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Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.): n. Sunday, April 29, 1906.

Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.): n. Sunday, April 29, 1906. Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.). 400dpi TIFF G4 page images Blade Publishing Co., Lexington, KY 1906 blu1906042901 These pages may be freely searched and displayed. Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically. Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.): n. Sunday, April 29, 1906. Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.). Blade Publishing Co., Lexington, KY 1906 $IMLS This electronic text file was created by Optical Character Recognitio n (OCR). No corrections have been made to the OCR-ed text and no editing has be en done to the content of the original document. Encoding has been done through an automated process using the recommendations for Level 1 of the TEI in Librar ies Guidelines. Digital page images are linked to the text file. An rr 7 f ttl t 1w fE GRMS BLADEl If l kq4drlder WE AIM TO OUT DOWN ERROR ND ESTABLISH TRUTHtthSClJOC t81d VOLUME XV NUMBER 4 LEXINGTON KENTUCKY SUIfAY APRIL 29 1906 PUBLISHED WEEKLY 100 A YEAR IN ADVANCE JAMES B HUGHES Editor and Publisher TERMS OP SUBSCRIPTION ji One issue for one year 100 in advance In of Five NEW subscribers 50 cents each M Terms100 per year in advance foreign euliA scription 150 per year Five new subscribers sent for one year for Send your subscription by registered letter oflleeor express money order New Yorkdrt aud if personal cheeks arc sent addl charges as local banks charge same Jilj- Make all money orders drafts checks et j ble to James E Hughes LexingtqnJKy P t When you change your address thiseg- iving your old as well as the new addr r you Reid ulis L I 1tiri ne a new or o1aubaer er n the paper wi1I- su Tn ud as 00 he au t k C lk IrcThe courts invariably hold a subscriber respon priceIlr for in full and up to date and ordered discon timed Office of Publication is located at 153 W Short St Lexington Kentucky Entered at the post office at Lexington Kentucky 4as Second Class Mail Matter jAddress all communication to Blue Grass Blade P 0 Box 393 Lexington Kent- uckyEDITORIAL +++++ H ++ 1 i It H+ till 11 + + + Tinie spent in prayer is wasted a a a Bo true to yourself and you will be true to others a a a a a You cannot judge a mans character upon the strength of his catechism a a a a r Are you wasting your time If you are then tluit- a a a a a t fit Freethought has no forgiveness of sin but it pro t views for its prevention a a a it The Christian religion is huenIl incident in the development of the race but it forms an awful and interesting chapter a a a a True pntriotism would place tIle wellbeing of the whole people far above the impudent claims of partiesThei before the law to accord like opportunities in the field of industry and insure to each the full usu fruct of endeavor a f 6 a One of our subscribers takes us to task for our iconoclasm mid suggests that we lay down the hammer of Thor to fasten upon the Blade situ constructive work of reform Freethought to day lIas too many socalled constructive advocates II who shrink front the pioneer work The furnishinghenvenlThe intellectual seas have yet to bo cleared of nun erous pirates It is impossible to build n souu platform on a pie crate a a a a When rogues fall out we are told honest men may get their dues During the past week there have been recorded two riots in Chicago churches J One of them the papers say took place in a Cnth v olio church and the other in a negro Methodist 44place of meeting Both riots were caused b y i L 4 jL Jj J charges made by members ofa misappropriation of the collection This being true it looks as if Gorrermity had better keep his own cash ac counts if he desires to prevent bloodshed among his agents We are told that in the riot at the Catholic church It hundred or more policemen hud to bo called in and that several were wounded How these Christians can ever expect to dwell together through eternity in peace is another one of those divine mysteries which science is unnbk to explainra a a a Strange it any seem tlu Christian appears colors1JOho repels us and appals our humanity An IIfrcetioniHeJove that which we fear or praise that which is unjust The Christian degrades the deity he wor nhip by attributing to him a line of conduct tha- is trivial mean and malignant unworthy of man much less of God a a a In another column of this issue a contributor rir s to overproduction as one of the potent fat tors in bringing about hard times Steady there Though our bins were Bursting with cereals stale jlionin hunger to sleep Though our factories and markets were filled with articles of clothing stale overproductionbare It is not overproduction but underconsunip tion that lies at the very roots of our industrial evil The Blade is not an expert in matters in dustrial but it is certain that if our present ills art flue to overproduction then indeed is an addition al curse put upon labor and we are but just entering upon an age of agony It is impossible to create more wealth than the world wants If this wealth was distributed in accord with the creative power of each the result would not be glutted markets aud falling prices a a r a MAY IT NEVER COME TO PASS f Mrs Hannah Sharp who is a candidate for Rel cocder at Des Moiues la is reported tohavejiif trd lfe tononJ lt t tiGs apc z rnIf inu utiiomaciironiror gu campaign nnmper1 liraSharpeought to get the job but by all the sacred bugs and beasts of ancient Israel dont let it get to the ears of Sam Jones or Dr Parkhurst They might take a notion to adopt the invention and bring the pho nograph into direct conflict with the constitution It is said that the lady politician has talked her political claims into a number of machines which she is sending to all the country schoolhouses in her bailiwick that the people may gather together and hem what she has to say without her being pres GeorgiablathelSkiteber should conceive the idea of perpetuating their cheap vaudeville by such means Think of the terrible curse that would be laid upon humanity It would be enough to make the man in the moon get a hump on himself and hit the dusty to get be yond sound of the fearful pests There are circumstances and conditions wherein and whereunder such nn innovation would make a tremenduous hit Suppose for example some of our Congressmen should take to this plan they could talk into a register retire to the refreshment room and sip cremedementhe or something stronger leave the record in charge of a page instruct the boy to press the button at the proper psychological fii6ment then have the speech repented so as to get it in the Record for the edification of his con stituents and the latter would never know how it happened Those members of the United States Senate who do not take kindly tc some of Mr Till mans criticisms could dictate their objections to a cylinder take refuge in the cloak room while it is being reeled oil and thank heaven for a disagree anyinterferencethe source of the speech while it is being delivered ofjMrs Sharpe wins her fight she can sit on her front tineturnedsmash every record as things to avoid in the future a a a a IS THE RELIGIOUS CRASH AT HAND Knch succeeding day brings to light ajilitional evidence cl the decadence of Christianity as a moral force while the seven vials of the seven angels of the Apocalypse wore but as sweet bent dictions compared with the mural jnagucs that 1wdh people themselves are to blame They have manded for their pulpits some sentimental ssn tenceturncr or a brazen blackguard Usually those demands have been met The result is n condition of disintegration a gradual fallinig away of iho cohesive forces that kayo so long held the church mpilot Ir perilom shoals of life but the bulk of those who would ttteltlpt it demand a cash consideration ontrl1ctVh is eating at the very vitalsjlf orthodox Christianity its professors are hcapnJjiiipon it added shame and disgrace Ham moredpt from above and undermined at its very found nos the structure is doomed to early de stnictwi Moral forces independent of the churclj now oinplctely overshadow it and as a mapledemonws 1s1y creed ultimate but a more sharply fined isill This much is proven by the fact thitjcjtKttrii disputation is rapidly becoming as Kk virulent as partisan politics The ma jftrjtjvjf mi nkhd in the highly civilized countries aro oiide the pale of the church and these seek truth n i science instead of revelation It is not every ian who regards the professional preacher as a plctenTer who proclaims his belief from the houset s lilt tlio day is not far distant when the clergyjltf discover what a vast army this element const tcs Instead of conquering the world the Tcburchjis rapidly losing all that it has hitherto a large measure it still retains a sem bhincjaif vigor tool prosperity but like many ot1 c rent structures ofI similar character its brilliaiJV is born of decay The church is no long pr a dlmiuating factor in social life it is simply an x Foriliges an ignorant people sought to find some little flmfort among the husks of an ironbound orthodoxy The priest held dominiaiit sway He was tli public master in matters both spiritual and t ttnl B reason of his calling his profession ifryoulplease he was held in almost sacred awe as thoagh molded of a different clay of a holier eompyjtiou but these delusions have vanished are proving themselves to be much the samyjiindles of deviltry that have characterized human race It or the clergy the issues here predicted Of tills irresistible conflict might have been different forin to come Nineteen centuries of dSgniatising to end in an age of doubt accompan d bjlla cry for the oblivion of Nirvana On it fail to be impressed by these porten ous itt the tunes Everywhere black crime ullLsit ako of the derby and murder lusts jjti Jtl1 5ur Tlfept tbIiC iitlsnremtide 1lasg of pollution in the recording and chronicling of their misdeeds At Las Animas Colorado Rev W Gourley Connell pastor of a nearby Presby terian church is in jail and being guarded by de puty sheriffs to protect him from Judge Lynch for leaving violated the age of consent law of thai state He waived an examination thereby acknwl edging ilex guilt and is held to the grand jury From Peoria Ill comes the siclCning information that one Rev George H Simmons pastor of the loading Baptist church of that place com mitted suicide as an alternative to leaving the tit in disgrace because of the villainous double lif he had been leading Upon the appraisement o his estate being made it was discovered that h lied forged checks to the value of 90000 He not wait to he judged for his conduct but took iniative and shuflled out of the world with an un savory record Another instance recorded during the past week comes from Cleveland Ohio wherein the wife of Rev A lI Ingraham is suing him for divorce At the hearing the wife testified that her husbanc man of God as he professed to be told their little daughter that it was her Christian duty to plunge a sharp knife into the heart of a boarder name W D Hare whom he suspected of being too intimate with his wife If true this preacher was too much ofa coward to drive this serpent from his home but would encourage his innocent daughter to murder broughtintoexercise any influence upon the rational mind The amaranthine flowers must fade Under such circumstances as those above related it was nature for such men to preach thedoctrine of origiua MAXIM GORKY ON A THORNY PATH Oh Destiny thy name is woman poutYed at the hands of a woman For cruel false yet fair Egypts smiles Mar c Antony thought the world a bauble and now comes Gorky the Russian revolutionary leader whose mission to America was in the in terest of the political redemption of his country men contracting the pink tea habit and taking a soubrette for a traveling companion As the Blade understands it Maxim conic to this country to raise money for the Russian revolutionary party and he was in a fair way to do it but not now thent the soubrette when she isnt working is an expensive luxury and while they might be willing to take care of Madame Gorky and the little Gorky s on the theory that even the hardworking patriot is worthy of his hire they are not prepared to fin trice the Gorky establishment as it now exists in America t f If it be true that the Czar Nicholas had put an army of spies on Gorkys trial he might as well call them off and save mileage and per diem With y his present companion Gorky will stand often enough to enable the American newspapers to keep i Russia informed upon his movements The papers rr kx will never let him get too far away until he gets H aboard a returning vessel One thing is sure Gorlkys movements will scarcely lead lam to fttthcrecharacter of the company they keep Americans fmay admire Gorkys genius but there are things a genius cannot do and retain public admiration li Gorkys views upon the question of sex the sanc tity of the marriage relation and other conven ictions that are hedged about society are not popu lar in this country and men will look at him ask z once though they practice in secret what he is do ing openly ilhus it is that Gorkys mission has lost its pow 101 Public admiration for his genius will not lead to a condonation of his open defiance of decency His ways may be distinctly Russian but they are not American In other words the force of Gorkys mission here has spent out His path 3a is now a thorny one He is all in He might as well hire him a typewriter and go back to work at his trade a a a a RIGHT THINKING Could humanity be given the privilege of gazing upon a procession of the wrecks that have been caused in one life time by a cruel thought it would may be appalled No truer maxim was ever uttered by mortal man than that which says as a man thinks so is he Thought seeds are plentiful enough but they must be well cultivated to keep down the stherecious sarcasm some jealous and revengeful thought then daily trips of hate and anger are made to and from the mind and unhappiness is bound to follow Many a human life has been filled with misery and wretchedness depressed despondent and borne down by the uncharitable and wicked thoughts of others Many people take delight in scattering fear thoughts and failure follows them jvltxyrahcy go e CJ1 is isn u lestripiig to shun pain iiTiis own account prentends to find happiness in the thought that the sceptic though honest and sincere will suffer eternal tor anent In this he assumes to find a compensation for the deprivations he undergoes in this world happinessismind Freethought calls to him to halt and look toward the sunlight and then determine that if he cannot do any good in the world to cease scatter hug seeds of poison the venom of malice and hatred andeotherfToe1scatter gladness to encourage rather sucheemanate are helpers of the worldtthe savior of therace They help to lighten the burdens to ease the jolts of life and soothe thetwounded heart Once mankind has contracted habit of right thinking thhen will it also have learned the secret of right living ss HOW THE BLADE DID CUT Our readers will recall the criticisms and strict ores we made in a recent issue upon an extract from a sermon reported to have been delivered by Dr Emil G Hirsch of Chicago in which he was quoted as saying that all the very bad criminals were atheists The prominence we gave to those criticisms induces our giving a place in the editor ial column of the Blade to the following communi cation from Dr Hrisch in which he emphatically repudiates the statements attributed to him It reads in fulliDenial by Hirsch fJ Editor Blue Grass Blade I received a marked copy of your Blade from which I Icar11 that you have made a report of a dis course of mute the basis of some comiaent Should whatiascribed to me or anything like them As J my self am branded by orthodox Jews as an atheist the liklihood is not very strong that I should class myself among criminals To the contrary I chal longed the church to demonstrate that conversions on the gallows were anything but a travesty This remark the foolish reporter expanded into the non sense which you accept as authentic Were you just I have been before the public these thir ty years as an expounder of liberal views I think my reputation ought to have ipduced you to in quire whether I made the statements credited to me before making your onslaught You see you ought to have put your bile into pickle You l come much nearer being a goat than I Another mistake I see you the enlightened man have fnlllen into you speak of Jews as a nation Do you not know that liberal Jews have ceased caring for Continued on page four first column A H I to t e =WHAT IS HUMANCREDULITY 7 Interesting Excerpts From an Article J By J T Lloyd Published In the London Freethinker t11y reason of the protracted discus k i sion that has been indulged in upon tne subject ot Atheism and Crime I with all the comments made thereon the following selections are reproduc ed as showing the mental attitude Atheists as concerns phenomena and its bearing on morality What Is credulity Wherein does JItdiffer from belief or faith II we ac cept the authority of the Dictionary we must say that credulity means readiness of belief or a disposition to believe on slight evidence A crt dulous person is described as one easily imposed upon or as one apt to believe on Slight evidence In r other words a man is pronounced cre dulous when he believes more than Ihisneighbors do For example an or thodox theologian who believes In the verbal inspiration of the Bible i the virgin birth the miracles of Jesus the forsenic view of the Atonement and such like and calls them matters of faith is accused of credulity by a liberal divine This is not faith the latter cries but credulity But what is faith as distinguished from creduli f ty Must not a man believe certain alleged facts before it can be said that he possesses or exercises faith If faith signifies trust in God or Christ for salvation does not such trust in volve certain beliefs about God and Christ But who Is to determine whether such beliefs are true or not Myriads of people are convinced that they are not true and have not these as good a right to charge the liberal divine with credulity as the liberal divine has to bring a similar accusa lion against his orthodox brother Credulity is only a matter of degrees You cannot trust in God without be lieving that He exists and the belief in his existence is bound to carry with it some detinite belief as to his nature and attributes The Atheist is with out God and therefore without the ablllly to trust In him and conse quently without the pale of salvation Let us pause here An Atheist is a person without belief in God and therefore without a practical evangelist or saving faith Now con corning sue ha faith two things are alleged even by the liberal divine namely that in its absence the high- Est and noblest type of character is unattainable and that it is the gift of tGod Observe the plight of the poor The best life is out of his reach Do what he may he can never become a perfect man completely fur nished for all the duties of life He lacks the fundamental oilessential quisite faith But have pity upon nlm because the fault is not his but Gods He has not faith because God has neglected to give it to him It Is to this that the teaching even of the most progressive theologians inevita bly leads Let us not be afrald to follow the argument to its only legitimate con elusion We have seen what conces sions the liberal divine ja prepared to make to anxious inquirers He is willing to admit that avowed unbelievers may possess and exhibit the noblest type of character although he Is careful to add that when they do so they must be believers without knowing it which is absurd But in making such an admission he brands himself as a credulous person it must be remem bered however that he never makes that admission except under pressure from the logic of undeniable facts Under ordinary circumstances and when dealing with a different class of Inquirers he seems to forget that he ever made It When asked Why do you believe that it is impossible to fulfil lifes purpose apart from Christ he employs a language totally irrecon cilable with such an admission He takes for granted that Intfuch a ques tion It is assumed that according to Christian belief no man can realise the purpose for which he exists and attain to his true destiny apart from Christ Then he adds Here we have a contradiction in terms of the most glaring type If men can both be and do good on the largest scale without any religion whatever Is it not the very qulnitessence of absurdity to say that no man can realise the purpose for which he exists and attain to his true destiny apart from Christ Can it be shown that men exist for any other puropse than that of being una doing good on the largest possible scale If not what becomes of this vain Christian boast To say that we have all been born Into a civilization which has been profundly influenced by Christian ethical Ideals proves nothing because it is capable of the most perfect demonstration that Christian ethical Ideals have never been Indissolubly associated with the person of the founder of Christianity The ethical Ideals attributed to I Christ have always existed and do still exist apart from Christ Thoy are to be found in Judaism and Mohamme t 3 danism quite apart from Christ while in Buddhism we find even according to Christian thinkers ethical ideals which are superior In some respects to the Christian The editor of the Hibbert Journal goes the length of saying that a union between the forces of Christianity and Buddhism would be a decided advantage to the world No Christianity Is by no means the only ethical religion in the world and he who claims that It is must be pronounced hopelessly credulous The exhortation to trust God and ac cept Christ as Savior Is said to be fundamentally different from the quest to believe as series of proposi beIcausobut a hypothesis Our relations and friends are known to us as persons eminently trustworthy but Goa If he exists is unknown except to the im agination The exhortation to trust him presupposes the acceptance of certain theological dogmas not one of which Is susceptible of verification According to the New Testament virtueIgan to be circulated by the bereaved disciples It is reported that Thomas declined to believe it Ho was a man who insisted upon the presentation of satisfactory evidence In course of time such evidence was laid before him and at once being superlatively convinced he is said to have exclaimed My Lord and my God Then Jesus is reported to nave addressed him thus Because thou hast seen me thou hast believed blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed John xx 19 That foci dent may never have happened but It Illustrates the proposition that tho more credulous people are the bet ter Christian they make The more childlike their faith is the more precious It is said to be in the sight of God How often one hears the petti UoniGrant 0 Lord that our trust In theo may be perfectly simple and childlike and tho oftener it is repeated the simpler and more childlike grows the trust Now like the liberal divine we con demn credulity and unlike the liberal divine we regard all faith In the supernatural as pure credulity Up to a point we follow his example and all the way through we act on his guiding principle We refuse to believe In the absence of evidence As there Is no evidence of the existence of God and the unseen world we live without both and devote ourselves exclusively to the world that now is Numer cjsn d irresistible to us arc the evi dences that this world exists and it is our sincere conviction that we can realize the purpose for which we exist cur existence has a purpose and attain to our true destiny whatever that may be apart from Christ much more effectively than we could In ima ginary fellowship with him This is the Atheistic position pure and sim pIe Our life is based not upon a de nial of the supernatural but upon an emphatic affirmation of the all suffl ciency of the natural ITS THE NATURE OF THE BEAST The following editorial from The Unionist published at Green Bay Wis consin in the interest of the Unitar ian church will be found of great in terest to Blade readers It shows just how reluctant the clergy are to let hell go Probably they need one and do fell like destroying a personal believed In a physical hell real fire and brimstone and ever lasting burning But the objection curred to some of their minds that a literal fire would sometime or other burn up the wicked and they would be out of their misery Of coure this would never do so the theologians in vented various ways out of the difficulty One of these is set forth clearly In Hopkins Body of Divinity volume 2 page 253 as follows God will render a future separation of the body and mind impossible and can so form the body that It shall continue in full life and with quick sense in the hottest fire that can be imagined or exist through endless ages God will strengthen and uphold tho bodies of the wicked In suffering torments and make them strong to bear punish ment Another suggestion taken seriously by many was that the Im penitent would be provided with as bestos bodies But a more Ingenious theory still is that propounded by evangelist Torrey in his Philadelphia addresses At a recent meeting devoted to answering skeptics one Inquirer wished to know how a person could suffer phy sical torment after death when in the ordinary process of dissolution the nerve centers were destroyed in com mon with other parts of the body That is easily answered said Dr Torrey The writer is laboring under a misapprehension of the actual con ditions A person does not begin to suffer for sin Immediately after death The punishment will come on the res urrection of the body Tho body will be recreated and reinvested with the spirit that Influenced the man In life Easily answered Isnt It Of course It would be presumptuous to doubt the accuracy of the Doctors Information while to raise any fur ther questions on this point would al most bring upon our heads ho woe prcncuncod on one offender to whom the evangelist referred In this fashion I have not time to reply to every dog that snaps and barks Easily speaking of Dr Torres theory of hell and taking his word for it what an exquisite refinement of cruel aliIknow all about the actual conditions CAUSE AND REMEDY OF HARD TIMES Lack of Money Said to be The Cause Advocates Direct Tax on Capital That Labor MaYEnJoy Prosperity J By A LUTTERMAN Why are there any hard esIIs it because there Is not enough to eat to keep the fire aglow upon the hearth to cover and protect us from the elements Or Is It that we have failures In crops and the store houses of the world have been closed against us and there Is no response to labor these are not the cause of hard tlnes lor we have an abundance of all lifes necessities Yes Even to a publican overproduction T real cause of hard times Is a lanit of change media and that the laborer has no money to buy with The only way labor can obtain this worlds goods is through the medium of exchange money and as both money and the products are In the controlling hands of capital It Is impossible for that clans of men who have nothing but labor to make for exchange Labor Is not wanted during hard times and it is told that there is an overproduction of supplies already on hand growing stale and shopworn waiting for buyers Thus labor must suffer stand a deprivation of that which really belongs to it and all be cause they cannot possess or own a sufficient quantity of the exchange medium This in truth is about the only cause of hard times and since we have found the cause a remedy fsI to be found and applied In order to overcome hard times and maintain a prosperous condition for labor it js necessary to keep up a healthy circulation of the exchange medium This can be done by giving employment to all die labor at living wages by the government In the building of public utilities and conven iqnces such as railroads highways canals and such public Improvements as may be deemed necessary A tax could be levied upon all property ac cording to its value to pay therefor This would bridge the gulf between capital and labor and the latter could turn its skill energy and genius into ready cash and secure such necessi ties as life demands This would do away with overproduction and the worlds supply would be used for the purpose for which It was Intended and make room for more The capitalist would be relieved of a great burden and poverty be transformed into pros this can be done by placing a direct tax on capital Money Is but a tool Invented by the people to facil itate exchanges Its use and enjoyment should be made to apply to all the people and not to a few million alres Labor is the real and only foundation of all wealth The latter does not come from land from gold or silver but from labor only When labor is denied the right to exchange its product into money it Is deprived of an inherent right and robbed of that which really belongs to it With out labor we must starve and capital would also suffer When labor Is fully occupied each accordingly to ability there is an abundant supply of lifes comforts and money would flow free ly into the proper and legitimate pub- lIc channels With this human suf fering would cease Thus have I pointed out the direct cause of hard times and pointed to the way of salvation Why not apply the remedy Hopes for Our Success Douglas ArizEnclosed find post ofllce order for and as I have changed my place of residence from BIsbee to Douglas please hoje the kindness to change the address on the paper to Douglas I have not received the paper since I came here which Is six weeks as the post office wont forward the paper without extra postage so send it here I see by the pa per that Mr Moore has passed over the divide Am sorry to learn of tho fact but hope that tho paper will con tinue just the same Best w shes for yourself J L WILEYj4 EVER CHANCING WITH THE TIMES Is the Work of the Church Well Meaning Editorial In the Cincin nati Enquirer With Comment Made Thereon by Dr Wilson The Growth of The Churches me churches of the country enter so largely Into the character and di rection of its growth and accomplish so much that is helpful In various ways in the uplifting of society that information a sto their progress Is ot interest to readers ousido as well as inside their varied folds No one can taU to notice how much in a general way their teaching and alms have changed with the times and to how large an extent sectarian differences and angularities are disappearing and uemg disregarded Fifty years ago churches were looked upon chelly as divmltiy constituted organizations suring their members safe passage to and urstclass accommodations in a uoter world and their teaching was mostly along theological anti doctrinal ines Every sect while doubting the oiiicleucy of tho Insurance provision in the tickets of all rivals was wholly coiuiuuut of Its own and missions to the heathen were urged on the ground nat unless converted they were all uu med to everlasting punishment for not accepting what they had never heard of This world was not worth thinking about tho worse off we were here the better It would be for us in the next and vice versa It Is wonderful how complete and rapid the change has been The churches now are trying to emphasize points of agreement rather than of difference and are working harmoni ously together for moral and human taran ends Theology and doctrine have been sent to the rear and It is recognized that the true work of the church is here and now In making this world a happier and better place for everybody to live in on a basis of unselfishness and brotherly love In this effort agnostic and churchmen Jews and Infidels are working to gether and what a man believes Is regarded as of comparatively little sequence Oer creeds and forms let senseless bigots fight ie cant be wrong whose life is in the right goodsonseIt is under these conditions that the growth of the churches Is taking place In our time and the figures given for 1905 are interesting They are given by an ecclesiastical statistician as year 1905 the total number of communicants was 31148445 a net gain for that year of 519155 This membership was distributed as fol lows Roman Catholics first with 10785490 net gain 192122 MethO- dists second with 9429815 gain 101 892 Baptists come third with 4974 047 gain 72CG7 Lutherans fourth with 1841340 gain 51580 Presbyter ians fifth with 1723871 gain 20174 Disciples of Christ sixth with 1325 294 gain of 1428 Episcopalians sev enth with 827127 gain 19203 Con gregatlonallsts eighth with 687042 gain 13321 Reformed Dutch and German ninth with 405022 gain theilr percentage of Increase they stand in this order Lutheran 028 Episcopalians 023 Congregationalists 019 Roman Catholics 017 Methodists 015 Presbyterians 015 Baptists 014 Reformed 008 Disciples of Christ 001 Methodists and Baptists are doing most for the negro of the South and are very strong in that section The Baptists growth In the North where they number 1075833 was but 4864 but the Methodist Episcopal Church North 2910779 strong had a growth of C2S47 These figures show that the percent age of growth has been greater in the smaller denominations than In the larger ones The Lutherans lead which may bo partly due to Immigra tion Then como tho Episcopalians who gain chiefly from the rich and fashionable elements in the larger towns The Roman Catholics who have had presumably the largest for eign accession are fourth which would Indicate a loss somewhere So far as church polity goes the Catholics Episcopalians and Presbyterians represent a preference for st ong centralized church government while the Congregationalists and Baptists arts purely democratic In their organi zations each individual church con ducting its own affairs The total church membership covers about one third of tho population and the progress made In tho past year is regard ed by church authorities as reasonably satisfactory The abovo Is the leading editorial fromlast Sundays Cincinnati Enqulr er The leading editorials of the Sun day issue of this paper are looked for by thousands of people as they are either literary gems descriptive of some form of nature tr a strong and attractive liberal exposition like the above It Is plain to fo seen that the wnter is a lTeethlnkVr as much so as ourselves and whllli being compell ed from policy to his sails to the theological breeze at the same time ho braves the depths of liberal opinion He ventures ko say that the true work of the church is toward the advancement of tnorals and hu mnnitarlanlsm which Is equal to say ing that Its past work has not been trueSIn the general desire of good men to make this a better world to live in he says the Agnostic Churchmen Infidel and Jew are working togeth erplacing the Agnostic first An editorial like this going to 300 000 people and read and commented on by more will have a wonderful effect The word Agnostic evidently is not so terrible as it once was The figures given by the Enquirer instead of showing a healthy advance In reality show a sickly slump He shows that the total net gain of all the churches in of a membership of 31148545 was 519155 Why they breed that many in six months Look at emigration The church member ship was augmented in this way by more than its net gain The membership he has given of 148545 Is entirely too high Accord Ing to statistics I have seenI mean church statistics they number less than 28000000 With such a membership which Is largely padded and which covers the names of thousands of Indlfferonts and dead people how can Christianity have the continuous cheek to call this a Christian nation J B W ORIGINAL AND v SELECTED POEMS To Percy Bysshe Shelley Thou hadst In theo the essence or sweet song The spiritvapor that was wont to thrill That clings around us and that haunt eth still The tragic element in theo was strong Thou wert a seer amid tho heedless throng Too too intense far minor minds to grip Who seeks thy shorn must ever bathe not dip Lured by the thoughtwaves that thy brainhath flung Poetic Wizard thy wondrous lay What rapture love and truth and light are shown Thy cloud still sleeps In grandeur oer our day The vigor of the lark is all thine own The Cenci nh and Adonals these sway Passion and pathos that were master grown E L T HarrisBlckford My Future Where was I before my time A hundred years ago My soul was naught I could not think There was a loving God But when a child did believe That God lived up on high This all Is changed I am satisfied This Is nothing but a lie When I am called by Natures InwI Ill fear not Death or woe Ill be just the same as before my time A hundred years ago Original A Lutterman Heresy In all the lists of sins and crImesI Set down by Popes in Romish times The heresy that frees a manr From papal despots leads tho van And all who follow in the lead Of heresy against a creed Of Roman magiall their race Rome sends to Sheols hottest place Now If this principle holds good All Romanists will serve as wood In Sheol for the church of Rome Was heretic from base to dome Jupiter changed to Jove was kept In Bacchus shoes Christ Jesus stepped Juno to Virgin Mary changed Old creeds with new ones were ar ranged In heresy Romas church was built And then she turned about and split Tho blood of those who kept the faith Mad to maintain her new made wrath If heretics shall be consigned- To deepest hell then Rome will find Herself in Sheols lowest room Her own decrees adjudge her doom Original Matilda C Coomes VESUVIUS SUCCUMBS TO PRAYERS AND SAINTS BONES Once more Vesuvius has been giv ing tho Neapolitans a taste of Its qual ity and after belching forth enough molten lava and hot ashes to kill and r 0 0 bury a tow thousand humans maim many thousands more and dostroy many million dollars worth of property has given the survivors a breath Ing spell in which to bury their dead clear their property from ashes and prepare for another period of gener ally happy If precarious existence We do not know that scientists are agreed as to the origin of volcanoes but Professor Mercalll thinks the ceas- Ing of the present eruption was due to the choking of the vocalno by the collapse of the crater There are lots of people however who refuse to ac cept the guesses of scientists while they willingly believe tho assertions of Ignorant priests and this Is especially the case with the lighthearted folks who have suffered from Vulcans out bursts Thoy lke usmay not know what was the cause of tho eruption but quite sure they know whatstopped it Who should t know better than those who were on the spot and saw It dene Processions ofipriests with saints bones and masses are the allpawcrful agencies that set tied tho hash of the pagan god or devil who for a few days used VesuIvius as hs forge himney What testant preacher who prays for rainIcr sunshine can deny this truth The cemetery at Terrodol AnnunIzlata was especially fortunate It had an Image of the Madonna In a promi nent position and this Image was ob served to sweat copiously both beforoIand during the approach of the lava Tho faithful people carefully mopped up the perspiration with towels and handkerchiefs and the Madonna re warded their attentions by preventingIthe lava from burning and ing the tombs This is a reasonable storyfor a Catholic and doubtless the pieces of cloth sold and preserved as relics will satisfactorily prove to future Catholics the truth of the miracle Why not Why deny that a wooden imago or a stone image either should sweat or perform all the natural functions of protoplasmic mans if it has a mind to do so It may see a strange way of show Ing power to get in a sweat but who knows the way of a sulntespecIally ofa female saint the image could stop the moving lava by saying to it Thus far shalt thou go and no farther why should it not have prevented the lava from leaving the crater at all Why get into a sweat over the possible baking of a few corpses when hundreds of pee pIe were being burned alive We might say Logic what has theology j to do with theeSecular Thought tiRAPES1sTo the i United Confederate Veterans Reun Ion at New Ocleans April 2527th Tickets will be sold at greatly re duced rates via Queen Crescent Route April 22 23 and 24th limit to April 30th Upon deposit of ticket and payment of 50 cents limit may be extended until May 21st Ask ticket agent for particulars Our fee returned we cue ehdlnIsketch and ue trii Ii n rniagtheitent sent upon request Patents secured expensePatentswithout charge lu an Illustrated and ltl1 circulated journal consulted Manufacturers and Investors Send for sample copy FRSF Address VICTOR J CAt i 8 Patent dttoroeysl Svans Building III arssssssss a RoutQI It traverses a territory rich tn undeveloped resources a territory containing unlimited possibilities for agriculture horticulture stock rids Ing mining and manufacturing And last but not least it Is The Scenic Route lor TouristsT- he Frisco System now often the traveling public excellent service and 1 fast time i Between St Lous and Kansas City and points in Missouri KansasiArkansas Oklahoma Indian Terri tory Texas and toe Southwest Between Kansas City and points in Tennesscr Alabama Mississippi Georgia Florida and the Southeast Between Birmingham and Mem phis and points In Kansas Arkansas Oklahoma Indian Territory Texas and the West and Southwest Full information as to route and rates cheerfully furnished upon appli cation to any epresentatlvc of the Company or toIPassenger Traffic OCpa RlCBtjCommercial Bulldlna Saint mule ijfl r p t tax saqrr 1Mt1 n re+ L firFVM 7J I f IJ t + ++ II H1 + +44fI 111 4+ + I THE BLADESi +Eck Hllcman Thanks for clippings The Porno carne to hand and lJUbllshedI and othersThe Rome book is now on the press and will be Issued in a fow days Dr Wil son has made It larger than he at first Intended and the additions have caused delay Frank MoodyThe matter sent In clipping is hardly worth an answer It is too weak and peurlle Wo thank- you however for your Interest and appreciate your work for the Blade Richard S HigginsYou will re ceivo the paper all right W CooperWe return opon loiter to Dr Hirsch The reason for this will be made plain in this Issue of the Blade Otherwise It would have been pentlnent and to the point Your state ment that out of 3400 prisoners Idan English convict establishment there were but Atheists and these almost IsIwishesItunate if you never leave a worse record behind you than the Blade Charles Burnett Holyoalie did not f renounce his secularism Since death efforts have beets made to show that he had weakened to a great ex tent but they failed While he was tho Father of secularism In Eng land his advccacy therof was not as active in his later years owing to ex treme old age Gus Barber See tho Hirsch letter in this issue- Clarence Walker A Lutterman Elijah Mfzer Thanks for clippings H W HillSickness In Mrs Henrys household prevents her writing at this time for the Blade In a recent letter to us she stated that there was some Improvement and hoped soon to be able to be with us again Real Encouragement Clayton OMr James E Hughes My time haS expired for the Blue Grass Blade but I have no notion of having it stopped To tell the truth I like it Just a little better than under the old management No reflection upon Mr Moore He has fought a good fight may he rest in peace Ho is dead but the good influences he left shall never die Please find closed one dollar and twenty cents r stamps the stamps to pay postage on Dr Wilsons bookA W KEP LINGER Blade Sharper Than Ever Mosier OreIshall remit you some money May 1st to pay for the Blade I cant collect any until then I do not want to do without tho Blade It must and will live To me it shows now greater vitality than at any per- Iod of Its existence It is Just what we need to brush the cobwebs from our bralnsR W SIMPSON This Has the Right Ring Selvin IndMr Jas E Hughes Please find enclosed post office money order for five dollars It is not much but all I can do at present It will help you a little The Blade must not die We Freethinkers can not do without it and if all will support the Blade as liberally as Christians do the church there wll not be any dan ger of It going out of business So shove up boys and let us make our new Blade hum Let us back up our doctrine with a little hard cash and help Brother Hughes DR E C SPRINGSTUN Some Truths Well Said St Ansgar Iowa Enclosed please find on my subscription to the B Blade The recent improving of the Blade scores one for regeneration two for transmigration and three for evolution Narrow gauge reformers should be a thing of the past Life Is too short to spend it all one idea Re forms are needed In every direction Isms are stationary They can be put in to books but a periodical should be the voice of coming oventsC G W CLAUSEN The Way to Do Things Madison GaMr James E Hughes Enclosed find post office order for 150 Credit my subscription with and keep the 50 cents as I may order extra copies Every Liberal who has the interest of Liberalism at heart should distribute every month as many copies of the Blade as he can afford For years I have distributed hundreds of copies of tho Blade and perIsons for your Blade If they knew of its character and Its endeavoring to free mankind from the thraldom of religious Intol erance Wishing every Llberalto put his shoulder to tho wheelA A BELL M D Short But Sweet Wilmington N CPlease accept this dollar to help tho- Blade The 0 uj f lit j v t IX Blade Is as good as It always was rho spirit of Charles Moore is still In it LEGER MEYER No Doubt About It Newark N JMrs Henry and Dr Wilson conducted the funeral ser vices of Mr Moore May have cop ies of Feb 11th and 18th When read them Ill send them to trlendsI as much 1J3I shrould like them on my file as I understand them to be qKC SIPPEL Christian Religion Founded on Fraud Muncie Ind Enclosed you will find an article clipped from the Peoples Press which will be of interest to the readers of the Blade Of course every reader of the Blade knows to a posi Live certainty that the Christian re ligion Isfounded on fraud and fiction and perpetuated by crime and ignor ance but It will be gratifying to all of them to learn that tho great and good men of the world are now engaged In laying broad and deep the foundations of a new civilization based on science and reason and the religion of manity Irfpiuco of the pagodas and Joss houseaf1cB raty cast their dark shadows upon the earth we will soon have rock JjuIIt temples in every city village and hamlet dedicated to science and liberty and to tho propa gation of the good the beautiful and the true When tills happy day arrives a golden cesius of clasped hands will encircle the whole earth and the sweet fragrance of love will convert our distracted world Into an Eden of happlnessT J BOWLES M D Willing to Remain a Slave Rocky Oklal write to request you to discontinue tho paper sent to my address I did not subscribe for It I suppose it is sent to me through tho mistaken kindness of some rest less spirit going through the world seeking rest and finding none I am now startingSouth Dont know when If ever I shall return and dont care to leave such a record behind M FAIR Work That Is Worthy Bodle Calif Brother Hughes Find enclosed money order for 215 for which you will please send the Blade for one year to tho name en closed in Bodle Ho Is one of our Liberal Japanese brothers Tho 15 cents is for postage on Wilsons Rome Congress books and one dollar for Memorial pamphlets of Charles C Mcore our late editor to me I would be pleased to do more if I was able I am 79 the first of May next and I have been wjaroutinconuofornearly- three years on account of poor health I am pleased with the Blade under your management and sincerely hope the delinquents will pay up pomptly I will do all I can to assist you0- W HAMMER Was Moved to Reply Milo eDear Mr Hughes In the first place I must heartily con gratulate you on the fine showing you make In your new management of the Blue Grass Blade I prophecy a new era of success and am very pleased to see that there are many others who think as I do I am sending enclosed a letter to Dr EG Hirsch and if you see fit to publish same as an open letter to him do so or you can for ward it to hint by mall at your option for which I enclose stamps I want to get at him for his alleged statement You will doubtless seem point in sending a cutting which knock him rather hard It really seemed to me as though the case came along In the nick of time to be used against hm Wishing you ev evry success am Sincerely yours W COOPER i r = Better Late Than Never Bethany Enclosed please find 200 for subscription for Blue Grass Blade for 1905 and I should have remitted before now but have been neglectful Am glad to know that the paper is getting more Inter eating I liked Mr Moore very much think Dr Wilson the most fearless writer we have today he has the knack of saying what he thinks and is honest We have a very narrowmind ed Reverend here Not long ago a large fire of Incendiary origin occured and he asked me If I was not glad there was a hell now What do you think of tnat I answered in tho neg ative for as l told him I did not be hove in a biblical hell but did think there was hell sometimes here on earth I would like very much to have Dr Wilsons book on his trip to Rome but do not feel able financially at present to own oneC W GUTHRIE 1 Where the Labor Lies Sycamore KanI enclose draft for to help keep tho good old Blade and Its editor alive It Is worthy the support of all Liberals of tho country and I do wish that Freethinkers as a class were more liberal with their means In aid of tho different Free thought publications If all could feel and realize the danger that confrounts the common people from the encroach ment 6f organized churches and or 7 L ganized capital they would come to the rescue overthrow both and set up in their stead a Government of the people by the people and for the pee ple Organized churches and organ ized capital as these are now manip ulated are the greatest curses that havo over befallen tho human race Either unrestrained will reduce the people to serfdom If the liberties of tho people are to be preserved the Freethinkers of this country will have tho worK to do All orthodox churches are despotisms within themselves and Individual liberty cannot come from such a sourceJ F MAYO Glories In the Fight St Paul Minn Brother Hughes Send mo Sacrament also Brother C C Moor s memorial booklet Have you got an index if you have let me know what one will cost me and If you have not tell me where I can get one If you are sending the Blade to any one in this city I would like to have the address am trying to get members for the churcn of humanity We must get together or we will never a power I pass all the Freethought papers I get to tho heathens and I hope in time to get quite a number of them to Join the church Brother Hughes you can rely on me to do what can for the Blade I will tell you the Blade is the best FTtethought pa per in print and is doing more for humanity than any other In existence cannot tell you how I lament Broth er Moore I loved him more than any man on the planet You do not give the clerics hell as Moore did I would like you to rip them up the back the same as he dldW F WILSON Will Work In the Push Madison Oldallr Jas E Hughes I want to do all that I feel like I am financially able to do for you and for the interest of tho Blade I cer tainly do not want to see the Blade die was greatly surprised when I received my first copy of the Blade with James E Hughes as editor I had you sized up as a man Insignifi cant I Just thought you were a part of the linotype and was a cog to the machine If you continue the Blade In the future as you have in the past It will certainly bo a good paper for missionary work as a person need not be afraid of Insulting his good Chris tian friends with it Enclosed find post office order for f for which end the Blade to name givenS D BEAL MEAR Is There a True Basis Bluaj Grass Blade Dear SirI have BlueGrassJBladeopen infidelity is no worse than Christianity founded on a false basis if It might be socalled To have no money Is not as bad as one having a pocket full of counterflet Tho one is honorable the other is criminal To pro fess to belleye in tho truth of the Bible and contend for or believe In a doctrine contrary to it is the worst of infidelity But to expose the errors of men and claim that as refuting the religion of Christ ns taught by himself and his apostles this Is equally wrong The teachings of the founders of Christs religion has made a provision for offenders or violators of its holy laws He came to save sinners only and If there were no sinners there would be none to save But the often ders are not excused for their sins but are punished in this life The edict Is gone forth that tribulation and argument upon every soul of man Christian that doeth evil to the Jew first and also to tho Greek Therefore t seems to me the possessor of such a religion makes better citizens as well as more faithful In the discharge of every duty in every sphere In life Will you give in your paper your ob jectlons to tho teachings of Christ and hs apostles for my especial benefit One who Indulges a hope of a blessed Immortality JAMES HEARAY A Matter of Opinion Blue ArizYou can put mo down for one of the Moore Memorial pamphlets While I had the greatest respect for Mr Moore and know that he was one of the few honest men and in a way a great and a brilliant man but I believe tho Blade along tho lines it Is being run will please more people and get more subscrib ers than while run under the radical ideas of Mr MooroC B MARTIN Cant be Improved On Wellsford KanThis is my first attempt to write to the Blade I like the Blade and think that you are the right man in tho right place I was sorry to hear of Brother Moores death and I sympathize with his tam ily I am a strong believer in a God but not tho Bible God it is In Natures God The church tells mo that I am lost tell them that I cant help it If I am as I did not lave anything to say about my coming into tho world and wont havo anything to say about going out Now I want to know If God made all the little souls that are not born yet and if he made them In the six days that ho made tho world and If he did and I do evil I cannot help it for In Proverbs 41lt says Tho Lord has made all things for himself yea even the wick ed fpr the day of evil I believe tho only way to serve God is to try to encloseT pamphoREFLECTIONS FROM- DIFFERENT MINDS In Which They Allude to the Man JesusThat Forged Passage J Man by Nature an Atheist t tThe Man Jesus of volumes that have ben written designated as the Life ot lightJsubject as the following short paragraph wrlttten by Prof Goldwin Smith of Canada In the Now York Sun arid copied into Secular Thought pub ifshed In Toronto The mighty and supreme Jesus to transfigure all humanity IbVEwas wit and gracethis Je T6my mind this fact has no terror I believe the Legend of Jesus was made by many minds wcjrMng under a great moral Impulse man adding a parable another arixhortation another a miracle sto ryund so jesus represents to us not a plan out the aspirations of many hearts If one age can create a Jesus another can Our age can You and I ciiu help In the creation We can Join in making not a legend buta new Ideal of humanity the figures of a t1W man a new message a now prophecy All our better thoughts all our wiser speech and all our truer deeds shall form parts of this creation which shall be a gospel to those who come after That Forged Passage Can you give me the reason loll dels have for saying that the paragraph in the works of Josephus refer ring to Christ was manufactured after Jolephus death or put in to bolster up the creedF E Ladd M D We can give the reasons infidels have for rejecting the passage They are the same reasons which have led learned and intelligent Christians to reject it Gibbon stated that the pas sage was inserted into the text of Jo sephus between the time of Orlgen and that of Euseblus and may furnish an example of no vulgar forgery Dr Nathaniel Lardner supports the Ylof Gibbon The Christian fath ers Justin Martyr Clement of Alex andria Tertulllan and Orlgen never cited this passage In their controver sies although they were well acquainted with the writings of Josephus and would not have overlooked such a favorable testimony to Jesus The evidence against the passage Is sum med up by G W Foote in his Crimes of Christianity under the head of Pious Forgeries Mr Footo says The inventive genius of Euseblus first lighted on the passage la the fourth century He quotes it with an air of triumph and says that those who doubt the Christian story of Jesus henceforth stand convicted of downright impudence Tanaqull Fa ber maintained that Euseblus forged the passage himself A little care in the composition might have added to its plausibility It is so for sign to the context that Tlllemont was obliged to resort to the supposi tioir that Jcsephus inserted it after he had finished the work As a zealous and orthodox Jew Josephus could not callihimlieve the Messiah to be God and the statement that Jesus drew after him passageisWarburton called It a rank forgery and a very stupid one too Dr Giles also condemns It as a forgery interpolated in the text during tho third century by some pious Christian who was scandalized tnat so famous a writ er as Josephus should have taken no notice of the gospels or of Christ their subject And De Quincey in his es say on the Essenes emphatically says tnt this passage has long since been given up as a forgery by all men not lunatics This Is a case where infi dels do not have to give reasons for rejection or formulate arguments against a pious fraud They are found ready at hand from the writings of Christians Peoples Press Man by Nature is an Atheist After all that has been so plausi bly written concerning the Innate idea of God after all that has been said of Its being common to all men In all ages and nations it does not appear that man has naturally any more idea of God than any beast of tho field He has no knowledge of a God at all neither Is God In all his thoughts Whatever change may afterwards be wrought whether by tho grace of Gofl or by his own reflection or by education lIe is by nature a atholstV Wesleys Sermons mereI p 309r ir j i fii l INOTE 18 REDUCTIONS size Special R 2600 New RWay Watch Co 21 Jls U7 same 17 jig Elgin Verltas 23 29 Father Time 21 Jls 2250 B W Raymond 19 Jls 20 B W Ray mond 17 Jls 1850 Waltham Vanguard 23 Jls 29 Crescent Street 21 Jls 2250 Ap pleton Tracey Co Premier 17 Jls 1850 same not Premier 16 The above guaranteed to pass R Way Inspectors DnrtIlettsame Justed Elgin Waltham or Hamp den nickel 15 Jls Elgin or Wal tham nickel noncatchable hair spring Jls Hampden 7 Jls gilt 450 Standard or Century Jls Al the above in 3 or 4ounce ell verine case prepaid In silver or gold filled screw case accompanied by manufacturers and my guarantee for 20 years or in hunting case more In 25 year screw case or In hunting case 850 more than in all verlne case In solid gold case 10 to 50 more LADIES GOLD WATCHES Large size Elgin Waltham or Hampden 20year gold filled latest style artistic handchased 7 Jls 15 Jls 16 Jls adj 15 small o size 7 Jls 1150 15 Jls 15 16 Jls adj 18 Riverside extra fine In 25year case more In 14k solid gold case 510 to 50 more Latter with diamonds all In plush box pre paid with guarantee Send for prices of Watches not listed Jewelry Rings Silver and Plated Ware Optical Goods and My Tract Theism in the Crucible free OTTO WETTSTEIN La Grange Cook Co Ill UPTODATE PAMPHLET- ON MARRIAGEAND JOSEPHINE K HENRY- OF VERSAILLES KENTUCKY All orders promptly filled Price copy 25c 5 copies for 100- OBJECTS The Complete Separation of Churchand State L Taxation Property 2 all the a Uy appropriating 3fo sectarian purposesfor other State the oath the courts in other and That no diplomatic relations be with tho or authority or that the or the stltutlon nor other be the to the all press THE BEST LINE s12i QaC11 1t Zat icDi o IndinnoliaPLooisslleBailONLY FA MOlSfl l TffOrj iI JOB PRINTING- We have a complete Job De partment and are first class work at reaaonableI ofderBLUE CRASS BLADE i 153 W Short St Lexington Ky 50 YEARSJ TRADEMARKSjDESIGNS Ac J mayquicklyCommunicationapatentsiatente re without Scientific jnhtricait Illustrated Largest of selentiee journal st3aearl fonrmonthe51 bfall newsdealers YorkBranch i METHODS The Organization into a Political dye CHAR Tins jIna eresisting all ofeoIupon the State uniting with and nojustlyccwpreulon or monopolyand Ithe Initiative and f rights justice to 811Iall t andlegalall other tials a and pent must rest 1 50 YEARS EXPERIENCE jDESIGNS maytuicktJInndbookon Inleula foreocurtngputcnuiatenla ierouse without charge lat- heScknfificMmerica landsomely illustrated lnrcct ispair fourmonthEL 8oldhyalinewadenlc- I1iJNN CO3018roadwar New Yr lituh G F SL Wahlneton n 125 CINCINNATI AND RETURN VIA SUNDAY APRIL 29 Special Train i LEAVING LEXINGTON 730 amIAskTieket Agent for Paiticolua j GREATEST DISCOVERIES- OF j SCIENCE EVER MADE GOD SATAN AND HOLY GHOST ARE NOTHING BUT CREATIONS OF FICTION HEAVEN AND HELL ARE ONLY MYTHS CON SCIOUS LIFE IS EXTINGUISHED AT DEATH The Church of Humanity teaches these great discoveries through Its organ The Truth About God which It publishes monthly and Its school The Central Kansas Business College which teaches Stenography Typewriting Bookkeeping Commercial Arithmetic Penmanship and Spelling and The Truth About God In a general course of study given by the tem porary International Instructor for the church The Church has 100 LIFE MEMBERS It wants 900 more to formally organize and Incorporate The first thousand members will be the founders and organizers of the CHURCH OF HUMANITY If you have loved ones you wish rescued from the Idolatry ot worship Ing a dead man named Jesus and a myth named God you should join this Church and It will aid you In freeing them and In saving your posterity from becoming Idolaters by teaching them The Truth About God Write to W H KERR 2210 Broadway Great Bend Kan for blank application for membership Information about tho college and send 25 cents for a years subscription to the TRUTH ABOUT GOb Do it now I h f W r fi TP T I1 j 7 7 rIt c- z Iii u Editorial Continued from page one Jewish nationalism that we are doing our best to eliminate Jewish nationalism of every kind from our life If your temper and fairness illustrate the moral viewpoint of your atheism I have good cause to be grateful that my views differ from yours Truly yours EMIL G HIRSCH It is both refreshing and gratifying to lear from Dr Hirsch in person that the statements at tributed to him are false For their circulation and publication however the Blade is in nowise responsible as the purported extracts from his ser IOmon being so sensational in character were caught up by the News Agencies of time country and sent to syndicates of newspapers for publica tion The Blade had every reason to assume that the reported extracts had really been uttered by paltion so far as the Blade now knows Chicago renders of the Blade and subscribers from other points sent us the clipping by mail which is prima facie evidence that the belief that Dr Hirsch did make those statements was widespread No blame can attach to the Blade for also entertaining such a be lief 4 The late William Ewart Gladstone is quoted a once saying Wise men change their minds fools never do and since we have learned from unim tpeachable authority that we have been led into an unintentional error as concerns Dr Hirsch we ex tend our sincere apology to him He is in fact wiser and better man than the newspapers ha philoisome conception of a crackbrained news reporter and t it is unfortunate for Dr Hirsch that he has been a made a victim of such a pitiable blunder Dr Hirsch gains nothing however by telling us that we are more of a gpat than lie Although the grass round Us andabout us is of that world- r famous Blue variety which make our meadows the fairest on earth we have not had to take any l goldcure for the Nebuchadnezzar habit It docs Dr Hirsch no good under such circumstances make such a retort He only spoils his case and s displays that condition of the mind against which he complains namelya bad temper In conclusion the Blade directs the attention of Dr Hirsch to this explanation and apology for our upoMn criticisms were made good upon port published Had that report been true ha not Dr Hirsch repudiated it then indeed the Blade would have reiterated all that it had pre viously said with even greater emphasis and mean ing t We are glad however to publish Dr Hirsch r denial in these columns and we are gladder t denialrSECTARIANS r AT WAR Paganism has frequently expressed astonish ment at the existence of so ninny different and an tagonistic sects each claiming the title of Chris tian and all pretending to base their peculiar doctrinal claims upon the Bible The intelligence of America has been compelled to hold aloof from the church because of the irreconcilability of doctrinal assumption and the bitterness with which one sec tarian votary assails the members of another sect All this is helpful to the cause of Free thought for discussion must impel a man to think and thinking breeds revolt against orthodox forms Moved by an overweening desire to exalt one sect above another the adherents of each have re sorted to methods that excite suspicion The moment Rationalism as against them all compels a retreat a new fortification is thrown up to encourage the weaklings to hold together in an effort a resistance toward further onslaughts But when internal dissension crops out the march forward is made comparatively easier The Blade has been accorded the privilege o f perusing some advance criticisms of an essay writ ten by an alleged Monotheist which is entitled Some Trinitarian forgeries It is a severe at tack on all trinitarian believers and advocates and charges them with printing and circulating forge texts as though they were genuine passages from the Bible The passages referred to are those gen erally quoted in support of the doctrine of the trinity Doubtless the evangelical churches will resent this assault on one of their fundamental tenets The author charges them with forgery of scrip tures that is either with forging scriptures or cir culating scriptures which they know to be forger ies He predicts and it is probable of fulfillment that the church will lose its hold upon the masses unless it reums to ordinary honesty with respect toI its sacred writings One passage reads thus The law of God is that he is one but you sus tain forgeries to Scripture to prove your creeds that say that he is three And yet you lament the paralysis of the church You poison the river of life by pouring into it the muddy waters of trithe ism which you drew from the sewers of polythe ism and yet you wonder that the people who are practical who build who toil who makes things and who thus must in the very substance of their nature be true do not drink the fouled stream Such criticisms could have been made by any Freethinker but this attack conling from one who admits of a belief in the truth of the Bible confess ed to a high degree of personal character among orthodox people will do more to undermine the church and make for the advancement of Free thought than if uttered by an avowed JFrcethinker It is the efVervjscence of the spirit of unrest with r L krJ iifJ in the bottled up creeds that precedes an eruption It is the process of fermentation that leads to liberty THAT SUPREME COURT DIVORCE DECISION- It may be that the occupants of the Supreme Bench of the United States are as Mare Antony said of Brutus and his associates in cruise All honorable men but the recent decision they ren tiered as a majority opinion on the divorce in dustry would call for the appointment of another wisnvery a o fact it is doubtful if they are yet able torealis judgmentione majority is as far removed from the judgment c the minority representative as was the opinion o the one judge who differed from both Judge White stood with the majority Judg- Grown with the minority and Judge Holmes stood out alone The die ision however is not likely to convince any sane lawyer or layman If this is the best the Supreme Court of the United States can do in a matter affecting so many persons lord and so seriously affecting them then we interfttsI to agree with William J Bryan that the Court so far from being a body impeccable and infallible arc no better than a bunch of senile do legalswould ornament any asylum for superannuated lawyers But civilization will not come to a rapid end because the Court has dealt a powerful body blow Cooldbyword lorda reproach but marriages will continue to be made in heaven and unmade Sioux Falls and Chicago Were it otherwise times eminent lawyers who have done so much to enrich the criminal courts of the country might have to go out of businesst ngIsome practical test is made If it holds good then it is estimated that in America fully 20000 chit dren born of parents who occupy high social sta overthrowingIof Elijah DoAAic or the Mormon Elder Heed Smoot for the purity of the home pale into in significance by the side of such a far reaching decision For the past few years doleful jeremiads have been uttered anent the divorce evil It has been imperillingI g the foundations of the home Those forget that wed lock is holy only wherein true love and respect mu tually exist Such unions do not need to be rein forced by strict marriage laws for they are sortie things more than a mere civil contract The foolish philosophers who seek to elevate public morals by repressing legal separation consider a lax divorce law to be the cause rather thou the result of marital misery This misery cannot be decreased by denying it relief through supreme courts decisions These eminent judges appear to have been pounding vigorously at the shadow and never touching the substance Virtue and happiness corns not by law All the laws ever enacted cannot prevent mistakes in marriage That serious mistakes have been made is a matter of common public knowledge When such con ditions appear the two most affected thereby are the only persons on earth competent to judge the course they ought to pursue Having in the first place contracted to make each other happy and both appear willing to annul that contract i is prima facie evidence that the terms of the con tract have not been complied with or fulfilled and it should be regarded as void When husbandand wife no longer love each other happiness cannot ittor separ ate Which is the better plan I Let the learned judges of the supreme court make answer TORREY MAKES HIS GOD A MONSTER The fearful earthquake and fire in the far west ern city is a visitation from God on account of its wickedness and may prove a blessing in disguise Owing to its wickedness San Francisco has been on the hearts of Mr Alexander and myself these many monthsDr Torrey t With the profuond hope that our criticism isiiiot based upon erroneous press dispatches as in the case of Dr Hirsch yet we are prone to ask if Jeli gious and personal egotism could go much father than in the above quotation t Is it not a cool sumption that Almighty God in order to relieve Messrs Torrey and Alexander ofa great burden and some cash has knowingly slaughtered beauti ful women strong men and even tortured innocent babes As the Blade has hinted there arc some clergymen and evangelists who are clear thinking and sane but these are not of that class which make noise like unto Torrey It maybe that he has no other motive in view save that of getting for a brief and fleeting moment into the spotlight occasioned by one of the greatest trage dies of modern times It is through such vapid moutings thin the cloth is brought into ridicule and contempt Reading between the lines we are led to assume that Torrcy had contemplated a descent upon the pockets of the people in that stricken city God Almighty has prevented the raid They should have understood each other better or perhaps Tor rey has postponed making a report to God of gnus designs against San Francisco Had God been properly apprised of Torrcy s wishes he might have waited until Torrey had been given a chajoce at the Frisco fleshpots before commencing 1 JkL Kr 1t nssiuncd labor of murder destruction and famine Granting that Torrcy had the wickedness of San Francisco on his heart and granting for the sake ofargument that God could read the secrets of his heart then nIl he could discern thereon was the graven image of a golden calf and he concluded to let him work the Cometo Jesuscollection racket among a different people- In putting such insane nostrums before the American people Dr Torrey has brought his theo logical duchy t6 a bad market The fearful catns trophe caught saints nd sinners alike Temples of offturnstupon an unpopulated plain If its causation lies in nuderfa MercyeA REVEREND BLATHERSKITE The foolkillcr is wanted in Oklahoma City un less it so happens tliat by the time this is in print his quarry has escaped Report has reached this office containing news paper accounts of one of a series of sermons dcliv ered by one Rev Dr Henry Alford Porter of God knows where and from God know what His chief aim appears to win wages and grub nod to obtain idle praise by empty plausibilities lie is aspiring to ride the topmost crest not ofn tempestuous ocean which tries the heart of oak and time hand of iron but of a pitiful sectarian goosepond His heart appears to be as dead as a salt herring and he evidently lives on Brummagem For nigh two thousand years a starving people have been asking the Christian world for grub but if nIl were patterned after this religious black withtan aching void concealed about his system Judg ing from the temper of his assaults upon those who decline his Biblical tommyrot he must have been educated in a mulepen and dismissed without so much as a diploma Withal he boasts of instructing the masses in the profound mysteries of the Almighty serves God for the long green and makes the church the vestibule to hell instead of the gateway td paradise In the report given of the sermon preached by him in the opera house of the city referred to he starts out with the textlhe fool hath said in his heart there is no God but this hiredmissionary goes and blabs it right out He complains that Paine and his Age of Reason are forgotten unmindful of the fact that every year Paine memor ial services are held that are attended by thous ands while the Age of Reason enjoys a greater and better sale than ever The fact that Paineiis not forgotten and that the Age of Reason is not dead matter is evidenced by his own references to them Somehov this rev rend blatherskite who seems to be viWtig with Sam Jones for a cheap re putation reminds one of Thomas Paine Not that he is like him but because he isnt Instead of preaching he ought to be drawing a fat bacon rind adown the shining blade of a bucksaw lie must have read history wrong side up moving forward backwards and to tread with him to follow his footsteps would lead back to barbarism This religious mountebank next asserts that In gersoll is so dead that only God can raise him upI Moody is alive in the hearts of millions for he though dead yet speaketh Ingersoll Moody What comparisons are here The former a brave and fearless pilot who rode through stress and storm to guide the great ship of humanity safely past the rocks of religious dogma the other a mere fly speck on a page in lifes great book It is this heartstwould become forgotten is father to their thought Just as the name of Paine is indissolubly linked with the history of the revolution which brought American independence so is the name of Ingersoll engrafted upon the literature of the declining yours of the past century that it cannot be erased But why do the clergy so intensely hate both Paine and Ingersoll Paine wrote the charter of Amer ican freedom upon the back of CornAallis buccaneers with a bayonet while his pen of fire made in dependence imperative It was the brain of Paine that precipitated the conflict for he flung the gage of battle full in Britians haughty face On the other hand Ingersoll charged full tilt at mythical miracles and exposed the foolish visions and idle dreams of little men He dug up the mis takes of theological dogmatism and brought them into that pure light in which all religious faiths were shown to be essentially one and the same For this he earned the enmity of those who too oft en mistake a tired feeling for a call to preach So it is that the Docktah who prescribes pills of faith for a suffering people exploits his scriptural eAidences gleaned from the mummified cats of ancient Egypt and the hoary rubbish of Pales tine The Blade knoAvs absolutely nothing of Dr Porter except whnt it has read about him in one newspaper report but that is sufficient for us to pass judgment upon him lIe belongs in the same category with that crowd of Godintoxicated fnna tics who demanded the crucifixion of Christ Nay even in this do the ancients au injustice Dr Porter owns a heart deeper and blacker than they for they made Will upon the living but he flings his cruel calumnies at the dead Even Judas Is cariot paid for his alleged crime but this man if it be lawful to call him a man with the brain of a buzzard and the heart of a hyena is worse than the Biblical apostate for his malicious venom isI hurled at the dead without money and without price It is said that nothing was created in vain but honest men are inclined to suspect that the hand of Providence slipped when this fellow Avas permitted to put in an appearanceI JJ l EPISCOPAL HERESY TRIAL For twe 1t fie years or more there has been no proceeding in the Protestant Episcopal church that has attracted such widespread attention as the v pending trial of Rev Algernon Sidney Crapsey at Bntavia N Y on charges of heresy The trial is to assume formidable proportions as Chief Justice John II Stinness of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island has been retained to assist in the prosecu tion of Dr Crapsey and the ReA Dr Prances J Hall one of the leading professors in the VestcrnLTheological Seminary of Chicago has to be present to assist the prosecution on delicate questions of dogma Di Craiey is accused formally of violating hits ordination votes in holding and teaching vieAV contrary to the doctrines of the Episcopal church lhese concern the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ as Avell as His Ascension and ills real divinity in fact about all that has been held true of Christs origin and nature by all branches of time Church Catholic that is time Roman the Greek and the Anglican The question is whether a clergyman in the Episcopal Church can remain in the fold and deny in its pulpits till great central tenets of the church In addition to denying the Virgin birth of Christ he repudiates belief in the inspiration of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments In this he reflects somewhat the opinions of various EpiscopalChurchscientific criticism of the Bible f In 1904 and 1905 Dr Crapsey delivered series of sermons These were afterward published un der his authority under the title Religion and Politics Time presentment against him contains fifteen extracts from this book which arc the basis i for the charge that he intentionally expressed it ifvinitythe Virgin Birth the bodily Resurrection and the J trinityrt thus he made utterances of a like nature as recent ly as December 31 last with the sane intent to l deny the same doctrines as enunciated in the Apostles and Nicene Creeds The second amid last charge in the presentment Ifbyand worship of time Protestant Episcopal Church Under the second specification of the first the utterances attributed to aim in his sermon are these chargeiliilstiJesus was born of parents the middle class h1mothercarpellter I FourthuIhe fact that the early Christians predicteda miraeulQus birth to Christ was tobq regarded as one of the greatest misfortunes that J WiIthetltingsthat i trines and did he so intend them to be It is understood that Dr Crapsey defense will hold that under a liberal interpretation of the creed he has not contradicted its doctrine If is found guilty of intentional denial of the tenets there is but one punishment dismissal from the vchurch r THE MAGICAL GOOD FRIDAY Disagreeing with the Blade anent its expressed tIvicAAs on the Easter Festival a Kentucky corres t pondent insists there is nothing strong with Good Y Friday and Easter Sunday as Uoth are determined ntheThe Blade will grant that the suggested ac tcordance is true in every particular but this does not Christ crucified and Christ Risenprovo Passover is an annual event of the Jewish calendar On the other hand its close as sociation with Jewish customs go far toward prov JIUJcalled Christ is made to die in March one year and another year in April Pushed to a conclusion both the Passover of the Jews and the Easter of the Paganfestival 1 jminable older than Christianity older in fact than the Pa t iganism from which it was immediately taken and pray be found to have existed upon the Nile and 1 practiced by the Sun worshippers in prehistoric times r r Time church has never gained in favor by parse cution It nosy rang does compel a paltry lip ser vice but it cannot drive love and respect into the i hearts of men with a sledge hammer Mankind needs more charity und less dogmatism a recog nition of the right of every sentient creature to its own opinion a confession of feet that the wisest in the ranks of theology is but groping to Avards the light and may misinterpret the socalled divine message The day inevitably comes when Avcary ofn presumptuous anti creel master their it is they rise in revolt steepherds climaxforr ti r tr

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