Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903, March 08, 1900, Image 1

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    T orch
R eason .
of
••TRUTH BEARS THE TORCH IN THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH.” _ £ M c re /, M5.
VOL. 4.
s T e T m . 300
M I.VERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, MARCH
Giordano Bruno.
(A. D. 1900.)
In G reat B ritain it was the cour­
age of insurgent thinkers am ong
the working class— whom no im ­
prisonm ent could in tim id a te — who Giordano Bruno, the Solar S y s­
caused the right of free speech and
tem, and the New Era.
free publicity to be finally con­
ceded. Thus rulers came around An /»-Idress D elivered F e b ru a ry 17, E ra of M an
300. Before th e T h o u g h t Eqchange at Sll-
to the conclusion of C aballero, th a t ve on, Oregon, in Com m em m oration of the
‘‘tolerance is as necessary in ideas Th ee H undredth A n n iv e rs a ry of t h r B u rn -
in; A liv e of B runo by the C hristians at
as in social relations.”
Ro ne, F e b ru a ry 17, 1600 (C h ris tia n E ra ).
Our New W orld.
NO. 9.
but of these three, B runo was the
| ot from w ith o u t us, only from w ith-
only one who, as far as we know,
not only recognized clearly the dis­
Com es or can ever com e upon us
lig h t
covery, but foresaw and accepted
W hereby th e m in d keqps ever tr u th in
the consequences — even unto the
eight.
No tr u th , no s tre n g th , no com fort m an
m ost awful sacrifice.
The idea
m ay w in,
seems general th a t this discovery
No grace for guidance, no release from
sin,
was m ade all at once, like a new de­
Save of his own m in d ’s giving. Deep
vice in m echanics or a com bination
and b rig h t
As fire e n k in d le d in th e core of n ig h t
in chem istry.
F a r different was
B urns in th e m ind w here once its fire has
As soon as opinion was known to
its working out and confirm ation.
been.
Rv T H A D D E U S B. W A K E M A N ,
be
em
ancipated,
men
began
to
The lig h t th a t leads a n d q uickens
The steps were very gradual which
ESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY AND COGNATE
th o u g h t, in sp ired
think who never thought before. PRO SCIENCES
led to th a t result.
Tt was first
IN THE LIBERAL U N I­
To d o u b t and tru s t and conquer. So
The
th
in
k
er
no
longer
had
to
ob­
VERSITY, OREGON.
he said
m ade out th a t there was a great
W horn Sidney, flower of E n g lan d , tain a “ Ticket of Leave” from the
difference betwen the planets and
lo rd liest head
churches
before
he
could
inquire;
R.
P
resident
,
L
adies
and
the fixed stars; then th at two of
Of all we love, loved: but th e fates re ­
qu ired
he was free to investigate where he
G entlem en :—The 17th of the planets, M ercury and Venus,
A sacrifice to h a te and hell, ere fam e
would and what he would. Power
F ebruary is one of the did have orbits about the su n ; then
Should set w ith his in heaven G io r­
d a n o ’s nam e.
is, as a rule, never im parted or ac­ great m em orial days of the year; th a t the sun was very faroff; then
Cover th in e eyes a n d weep, O child of quired in vain, and honest men and this year it is especially so that the earth was round; then
h ell,
felt they owed it to those who h a d ’ from the fact th a t it is the 300th th at it revolved on its ax is; then
G rey spouse of S atan , C hurch of
won freedom for them th a t they anniversary of the effective publica­ how could all th is be reconciled
n am e a b h o rred ,
\\ eep, w ithered h a rlo t, w ith th y w eep­ should extend it. T hus it came to tion by the C h ristian s of the true
w ith the theory th a t the stars an d
ing lord.
knowledge
of
the
Solar
System.
For
pass
th
a
t
independence
was
an
in
­
Now none will buy th e heaven th o u h a st
the sun w ith those said two planets
to sell
spiration to action in men of in ­ this they really m ade known ro ta tin g around it, all d aily ro ta t­
At price of p ro stitu te d m in d s, and swell
Thy loveless list of lovers. F ire and trepid m inds. Professor T yndall, and effective by the burning alive o ed around our earth? All th is now
sw ord
in the last words he wrote for pub­ G iordano Bruno, its great exponent seems too absurd to state, but it
No m ore are th in e : th e steel, th e
lication, said: “ I choose the nobler at Rome, on th e 17th of F eb ru ary took the good Copernicus about
w heel, th e cord,
The flam es th a t rose round living lim bs, p art of Em erson, when, after v ari­ “ A. I). 1600”. The consequences of
th irty years to work it out. We
and fell
this
new
astronom
y,
and
of
this
con
ous
disenchanlm
ents,
he
exclaim
s,
In lifeless ash an d em ber, now no m ore
call him good, because such he was,
A pprove th ee godlike.
Rom e re ­ ‘I
covet tru th !’ ” On p rin tin g sequent awful C hristian m urder, are as well as tru ly great. Born at
deem ed a t last
From all th e red pollution of th y p a st, these words the W estm inster G a ­ now first beginning to be perceivec Thorn in P russia in 1473, he died
Acclaims th e grave, b rig h t face th a t zette added: “ T he gladness of true by a larger p a rt of the civilized
aged 70 in 1543. B y all m eans
sm iled of yore
w
orld;
and
it
is
coming
to
be
felt
E ven on th e fire th a t c au g h t it ro u n d heroism visits th e heart of him
read up how he was a m ath em ati­
a n d clom b
who is really com petent to say th a t this greatest discovery in as­ cian and scientist, a doctor of m ed­
To cast its ashes on th e face of R om e.
th is.” The energies of intellectual tronom y, and th is heroic m a rty r­ icine (alw ays giving a p art of his
—[S elected.
in trep id ity had doubtless been de­ dom properly m ark a New E ra in tim e as such freely to the poor), and
voted to science and social pro- ^ ,e history of the hum an race
finally a m em ber of a m onastic o r­
The Second Stage ot Free-
gress; but as philosophers have
It was, therefore, n a tu ra l and der. As a m onk in a little town
thought: Enterprise.
found, down to H u x le y ’s day, all proper th a t the A m erican Secular in P oland he seemed protected in
exploration was impossible in th a t Union, and th e F reethought Asso­ his great desire to philosophize free­
B Y G. J. H O L Y O A K E .
direction.
M urchison, Brewster, ciation of A m erica, as representa­ ly and to publish the results of his
B uckland and other pioneers of tives of the Liberals of America, astronom ical speculations.
They
‘B etter wild ideas th a n no ideas at science were intim idated.
Lyell should have recom m ended, as they were delayed because they m ight be
a ll.” —[Professor Nichol a t H o rsh am .
held back bis book on “ The An did at their last Congress in Boston, dangerous; hut finally his great
he em ancipation of the u n ­ tiquity
of M an” tw enty years th at Scientists, L iberals and Free >ook, in L atin of course, “ De Orbi-
d erstan d in g from in tim id a ­ ly n d a ll, H uxley and Spencer were th in k ers of every kind should make
um Coelestium R evolutionibus” ,W’as
tion and penal restrain t w aiting to be heard. As H uxley a M emorial of these events by spe-
wrought to him on the day of his
soon incited th in k ers of enterprise
has ju stly said, “ there was no cial M emorial m eetings on this day. death. We are told th a t when his
to put th eir new {lowers to use. I horoughfare into the Kingdom of Let us, then, address ourselves to
lan d was laid upon it, he seemed
i heology being especially a forbid­ N ature— By O rder— Moses.” Hence, the d u ty of this hour.
io recognize it with a sm ile. I t was
den subject and the greatest re­ to exam ine theology, to discover
F irst, we m ust learn why the dis- well for him th at he did not, su r­
pressive force, in q u iry into its pre­ w hether its a u th o rity was absolute, covery and recognition of the helio-
vive this publication, as the sad fate
tensions first attracted critical a t ­ became a necessity. It was soon centric astronom y will be found in
of his great successors would d o ubt­
tention.
T
, ,
*een th a t lhere was ground for its ultim ate consequences to be bv less have been his. T he book was
.ru h T 7 7 C(entU.rf ,°r '° PP8
skep,icism- Tbe pritS' 9
f«1-«h-greatest event in the hktory dedicated to Pope, Paul III., to en ­
Other of ,h ™
, 7 7 7 ° r Cri,iCi"n' by rePreaent*n8 ,h e "k” P- ° f ">e hum an race. Speculations sure protection, but it was fo rth ­
Fo e
7 7 ram p arts of theology. , ic
lh elr pretensions as being and advances tow ards this tru e with condem ned as co n trary to the
horce had been m arshalled by skeptical o f everything, whereas theory ol the world were m ade by
Holy Scriptures, A ristotle and the
g e leaders an d l>attle often given they were only skeptics o f clerical ancient P y th ag o ras and by DeCusa C hurch. It was placed upon the
n the open held; and u n fo reseen : ¡„fallib ility . They indeed did aver and others. T h a t is well known, “ In d e x ” of books prohibited by the
_ .ones are recorded, tn the an n als th a t branches of hum an knowl- and is fully stated by Profs. D raper church, and was not om itted th e re ­
or the wars of in fan tin e R ational- edge, received as well established, and W h ite * B ut the three great
from un til 1835.
Its circulation
i.-m, against the full grown pow- were really open to quesiion, In ih in k ers to whom we chiefly owe was certain ly very sm all, and yet
ers of superstition an d darkness. order to show th a t if men could our knowledge of the new and true it is doubtful if an y book has ever
t nh„l.Very . T
? ' ian t ,tbinkerSl h -t be confident of things of which word are certain ly N icholas Coper-
more profoundly affected m ankind.
- > ars, p iilosophers anti critics, they had experience, bow could the nicus, G iordano B runo and Galileo: It has been reprinted several tim es
^ven priests in defiance of power, churches he confident of things of “ 7 3 —
. , . „ L. ,
e c c le s ia s tic a l a n d c iv il
h a v e a t «-u; u
. ,
.
p a rtic u la rly W h ite ’s “ W arfare and copies of it may be found i n
s te a l a n a civilf nave, at which no m an had experience— of Science with Theology”, Vol. 1, p. 122 our larger libraries, where it is in ­
heir own peril, explored the regions a n d which contradicted experience? fr?r a ,ri™ iJnt*.re8{in* 8t*temenfc; alsZ
forbidden tru
tru th
th .
<• , . .
-7
•
“ Conflict Between Religion and spected, and even read, with rever­
«ur-jiuaen
[C oncluded on /th page.
S cience” , pp 167-177
ent interest.
The diagram s of the
N'
n
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