ru t so deep th at a strav f a c t1 some of the flasks. These facts he so, am ong other things, we were de- had been influent,a h ith erto m the
comes a rui so deep
'
heid supported the idea th a t life te rm in a l to keep still, and find out American Secular U nion, whicn he
falling into it is lost past all chance
now originated according to the by- th e tru th when we arrived on th e regretted, but said th a t if so, the
of rescue. The disease is real, and
pothesis of abiogenesis.
ground. We have taken the tim e only remedy was to join the Union,
as irresistibly progressive as a can­
The experim ents were gone over and pains to do so, and find th a t for th a t was the only way to have
cer.
by Pasteur, D allinger, Drysdale the statem ents above m ade are not any influence in it. D uring this
For our present purpose it is
discussion it has been said th a t he
only necesary to m ake one q u o ta­ and others, and it was found th at true.
when heat was raised to a higher
Mr. Hosm er was not a M ethodist called Mr. Reichw ald and Mr.
tion from Mr. Field:
Rem sburg free lovers.
He has a l­
“ It is but a few years since T yn­ point th an the boiling point of wa- m inister, nor a m inister at all. He
ways em phatically denied th a t he
dall proudly declared before the ter, a larger percentage of the flasks made no sudden change to L iber-
ever so said. On the co n trary ,
B ritish Association th a t ‘in m atter rem ained sterile. F inally a degree alism , but was fairly educated into
would be found the promise and was reached above which all were it while teaching school and pur- when asked during th a t discussion
if he referred to those gentlem en
the potency of all life.’ W hat sterile. E very housewife is fam il­ suing his studies. W hen he be­
need, then, of a creator over our iar with the principle in canning cam e a Liberal there was nothing and Miss W ixon and T. B. W ak e­
more right or n atu ral th an th a t he m an as free lovers, he said, by no
heads, when we have a creative fruit.
The m an with the fixed theolog­ should head a Liberal school. m eans, and th a t he held them all
power under our feet? But, even
It seems
then, a greater m an of science, Lord ical m ind, when “ riding over the W hen he was fairly successful in in the highest respect.
K elvin, assured me with a smile, B erkshire hills,” got live germs th at, there was nothing m oie right th at some one m isunderstood w hat
th a t this ardent explorer would not “ above the hoary head of Mont or n atu ral than th a t he should wish had been said and wrote to Mr.
long adhere to his bold declaration, B lanc” mixed up with boiled ones to see L iberal education in its high­ Reichwald, th a t Mr. H osm er had
a ’p rediction th a t was soon realized. in tu rn ip water sealed tightly in er branches opened up to Liberals; called him and Mr. Rem sburg free
One day, as we were riding over glass flasks in the laboratory of a and so he proposed to have his lovers. Mr. Reichwald was in d ig ­
As soon as
the Berkshire hills, he looked up to chem ist. He utterly fails to grasp school developed into a U niversity, n an t, and resented it.
the clouds th a t were floating across the real significance of the experi- and have the Secular Union of Or- Mr. Hosm er heard of th is he wrote
th e sky, which recalled to him how m ents. The flask experim ents left egon father and help the enterprise, a letter to Mr. Reichwald denying
P asteur had sent balloons up to a the theory of present spontaneous When it was found th at the Secu th a t he had said an y th in g of the
great height above the hoary head generation not proven; the renew- lar Union as a propaganda organi- kind, and said, because it was ob­
of Mont Blanc, and found there ed interest in air germs led to a zation could not properly and ef- structive to Liberal work, “ let it
Mr. Reichwald seems to
such evidences of life as gave a num ber of interesting and most vai- fectively run a school or U niversi- pass” .
death blow to a theory th a t had uable discoveries relating to germ ty, they were separated for the ben­ have taken these words, “ let it
efit of both. The Liberal U niversi­ pass,” as a “confession” , which was
been adopted by the French, to diseases.
It takes a lively im agination, ty, Oregon, with its fine building, an en tire m isapprehension, for the
which they had given the pom ­
pous name of Spontaneous G enera­ possessing much orthodox sp iritu ­ now nearing com pletion, and fifty “ it” referred to this false report,
ality, an attrib u te of a theological students as the result of his labors which had been expressly denied
tion 1”
The great men of science he re- m ind, to detect any considerable and his co-workers, especially Mrs. in the first p art of the same letter.
lies upon are Newton, F ara d ay and degree of parallelism between the Hosmer and Mr. Geer, are the re ­ Yet this false report an d im agin-
K elvin. Newton, a U n itarian , th ere­ conditions obtaining in these tight su it— a result that speaks for itself, i ed “confession” has been circulated
As to bis fitness for m anager and as if to injure Mr. H osm er and the
fore not orthodox — lived before flasks and those which in all prob-
Darwin.
F arad ay , when asked ability prevailed in the free and active president of the U niversity, U niversity. T his report an d “con-
how he reconciled w hat he knew’ of boundless universe when protoplasm all doubt was dispelled the first day fession” are both m isapprehensions
science with his theology, said that first formed on the new earth — a we saw’ him take hold a t its open- and to tally untrue. I have seen
when he entered his laboratory he planet and all its molecules thrill- ing and arrange itsclasses, program the letters of those who were a t the
left his creed behind, and when he ing and vibrating in in sta n t re- and routine. We saw a t the s ta rt convention, and heard the state-
went to church he left science be­ spouse to innum erable forms of en­ th a t he was a n atu ral born teacher, ments of m any of those present
and had learned his business well, ¡since I cam e west. T hey all con-
hind. He did not com pare them . ergy.
As to his learning, we find th a t cur th a t Mr. H osm er’s statem ents
He had his little theological weed
Muskegon H eights, Mich.
he is well up and thorough in Eng- were such as I have above condens-
patch fenced against facts
If we
lish branches, M athem atics and ed; that instead of statin g th a t the
are to tru st to Mr. F ield ’s m em ory,
P re s id e n t J. E. H osm er.
Physical Sciences. We find th a t gentlem en nam ed were free lovers,
it was T yndall, and not K elvin, it
he is generally respected by those in reply to a question, he said the
seems, who, with a smile and his
eyes raised to the clouds, based a
W hen we were m aking up our who have known him long, for his contrary. He never had any rea-
rejection of the theory of spontane- m inds to come to Oregon to take ability, honesty and enthusiasm as son to th in k or say otherwise, and
ous generation on the presence of; part in the Liberal U niversity, we a Liberal. He has lectured at Port- regards the report as so contrary
germs high in the air. T yndall, of had no little anxiety about the po- land and other places as a lecturer to his appreciation of those noble
all menl
silion th at Mr. and Mrs. Hosm er authorized by the Secular Union of workers in the Liberal cause th a t
It did not take a P asteur to dis­ held and were expected to hold in Oregon, and is a constructive Lib- he will not spend tim e in h u nting
cover living microscopic germs in the U niversity. We had been told eral of the same general views as I down a false and foolish story —
the atm osphere; the height is im- th a t there was some opposition to have been expounding for years, further than to deny it as soon as
m aterial, so far as any question him , that he had been a M ethodist The students have such confidence he heard of it, and say “ let it
raised bv Mr. Field goes. But, the m inister, who had suddenly chang- in, and respect for him , th at disci- pass”. I do the sam e, and would
question at issue was the conclu-i ed to a kind of half intelligent Lib- pline, or rather order, is a m atter not have referred to it a t all if it
sion reached by Dr. B astian th at eral; and then started the idea of a of course.
had not been circulated as a reflec-
living organism s originate at the Liberal school or U niversity for bis
He is not opposed to the Nation- tion upon the gentlem en referred
present time from not-living m at- profit or livelihood, when he was not al Secular Union, and never has to, and an in ju ry to the Liberal
ter. Few experienced investigators fitted hv his learning, or his experi- been. Notice his editorial on its cause.
will claim th a t it has been proven, ence in L iteralism to become the next Congress and Call, in this pa-
Prof. H osm er has not seen this
or rendered even probable, th a t liv- head of any such undertaking; th a t per. He voted in the convention letter and knows nothing of its
ing protoplasm did not n atu rally he was opposed to the American for the Oregon Secular U nion to contents.
form m illions of years ago, under Secular Union; had opposed the join the Am erican Secular Union
T. B. W akeman .
the then favorable conditions—as joining of the Oregon Secular Un- , as an auxiliary, and spoke in favor
Silverton, Ore., Oct. 9, 299.
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