Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903, August 09, 1900, Image 1

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    “TRUTH BEARS THE TORCH IN THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH. "—Lucretius.
VOL. 4.
V«.»- c
SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY,¡AUGUST 9, E. M. 300 (1900.)
I-
Ä
-■»—
WM
NO. 31.
T»r»F"'»b
to transcend nature in Galileo G alilei, an d th e S tru g g le
New M o r a lity .
constructing an ethical theory and |
BY PERCY BI8SHE SHELLEY.
R e g a rd in g th e Position
fram ing an ethical sanction. Work
of th e E a r th .
P anthea (fem inine of P an th eo s) sings.
'E x tra c ts from a su m m ary of th e ing on the lines laid down by H er­
That is T he A ll , as G oddess evokes th e “ W e ltra th se l” (w orld enigm a) of Prof. bert Spencer, we come to a view of
New S p irits. See article on page 5]:
E rn e st H aeckel, by Jo sep h McCabe, in m orality which is com petent to
BY CA RI S ST E R N E .
W a tt s ’ L iterary G uide for A pril.]
T he pine-boughs are singing
meet the requirem ents of life and
Old songs w ith new g lad n ess;
which
claim
L ” T I V I?
: •
3
J
n m v i l
l harm
l d l U D onizes
H I
( those
I I I W
C
la im s
s
o of
i !
r r?
t
A
f
X* I
•
A*
XV
T he willows and fo u n tain s
E L IE I ,n a god or g o d s - I egoifm an(1 allnli(ini, of w lf and
[E x tr a c t, from an a rt.c le
th e O pen
F resh m usic are flinging,
and P ro f. Haeckel treats our neighbor, which have been so /
A«g“»». I.WO.J
Likes th e notes of a sp irit from land an d
from s e a ;
exhaustively (an d causti- grossly distorted in C hristian ethics,
I M OYES, just the sam e,’’
The sto rm s mock th e m o u n tain s
cally) the innum erable forms of ^ an belongs to the social or gre-
G alileo is said to have ex ­
W ith th e th u n d e r of gladness.
th a t belief— r a s a tem porary spec- p r i o n s vertebrates; he has, there-1
B ut w here are ye?
claim ed, stam ping his foot,
.r
• ,
..
fore, n atu rally , “ two sets of duties— ;
ulation which the
m neteentii cen- firstly, tow ards
'T. 1 himself;
:
ir secondly,
Jt
t after having, before the court of the
CHORUS OF SPIRITS.
tury has rendered superfluous and towards the society he belongs to ?’ H oly Inquisition Jon J u n e 22,1633,
W e com e from th e m ind
Of h u m an -k in d ,
untenable. I t was based, in so far This moral equality of egoism and abjured faith in the heretical teach-
W hich was late so d u sk , and obscene, as it had an elem ent of ra tio n ality , altruism is the fundam ental p rin ­
ing of the m ovem ent of the earth
and b lin d ;
on the gaps in our knowledge of ciple of the monistic ethics, the around the sun. But the d elig h t­
Now ’tis an ocean
basis and fount of “ the golden
Of clear em otion,
nature.
A
stronom
ical,
biological,
A heaven of serene an d m ighty m otion.
ru le.”
The author then enters ful anecdote belongs, u n fo rtu n ately ,
and
physiological
discoveries
have
into a critical analysis of C hristian to the great m ultitude of those
From th a t deep abyss
sufficiently filled up those gaps to ethics, which he severely condem ns which it has latterly become the
Of w onder and bliss,
W hose caverns are crystal p alaces:
m ake the old hypothesis no longer for its belittlem ent of (1) self, custom to designate the a fte r­
From those skiey tow ers
even plausible. Modern science (2) love, (3) nature, (4) civilization, thoughts of m an or of history.
W h ere T h o u g h t’s crow ned pow ers
Sit w atching your dance, ye h ap p y has to say to the T heist who asks (5) the fam ily, and (ft) woman.
N othing could have been fu rth e r
H o u rs!
where
God
comes
in
iu
his
con­
from the m ind of th e intim id ated
From th e dim recesses
F o rm a tio n of O pinions.
struction of the cosmos, in the
Of woven caresses,
scientist th an sudi a defiant recan ­
W here lovers catch ye by your loose words of L aplace to Napoleon;
tation, for it would have been
tre s s e s ;
BY H O R A C E S E A V E R .
“ Sir, I have m anaged w ithout th a t
From th e azure isles
neither more nor less than a c h a l­
W here sw eet W isdom sm iles,
hypothesis.”
The
supposed
com-
LL men are born equal with lenge of the powerful by the weak.
D elaying y o u r ships w ith h e rs y re n wiles.
mencemHiit of the scheme of things,
regard to the form ation of If Galileo had felt the slightest in ­
F ro m th e tem ples high
on which all belief in a Creator
Of M a n ’s e ar an d eye,
opinions; by nature they clination to become a m arty r to his
Roof’d over S cu lp tu re am i P oesy;
and “ prim e m over” is founded, was are allowed the free exercise of convictions, like G iordano Bruno,
From th e m u rm u rin g s
a gratuitous assum ption, and is u t­ their own judgm ents, equality in and had he been the stuff of which
Of th e u n se a l’d springs
W here Science bedews his Daedal w ings. terly discountenanced by modern
investigating, considering, and de­ m arty rs are made, he would not
Y ears a fte r years,
astronom y. The origin of life term ining upon all subjects. Yet, have taken th a t oath. B ut the
T hrough blood an d tears,
And a th ick hell of h a tre d s, and hopes, needs no su p ern atu ral in terv en ­ notw ithstanding this tru th will be anecdote is not w ithout value, for
an d fears,
tion, neither does the origin of universally adm itted— in the ab­ it allows him to voice w hat he
W e waded and flew,
thought, of religion, or of m orality. stract— it seems to be generally surely at th a t m om ent thought
A nd th e islets were few,
W here th e b u d -blighted flowers of h a p ­ Science and philosophy point to the disregarded in the application to
and felt in the depths of his soul,
piness grew .
religion.
Hence
it
is
common
to
,
.
unity of the cosmos. E very form hear the rem ark, by those who de- an< , w,’at
<),ber adherents of Coper-
O ur feet now , every palm ,
and phase of Theism is denuded of uounce innovations upon the pop- n *CUH, firm in their own faith, may
A re s a n d a ll’d w’ith calm ,
And th e dew of o u r w ings is a rain of argum entative basis, besides the
u lar religious belief, th at opinions have wished to hear him acknowl-
b alm .
fact th a t the dom inant conception ! ought to be governed by the general edge. So it has come about th a t
A nd, beyond our eyes,
T he h u m an love lies
of a personal God— the notion of a sentim ent.
th is unspoken th o u g h t, although
W hich m akes all it gazes on P aradise .
B ut this course, besides d irec tly ,
.
..
,
, ,
huge “gaseous v e r t e b r a t e ,” as tending
to destroy all freedom of un,ver8ally acknowledged to be of
CHORUS OF SPIRITS AND HOURS.
T hen weave th e web of th e m ystic Haeckel puts it—is even less ra ­ conscience, would, perpetuate the later origin, has become a house-
m e a s u re ;
tional in itself, and is ju st as clear­ superstition and ignorance which it hold word. Even now it ceases
From th e d e p th s of th e sky th e round of
ly a reflection of hum an thought is desirable to remove, and prevent not to serve as an inspiration when
th e e a rth ,
diffusion of the knowledge a. r»u. „u :
•* /
.
,
Come sw ift S p irits of M ight and of as any th a t has preceded it in the the
»,i.;„k
.,ii
_____
j
the
C
hurch,
in
«pit«
of
«uch
unfor-
P leasu re,
which all deem necessary and de­
N othing
Fill th e d ance and th e m usic of m irth , history of mysticism.
sire to see progressive. We should tu n ate experiences, arrogates to
As th e waves of a th o u sa n d stre am s short of Pantheism or A theism is
not adopt opinions merely because herself a decision in questions
ru sh by
To an Ocean of S p len d o r and H a rm o n y ; reconcilable with modern know l­ they are popular; if the error is which do not come under her ju r is ­
edge of reality. Atheism is but general, so much the greater should diction.
CHORUS OF SPIRITS.
one expression of the negative as­ he the exertion to , destroy it. . . . If, ,
And o u r singing shall build
the
Rom an Catholic
by ignorance or by some blind , Hence
,
In th e v o id ’8 loose Held
pect of Pantheism . As Schopen-
A W orld for th e S p irit of W isdom to
.
fanaticism , the generality of m an , cliurcn m ust even now be grateful
w ie ld ;
hauer wrote: “ The axiom of the kind have been deceived into error, t° Galileo, th a t through his com-
W e will ta k e our plan
Pantheist, ‘God and the world are m ust a m an for the sake of popu- pliance and weakness he saved her
From th e N ew W orld of M an,
And o u r work shall be called th e P ro ­ one, is on lly a polite way of giving larity join in the concert of decep- from apnlving the torch to his
m eth ea n .
,.o n’ a n <J ih e ho" est sentim ents of f
j V
Qth
j
gh
|d
the Lord God his conge.”
his
m
ind
rem
ain
lost
and
inactive?
,unerai
'^
»
e
rw
is
t,
sue
wouiu
SEMI-CHORUS I.
The ethical[q u e stio n has a dis-
If the opinions of m ankind are have been much raore seriously
Ceaseless, an d rap id , an d fierce, an d tree,
W ith th e S p irits w hich build a new e a rth tinct im portance and interest, so to rem ain fixed, when th eir only afflicted th an by the burning of
-»1 « Z —- »A. _ l l • e '
• -
• I a «
—
a - — —
» «
-
and sea,
the au th o r discusses it at length, claim s to belief are an tiq u ity and G iordano B runo (1600). B runo it
Knd a heaven w here y e t heaven could
_
A •
•
• * is who was condem ned, not o n ly
never lie ;
scientific tru th th a t “ there are not (ou,ltpring opposition or of being as an adherent of the C opern ican
SEMI-CHORUS II.
.
j - . . .
j
.
it
unpopular, w hat advance or im-
Solem n, and slow, an d serene and b rig h t, two distinct and separate worlds— provem
in aii
any system , which in his Ash W ednes-
r_____ _ ent coujd we expect 1M
l^ a r lin r r th o H a v n n ri n
n
1 ntz t r i p ____
—
i
___
i
_..*^-L.l
il.«
:
I
G -ading th e Day an d o utspeeding th e o n e p h y s ic a l and m aterial, the knowledge o fV n y V in S T * Oppose I day
Communion
he
defended
W ith th e pow ers of a world of perfect other moral and im m aterial.’
No the liberty of thought,
the Oxfort
„ . and you re- against
„
Oxford opponents, and
light,
system of m orality th at contra- tard the progress of knowledge; en- further advocated in a book w hich
We encircle th e ocean and m o u n ta in s of venes this tru th is any longer ten- courag* investigation, and a new anDeared «he
same year, Concern-
. u i,.
/
,
i i
era ari8Ps; knowledge of all kinds appearea
e a rth ,
able.
K
ant
bu.lt
up
the
two
halve«
adval)ce8
’witb
&
,
w
d
d
ing
the
E
lerr
Ami th e happy form s of its d eath and
ternal, the U niverse, and
b irth
of his philosophy in sheer self-con- m an becomes, as it were, a new the W orlds, but especially as a Free
Change to th e m usic of our sweet m irth .
But there is no need creature.—[Occasional Thoughts. | thinker, who had pursued the reg-
—[From P ro m eth eu s U nliound. Act IV . tr a d itio n .
• 4M
A
OVt* I II
v iu u d a n t i
in c
w n .n e v er
B
I
w
A
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