Torch of reason., February 20, 1902, Image 1

“ TR U TH B E A R S T H E TORCH IN T H E SEARCH FOR T R U T H .” —
NO.
SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, E. M. 302 (1902.)
VOL. 6.
Ecce B ru n o !
who knew more th an the rest o f’ out of your cells, out of your dun- i
I HE REPL BLIC.— (NO.
)
Shakespeare was then ' geons; come into the air and light, j
•
Throw away your beads and crosses. The 0 ° ^ Government for Americans
Its First Proposal.
Bruno was driven from E ngland, i G ather dowers; m ingle with your
H EN I recall th e ttery sta k e
W here once th e P rin ce of S cience He was regarded as a dangerous fellow-men; have wives and child-
BY THOM AS P A IN E .
d ied ,
m
an,—
he
had
opinions,
he
inquired
re
n
;
scatter
the
seeds
of
joy;
throw
1 feel th e c h u rc h 's p illa rs sh ak e
A nd learn c o n te m p t fo r all its pride. after reasons, he expressed conti- away the thorns and nettleH of
H E present time, likewise, is
deuce
in
(acts.
He
Bed
to
France,
your
creeds;
enjoy
the
perpetual
T h ere c a n tin g b igots, full of sp ite ,
th a t peculiar time which
R ailed at th e m an who stood so brave, He was not allowed to remain in ! Q1iracle of'Life.
never happens to a nation
W hile th e ir tierce h e a rts were all a ffrig h t
th
at
country.
He
discussed
things
()n
the
seventeenth
day
of
Feb-
L e st th e ir c ra ft th e y n e ’er c o u ld save.
but once, viz: the time of form ing
th at was enough. The Church I ruary, in the - year of «
grace 1600, ■ by
He d id th e p a th of p la n e ts tra c e ,
- itself into a government. Most
A nd hence d e c la r'd ,“T h ere is no sk y ;" said, “ move on.”
He went to Ger- lhe triu m p h a n t beast, the Church natjon8 h a „ |e( s,ip the opportuni.
He dignified th e h u m a n race
A nd la u g h ’d to n o u g h t th e sacre d lie. m any. H e was not a believer— he i of Bome> this philosopher, this great ty> and by th a t m eans have been
was an investigator. T he G erm ans j and splendid m an was burned. He com pe| | ed to receive laws from
W here B runo b u rn e d is holy g ro u n d —
M ade blessed by his m a rty r-b lo o d ;— wanted believers; they regarded the Was offered his liberty if he would conquerois, instead of m aking laws
No g ra n d e r sp o t on e a rth is fo u n d
whole C hristian system as settled; recant. There was no God to be for themselves. F irst, they had a
T h a n w here th e d a u n tle s s “A th e is t"
they w anted witnesses; they wanted „(fended by his recantation, and | kingi and then a (orm of govern
sto o d .
T h ere see his se m b la n ce now in bro n ze, men who would assert. So he was yel> as an apostle of what he be- m en,. whereaB the artic|e8 or char-
W ho for th e tr u th , m id falseh o o d died, driven from G erm any.
lie v e d to b e the tru th , he refused ter of government »hould be formed
U p re a r’d by E re e th o u g h t’s m o d e rn sous
He returned at last to his native th j8 offer. To those who passed fir8t> aIld men delegated to execute
W ho from his ashes m u ltip lie d .
I land. He found him self without (be sentence upon him he said: them afterw ards: but from the
S ta n d fo rth , th e n , all ye S ons of L ig h t,
A nd le t y o u r T o rch of R eason beam , friends, because he had been true, “ It is with greater fear th a t ye pass errors of other nations let us learn
T ill S c ien c e ’ S u u sh a ll b a n ish N ig h t
not only to him self, but to the hu- this sentence upon me than I re- wisdom, and lay hold of the present
A nd W isdom all th e w orld redeem !
u n n ity
i, — to BEGIN
G0VERN ment
S ilv e rto n , Or., Feb. 17, A n n o B ru n o , 302. m an .ace. But the world was false ceive It.” This m an. g reater th an o p p o „ rtu
bi
to him because he refused to crucify a,l> ua ura is o us ( ay , g
at
KIGHT
AT THE
THE R
IG H T BND
END.
the
C
hrist
of
his
own
soul
between
‘
ha”
'
‘.e
"'■‘'
V
'
.
°
f
“
£
,*
1
*
*
°
,"
’
B runo.
A h to religion, I hold it to he the
vtiv
ov
died willingly in defence of w hat he
the two thieves of hypocrisy and believed to be the sacred tru th . He indispensable duty of governm ent
BY RO B ER T G. IN G ERSO LL.
bigotry. He was arrested for teach- wa8 great enough to know th a t real to protect all conscientious profes-
religion will not destroy the joy of B(>ra thereof, and I know of no other
H E night of the middle ages ¡ng th at there are other worlds than life (>n earth; great enough to know
lasted for a thousand years. this; th a t many of the stars are that investigation is not a crim e— business which governm ent h ath to
suns, around which other worlds that the really useful is not hidden do therew ith. . . .
The first star that enriched
I n a former page 1 threw out a
the horizon of this universal gloom revolve; th a t N ature did not ex­ in the mysteries of faith. He knew
was G iordano Bruno. He was the haust all her energies on this grain that the Jewish records were below few thoughts on the propriety of a
of sand called the earth. He be­ the level of the Greek and Rom an C ontinental C harter (for I only
herald of the dawn.
...........
in m yths; th a t there is no such thing presum e to offer, hints, not p lan s),
He was born in 1550, was educat­ lieved in a p lu rality of . worlds,
,n v iGa »» special providence; th a t prayer
liberIy and Iiecessity and in tins place, I take the liberty
ed for a priest, became a Dominican the rotation of this, m the helio- ,r
friar. At last his reason revolted centric theory. For these crimes, are tbe same, and th at good and of re-m entioning the subject, by
observing, th a t a ch arter is to be
against the doctrine of transubstan- and for th e s e alone, he was im pris- evjj a rp but relative.
oned for six years. He was kept
He was the first real m arty r,
understood as a bond of solemn ob-
tiation. He could not believe that in solitary confinem ent. He was neither frightened by perdition, nor
ligation, which the whole outers
the entire T rinity was in a wafer,
.
. .
r - .i
bribed by heaven. He was the first
or in a swallow of wine. He could allowed no books, no friends, ■><> „, a |, the world who died for tru th into, to support the right of every
not believe th a t a man could devour visitors. He was denied pen and w ithout expectation of reward. He separate part, w hether of religion,
In the darkness, in the did nitt anticipate a crown of glory, professional freedom, or property.
the C reator of the Universe by eat­ paper.
His im agination had not peopled A pirm bargain and a right reckon-
ing a piece of bread. 1ms led him loneliness, he had time to exam ine lhe heavens w ith angela wailing for ]
ke ,
fHend8 .
the great questions of origin, of ex­
to investigate other dogm as of the
his soul. He had not been proru-
*
°
.
istence, of destiny. He put to the ised an eternity of joy if he stood
1 he speech, (of the king] if it
C atholic church, and in every d i­
test what is called the goodness of firm, nor had he been threatened may be called one, is nothing better
rection he found the sam e co n tra­
dictions and im possibilities sup­ God. He found th a t he could with the fires of hell if he wavered th a n a wilful, audacious libel
neither depend upon man nor upon and recanted. He expected as his
jngt the tru th , the common good,
ported, not by reason, but by faith.
q i»i* i l n i t v
A t I h h t I lip i nn uisit inn reward rtn eterrml notuin^! I
> . ..
(()
ftn eVer|a8ting end— and the existence of m ankind.
Those who loved their enemies an> deity. At last, the inq nsi ion
He
nothing beyond but a sleep w ithout
The present state of America is
threatened his life. He was obliged dem anded him.
condem ned, excom m unicated and a dream , a night w ithout a star, t r u iy alarm ing to every m an who
to flee from his native land, and he
sentenced to be burned.
without a daw n— nothing but ex-
refleclion. W ithout
became a vagabond in nearly every
...
According to Professor D raper, tinclion, blank, utter, and eternal.
nation of Europe. He declared
So crown, oo palm , no “ well .lone, ' aw > » 'th o u t governm ent, w ithout
he believed th a t this world is an i­
th at he fought, not what priests
good and faithful servant,” no Hhout any other mode of power th an w hat
m ated by an intelligent soul— the of welcome, no song of praise, no j8 founded on, and granted by,
believed, but what they pretended
cause of f< -ms, hut not of m atter;
tte r’ smile of God, no kiss of C hrist, no courtP8y. Held together bv an on-
to believe. He was driven from
led occurrence of se'ntiraent,
his native country because of his th a t it lives in all things, even in m ansion in the fair skies— not even ex
such as seem not to live; th a t every- a grave within the e a rth — nothing
.
H„hiect to
astronom ical opinions.
He had thing is ready lo become organized; but ashes, wind-blown and priest- -b .cb
nevertheless eutfiec to
lost confidence in the Bible as a
.
. scattered, mixed with earth and change, and which every secret
th
a
t
m
atter
is
the
m
other
o
brm
s,
tra m p jed beneath the feet of men enemy is endeavoring to dissolve,
scientific work. He was in danger
Our present condition is, legislation
because he had discovered a truth. and then their grave; th a t m atter anfi beasts.
T he m urder of this m an will w hhout la w . wisdom w ithout a
He tied to E ngland. H e gave and the soul of things, together,
Constitute God. He was a Pan- never be com pletely and perfectly p lan ; a constitution w ithout a
some lectures at Oxford. He found
tb eist— th a t is to say, an Atheist, avenged until from Rome shall be I
>
.v as-
th at in stitution controlled by the
'
swept every vestige of priest and nam e; and, what is .tran g e y a .
priests. He found th at they were He was a lover of n atu re,—a re- ope> u n tii over the shapeless ruin tonishing, perfect independencecon-
action from the asceticism of the of St. P eter’s, the crum bled V atictn lei,ding for independence. The in-
teaching nothing of im portance
only the im possible ami the hurtful. C hurch. He was tired of the gloom a „d the fallen cross, shall rise a „lance ¡M w ithout a precedent, the
existed before, and who
He called Oxford “ the widow of of the m onastery. He loved the m onum ent to B runo,—the thinker,
fields,
the
woods,
the
stream
s.
I
F
philosopher,
p
h
ila
n
th
ro
p
ist,a
th
e
ist,
'•
There were in
;rue learning
said lo his brother-priests: Come m artyr.
<»"
66 the event?
England, at th a t lime, two men
BY JO H N PRESCOTT GUILD.
the world.
alive.
2
W
T
T