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Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.): n. Sunday, June 3, 1906.
Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.): n. Sunday, June 3, 1906. Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.). 400dpi TIFF G4 page images Blade Publishing Co., Lexington, KY 1906 blu1906060301 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, June 3, 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. p 91k tllif 1M l4 4 f 4L J I BLUE GRASS BLADE I t WE AIM TO CUT DOWN ERROR AND ESTABLISH TRUTH VOLUME XV nhTSricSM SCPOiEXINGTON KENTUCKY 1 IJNDAY JUNE 3 1906 PUBLISHEDWEEKLY100A YEAR IN ADVANCE ft Eut 8Id t JAMES E HUGHES Editor and Publisher TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION One issue for one year 100 in advance In clubs of Five NEW subscribers 50 cents each Terms100 per year in advance foreign sub scription 150 per year Five new subscribers sent for one year for 250 Send your subscription by registered letter post office or express money order New York draft and if personal cheeks are sent add collection charges as local banks charge for collecting same Make all money orders drafts checks etc payable to James E Hughes Lexington Ky When you change your address advise this office giving your old as well as the new address When you send your subscription say whether you are a new or old subscriber The address slip on the paper will show expir of subscription and serve as a receipt as t it date changes as soon as the subscriber paysw Subscriptions to the Blade are not discontinued at expiration unless so ordered by the subscriber t The courtsjnvariabjyvhod a suLscrit4r ou4 v liT fiJtHe publisher r the siibSriptionprice Iof all papers received until the paper is paid for in full and up to date and ordered discon tinued Office of Publication is located fit 153 W Short S Lexington Kentucky Entered at the post office at Lexington Kent el as Second Class Mail Matter all communication to Blue Grass Blade 1Address Box 393 Lexington Kentucky i J11IEDITORIAL JM + ++ ++ + ++ ++ + 44+ ++ 4t l1 Get in the swim a a a a a What are you doing for humanity a a a I1lte world never grows weary of those who do- goodIa at t Another teaparty is rapidly ripening at the re i ligious end unehungefI ul God of the Jews was always open to conviction but it took a bribe to change him a a a It is not until the sinful acts of men fail to 11nthen it is invariably too late a a a It is reported that the Sultan of Turkey has eon ferred upon the wife of Ambassador Tower the grand cross of the Shofakat To the Blade it 5001 as if that order ought to be reserved exclusive for old maids a a President Roosevelt is to celebrate the Deelat a tion of Independence by making a speech at Oys inferredIa a a a The republican young ladies of Kansas are said to be orgiinixingITocli kissing bees This has the appearance of smacking of a mean advantage by keeping alive an oscillatory episode that ought to 1have died aborning and will necessarily leave un pleasant memories lingering somewhere t a a a a t The world has not yet adjusted itself to limit iIlug production to consumption and it is doubtful if it ever will as that doctrine is taught by mod 1erl political parties in power Let existing poli cies continue for another quarter of a century and ir ft i 1t ilt itv the idea will find lodgment in the brain of labor that it is being sacrificed to save the country that it occupies an unimportant place in the migh wellIlootdsal trust higher prices another million tramps pressing for employment and forcing down wages then comes the revolution a a a a The Blade presumes that it was all right for Socrotary Shaw to suggest West Point as the best preachersbat wonderingI0 temporal 0 mores How crin Elijah survive thebokenew chains Whatever may be tit result Dowie is down and out He failed to get within the tonal watchtower has been torn down he is unable to prophecy and nil that he now needs is a clean shave and a haircut to make him look like us ordinary folk THE ROME BOOK beingboundin that city will be first to get it Let all Cincin nati subscribers cull at office of Dr Wilson 206 Fast Fourth street and get their copy By calling on him it will save the postage Just as fast as we can we will mail to the subscribers over the country Byjtwo weeks more we expect to have them all out Let each subscriber placethema a l a a ROOSEVELTS UNHAPPY HIT The Chief Magistrate of the nation is far too nntltuminjockey who strives for what is called n grand Rooseveltsbea onldbo epigram which lacks epigrammatic char actcristics Dissatisfied with his muckrake attempt at natural philosophy he noti fang upo the follmj11 fT This is the day for the man with the patch on his breeches to come forward and the man with the dollar to go to the rear It may be impossible to beat that text as a vote istconsidered good form to weatherboard your irons luycannot see anything in it of value As n philosophic fact there is absolutely nothing in it As a further fact Roosevelt did not mean it If he did he must realize that the hour is at hand when he too must tape n back sent while his poorer broth ren nonce a forward move Had the expression emanated from any other source the able editors of the daily press would have denounced it as dan gcrously demagogic or rather coarse work in ohtainingItthat it possesses a modicum of truth but is not suf analysisThepatch on his breeches can never come to the front in this country especially under existing conditions for Roosevelt himself will strive hard longhqforeonehalf of the course the paten will hay disappeared Neither is there any honor in patches They indicate one of two things Either a grasping parsimony or a degree of shiftlessness that is an offense to the community Any man that is half a man in this land can wear gar ments unreiit and unrevised for three hundred and sixtyfive days in each and every year But this is not the first misstep that Roosevelt has made in the selection of his socalled epigrams isilOperlypoint of philosophy lie is all wrong There are ninny harmless and in a sense delightfully amus ing teats Wo have them in Congress in the marts of trade in literature and in our institutions ol learning Sonic of them are bad and they exorcise a baneful influence On the other hand there are liars who do little harm but there is not a thief in the country who does not stand as a distinct menace to society The law which for the most part wits conceived in justice and common sense how ever bad it may be in some of its practice and application has made a clear distinction between the liar and the thief which has been publicly rccog nixed for thousands of years Taking Roosevelt at his own estimate we lock- Up the thief hut we allow liars to run at large even in Washington a The friendly discussion now running in the Blades columns between Messrs Barnes and Tau termaiij ancnt the causes of hard times induces CY if J t e suggestion that both are right yet both wrong must admit that the strand of Time is thickl s rewn with wreck and ruin wrought by an ap p eciating currency which concentrates the wealth mighty nations in the hands of a favored few c averting the masses into miserable bondsmen cc npelling them to choose between the bread of cl irity sail the blood ofrevolution On the othe h aid did Brother Luttennan own all the mono on this Hl then jcBarnesus s it would not be long before Brother privileThis combined of wcrapyustrilll slaves Iaa a a a HERESY TRIALS ARE HELPING THE CAUSE OF FREETHUGHT stupidb1ll1nbarbarism so wore the creeds of the Roman and Anglican churches fixed by the political powers that ruled in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen turios As enlightenment eliminates the God idea from the mind so has human progress advanced far beyond the creedal rubrics of the church Ev ery new sect is a protest against existing theolog- cal formula a breaking away from religious tyro ny and a step towards freedom So it is with heresy trials Every such proceeding dots but more firmly impress upon the minds of the laity that spiritually authority from uttering truth and the weakness of the c itirc system becomes exposed Far better is it for the people at large far better for the cause of mental liberty far better for those developmentthntconvinced themselves of the danger for them th lurks in every such proceeding Of what value can a heresy trial be to arty system institution or person in an age of general enlightenment and Freethought Wilful adherecne to falsehood anMa rejection of truth is the only serious which n man can now be guilty The Inquisitors of Cathcic Spain were wise in their particular wayAi rttiey did elFectually crush out heresV but sb lwg they assailed Hie ry Jifenndjdejjjrov tmT greatness qt tlieunsh The strut glesof the Church of Rome to preserve its pow are no less potent in the production of human b ring than the efforts of the Anglican church ntrench itself in authority Both rose to their todaytheydizzy heights behind Emoliated by wealth and uxury only the anaemic are left in control From the art of murder the church has gone to art of moneygetting The church simply boycotts now because it dare not crucify This is a move forwan and with a few more heresy trials the driving itsboJcotts toitsnothingbettcrgars and dependants Even now the whoop la style of evenagelism must be adopted to raise the cash and only too frequently does the church resort to devices for getting money that would have put worldings in the stocks a century ago and sent women to jail Of course it were possible to impress this truth upon the minds of the shouters a sanctifiers but a little reflection would spcedi convince 0Religions authority is upon a marked decline rearitlhinsresolve it was wont to teach and is now bordering upon that sybaritism which marked the rapid decline of the Roman empire Human wrongs are marked slid measured in dollars and cents yet prforiy Keep on with the heresy trials Let us have more of them Get rid of intelligence and trn Turn aside froth your doors all that are honest a fearless in the advocacy of justice honesty truth Such men are out of place in the char Just as the tallowdip sputters aril spits when ingita a a a a Frcethought full rounded and true with all that the term implies is the great cohesive menting power of human society Without it the social contract becomes a mere rope of sand to be politiciansagainst an assumed authority over the affairs of noun Kingcraft has ever held religion as the pal In limo of national power that the priest teaching religious subservience encouraged political subs er vienco The cross has preceded the sword and sanctified asassination No priest has ever sought to break the blade Religion has invariably strengthened the hands of the tyrant and cast stones at the prophets of progress But for Free thought thor people would still bo in their swad tiling clothes uS yy1f i f 1 MRS HENRYS SAD BEREAVEMENT TheY editor of the Blade together with its host of symIof her great and irreparable loss her great afllic nlean caused by the death of her life companion rrshedosom of Mother Earth It was Captain Henrys swish that Dr Wilson should deliver the funeral t proccedurcewas totcame cr sailles and performed the sad duty the last sad service to the friend who had gone before him J across the dark riverIThe burial service of a Freethinker was a novJi f lelty in that little Kentucky town and the visitors h1 Jii1l1uuberingthe hone and at the grave to catch every utter mice made The sadness of his theme wrought a j wonderful influence upon the speaker for Dr Wil son was at his best Every word was forceful sadly sympathetic and tenderly true For the ben efit of our readers that address is given in full inI issuena wordubout Mrs Henry Her thousands of friends admirers knew not the pain andtsuffering she was facing Conscious that the of life was at hand for her loving and loved com panion the devoted little woman never ceased her j t1110uthsblow come It was not altogether unexpected Weashun her great grief and would lighten her sorIrow with the knowledge that sympathetic hearts this day bent in unison with her own bidding her atto take fresh courage and cheer to live in hoperthe wounded heart may find healing remedies 1usefulnessBy the special request of Mrs Henry Hon oses Kaufman of Lexington also delivered an address which created a visible effect upon those who heard it The address brief as it was fur lWished as eloquent a pathos as that Mr Kaufman delivered atihe grave of our lateJeditor + i fo rTHE DOINGS OF CONGRESS intoStates is guilty of sins both of omission and commission or in other words if the Blade may be permitted to use the language of the confessional taken from the Episcopal prayer book it has done those things which it ought not to have done and J left undone those things which it ought to have j materiallbetterismentopoliteraglivingpcarauce too many of them have retirfcd with im mouse fortunes in their hoods Grover Cleveland was practically a bankrupt when he first entered the White House but he is now several times a millionaire und he did not make it all out of his thelycient to demonstrate the point sought to be made as deniedNow asittaining its selfrespect The antigraft bill kill ed This was expected It dealt principally with cotton leaks and other matters of a confidential suspectevenselves had included members of both the house and naturallymid theychimarket so the bill was killed For years has it been the proud boast of Ameri can citizenship that our representatives were hon est truthful and deserving of trust hence there is thcfacttodisputepolled to shackle his own hands to keep lout from stealing the peoples substance would not be much allotted by the mere passage ofn law designed to restrain him No man is made honest by statutory enactment If the duly elected representatives of a people are not to bo trusted implicitly with such information that comes to them while in the dis charge of their official duties then the Republic is in a hell of a fix and the time for a change is at hand There have been dishonest Congressmen of course and it is probable that there always will Continued on page four first column JYr aij FUNERAL ORATION AT THE CRAVE OF CAPT HENRY GLOWING TRIBUE TO A DESERVING liFE ENRICHED BY THE FRUITION OF NOBLE DEEDS IMPERFECT HUMANITY CAN HOLD NO CORNER ON THE FUTURE SORROWING HEARTS JOIN IN REVERENTIAL SYMPATHY FOR BoTH THE LIVING AND THE DEAD By Dll J B WILSON Lathes and Gentlemen The chief duty or friends is not to attend the remains ot the dead wltu unavailing lamentations but to re member his wishes and to execute his commanus It was the wish of Capt Henry that I should officiate at his funeral obse quies and he directed that represent i him as lived and as he believed a Agnostic a humanitarian a foo to alt sham and pretense a friend to every fact and to all mankind am hero to fulfill my promise to him and to carry out his commands Capt William Henry was born In t 1Woodford County Kentucky in the year During his youth ho at tended the county schools and later studied four years under the cele I brated teacher B B Sayre Frank tort He completed his education in the class of Ib59 Ii Early in the beginning of the Civil War he enlisted in tile Contederate army serving tour years and winning honors for gallantry and heroic ser s vices He was engaged in many skir Imishes and in several of the great of the war and was a prisoner a at Morton Indianapolis for six ItmonthsHe returned to Versailles penniless liandopened a boys school The Hen which m time became fllamous as a preparatory school for youth Here he taught laithtully for lfIIperiod of nearly years missing 12 days In all that time Under his tuteiagemany of the best men of his own county and state and of other Southern states received their education The hundreds ot letters f gratitude expressed by his old pupils attest the solid worth of his instruc f tions Capt Henry was not only a natural teacuer but a natural gentleman a combination rarely found in an In 1structor and which is sure to attract r and to attach youth as no other mag p net will Ho possessed a voice a bear Ing an individuality and hueiiess of nature which awakened the most dell cate sympathies and tended to the enlargement of ideas with the mature as with the young The fashionable man is only veneer The gentleman Is solid mahogany No one could reo P mau long in tue company of uapt Henry without feeling that he was tim p gentleman through and through He was the soul of honor and In his oust ness dealings his word was as good as his bond He was held in the loftiest esteem and was ever a fine example m the community and let me say here that toe most gracious good and prontable 1 adOtriat is that furnished not by theory and discourse but by exam pIe I would rather be an example among men than u leader of their poli tical and religious opinions Example comes in by the eyes and ears and slips Insensibly into the heart and so Into the outward practice by a kind of secret charm transforming mens minds and manners into his own like ness and in line manner believe that the example of Capt Henry in sensibly slipped into the heart of this community leaving his likeness In many a courtesy thought and gracious Henry was a successful man He possessed fine business qualinca tlons and amassed a competence He was a student a thinker and a philo sopher ever submitting all specula tive opinion to the court of his own reason Ho was ever open to convlc tion and never narrow nor circum a scribed He was married in to Josephine K Williamson which union was bless ed with one brilliant sonwho would have proven a genius I believe had he lived Capt Henry was not perfect and he no doubt had some enemies butI i believe that am voicing tho general sentiment of this community when I say that as soldier teacher thinker scholar gentleman citizen husband parent relative and friend Here was a man He was beloved by the poor both white and black He was always approachable and they loved to meet him and his greeting was one of In terest and sympathy a benediction which made them feel better and like striving to be better Ho felt tho sor rows of humanity and made its bur dens his own and was liberal In re llevlng them That most deserving of notice in his career is the thirtythree long years of labor in the department r of education Ho chose for his life work that most worthy and honorable of all profes sions teaching Tho school is the manufactory of humanity and the schoolhouse the fortification of free dom and democracy From first to last life is one continuous schooling Michael Angelo at eighty said I still carry my satchel The most il lustrious philosophers of Greece found their greatest ambitions in the instruc tlon of youth Their superior abilities to teach creating iuo desire in others to teach Imparted an Influence upon the world which exists to this day Still today they discover and disinter genius and bring it to the light Capt Henry likewise had not only tho ability to teach but to inspire oth ers to teach and the seeds of knowl edge education right living and right conduct which he implanted in the human mind will widen like the ripple e In the ocean to the farthlest shore of time The thought which is wrought upon t marble or canvass pr bronzo or stone will crumble and decay into dust but the principles of education based up on Justice truth freedom of speech and thought and love of our follow men once engraved upon the human mind will brighten to all eternity I believe that Capt Henry stamped o the impression of his character Indl a vlduallty and usefulness upon this J dk1 L community and that its people generally recognize the samo Not alone tins community and this state but the whole country and all the world ueneve have felt that iniluence and nave been made better for his living i he teacher is like the candle whtcn ligHts others In consuming itself measured by the ultimate and perman cut results no other caning may compare with that ot tho teacher This community has produced some brilliant ecclesiastical political legal minds who Hashed before the world liKe meteors across the starstudded vault of a summer night but they and their works expired with the hash The faint remembrance of a burst of eloquence or a gleam of wit is all that now remains either of their usefulness or their memories but tho teacher ot whatever grade high or low though out little known and seldom writing his name among the stars neverthe less leaves behind him foot prints on the sands of time that cannot be of faced and it is the footprints of pro gress rather than the meteors path which mara the permanent results of all human endeavor Captain Henry was progressive He Iept step in the march of human events and of human thought U others did not choose to march by his sde he saw no reason why he should regard them unkindly At all times he was the same diguilled scholar gentle man and liberal thinker magnani mous genial tolerant thoughtful con siderate and respectful toward others and toward the opinions of others On occasions such as this it has long been a common custom to speak of the religious views and hopes of the one departed There can be no greater disrespect shown to the dead than to express sentiments over the helpless forms which they repudiated while living Capt Henry was a man of more than ordinary perception and concep tion He looked deep into all religions and their phenomena and his views ought to be worthy of respectful con the time of all times to be serious to be honest with our own thoughts and honest In speaking of and representing the dead would rather under rate than over rate Capt Henry He most probably had serious faults Were I acquainted with them I would not hesitate to speak of them Our faults and inconsistencies often give color to the best in our lives Capt Henry held religious views at variance with most of nis friends and neighbors He differed from them Just as they differ from ech othe- rTeujjip pt ypu tiisticqreuppted and my remarks will seem extraordinary and strange But I ask you to ponder them well I speak what I be ileve tp be the truth firmly but kindly If not tolerant In life let us all be tolerant In death There have always been men who have pretended to have knowledge of the future In their Ignorance they have Introduced many saviors into the world and built systems of theology to explain the mysteries of our being and through faith have sought to es tablish facts to which knowledge is denied access Still Nature is silent Capt Henry while respecting the opinions of others on this subject him self did not pretend to know Ho was an evolutionist and believed that If wo relive at all it will be In a natural progressive state as here He recog nized that the positive and negative forces are essential and Immutable laws of nature and that goodness and evil are the natural consequences of the same He observed that the moral equilibrium of the human race pends upon this intermingling and ad justment of the good and the bad in our natures All progress depends upon the action and strife by which we are compelled to keep sin In abeyance Otherwise we would become sluggish in body and impotent In mind Were there no evil in the world there would be no sorrows Were there no sorrows there would be no sympathies and the human heart in its supreme state of goodness would be nothing more than- a lump of Therefore sin is natures decree theI part equilibrium of our moral natures and as much a necessity as goodness IImentJustuient of wisdom and Ignorance Human beings therefore aro not to be condemned for the adjustment over which they have no control If am very wise and good and IfI you are very ignorant and bad then should greatly pity you and I owe you much for you are burdened with notI only your share but a part of my evil Human responsibility rests therefore upon each one using the talents he may possess to ImprQve his own and the worlds condition Nature Is disproportionate In allj things and In all her gifts and every Joy and happiness we experience are at the expense of grief and suffering on the part of some one olse Who then can be so thoughtless as to believe that nature is going to damn us forever and over for that which she decrees must be a part of all of us and a necessary law Only the kindergarten mind today enter tains such a thoughtless view of exist nce c Sin sickness disease and death are forces of nature components of na tire Nothing can be more childish than to regard sin as the work of the Devil We should regard sin sickness a and disease as teacherswise teach ers that direct us Into the paths of health happiness and progress At such a time it Is well to pause md ponder the meanings and problems a f life We are reminded that this life nd Its conditions are not permanent that constant change and finally L I 1L t death is the common lot of all W realize that wo are in the grasp of1 power greater than ourselves a po er that hurries us on to our lIestlnll- struggle plan work und pray as will Today we stand face to ftl with tho Great Mystery tho coml Theologlathae reionedie s and busy mart at tho fireside and jn the highways mid the roar of batlo and the storms of the sea in the phh of the tornado and forest lire in t breath of the pestilence ladened wIth the lierco and gluttonous germ Death has absolutely no moro regard for human life than for the reptile and the worm It takes away the ventor the scholar the genius tho righteous man In the prime of uselul ness and allows the dullard and the criminal to live Nay it sets life against life nmu as well us animal and reptile each Ull IIIg and devouring the other Eviry living stomach is a boiling cauldror torture and suffering Within ind without cur bodies tragedy relrus Death is triumphant everywupre All nliue must obey its awful mandate from tile infant cooing In tho cradle to totUiaig age one by one they fall on every hand Wo may go down to the riverside with them but each must cross alJne What lies beyond we do not Mow We can but peer with teardlnnied eyes into the mists that heat above the tide mourning and wondering wiere our loved ones have gone but no sound or speech echo of a voice has ever cuniu out of Stygian darkness or front over dark illimitable waters The common destiny of all lIesh hu man as well as animal that of the King and peasant that of the religious potuniate swelling with pride on Ills gorgeous throne and tho kneeling cringing faithcrazed devotee at hi- sfecithe high and the low the rich the poor the wise and ignor the good and the bad must diethen disorganize and diffuse into other forms by the ever shifting atoms and live aiaw round after round to eat and to be eaten to suffer and to joy to lovo and to hate to live again and to die again This is the life story of every being animal and in sect as well as man Whether in this constant hex of atoms this continuous repetition of changing into and mingling with other forms and living and dying there Ists a law of attraction which will eventually reunite tho atoms which now compose our beings and which will soon scatter to all parts of the worlc and so establish tho same form and face and likeness and in dividuality wo know notwe cannot know It seems an impossibility even with possible nature Besides since the atoms which compose our bodies have passed through other human be ings before us and will pass through myriad others after us who shall have the prior right to these atoms Theologians say little nowadays about the resurrestlon of the body This dogma is fast being a uidoned The belief now prevailing isWhat we Will live las spirits that lsTsmrabw substanccless forms bearing a nice ness of our former selves ifrom which about the resurrection of the body clothed m a gossamer white shroud Since we know nothing of the iuture one solution is as good as another and tho spirit theory has a remote chance of being the right One One thing us sureScience is fast dispell ing the illusions of theology xhlch nave been accepted as the truth for so many ages It will dispel those of today and those to come hnd if aitre is another life if we ever have any positive knowledge of a future existence Science and Science alone will furnish the basis directing us to that knowledge When men learn to live naturally and acquire a thorough knowledge of nature and of biological clence then theological chariantry and bosh and clerical misdirection will be done away with When such time arrives it may then be possible to develop knowledge of Immortality if theme an immortality All knowledge of beI future has yet to be learned Thei o a growing revival throughout the world of the belief in reincarnation Since we know nothing of the future this theory too has its chance of Ing the right one Confucius on being asked of the fu tore state replied How can you pect me to have any knowledge of an other life when know so little of this world the knowledge of the wisest of us is but little compared to that yet to be known but this much of it wo do know Tho world Is one great burial Hold The very turf on which wo tread once lived and thought The jiollutod slime of tho city sewer was once tho animated bust of beauty Nolan acorn of earth but once was living man ior the smallest salt globule of tho deop est sea but flowed through human perpetual motion and universal change governs all things In the re lation ofall things to each other this Is Inevitable The living breathing ganism of yesterday wo take Into our stomachs to become a part of our or ganisms today Wo die and countless other organisms subsist upon our atoms In this over shifting process rlchange all forms have their beginnings their periods terms and termin ations of existence No is or can be same thing two moments of time during its Istence and never again so far as we know can It have the same existence Any system of belief built upon the thoughtless assumption that any form- an have a beginning and an endless existence Is erroneous and fallacious and wholly incompatible with the na ture and reality of things Therefore the bodily resurrections the learned clergy aro now wiling to admit is an Impossibility and a dream Therefore there is no hell of torture for our physical bodies For this monstrous doctrine defended as verity for so many centuries the clergy have now substituted mental tortures If they are as accurate in this as In their theory of endless physl l Ii cal torments wo need have no fear as to the future state of our minds This also do wo know Matter Is destructible Neither heat cold force nor any combination of elements can destroy it Thus it becomes reasonable and easy to believe that that which is indestructible has always existed There is the claim that Thought is back of and directs matter How do you know If you can prove this then basis for an Immortality is estab lished Is all this illimitable inconceivable ponderous immensity the product of thought of some supreme directing thought What a mighty question for all of us who know so little of tho world around us to solve All we know Is that matter and thought are here and the great determining question isdid matter exist before mind or did mind exist before matter Is matter the product of mind or is mind a product of matter So far as we are now able to deter mine mind develops out of matter Some have clammed that matter organ ized Into the form of trees and other piauts have the power of thought but this amounts only to a claim This however wo do know Matter when or ganized into the form of animal existence has the power to produce thought From the parasite to the mastodon we observe the development of thought in all animal organiza flout of matter We observe that thought in the infant is not manifested until the body attains a certain growth The brain must attain a certain growth and be fed by certain cheml cal properties before thought devel opes in it As a plant develops out ot the com bination of light air heat and the chemical properties of the soil like wise does thought develop out of the combination of the chemical proper tics of the body We can otter no other explanation lot tile creation of thought The statement that thought existed before matter and that all matter is a pro duct of a supreme ThoughtIs only an unthinkable assertiona groping blind bewildering guess Wo also ob serve and know that when the matter composing our animal bodies disorgan izes the function of mind ceases We cease to think We are dead How then can wo consistently say that mind controls matter The claim that wo have a spirit or soul which exists Independent of mat ter is likewise only an assertion We cannot even imagine anything as exist- Ing Independent of matter Upon the subject of the soul we are no wiser to day than men were In the remotest cycles of Time The doctrine that the moral government of the universe Is the effect of a Supreme Design and under the per sonal control of a personal being Is a doctrine Irreconcilable with love Jus tice and mercy and with things within our knowledge What evidence I ask is there of a superhuman power equal to having the world better than It has been or making it better titan it now is Could anything have been different from what it has been It not then design is Incompatible with the moral government of the universe Only an immoral government could do with de sign the things that are done Onluniliinkin rfutsbcings living in fear and trembling can stultify themselves Into tho acceptance of a belief that all tho wars and assas sinations and famines and disasters and floods and epidemics and pover ty and disease and deformities of body and brain and heartaches and pains and the multitudinous miseries of life are tho effect of design If a God hath spoken why are not all men convinced If a God hath spoken why should his words and commands occasion disputes wars and massacres among those who serve Christian religion is as genuinely a superstition as any other religion Its devotees worships a God totally unknown to them and then revile hate and persecute each other unto death for disagreeing as to the character of that God The Christian roll gion is an organized conspiracy against human natureagainst all salutaryII lie only rational conception man can have of another life is one pat ternell after this or based upon experiences of this If wo live theI It will bo a fact an evolution of But of any naturallavIno knowledge in things unknowable proves nothing It is not in the nature of things that we should know From our total Ig norance of a previous existence we may consistently conclude that the future will contain no knowledge of this life The future is an impenetra ble mystery and all pretense of knowl edge and description of it is but sup position guess and dream and the re flection of the conceit and selfishness existing in thQ human mind The Christian Imagines that his eternal future is to be spent in a bejewell ed city of dazzling mansions sur rounded by an insurmountable wall which Almighty mado for the special purpose of inclosing him and excluding all others who didnt happen timeyignorantlyworld This is the most infinite conceit the most gigantic illusion tho most fan tastical dream ever conceived of by the human mind Let me say to you my friends that no mind can long and seriously be hove In till Christian heaven for the few and the Christian hell for the many and maintain its normal condl tion No mind can bo thoroughly Im bued with belief In tho eternal misery of the many as tho design of an all merciful and loving being without the sense of justice becoming blunted To credit of many advanced and progressive Christians they have grown ashamed of this monstrous ma this horrible nightmare of theology and are fast giving It up The world is rapidly progressing to the velws of tho Agnosticwho neither at firms nor denies a future existence who simply and honestly says I dont know Of all beliefs regarding the future none so kind and loving as Agnosti cism It does not ostracize or perse Lu l 1 i cute for opposing opinions It dis penses entirely with an Omnipotent Being wrathful angry and sitting Jn merciless Judgment over the Impel fect creatures of his own creation While doubting while not knowing that he will live again the Agnostic hopes to live again anti hopes that all others somehow somewhere will live as they live here together to be a help to each other increasing ever and expanding in knowledge and hap piness Agnosticism has no Heaven and it has no Hell Its only future is ono of human progress and possibility free and open to all It would not give pain to a human being in this life nor decree that ho should suffer pain In any other life The Agnostic dbes not shut himself In a shining mansion behind an un scalable wall an selfishly glut himself on happiness throughout all eternity There aro no walls and no gates and no bars In his future There as here no wilt have no happiness that he will not wish to share with all ot earths unfortunates mado so by clint ate environment heredity and dls ease and for these tender and humane reasons Agnosticism must recommendI itself to every thinking Agnostic alms to get at tho truth He says he doesnt know because he doesnt know There are some who say that they know positively that there is another life There aro others who say that they know positively that there is not another life When men aro most sure ami arrogant they commonly are most mstakeu Nothing can be more unphllosophl cal than to be positive and dogmati cal on any unproven subject With the dogmatist his own opinions always ap pear to himself to be written in sun beams and he grows angry if neighbors does not see them In the same light it may be that through telepathy or other wonderful powers of communi cation yet to be discovered that we may In time arrive at some positive Knowledge one way or the other of a futureexistence But so far we know nothing We but guess and dream and hope All the socalled revelations given us by the many religions of the world are so crude childish and un sclenunc that one can but wonder at the human credulity which has led to faith in their acceptance It can only be accounted for from the fact that most people remain children all their lives Change universal never end ing change Is fore ver going on with all things and with all opinions The heresy of one age becomes the gospel of the next Creeds once characterized- as cast iron are being dissolved by force of time Infant damnation and other dogmas as unreasonable and cruel have gone the way of hell Still it was only recently that millions of good people our father mothexsi and almst all our ancestors were most tenderly and Inseparately attach ed to these consoling doctrines seems strange but they actually did find consolation in them But witness the change Who then can say that he is positively right and others oppos ing him are eternally wrong Now the statement Is frequently made that Freethought may bo good to live by but not to die by Let me reply to this It is a thoughtless de Tnsrauurr rot hyslnruit TniyOiluB be good to live by and not good to die by That which Is good is as good at death as at any other time isnt it Let us take the case of Capt Henry for that Is what we aro here fortedraw a lesson from his life Ho was a Freethinker He believed that every man had a perfect right to his own views He thought for himself weigh ed well the diifcrences of theological opinions tested them in the light of reason and received nothing on faith alone He rejected much that his many good friends and relatives ac cepted as sacred fact He died hoping to live again but professed to know nothing about it and was content that the future would be as it would be Now comes the question was his example and character and citizen ship worse for his belief Did it make him dishonest cruel or evil dis posed Did it lead him to neglect his iamily or to commission of crime If not then his belief was surely good to die by Consider him as the average man of the community and now look about you upon others hold ing tho popular orthodox views who have passed awayand tell me did their peculiar beliefs make them any bet ter either in life or in death than Capt Henry No my friends the question of hap piness either in life or death is not determined by your faith but by right conduct and right living no matter what your faith may be and I point you to the splendid career of Capt Henry to his upright manhood his respect for law and governmenthis love for oppressed humanity his long youthIesty in all his dealings with men I point you to all this as a refutation of that thoughtless statement that disbe lief In and opposition to Christian superstition conduces to immorality and crime and that It is bad to die by No my friends if honesty justice truth kindness and good citizen ship counts with the Almighty and If lie has made a Heaven and set it apart for good people Capt Henry will bo there If tho rest of you are there for I believe him at least to have been the average man Again question is often asked What has Freethought to offer in the presence of death Knowing that death is Inevitable is Freethought which rejects the divin ity of tho scriptures and the Christian plan of salvation a good thing to hold This is a fair question and I answer Yes First because Freethought is an education The Freethinker observes train all sides His mind therefore is t uponFreethought and embraces all tile knowledge that can be given as a consolation for deathm Freothought does not destroy the belief in another life but instead fers unlimited hope to those who wish to believe in a life beyond the grave It neither allirms nor denies It sim ply says do not know I for Instance am a Freethinker I hope and I want Jo live again In all things else I see constant dlslnte t ratlon and change into other forms and I see no good reason for believing if4l Zi+ that nature has made an exception for me However it may prove am tent This knowledge of nature of things removes all fear from my mint because It explodes all the myths and destroys every terror at tached to death- Freothought therefore riven n stronger support to the mind and to the affections In the dying hour be cause It is far more consoling than the theology which condemns out of every 100 to endless misery This aw lul condemnation to eternal suffering either of body or mind which theolo- Imposes is suillcent to create tho keenest agony of mind There is no belief in all the world so terrible to die oy as that of Christianfor nar row Is tho road to eternal life and lew go that way What happiness can come to the Christian In the dying uour when he knows that his chances tor heaven are only one In a hundred I Freethought rejects such belief as unworthy ot cixueuce and leaves the dead without any misgivings In tno care ot nature Freetnought pro claims that tho late of ono Is the late nIl and it immortality is a fact in nature u is not the consequence of any belief creed or person No one can asi ton anything better for there is nothing better atripptu of all tears of an angry om nipotent parent and fate of an eternal hell the Freethinker ap proaches his end sustained and sootn ed by an unfaltering trust that naturo will deal kindly and Justly with nlm according to her inexorable laws anti so believing wraps tile drapery of Ills couch auout him and lies down to pleasant dreams Yes it is a good be net to die by in my mind none other s so good none so free none so hap py 1 here is ono question remaining that many of you ate asking It is this what lias become of the soul of Capt Henry I answer I do not know xu tact I am not sure that he had a soul it is easier to ask than to reply This is the problem of the ages the puzzle of philosophy the despair of science It is the mystery which has produced all speculative and Laundering religions of tho world but none of them have solved It They merely assert they only pretend to Know It Is Impossible that we should unow except by some positive demon stratlou of naturo Tho Spiritualists therefore are on right track Ihero are many honest people among them who aro trying to demonstrate the assertions they boldly make have looked into their demonstrations and so tar they lull to satisfy bullcredit them with making the attempt at demonstration for all know they may yet solve tho mystery My friends tills Is a question of common intellectual honesty We should certainly be honest with our own senses if we are not honest in any other particular Now do you know Why you know that you do not know and you know that know ImowIthen why not be honest about it I will assume to declaro this much however If there be a Personal God and if he has made a Heaven for good men he made it for such as Capt Henry and he is there Some of you are saying to yourself If I had your belief I would lose my Itiim yftIftrrktjLtw rpy breath I would not want to live1 Let me tell you friends If you be lieved as I you would not lose your minds you would be as happy as and you would want to live because you would have greater incentive to do good m world I have been be lieving as do for a long number of years and I have not lost my mind but rather it has expanded and grown I have had people say to mo Why If I believed as you do I would commit some awful crime What an awful Judgment for one to place upon his own integrity of character What an awful admission of laitnt criminality Such people do not think If they uelieved as they would be less liable to comit crime or lose their minds They would do as I do and feel as I feel happy In making ninny sacrifices for those be neath mo and in lending them to a higher knowledge of themselves and of the duties of life Such people would be no more liable to commit evil on account of Liberal belief tuan was Capt Henry They simply do not weigh contrast and com pare and do not understand either I their own or the Agnostic belief Capt ncnry had no fears His fain ily have no fears They find their con soldtlon in the sturdy independent upright character of the deceased and the honest example he set before men Ho did not live in vain The seeds of good and usefulness which he planted in the human mind and heart will blossom as long as there is human existence At such time human sympathy is met with welcome The words of con solation hope and cheer fall upon thoIear of sadness with the pleasure sweet music jo give comfort to those who mourn to manifest a fellow feeling for each other amid the trials of life is and- o lifes duties As great and endless procession of humanty moves an to tho inevita ble end which has been reached by this dear bravo man let us more and more learn to bear with each other and withhold nothing that will lighten the burden of our fellow travelers Let us be kind tolerant loving and forgiving and let us live more for manity Let us be progressive reason- Ing creatures open to conviction and hospitable to all new opinion Let us give of our wealth of affection that we In return may receive the sympa everyheartLet it be our duel aim to center our energies upon this world Poverty Justice sickness sorrow and misery lire all around us Lot us endeavor o establish Justice to progress morally and Intellectually hero not to be good for a reward In some other life Jpriceourselves and to others In this life think the belief of Capt Henry Is now fairly understood by those pres rejectedbytime perhaps it is certainly entitled o tolerant anti respectful considera ion Ho was honest In his opinions and honesty of thought should bo deserve f L J ing of tho respect of all whether agreement with It Is possible or not I am well awaro of tho prejudice which envelopes every human form of religious belle and of the sensitive ness which repels discussion and vestigation But all should comp to know that the truth Is Invuluerablo and can stand any test Thoso who think that they alone possess tho truth should ever bear his fact In mind The belle In Immortality Is a beau taut belief and a normal desire but Christianity did not discover it nor hath Christianity a first mortgage on it The Idea of Immortality Is as old as tho intelligence of man an was born of tho lovo of the hutua heart No religion hath a controlling Interest in it It has belonged alike to nil from tho very birth of human love Wo Freethinkers do not opposo b lief in another existence What do oppose is that a small fraction of imperfect humanity should assume to hold a corner on tho future that upo such a false assumption they should make a commercialism of it and buildup a fashionable society out of it and a political Institution for profit and power We object to tho imposition on ignorance by working on its fears We object to misdirecting the mind of childhood and by centering human energy upon an uncertain future dl verting human endeavor away Iron the duties obligations and progress o this existence We would not give any pain either in this life or In any other life W would not ostracize any one either for his belief or disbelief but rather wish that all people be free to reaso out destiny for themselves so that all theological prejudices may bo re moved and that all men mjght come to know and lovo each other better and so make superior beings of our selves hero and lessen the crime vice disease and miseries of this existent To nature the source of all we nosrsurrender the remains of our neighbor companion and friend W do not mourn for any danger that may bo supposed to await him Wo enter taro no gloomy apprehensions that l has entered or that any human eve did or over will enter Into a state of endless misery Let us sympathize with his rnisto- tunes remembering that there is no forgehisit is human to err Let us cherish the memory of his virtues and loving deeds for humanitys sake if ho still lives all is well with him if not still all is well With no shad ow of fear resting ou the form before us with none cast by death upon the pathway of the living wo bestow this last tribute of affection and bid our fellow mortal that long goodbye which in course of time will come to us all Thou loving husband thou kind In dulgent parent thou friend and corn panion of youth thou lover of truth and soldier of progress thou oxa m plary citizen and leader and trainer of thought thou brave and tender hear ed man Farewell Farewell I THE BLADES I LETTER BOX I I F3 h2 I t +i+ H44 r HX3I Cheering WordssBlue Grass Blado Inclosed find ono dollar to renew my subscription to the BladetiFriend Hughes For encouragement let me toil you the Blade is a more model artistic and up to date edited paper by far than over before it was grand before but better nowIB HARDINtiMore EncouragementthAugusta Illnois James E Hughes Enclosed find one dollar to apply on subscription for theI past year Wish to say that wo are very much pleased with the Blade It s I is at present I say we because there are so many houses divided on liberal lines but my wife enjoys llbe alism as much as Wo always weroIing trout him for some time Wo l1IOI the now editor and wish him success P HADLEY Admiral Bob Evans Bomb- Provincetowu Mass Dear Hughes Enclosed please find cash to pay for another years subscription to the Blade Suppose you have noticed In the press what a bomb fighting Bob Evans has thrown into the camp of tho Sabbatarians all over the land by ignoring the Mass law that forbids the playing of ball on Sundays The accompanying article from the Boston Sunday Globo of May the twentieth gives a good description of tho situation at the present time Bob has a large amount of tin Iconoclast in his makeup When his loot came to Boston he shocked the educators of the country by tolling the people that tho High School build ings should be burned This was aftJor noting tho quality of tho graduates of these schools who camo to him for positions In the navy Now he has aroused the anger of the pietists by permitting his men to como on shore at Province town ou Sundays to engage in playing base ban and other innocent games jILet tho readers of the Blade keep eyes on Bob for the next two years for wherever ho goes there is sure to bo something doing JOSHUA T SIALLsFine And to The Point Chanuto Kansas Friend Hughes Enclosed ono dol lar to renew subscription to Bluo Grass Blade from May 00 to May am greatly pleased with tho ao management of tho Blade tho editor ials are line and to tho point tho circulation ought to increase rapidly the coming year I hope all will be prompt in sending their subscription in on time that the good old paper may llvo and grow stronger than ever before I sent money for memorial pamphlet but has not reached me yetC E ALEXANDER PamphletttKy Mr Hughes Pleaso find Inclose 15 cents for one Memorial Pamphlet aby mali please put it in a strong envelope so it will not get creased or soiled as I dont want it to got SOUTHEHIThe True Missionary Merkcl Texas Blue Grass Blade Inclosed find two dollars ono to move my tab up n year and tho other to pay for tho lade for any old person who appro tfo pay us to get Wilsons Book GEO A WAT- FORD IonDear Mr Hughes Enclosed find certificate of membership In Buckeye Secular Union Heros my hand Glad to have you with us Wo need organ izatlon dont you think There is too much apathy in the Frcethought Hoping you will meet with us SaptombarLOa U LAWRENCE SenserWisconsin Mn J HughesUp to dato I have Pamphletrso kindly mall me one and if it is in teresting I shall surely send for a dozen to pass around to somo of m y good church people also malted you a clipping from the Chicago Tribune of May which will show some of our good people what rotten pastors tho church is hiring today to teach their sheep how to bo kind Ing and true After one church sent him behind the burs to cool down and try to mako a matt of him another church society picks him up and ex poets him to reform then mud teach them how to be good true and loving and help each other in case of stet tihs or hfil luck The church society ought to trace a pastors record from childhood then let him preach and teach if Ms Tec ord is clean But as a Christian man told mo some two years ago that the church and its society was only for the weal tttfuJ ll1dt bad bunch that can not stop cheating lieiug and be decent people the Christian man himself claims that stealing and cheating is the only way success I would rather live an hon est and good life and die in a poor house than to gain success in lie way ho dues Tho reason he told mo this was simply to get mo to join his church ho claims that in five years me I would bo able to build a flat and store for my business you tee e point tho people would think would bo an angel without wings and they would all come and help me along But my answer was no as long as can motto an honest living for my self and wife without the help of the church society shall gladly do so I powerds and have to work to toed my body Ill ring oft now before you weary reading this letterLOUIS A MANZ Hagerstown Maryland Friend Hughes Todays Blade con talus an excellent article on Who is Tho Infidel quoting some excellent polite by Rev Fay Mills all of which show how indefinite misleading and repellant to uninitiated young and old people tho term Infidel is and fuel D ilentally how impolitic it is for Rat lonullsts to accept and adopt it as a propaganda namo On the second pogo of his Ago of Reason that great Rationalist Thomas y Paine said infidelity does not consist in believing or disbelieving it consists in professing to believe what ho does not believe And ho ends his Examination of tho Prophecies as follows Tho priests exclaim against something they call infidelity I will define what It is Ho that believes in tho story Christ is an infidel to God Em phasis on this latter sentence is Painos Ought wo not follow so wise intclll gent and sagacious a leader as Pain and turn the tables on Christian rightly calling them Infidels and our selves Rationalists For In his preface to tho Ago of Reason Palno says Tho most for mldablo weapon against errors of every kind is Reason I havo nova r used any other and trust I never attar which ho continually ap peals to and exalts reason throughout his entire writing calling tho leading ono Tho Age of Reason What bettor namo then is there for his favorite cause than Rationalists isvscornfully hurled back at Christians themselves Are wo smarter than Thomas Paine that wo reject his lead ershlp In this iuatterD WEBSTER GROII Resolutions Anent Gorky Editor IIughesTn regard to Mr Gorky will you kindly publish this clipping taken from Mother Earth Whereas Maxim Gorky recognized in the world of letters as a genius and In the world at largo as a man of great soul high purpose and puro nat ore having como to this country ac companicd by a lady whom he consld ors mid treats as his wife and Whereas The wealthy and there fort the better classes tumbled all over themselves in order to exploit him as a lion and Whereas Ho had not the wisdom and craft and sense of puritanical re spectabllity to pretend that ho did not know tho lady ho believed his wife and whom ho believes himself united by a law higher than that of man and Whereas He was guileless enough to believe he had como to a free country where purity of motive and of conduct would take precedence of lint n and rotten reforms and Whereas Ho did not know the can people practice polygons secretly while condemning It in words and that tho U S Senate has been nearly two years in pretendin- gt try to find a polygamist in their midst arid Whereas lIe was so Injudicious as to como here with a defective divorce just at a time when the supreme court was malting tho divorces of some of us the gilded favorite of fortune do fective and- Whereas He is only a foreigner anyhow therefore bp it Resolved That this man Gorky bo used as a means of proclaiming our ex traordlnary virtue to the world at large as a robber cries stop thief in order to direct attention from himself that accordingly he bo treated withI the utmost outrageous discourtesy and hounded from hotel to hotel on tho ground that such places by no clause harbor risen and women unless they have passed through the matrl menial mill that we withdraw our patronage from the revolution In Rus slanot being seriously interested In it anyhowand that wo will show our contempt for revolutionary pa trlots by entertaining tho rottenes stand duke in Russia if he only will como over to us bringing his whole I harem if ho wish that ho is a re proach to us whllo ho remains in this country and that he and the lady who is his wife In the highest acne a shall be deportetlW R LOHSE Strong Arguments Muncie Indiana Editor DlatleI send you 0 clipping from the Chicago Tribune which will probably interest many readers of tho Blue Grass Blade Of course every reader of the Blade knows that the Bible was written by fallible nun and that the belief In miracles is idiotic and absurd but it care not tall to grati fy tho Blade family to learn that such a great light in the religious world as Prof Foster has mastered up a sot tic lent amount of courage and honesty to repudiate tho myths and legends that constitute the basis of the Chris tinn religion If pulpit heresy continues to laTcrease as rapidly for the next ten years as it has during tho first sfCyears of the present century the death and burial of supernaturalism can not rpIntwo highly educated clergymen I asItold confidentially that they would rejoice if they could publicly proclal from their pulpits without bolo driven out of employment the truths about the fundamental dogmas of the Christian religion T J BOWLES M Help That Counts Timbo Arkansas James E Hughes Inclosed I send oua dollar bill Send mo one copy of tho Moore Memorial Pamphlet also ono copy of pamphlet and Blade six months to niy mother Mrs S E Far rls at Bald Knob Arkansas and use the remaining few cots for your postage expenses have been wanting to assist you financially for soma tlrue but seems I will savor become able to do so Your editorials are the of the Blade and I hope and believe tho Liberals will support you in your great and grand efforts As a liberal editor you cant bo extolled you touch all Important points concerning tho wel faro of Humanity you are fully lave ed to your calling It seems your whet- mind is absorbed and your brain taxed to the utmost in trying to terest and instruct your readers antSyou ore fully competent to do so worry over insulting letters from Christian cranks for It should pleasure to you to know you are kill Ing Ignorance and superstition and slating truth and reason to drive slty pilots to tho plow Wo have too many Gorkys who lovo other vvante more than his own who lecture to us d how we should live this life and a future lifo in a laird whtre iWsee no account of women dwolllLg thV6 If they were not patronized by fSls an fanatics and trees to work on allttie quiet reflciblo homo what thjiy would tenon to be good hates citizen I This wold would bo betur I j ui hungry for Wilsons Rome Book wten you gat it ready wishing you surcess I am yttIJOHN D FAR IU Dr Wilson Can Answer Jas E lIughesA short time ago Mr M R Coffman handed ino one of your papers dated December 31st 1905 It containstho Christmas story written by J B Wilson l1 D and is headwed Christmas I have read it carefully and now I am going to ask a favor of you as I am always willing to learn something The writer states that theca have been sixteen saviors who have appear ed at various times to various races of flWilla thousand analogues could be men tinned such as miraculous birth on December 25th the star the wise men the nWillletter and name fifty and give me the name of tho book and Publishing Co whero I may obtain it GEORGE W SWEAT vJamesfor the two copies of Blue Grass Blade which you have sent me I am glad to see the great improvement you have mado in tho tono of tho paper The article Materialism vs Agnosti clam by Otto Wettstein I think i tho best article for materialism I have aver received I wish it were printed in cheap leaflet form so I could get a number of copies to distribute and ask the members of our Materialist Association to buy and distribute them also If you or Otto Wettstein decide to have it printed for saletplease let mo know If you have any copies left of May Cth of Blue Grass lade please send me 10 cts worth for the enclosed stamps Will you become a member of Mat eriallst Association I enclose tho Announcement First list of members etc Wo have thirty two members now When we have obtained 50 Ill have second list printed On a New England form there is so much work to do from April first to midsummer that cant write much of any so Materia list Association will have to watt till the busy season is over I noi ythat two of our are for your paper Dr Bell and A fmtteman They are not all writers but they consider it an honor to belong to such anAssoclAtionan can tall and help free others from superstitions I think several first rate leaflets each by a different thor to be distributed to thinking pee plo would be a great help to the work Most local papers of course wont print our articles yet so we must reach people by letters leaflets and talltELIZA MOWRY BLIVEN THE RAINBOW After tho rain and sunset glow With twilight drawing near There had been no rainbow Had the heavens shed no tear he heavens tear drops falling With the sunlight shining through cemngOf cumulus once shining bright Has left the darkening cloud no fleecy nymph so fair and bright Is wearing now a shroud hoveringgwas After the lightnings flash and lower ings Then the rainbow will appear You cannot produce a rainbow Without a little rain Pleasures as they ebbing flow Return to us again Tho cloud thats filled with wontlerIWill once again be clear Though it flash and blow and shunt Tho rainbow will appear Van Winkle SUMMER TIME TABLE r Lexington Eastern Railway Com pany Effective May 20 1906 East Bound Leave Pm Am 745eS25aL E Junction Ky 325 837 City Iy 400 913 tanton Ky 410 923 Campton Junction Ky 440 905 964aTorrent Ky 457 10OS 1029aO K June Ky 005 1120 1130trTrain N SundaypTrain 1 t IIWest Bound Am Am JucKson Ky 625 225 U K June Ky 029 230 Athol Ky C5C 253- Uoattyvlllo June Ky 720 320 Torrent Ky 747 342 natural Bridge Ky 801 350 Campton June Ky 803 357- Stantou Ky 828 425 Clay City Ky 837 434 L E Junction Ky 910 603 Winchester Ky 923 520 Lexington Ky 1010 005 Train No1 daily except Sunday Train No3 Daily- VITOSCOPE PICTURES ill Be Taken of all Stations and Scenery Along the Queen Cres cent Route On Tuesday May 2nd the Selig Polyscope Company of Chicago will take moving pictures of all territory along the Queen Crescent Route leaving Cincinnati at 830 All follow up train No1lll those who de re to bo in the pictures will bo at the station Advertising Agent W B Johnston of the Queen Crescent Route will accompany the Vltoscopo on the trip Train will consist of with flat car and coach NOTE REDUCTIONS Hampden 18 size Special R 23 jls 2000 New RWay jls Dauber Watch Co 21 jls I same 17 jls Elgin Veritas 23 jls 29 Father Time 21 jls 2250 B W Raymond 19 Jls 20 B W Ray mond 17 jls 1850 Waltham Vanguard 23 Jls 29 Apsjls 1850 same not Premier 10 The above guaranteed to pass R Way Inspectors Sundries Waltham P S Bart lett or Elgin Wheeler 17 Jls ad justed nickel same gilt same Hampden nickel 800 same not justed Elgin Waltham or Hamp nickel 15 Jls Elgin or Wal han nickel noncatchable hair spring jls Hampden jls gilt 460 Standard or Century jls AI tho above in or 4ounce all verlno case prepaid In silver or gold filled screw case accompanied by manufacturers and guarantee for 51morevorlne case In solid gold case to 50 more LADIES GOLD WATCHES Large size Elgin Waltham or Hampden 20year gold filled latest style artistic handchased jls 15 Jls 11 IG Jls adj small sizo JlsMll60 16 Jl3 15vl8 jls 24sgca rcase more In gold case 10 to 50 more Latter with diamonds all in plush box prepaid guarantee listdWare Optical Goods and My Tract Theism in the Crucible free OTTO WETTSTEIN La Grange Cook Co Ill UPTODATE PAMPHLET ON MARRIAGEAND BY JOSEPHINE K HENRY OF VERSAILLES KENTUCKY All orders promptly filled Price copy 25c 5 copies for 100 JOB PRINTING We have a complete Job partment and are prepared to do firstclass work at reasonable prices Send us your next der Satisfaction guaranteed BLUE GRASS BLADE 153 W Short St Lerington Ky r Our returned if fall Anv one sending willpromptlythe piteutiiiity of snine How to Obtain n securedBronglu r specialnotksvilhoutchnrge journalconsulteriScud for sample copy Address VICTOR J j Patent Attorneys Evans Building o I EARS- EXPERIENCE MARKS DESIGNS r f ln Hnmtbnolconlatciiti atciiMlitiiMwithout blboi ifits Jtiwttmhnndamm rnret en rr nay Jrno JI II monbs tL bull nenedeaier Hm Co3G10roa7nvrNewIc Ih17ve 9Yrahlo SOC HIGH BRIDGE AND RETURN SUNDAYJUNE Tickets hood Leaving Lexington on Trin iio or on Special Train at 100 u m tMusicboth a lacarte and tahlcdc hote Swings and Shcitcr Houses Ask ticket agents for particulars n fiJ V Jr iff ri 125 CINCINNATIAND VIA I SUNDAy Special TrainL- EAVING LEXINGTON 730am Ask Ticket Agent for Parlicalllrsa GREATEST DISCOVERIES OF 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 Ita organ Tho Truth About God which it publishes monthly and Its school Tho 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 tho tem porary International Instructor for tho chtrch Tho Church has 100 LIFE MEMBERS It wants 900 moro to formally organize and Incorporate The first thousand members will be tho founders and organizers of the CHURCH OF HUMANITY- If you havo loved ones you wish rescued from tho Idolatry ot worship Ing a dead man named Jesus and a myth named God you should Join thla Church and It will aid you In freeing them and In saving your posterity from becoming idolaters by teaching them Tho Truth About God Wrlto to W H KERR 2210 Broadway Great Bend Kan for blank application for membership Information about the college and send 26 cents for a years subscription to tho TRUTH ABOUT GOL Do It now fEditorialContinued from page one be but would it not be better to allow the consti tuency instead of the criminal court to be the judge as to when the terms of a mans righteous useful ness has expired The member himself knows best whether he is making money by dishonest means or if his vote and influence can be purchased by corporate wealth with a few miles of free transpor tationIWhat would the people of America think if a law should be enacted to punish a member of the bench of the Supreme Court should he disclose in ad vance the tenor of a pending decision And is not Congress a corordinatc branch of the government Should not members of Congress who make the laws be men of as much integrity as members of the Supreme Bench who finally interpret the laws These are facts for the people to consider and ac tion should be built according to that consideration These are but characteristic traits of the in 1Iierent rottenness and vice that have siezed upon our national government They smell unto the highest heaven They are heraldic of national de cay The power to stem the ebbing tide of our national honor lies within the people Will they use it when the time comes The fact that there is dishonesty in our public official life is evidenced by the conviction and sen tence imposed upon United States Senator Joseph n Burton of Kansas But what is the Senate go ing to do about that The Supreme Court has ad judged him to be guilty Few men arraigned a the bar of criminal justice could boast the drag as it is called more potential or who could invoke an influence more powerful with the expectation of having it count for him at the crucial moment than Senator Burton but he is nothing higher than a convicted felon With him it may be armoire ed that the jig is up ITe is all in Time Chamber has now no alternative but to expel him Naturally all good men find his fate a sad one to contemplate From the Senate Chamber to a prison cell is a far cry No one who loves his country can reflect upon this mans downfall without a shudder At the saute time his conviction is a cause for sincere congratulation lie was found guilty of using the position to which he was elected for the purpose of lining his own pockets and that too in contravention of all law and decency Time fate of Senator Burton will be a warning to the balance of the crooks that infest the national capital and it serves as a wholesome lesson to the country at large It proves that in one instance the courts have stood jealous guard over the name and fame of the American public service and that after all the age may be not quite so sordid as would sometimes paint tr Cll9J1141dfitrr M r HENRIKSrfIJON THE DEATH OP W In the death of the Norwegian novelist and play wright Henrik Ibsen the world has lost a great man and a philosopher He was a Freethinker and undertook to foist the principles of Free thought among his people through the medium o his publications and succeeded without his peo ple even suspecting it a feat in the accomplish ment of which he was almost apotheosized For years he struggled on painfully between the narrow strip that divides poverty from utter despair left his native country twice in rank disgust only to return a literary hero and to receive the praise and admiration of his countrymen Believing hum an advocate of dogmatic theology he was accord ed public praise and adulation but to have made known the facts would have meant ostracism and contumelyBy of this plan Ibsen succeeded and by following a more openly hostile advocacy of Liber all ideas ninny fail Even in America we have produced few Ingersolls who forced public attention by his brilliancy and routed the creeds with profit and honor By comparison Ingersoll shines the brighter He was openly and avowedly agnostic lie heralded that potent fact before all the world There was no deception nor may attempt toward it He smote down falsehood with a smile and ridiculed priest craft into a harmless disuse On the other hand Ibsen received an almost idolatrous worship from his countrymen because they believed him to be something different than what he really was Ib sen never resented the praise thus bestowed but seemed to find therein a grim sense of humor which never appealed to the stolid citizenry of the Norse land True Ibsen failed in attracting any consid erable public attention until his later years while for the most part his earlier efforts made in his younger days were hardly considered worthy of notice This made him petulant and vain Yet lie did not give up He still fought the fight and won and this is what gives to his career a success lie richly deserved Far be it from the purpose of the Blade to cast any disparagement upon the character of the dead or to even suggest that there is a suspicion of the hypocrite upon his escutcheon On the contrary he conducted his warfare tactfully and succeeded where many an open advocate meets with failure Years of poverty and suffering made him a cynic and he began to drift very perceptibly into pes simism One by one successes fell upon him and he began to manifest a buoyant spirit in his life and works lie was both a freethinker and a revo lutionist of the latter a mild type such as one may find in Englund and men of this stump do not meet with public favor to such an extent that his gov ernment will favor him with a bounty Yet this is what Ibsen finally won and in his death we are prorate to say again the world has lost a truly great man if THE SHRINE OF ST ANTONY Mercy Can it be possible that St Antony some itVicethe people of New York and that the Court has found it necessary to issue an order directing thnt all his erstwhile perquisites be cut off1 Can it lid ah noperish the thought From Eastern reports the advice is at hand that Antimony Comstock has been claiming and collecting for years both mileage and fees while pos ing as a witness in the federal courts against persons and property for whom and for which he had incurred a dislike Now among other things St Anthony was made a Post Office Inspector at the nominal salary of one dollar per year Of course he thought nothing of the salary because he as the So ciety in whose name he labored paid him 2500 per annum It was not mammon that Comstocl wanted but power As Inspector he was given power to run his nose into the mail pouch and root into private letters Thus caused him to set up and ride high in the saddle The object of all this was to give Comstock more power and aid him in his fight against vice It now appears that as an In spector of the mails and the Court so holds he is not entitled to mileage or attendance fees as rally laymen can claim them The result is that Com- stock has illegally claimed and received fees amounting to thousands of dollars Ought not Anthony in good faith now suppress himself Will he make restitution Will he get down his ledger and odd up the sum total then draw n check for the amount and send it to the Conscience fund f With the perquisites gone the job loses most of its glamor It may be that Anthony will quit Oft course the fees and mileage amounted to a good deal as Mr Comstock non no St Anthony has considerable business in the Courts and he could regulate it to suit himself and his necessities When the coal bin or lour barrel was empty or when he need an extra shirt or collar button he could go out and make an arrest with the assurance that there would be an adequate return in the shape of a government voucher And now all the perquisites are taken away un less the Society itself supply them from its own treasury Such a proceeding would not help ranch for theres nothing profitable in taking mousy from ones pocket and transferring it to the other Against what are you fighting asks a whil om correspondent The answer is easy AVc fight against Ignorance Poverty und Crime Against that ignorance which leaves man in the Serbonian lions of prejudice mid time miasma of superstition Against that poverty which imposes an awful suf fering upon millions of the race forcing them trend the path of life with bleeding feet Against that crime which leaves its black shadow upon thee home and beckons gaunt despair to the door Tc encompass our Hint we teach the religion of eauty the religion of joy which is the only religion worth titrlitiiifefoiv tlm onlv rnlipinn worth ItnviAtr Wn would squeeze he cf iir the h lrtl1ches out of tJ b mee anclflll7tl a to overflowing with sunshine and flowers What beauty can exist in a religious creed men to believe that millions are doomed tonherit weflasting weeping fail to percicve the wdrous beauties of Nature und ears deafened by a mad clamor of religion are unable to hear tit sweet melody of the mocking birds song Thus oinr task is plain to understand Our fight is not gainst men but against systems It is against time sys tears religious and political that have diced the triumvirate of hell Ignorance PoveHyand Crime Those who know their Bible least believe t most Tliocs who are snore familiar with its nature and tendencies believe it less while ninny are unable to believe in it at all The great mass of cTiristian society actually knows but little concerning the Bible the majority being altogether indifferent Usually the devotees of fashionable sociefr go to hear some popular preacher on the subject but never study it for themselves allowing his gpinionstheirpeople are never taught to think for themselves religiouspeace of the family circle degraded woman ter rorized little children and arrested the onward fltellectnndbeen the purpose of wise men to retrench ire evils of life by a system of philosophy so as itbcemm the employment of fools to multiply them by the fluences of orthodox sectarianism thCthutocrnttoits just reward Despite the mighty increase in lliborRtesultingfroHl battle of life most grievous to bent JSd daily growing more bitter While idleness asts in dustry starves and it is to suchconditioJiUUlt one may trace that spirit of discontent fnn which bloody revolutions arc born Every ind trial de pression increases the danger This dan ter threat not alone existing conditions established forms und formulas but civilization itself There was easilydestroyedbe made to take cognizance of these factiiLet the American Eagle rouse itself come oft it lams been hatching dollars for so longhand then politiiC1I1 politicalneeds is a party of its own 1 IS THE END OF THE CHRIS TIAN CHURCH AT HAND The Christian System Given a Body Blow by a Learned Theological Cri tic Prof Foster Writes a Book T hat Will Shake Christendom From end to End From Chicago Tribune Fundamental principles of ortho doxy of tho Christian religion Includ Ing tho belief In miracles phophecles verbal inspiration of the bible and Its historical basis are assailed by Prof George Burnam Forest of tho University of Chicago considered one of the most advanced thinkers on theological questions America has produced In n book on Tho Finality of tho Christian Heliglon to bo Issued from the versity of Chicago press shortly This work compiled aftor a scorn of years of work and predicted by University of Chicago professors who nave read the advance sheets to prove the most Important religious book of the generation and to occu py In theology a position analogous to that of Kants Critique In phllos ophy Is a destruction of tho author- Ity religion the traditional orthodox ecclesiasticism Is Christianity Permanent In main the book is an Inquiry Into tho question whether Christianity can be regarded as tho permanent religion of mankind whether as Gootho puts It the fishermans hut can wid en Into the temple of the universe Prof Foster has been accused by southern Baptists of heresy In his teaching and It is said tho University of Chicago has been urged often to drop him from the faculty of the di Vlnity school but members of the dl vlnlty faculty have stood strongly by him declaring that ho Is too far ad vanced a thinker for them and too great a theologlst to be dropped Tho book ho declares In the preface Is a mirror of the develop ment of the authors own experience a development moreover which has not yet come to a closea fact mir rored In the book He believes that a multitude of thoughtful men and wo men are passing through an experi enco similar to his own and that a withttomorrow and the day after It Is pathetic and tragic or Inspiring or luminating spectacle according as one looks as Realu Jesus Is Supplanted itJ g1milhlsy4i i1MIijfJ xtates n preface as followS The churchs theological Christ still supplants the real Jesus of his tory whose spirit alone Is the life of our spirit sacraments instead of the fellowship of Christian persons are set up as tho mediation of salvation and an external religion of historical occurrences is substituted for the in visible Impression made by persons The watchword Christianity Is a historical religion Is superficially true but fundamentally false It means that Christianity is a religion of historical facts It Is not a religion of facts but of value and values are timelessScripture Canon Is Assailed- In summing up the net results of his survey of the canonicity of the Bible Prof Foster writes The Bible exhibits local and per sonal passionsIn a word has all the marks of a deliberate human composi Lion From a history of the origin and fixation of the canon it is cleat that the aprlorl declaration of the coincidence of canonlcalness and im mediate divineness has no historical support From both points of view the way the Bible came about its constitution its origin and history witness against its immediate mirac ulous derivation as set forth by au thority religion Flat Denial of Miracles His reference to miracles follows To scientific understanding of the world and to the Intellectual hab itudo supedinduced by science a miracle cannot be admitted Miraculous narratives like the biblical originating from no observers who possessed suf ficient knowledge of the relations and laws of nature to have a right to pronounce upon such matters have no scientific importance And the ortho dox exaction of faith In such stories out of all relation with everything we know must forever be no less antago nlstlc to the higher activities of true faith than It Is stultifying to science and to common sense An intelligent man who now affirms his faith In such stories as actual facts can hardly know what intellectual honesty means It is customary to commend faith In tho miraculous as the only faith that is in a position to give God the honor which is due to lay hold of his grace to recognize the glory of Christ to appropriate the fruit of his life and death and amid universal uncertainty to find a firm rock on which one may stand This is an illusion Meager Proof of Resurrection Referring to the Importance at tached to the bodily resurrection he Importance attached to the bodily resurrection is out of all pro portion to the evidence therefor The narratives yield a fluctuating image which eludes all assured valuation Shall we base our highest and holiest religious life on an occurrence of which no ono can make a perfectly distinct picture And Is it indeed necessary that we build our salvation on this occurrence After discussing tho relation of Jesus to tho ideas of the men of his ttme Prof Foster writes In the last as Jesus participated in the ideas of his people certainly as he pected no breach with Judaism anymore than Luther with tho Catholic church continuous as he was with the past he yet was himself a new creation and the great liberator His was not book religion but ex perience religion As religion is not cult or institution so It is not dogma nor formula nor theory Religion is too simple for the theologians They cannot teach religion any more than they can teach the grass to grow birds to sing or lovers to love HARD TIMESCONTROVERSY Defends his Position on Cause of In dustrial Depression and Comes Back at a Single Tax Critic By A LUTTERMAN In the Blade of May 20th J B Barnes replying to the question of hard times is somewhat confused In his statements as claimed by sin gle taxes he says hard times are principally caused by the absorption of wealth by the landlords in rent and if land only would be taxed tc the full extent of tho annual rent ceived thereof then prosperity would at once arise like a soap bubble in mid air- rAt1tn Jhjust andjrbad ltcy for the reason that it is thoiroducts by men and such production should not be dis couraged by taxation but land is not wealth though It is valuable and its value results from population and so growth and therefore land should carry the burden of all public expenses If this Is not contradicting himself I like to have Dr Barnes plain how ho can draw a tax from land that has no value or that it be comes valuable from the results of population without actual labor em ployed We know the fact that dead people In a graveyard never enrich the country a particle nor would an army of tramps add value to he com munity in the least The cause of values received from land is not the population but the application of lab or we talk about a tax on land It is understood that it is to be collect ed in dollars and cents but neither land nor the application on land pro duces money It Is true that money is a function of law but law is su preme and when our wealth is measured by dollars and cents and a cer taro amount Is In demand for tax then It becomes a necessity to buy that medium for our produce In orde to pay our tax our debts are not measur ed by bushels It Is notto be considered what we can raise but how many dol lars we can make to pay our debts with This will prove that the landi calliItax system The single tax theory Is like a per petual motion idea of a boy who Is perimenting with balls weights anJ springs but when he becomes a he naturally gives it up Brother Barnes says Give1 mo land and in a short time I can command all the wealth want If this is true I would advlso the doctor to ask Uncl3 Sam for a hundred and sixty acres It Is free for the asking but suppose you would have the land and I would have the money and when your tax be came due how would you be able to pay It without coming to mo and bar rain for my dollars In exchange for your produce And suppose I would not yield to your propositions how could you command all wealth under tho circumstances I wuld bo under no obligation to let you hava the mon ey unless you come to my terms you seeThe idea that land is not wealth and theerfore should carry tho burden of all public expenses Is unnatural and I dont believe No doubt Henry r Georges works will explain all this and so will tho Bible explain Jesus Christ but then It explains that two loaves of bread satisfied a multitude and after all were served the remains were seven baskets full And when Henry George tries to explain how to draw a tax on land that Is not wealth simply can not believe in It The law of nature Is such that we can not take nothing from it or add something to it we can not tax nature and receive benefits therefrom labor must pay all bills of taxation and I see no weary In taxing all values to support public expenses for tho reas on that the one who receives Interest ithelandiJUSTICE BETTER- THAN EQUALITY t The Former Is Possible of Attain ment But the Latter Is only a Dream Short Talk on Currency Volume By RICHARD WOLFE The over prevailing stringency of money Is conclusive proof of an in adequate volume The distress want and misery that generally prevails throughout tho world can be traced to not a lack of wealth or industry but to a scarcity of the legalized repre sentative of wealtha mere creation of law Moral degradation crime and injustice are largely due to a shortage in tho money volume Man must bo free from his physical wants before ho wilt give much attention to his other wants Commercial prosperity must come before man can pass to a higher ethical standard and this prosperity must be the common lot of all if it is to be lasting History teaches us that nations have nourished for a while and then passed away that the whole world has drop ped back to barbarism at different periods and slowly developed again to be again destroyed And if history teaches us ono thing more than an other it is that these nationsthese civilizationshave perished because there was not a just distribution of wealth The few have absorbed the wealth while the many remained in poverty The apathy of the many and the degeneracy of the few hastbeen the cause of the downfall of die from the top down tthey build from tho bottom up rJ s vQJlkIl Otl wealth until we have a just money V system and no system of finance is just that does not provide a sufficient fvolume of money because the distri button of wealth is through money and without an adequate volume neither production nor distribution can take place The Socialist thinks that collective ownership Is the only way to have a just distribution of wealth but an adequate volume of money will do it better and still preserve many good things in our present economic sys tem While community of Interests is becoming stronger as wo advance In Intelligence our individuality also is becoming stronger The doctrine that The injury of ono is the concern ofi 1victualof the race can not be had if we de stroy mans individuality Man is 110tcoming more and more jealous of personal liberty and only yields a point to get more freedom In other ways Society is always beneficialI teconomicwant Equality we want Justice Equality Is an irrldescent dream Jus tice is possible of attainment Equality Is not We want equality of opportunity that is to say we want free dom Altruism under normal condi dons will take care of our inequalities and it is the only thing that can do sb Today it is ns difficult to conduct business enterprises successfully as It is to navigate the air because we have not a sufficient volume of mon ey