THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, NOVEMBER 15, E. M. 300 (1900.) Yet ru in m ay m eet you any day or n ig h t W hen m an h as rig h t of way by rig h t of (WITH a NKPI8OOB.) m ig h t. Toads have no rig h ts in h u m an codes W hence and w h ith e r, little ru sty toad? nor roads— H ith e r and th ith e r on th e d u sty road Big m an lias no respect for little toads. H opping and sk ip p in g —w here is your T h e re ’s peril in th is p a th w ay , puny hop abode? per— S tand u p a n d an sw er,p u n y sq u a tte r-sa y , T h e re ’s d anger h ere, th is p a th belongs How cam e you h ere to m a n — iv itli such a q u a in t and q u eer, The soul-endow ed, th e reason-gifted, And curiously contriv ed an ato m y ? F a ith -in fected , m y th -d e lu d e d m an — p oor little lu m p , or stu m p , or c h u m p ! Sole p ro p rieto r of m aterial m a tte r I w onder if th e r e ’s any way of know ing A nd im m aterial soul— How you developed such a h u m p and C allo u s’d w ith o u t and petrified w ith in — , „ I ju m p , K eep away from h im . arnacny. A nd curious way of going? • “ But my conscience—have I no }|ow (Jid you come to ,ife> or life to you? Sw itch oft' your feeble o u tfit teeny toad, right to that?” exclaims the one How did you do th e first little h o p o r tw o! Beyond th e reach of cruel hoofs and w heels, thus addressed. Betw een th e im m aterial a n d m aterial^ Or sad calam ity and d ire d isa ste r, How did you bridge th e ch asm ? l o u h a v e n o rig h t p jjow many evoiu tiong have you made? A nd all th e differen t k in d s of ru in your individual conscience against How many hops a n d ju m p s from proto- T his n a tio n ’s on th e verge of, will over tak e you the national conscience,” is the re- plasm ? Im m ed iately if not sooner. ply. “As we have said, it is not a For such a sq u a t as th a t, w h at did you tra d e , question of your rights. That doc Or sw ap for such a funny freak, a n tiq u e? T h is world was m ade for m an —t h a t ’s trine cannot justify you, for it has F ro m w hat evolve th a t q u eer configur safe to say, (T h a t m uch is sound theology, we know ) had its day aud been set aside. a tio n — And m an was m ade of d u st, a n d d u s t of What must be secured in this na Develope such an ato m y u n iq u e? n o th in g — tion is the greatest good to the ; Or how m uch “ n o th in g ” d id it tak e to (Is it not w ritte n in th e record so?) greatest number. All are now m ake agreed upon this, and the greatest Y our little o u tfit? have you any notion? In th e early m orning of “ th e b e g in n in g ” good to the greatest number re O r, of “ force and m a tte r” how m uch did Som ething took a prodigious pile of i t tak e “ n o th in g ” — quires that all observe the first day To m ake your “ m ode of m o tio n ? ” T h a t’s w hat th e records show — of the week. We must have uni it is m ost im p ro p er, little h o p A nd w h at the record says is so, is so— formity in this matter. So I re Y our g p a er! T h e re ’s no appeal from th a t, w h e th er i t ’s so or no— peat, you must hereafter observe Y our locom otion seem s to need im p ro v U n less you have th e im p u d e n t a ssu m p the first day of the week. The in g ; tion public good demands it, and the Y our style of going is’n t qu it« th e proper, To ap p eal to com m on sense an d n ativ e state must see that this rule is firm And popular idea of rig h t m oving. g u m p tio n . T h a t’s not th e g ait th a t tak es “ first. the seventh day ie the .day to be observed as the Sabbath.” “The seventh day is not the Sab bath,” rejoins the clergyman, sharp ly. “In this country it is settled that the first day is the Sabbath; public opinion and practice are overwhelming on this point. T h e courts have declared it, Congress has declared it, and you cannot be permitted to set up your opinion against the authority of the nation. You cannot be permitted to teach ly enforced.” So, instead of being able to claim the individual right of conscience in the matter of Sabbath observ ance, the dissenter from the popu lar religious custom has nothing left to stand on hut “the greatest good to the greatest number,” and when he can prove that bis freedom in religion is for the greatest good of the greatest number he will be allowed to worship differently from the majority and not before. But bow long will it take an individual to prove that it is for the greatest good to the greatest number that he be allowed to observe the seventh day of the week instead of the first, in the face of popular teaching and custom touching this point?” As the result of such teaching as that we have quoted from the Out look and the Independent, the fun damental American doctrine of natural, individual rights is being ewept from under the feet of the American people; it is passing rap idly away before our eyes, and who is amazed or alarmed at the spec tacle? It is high time indeed that the people everywhere should see and know what these things mean. —[Sentinel of Liberty. A Node on a Toad m oney,” now’, You w ant to m end your pace and break y o u r record— ,, R educe y o u r tim e for “ g ettin g th e r e ” som ehow — O therw ise, I fancy, Y o u ’ll have to tak e the d u st from L ittle N ancy. A dry an d d u sty road You have to hop, poor toad ! The rig h t and p ro p er th in g for you to do— ( I t strik es me p re tty plain) W ould be to see th a t fak ir, th e ra in m aker, And bargain for a th o u sa n d -d o lla r rain . T h a t’s w hat th e gran g ers only th e o th e r day did, And any toad m ig h t do th e sam e as th e y d id . Reflected Rays. Dr. Hensen wants more million aires in the church—more Wana- makers to reduce the church work and business to a practical basis —perhaps the church is short of money. But it is not short 01 preachers, for the reverend doctor says that “ we do not need preach ers; we have preachers to burn” —a suggestion that the Christian hells are becoming overcrowded with members of the cloth!—[Ex. The pope regrets that free speech is possible in Rome, “under the shelter of the public law.” The spirit of the Inquisition is still in him and his church. He dares publicly to regret what little liber ty of expression exists in Italy on religious questions. Had he the power, imprisonment would seal the lips of any man who dared breathe a word against papal super stition. The Roman Catholic spir it is still, as always, that of tyr anny and persecution.—[Free So ciety. The Sons of the American Revo lution in Hawaii recently offered a prize for the best oration, written and delivered in English, upon a specified historic theme. The com petition was open to every boy in the islands. Was it the son of a Son, a native Hawaiin, a clever Japanese, a Portuguese of ancient —In th e early m orning of “ th e begin- lineage who, at that cosmopolitan m ng »? S om ething took a prodigious lot of crossroads of the Pacific, won the coveted prize? No, it was a full- “ n o th in g ” A nd b u ilt th is m ighty m acrocosm , h u g e— blooded son of that China, which P u t u p th e universe in six days all is now the political problem of the world.—[Youths Companion. com plete W ith th e best b ran d of b ra n d new “ n o th in g .” M illions of first-class sta rs w ere m ade and p u t up, For m an ’s special, every-day use— (B esides several for S u n d ay .) E v ery th in g in sig h t, an d o u t of sig h t, (In clu d iu g th e tw’o little m oons of M ars, A nd a n o th e r one for J u p ite r ) was m ade for m an — F o r “ godlike m a n ” —“ th e im age of his m a k e r” — H opping here upon tn e public way “ Only a little low er th a n th e angels” You d esecrate o u r som ber S ab b a th d a y ; ( “ T he crow ning w o rk ” —“ th e m a s te r Y our hopping h a b it’s bad fu l—som e will piece,” say W ith im m o rtal m o v em en t, full-jew eled, I t ’s tru ly s in fu l; And geared to go forever w ith o u t w in d You m u st load u p in it te r chloride every ing. d ay — T h a t’s w hat th e p a sto r says, an d if any S tuff y o u r skin full. body I t ’s p lain you need reform ing, little Knows o u g h t ab o u t tom orrow o r th e h o p p er, n e x t d ay — Y our m o v em en t’s n e ith e r practical nor Or any tim e h e re afte r, its th e p a sto r: proper. H e know s it ail for su re, because he has “ N othing was m ade in v a in ,” th e p asto r to — says— T h a t’s w hat h e ’s for, an d should he fail Of n o th in g th e world was m ade, th e To g u a ra n tee a m ansion in th e sky record sh o w s; For every tru e and o rth o d o x believer, To m ake his th in k e r th in k in certain And an g el’s o u tfit— wings a n d h a rp ways— com plete— On p e n alty of everlastin g woes— R eady to h itc h to ; Im m o rtal m an was m ad e— O r should he fail to find for faithlees An Episcopal clergyman of Bos B ut w h a t a toad was m ade for, nobody d o u b ter know s. ton makes the declaration that An ev erlastin g , n ev er-en d in g hom e “the church can have no specific T here is n o th in g wicked in your eyes so In th e tro p ics of som e in can d escen t p lan et solution of the labor problem.” m ild, We agree with him and further af- Y our placid countenance show s n a u g h t W ith never a bush for shade— T he tru e and faith fu l o rth o d o x believers firm that the modern church has th a t’s vicious; . j Y our look has in it, n o th in g fierce o r W ould have no use for him , no specific nor even general solu- .J(l And his occupation,like O thello’s, would tion of any other problem now be- ^ n(j your m ovem ents, q u eer, are not the ' Be gone for good. fore the worldl—[Flaming Sword.' least su sp ic o u s; I T rue F a x . The falling of the elevator is per haps not the only danger associa ted with life in the modern sky scraper. Some physicians, in mak ing physical examinations for life insurance companies, think that they have discovered that elevator boys and others who make many trips a day are peculiarly liable to heart disease and premature degen eration of the arteries. They do not know whether this is due to changes in atmospheric pressure in passing from basement to roof and down again, to the disturbances caused by the sudden starts and stops and the rapid descent, or to some as yet unsuspected cause. —[Youths Companion. The Russian priests seem to be as holy as those of Rome. Not 20 per cent of the population have re ceived the rudiments of education; and there are 10,000 villages with out schools. Well, in Italy, when the pope ceased to be a king, there were 17,000,000 who could neither read nor write. The priests of the Greek church, like those of the Popish, never educate, except for purposes of their own. An educa ted population would scout them. The sky-pilots will never favor any education which is not poisoned by theology and is thus calculated to enslave the children. They hate knowledge in the people.—[Liber ator.