T orch
••TRUTH BEARS THE TORCH IN THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH.”— Lucretius.
VOL. 4.
SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, JU LY 12, E. M. 300(1900.)
Now.
NO. 27.
ceive the sanction of religion, which feelings, pessimism is exclusively a I
rendered it vastly more difficult to product of reason and resides in the!
ISK , for th e day is passing,
dislodge them . T his herculean task ' ’‘dellect. Optim ism is that hope
IN
And you lie dream in g on ;
u
• • of t □
•
* for th
T he o th ers have buckled th e ir arm o r has been
the mission
Science,
, a o t “ sp rin g s e te rn a l in , th e , . h u m a n -
4
i
b reast a n d defies th e h a rd facts of ’T ' t _ z2k M a « , ,
And forth to the fight fiave gone.
the
tru
th
lies
deeply
buried
u
n
a
e
r
existence. Pessimism recognizes th e ■ “ C I N C W
W o r ld ,
A place in th e ran k s aw aits y ou;
E ach m an has som e p a rt to p la y ;
th is m ass of error at the surface, facts and coldly chokes every hope
________
T he past am i th e fu tu re are noth in g
and can only be brought to light
its birth. B ut pessimism is also
A I AV C C D IIM I
In th e face of the ste rn today.
by the most prolonged and patient
first’ l)**cause m any hopes are
A LAY dtHMON
R ise ; if th e p a st d e ta in s you,
' rooao-nk
-
*:
realized, and secondly, becaus** the
research in »i
the t face s of .u this
time-1
_
c L
. r. ..
..
H e r su n sh in e and sto rm s fo rg et;
,
,
...
representation Ul the present of the F irs t D elivered in U n ity Chapel Rev. D r. W . E
No ch ain s so u n w o rth y to hold you
The New Life
R
h o n o red
p re ju d ic e .
1 he p ro g re ss good a n tic ip a te d in th e fu tu re is it-
As those of a vain regret.
of m an and society has been strictly self a good at least of secondary
Sad or b rig h t, she is lifeless e v e r;
C ast h er phan to m arm s aw av,
proportioned to the degree to which order.
Nor look back, save to learn th e lesson
hidden realities have thus been
W hat, th en , is m an’s true rela
Of a nobler strife today.
Copeland), s « k m , Oregon,
B y T H A D D E U S B. W A K EM A N ,
PROFESSOR OF
SOCIOLOGY, E T C ., LIBERAL
U NIVERSITY, SILVERTON, OREGON.
substituted for false appearances. tion to the universe? Is there a
A3 a som ew hat anom alous but true m ental a ttitu d e th a t lies he-
„ ,
tween these two false attitudes? T exts :
very im p o rtan t exam ple of the er- There cerlainly is. n js
a b„.
“ T he Laws of N atu re m u st be u n d e r
stood
before th ey can he obeyed ; only
roueous ideas which the hum an lief or a creed; it is the simple
th rough th is u n d e rsta n d in g can m an rise
race m ust needs acquire and re- recognition of the tru th . The trutli to th e m astery of its pow ers an d b rin g
lu ctan tly surrenders, m ay next be ’s’
n atu re is neither friendly him self into final h arm o n y w ith its c o n
considered the optim istic h ab it o{- " ° r hostile t o . “ .“ "; "e 'th e r favors d itio n s .’’—Prof. E . L. Y o u m an s. See
. .
him nor discrim inates against him. In tro d u ctio n to his “ C o rrelatio n an d
thought. Oi-TiMtsM can scarcely he N ature i8 not endowed with anv C onservation of F o rces.”
“ W h at, th e n , is m a n ’s tru e relatio n to
The World of Illusion-O ptim ism , called a doclrine I t does
not re- moral attrib u tes. It is, as I said th e U niverse? . . . The tr u th is th a t
Pessim ism , Meliorism—All
suit, like most erroneous beliefs, at the outset, a dom ain of rigid n a tu re is n e ith e r friendly nor hostile to
m a n ; n e ith e r favors him n o r d isc rim
Righted by Science.
from a false in terp retatio n pf the law. Man is a product of th at law, in ates ag ain st h im . N atu re is n o t e n
facts which n atu re presents to th e but, he has reached a stage on dowed w ith any moral a ttrib u te s . I t is
BY PR O FESSO R L E S T E R F . W A R D .
, ,
, .
_ .
, - which he can com prehend the law. a dom ain of rigid law . Man is a p ro d u ct
u n trained faculties. It is ra th e r Now>just because n atu re is a do- of th a t law, b u t he h as reached a stage
the original, unreflective state of main of rigid law, and just because in w hich he can com prehend th e law.
H E first im p o rtan t fact to be the pre-social m ind. It is the su r man can com prehend th a t law, bis . . . Any law he can com prehend he
control. H is d estin y is in h is own
noted is th a t to m an ’s slowly vival of the most useful of all in destiny is in his own hands. Any can
h a n d s.” —Prof. L ester F. W ard. “ O u t
developing intellect the u n i stincts, th a t of self-preservation. low th a t he can com prehend he can lines of Sociology ;” pp. 25-30.
“ N atu re is w holly unmoral . T he
verse has ever been a great enigm a. It was well adapted to th a t state, control. He cannot increase or m oral world is confined exclusively to
To solve this enigm a has been the because to the anim al it m attered dim inish the powers of nature, but anim al life, including, of course, h u m an
he can direct them . He can in life. Yet it is n o t to be d esp ised .” —
universal problem of the hum an not w hether it was true or false. It crease or dim inish the am ount o Ib id . ; p. 09.
“ T elesih , in d iv id u al and collective,
m ind. B ut m an has been p u t into is still a useful a ttitu d e to the power th a t is to he exerted at any
i. e., social, becomes his S av io r.”
possession of no key to this solu sw arm ing m illions of hum an beings given point. H e can focalize the
tion and has attacked the problem who do not reflect. B ut for it the rays of the s u n ; he can divert the
HOSE of you who
courses of the rivers; he can direct
wildly and a t random , u tterly u n realization of their unhappy lot,
present at this m orning’s
the currents of the air; he can vary
qualified to m ake the least im which it prevents, would m ultiply tem peratures; he can change water
discourse, rem em ber how it
pression upon it. The book of th eir m isery and render life in to l to steam and set the steam to work was shown, by an outline h is
n ature which was open to him was erable
But we are here consider- in Pr° pell‘n« "?achi“ e ry, or sbjP8. tory of Religion and 0 / Science,
. . or railroad train s; he can utilize th a t both had started in a confused
but a collection oi S ibylline leaves ing its enect upon society, and , it
is
th a t had been first stirred by the easy to show th a t it is had. I t electricity. H is power over nature m ultiplicity of things an d ideas,
is unlim ited. H e can m ake it his
wind. Not only were things not breeds
stagnation
and
stifles servant and ap p ro p riate to his own which had finally been covered by
alw ays as they seemed, b u t outside progress. It yields contentm ent, u s e a ^ the m ighty forces of the uni- the unity of one grand and sim ple
of the very sim plest phenom ena, and contentm ent means inaction. Verse-
concept of an ever-existing W orld
Both optim ism and pessimism of Law. In a word, th at the m inds
everything was utterly different S trange as it m ay sound, ju st as
from w hat it seemed. A lm o st1 the only health y state of the intel- are passive states of mind. The of men startin g their religion w ith
ev ery th in g was really ju st the re- lect is doubt, eo the only healthy true state is an active one. Opti- num berless spirits, devils and gods,
state of the feelings is discontent, mism and pessim ism assum e nature
' < rse of w hat it seem ed , a n d th e qq,jg of course assum es th a t there to be in an active state toward had finally in th e evolution of r e
universe was a vast paradox. The is som ething to doubt and some- m an. The true a ttitu d e m akes na- ligious progress from A nim istic
sky seemed to be a g reat vault of thing to improve, but there has ture passive and m an active. To Fetichisrn, during the course of ages
solid m atter, which he called for never been an age when error did the developed intellect nature is as culm inated in the triu m p h of U ni-
this reason a “ firm am ent.” The not stalk abroad or when misery clay in the p o tter’s hands. I t is tarian ism , which is the only tru e
was not the lot of the greater p art neither best nor worst. I t is w hat
heavenly bodies seemed to move of m ankind.
m an m akes it, and rational man M onotheism , with its one G o d .
across th is vault at varying rates,
The phase of optimism which always seeks to m ake it better,
T h a t upon m a n ’s other, or object
and their reappearance led to the most concerns the question of the The true doctrine, then, is melior- ive side, S cience , overwhelmed w ith
notion th a t they revolved around relation of society to the universe ism the perpetual bettering of num berless things and
resem
the great level cake of e a rth and j9 th a t
whicb J ” a n ’“ e’.,a te - T h is ’vil1 be
.
have called the ‘anthropocentric in precise proportion to m a n ’s blances, but com m encing w ith As-
water on which he dwelt. i lie ln ' theory.” The idea th a t m an is in knowledge of n atu re, so th at the stronom y, had through ages risen
visible air an d other gases
were any 8ense a favorite of nature is condition of the race ultim ately de-
rom th a t one departm ent of N a tu re
likened to m ind or spirit.
All false and highly prejudicial to the pends upon the degree of intelli- to the others, until finally it has t r i
natural causes were explained after progress of correct co n cep tio n s in gence th a t it shall attain .
um phed in Monism, its one concept
the analogy of h u m an effort in the 9"«,ial 8cien“ - . U “ »? J? ’
” ay b<!
tO a ! tbe
. . . .
,
,
.
„
collective optimism and results in thesis, pessimism th e antithesis, or law ,which gives the fu n d a m e n ta l
intentional production of effects, gocja i stagnation, ju st as personal and m eliorism the synthesis of law of all science— the Law of the
and the earth and a ir were peopled optimism results in individual stag- m an’s relation to the universe, correlation and equivalence of
with invisible an d often m alignant nation.
1 he optim ist says: Do nothing, be- the forces—th a t is, of all of the
epirits as th eir only recognized
The extrem e opposite of opti- cause there is nothing to do. The changes in the m atter or su b stan ce
agents. And th u s were bu ilt un mism is pessimism . It differs from pessim ist says: Do nothing, because of the know able universe.
t
,
1
5 it as much in its origin and nature nothing can be done. The melior-
great system s of magic, supersti- aa does in its ch aracter as a be- 1st says: Do som ething, because
T hus the religious or subjective
tion an d theology. The errors thus lief. W hile optim ism is wholly there is m uch to do, and it can he
forced into m a n ’s m ind came to re- unreasoned and springs from the, done.— [O utlines of Sociology.
Continued on 3rd page.
Rise, for th e day is p a ssin g ;
The sound th a t you scarcely h e ar
Is th e enem y m arch in g to b a ttle —
A rise, for th e foe is here.
Stay not to sh a rp e n your w eapons,
O r th e h o u r will strik e at last,
W hen, from d ream s of a com ing b attle,
You m ay w ake to find it past.
—f A delaide A nn P roctor.
T