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Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.): n. Sunday, September 19, 1909.

Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.): n. Sunday, September 19, 1909. Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.). 400dpi TIFF G4 page images Blade Publishing Co., Lexington, Kentucky 1909 blu1909091901 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, September 19, 1909. Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.). Blade Publishing Co., Lexington, Kentucky 1909 $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. if oil r7 j BLUE GR 1 SS BLADE Volume XVIII LEXINGTON nttPTEMBER ig 1909 Number 23 DEVOTED TO THE PROPAG4NDA OF FREEDOM OF THOUGHT f 0 1fed pun tay1u By Alwhite I sat upon the rustic seat Beside an old friends grave The scattered roses at my feet fTheir dying fragrance gave The sunbeams played among the trees And on each mossy mound The daisies nodded in the breeze That lightly whispered round And save the catbirds mimic call Froth nearby wooded hill There was no sound it seemed that nlli The world was calm and still And as I sat above the dead My feet upon the sod I thought of till that men have said 1 Of Heaven Hell nnd God a Of books and creeds and dogmas old That to mankind pretend The knowledge to contain and hold Of things beyond lifes end 7Of wars waged in religions name And those who at the stake Have perished in the faggots thane For their opinions sake vvw t t J n l 9WI here beneath the calm blue skies Eachgreen and grassy bed eYesTliAlthough for ages men have tried To lift the veil tight drawn The slightest glimpse is still denied The dead still slumber on Andas the days their course pursue Years to centuries run The graves of Christian Pagan Jew Shall till melt into one Tho monuments that now contain The dates of birth and death Shall mingle with the dust again Of those who sleep beneathIAnd none shall know d By all twill be forgot 17 Whether they spent their time in plII e- lIit Or whether they did not These were the thoughts that came to mo And come to all they trust While thinking on lifes mystery Above an old friends dust tonlD C 1t 37 it1I JI J II UJ Th2L BLADEiTHE ATHEISTS REASON AND THE CHRISTIANS FATE Civilization is Menaced by Terrific Pressure from Foul Sources of Greed for Which the Church Dare Not Apologize By Clarence C Gates The student of philosophy way go astray but it is not to any philosophic abandonment of authority and restraint that any such moral dereliction is due for the philosophy of Universal Facts is the strictest taskmaster of them all To judge we must know but the wise judge may be not infrequently as tinged with guilt as the ignorant culprit whom he condemns To reach the lame hands of doubt for an old teaching at the mothers knee is finely expressed but doubt is the characteristic of a sane mind For the rational mind must believe as the evidence presented by its factors is balanced to form its opinions and will The mind has a free choice of mental material but the will is as much fixed as the lightning in its path by pre ponderating reason and belief Pull up a doubt and you will usually find a sin sticking to the roots Rev Dille is quoted by Mr Bolcc But whatever the cause of doubt way be does not nullify the doubt itself or its legitimate right to a place in our minds To deny this is to deny freedom of thought If Christianity cannot prevent doubt of it that is its weakness pitted against the strength of its counteracting influences Rev Dille is not a consistent advo cate of his religion however for ho preaches of a Christ for giving all sins and the necessary premise of his conclusion just quoted is not evident For this allsulllcient reason His religion holds out an inducement to the sinner in the form of forgiveness Doubt does not for a seduction of ethics ethics the atheists creed is a stain as unalterable as the past But the conflict between secular reason and spiritual faith is interminable The word doubt as used by Rev Dille is manifestly a rejection of the Christian religion I have used it in its general sense with one exception That the colleges should have exalted Herbert Spencer above the Savior of mankind cum be only explained by the axiom that every effect has its cause 6 Sir Bolce reports Dr Keigwin as having said Wars bloody ifI Land has done more to lift mankind than the corpselike fingers of philosophy We can imagine Napoleon to have spoken these words with sincerity That a Christian minister should give voice to such a sentiment of war is perplexing to the atheist to speak the least but then secular reason and spiritual faith are like oil and water The wonder grows that com mercial greed has done wore for civilization than has this clammy Land of philosophy that for twentyfour centuries has been plucking at the heart of roan All this reminds us of the fact that the coaster cannot always land safely he gets to going and cant stop His sled tatty break Throughout America the conviction is strong in church circles that what is best in our presentday civilization is menaced It is agreed on many sides that a new renaissance with all its liberty of thinking and riot of brilliant apostasy is indeed possible What is menaced Our comforts and inventions We ute too selfish to destroy them Our ethics Never has there been such a deposit in the Bank of Ethics as there is today Our freedom of thought and discussion Yea that is the only element of our civilization that is menaced today menaced with a terrific pressure from the foul sources of greed Does the Christian church dare apologize for such a menace Let it look to its own security and it will note The churches denounce the collegiate teaching that II society by its approval can constitute any action right or by its censure decree it to be wrong yet they are not consistent in their manifest resentment of the fact that current opinion now pro I vents the state university from offering definite religious in struction in the study of the Bible in church history and the special history of the denomination concerned and such other subjects The major portion of one of Mr Bolcos sentences has been reversed but the words italicized are italicized in his sentence At the state university of North Dakota an affiliated college under denominational control has been established to carryon such work for which the consent of the people cannot be obtained Ye gods and little fishes What an anxious desire for public approval and insulting appreciation of ill Most of us would enjoy a pleasure without paying the price of it Such a desire ranges from greed to selfishness gauged by secular reason The Christians way have another name forFto have and to hold when they ask for religious in schools and colleges which instruction is not tine desire of the people the approval of whom is sought for and denounced in the same theological breath But secular and spiritual consistency are qualities widely apart for in their very nature they must Positivism robs our educational system of the inspiration that gives fiber to morality Again wilIoil and water not mix for what is more positive than the only route to genuineness of character is the word of God1 Society is more vitally concerned with what a man does than with what ho knows and where the will is evilly dis posed it is better that its power should be curtained by igno rance But what a wan knows determines what he does Hence knowledge and action are of equal value And there isnt a fact required by a wan evilly disposed that he could notobtain from his associates were he unable to read As long as any filet exists known to sown one and useful to him it would be impossible to utterly keep the information of it from being used to a wrong purpose by one so disposed to use it There is not a university or college in the world of which it could bo stated with sanity immoral information is knowingly given in their textbooks for the ethical value of till knowledge is neutral Tile inference from the quotations plainly stated is bigotry demands as its right tho fettered imprisonment of freedom Tis a conflict between reason and faith wherein faith asks for the suppression of free thought free unstinted knowl edgeall mental freedom in fact but free will the one fiction of the mind The heart has reasons that the reason does not know If this were true ours would bo a double personality where ignorance is bliss But perception and conception are of the wind and not of the heart hence Pascals words must ration ally be considered as figurative It is strange this Christian denial of collegiate knowledge of physical phenomena as it affects the Christian idea and ideal and tho utterly positive assertions of spiritual values of whose existence there is absolutely no rational physical proof The Christian will speak of Urn pride of intellect as of something unworthy of things rational with a sneer as they apply to religion and of humility the quality of a slave the Christian praise is unstinted Of prayer there is an abundance but tho atheists demand for an utterly strict scientific test of it is regarded as insultingly profane With regard to this let it be known that had the Curies been jealous of the test of their discovery of radium as undoubtedly the christian is jeal ous of the strict scientific test of prayerthat both radium tend the Curies would bo forgotten today Tine most advanced conception in tho churches insists that God is so superior to man that ho is beyond the comprehension of the finite wind Again The existence of God is not a ur WlBLUE GRASS BLADE 3 thought for the reason quoted for the second time says Dr Keigwin This is Christian confirmation for what has heen stated in this articleas to secular reason and spiritual faith The two are not and cannot possihly lie the same or anyways near the same But another Christian the president of Oberlin College refers to ClerkMaxwell who wrote that ho had looked into most philo sophical systems but had seen none that would work without a god Please note the word systems it is plural However there can be but One Philosophical System worthy of the name for there can be but One Truth Philosophies are in infinite series an interminable product of the mind mostly metaphysical supernaturalism The One System of Facts or literal actual Metaphysics toward which all philosophy should be turned is a mathematical unity An atheist could have written as ClerkMaxwell wrote of philosophies with perfect consistency Twould prove nothing of his belief A preconceived notion of a god can be made to agree with any philosophy which Clerk Maxwell may have examined ClerkMaxwell could not strengthen the Christians defense by any preconceived notion of his own Otherwise as has been asserted an atheist could have written the samepTo return to the II most advanced conception IfII God it must appear plainly true by churchadmitted evidence that all that is known of him is ignorance gauged upon a basis of secular reason The Christian says ho knows of the existence ofa god and a mangod but despite his every effort he cannot bring the atheist to his side over the chasm that separates them He should cease trying cease his agelong persecution of the atheist and hereafter obey the golden rule of Liberty II Mind your own business This is the atheists just request of the Christian Will the request be heeded The orthodox church teaches now as it has always taught that when man fell in Eden his intellect fell with him conse quently the mind thinks with the weight of intellectual pravity hearing it down Salvation has nothing to do with thought Christ eliminated from the spiritual life all rational organs of perception ivhcn he said Ye must be born again To the secular reason1 of the atheist it appears as if Christianity bids the Ignorant Fool be humble accept salvation without thought and consider himself one of the Superior of the Elect This is no harsh vituperation but a rational logical conclusion from the Christians own selfadmitted premises The Christian has faith without reason The soculled infidel never so injuri ously damned tfti Christian as the Christian damns himself Judged by commonsense reason the Christians view of phil osophy is through u distorting mirror it is manifestly a mistaken interpretation as reported by Mr BoiceII Philosophy has been in all the ages u tethered horse moving in a circle around a stake It is in its last analysis a diseased brain attempting to prescribe for its own neurasthenia Phil osophy must be known here in its general sense The love of learning oftentimes prejudiced in favor of supernaturalism is denounced by tho Christian ns a disease of the brain Yet to philosophy tho Christian makes appeal for aid in the con firmation of his claims Such an action as this is liko the request of a favor of a friend with a slap in the face for thanksClergymen rooted and grounded in the orthodox faith lament r no passing of the appeals to fear To the atheist nothin- better suited to confirm his assertion of Christian savagery than appeals to fear which makes more hideous a religion wade repulsive enough by its denial of rationalism Savage and Savior are twin hags to the atheist It fe contended that scientific materialists wring over their Bunsen burners and their oxyhydrogen blowpipes have forgotten the chemistry of hell When cut by the sharp edge of reason the cry of tho christian church has been tho whine of u whipped dog By secular reason we know it is not the duty of the chemist to discover hell or to remember its existence if that were a demonstrated fact Chemistry has nothing to do with hell for to the atheist nothing is more certain than this no chemistry of hell was ever knownand you may give any meaning to the words you may desire The churchmen say it is better that all the philosophers of today should meet the fate of Socrates than that the youth of America should be corrupted How strange that threat rings in the mind in this freedomloving age The churchmen express in this sentiment the same savage brutality that burned a Bruno at the stake and would do it again if the opportunity was afforded Tho atheists reply is this Better that every human being should enjoy every known vice sin and crime than that one free thought should be suppressed from utterance or publication whether it bo to an individual or to the world This statement means exactly what the words imply Give me liberty or give ino death will ring forever true whether it be mental or physical or economic freedom that is sought Ethics will clear away any confusion in the statements above Christianity cannot Tis the fool that sits on the safetyvalve Thus does the atheist challenge tho Christian Let the latter if he willno longer be deferential to those who deny the Christ or play fast and loose with the promises of Holy Writ Even a fool upon being told will realize when ho is standing over a powder maga zine The Christian need not be told twice that for every action there is a reaction and that for every blow he strikes upon the atheists rights and privileges there will be a return blow Twill be a contest between weak pottery and granite Let the Christian regard himself as the granite if he will Rev Thomas R Slicer II sees tho beginning of an economic revolution The colleges cannot stay it nor direct it for next to the minister of religion the common people distrust tho professor Ho adds that there is but one barrier against the guided Hood one influence that can contend against itand that is the church of the living God The common people distrust the minister as much as they distrust the professor and yet the church and not the college will stem the presumed economic revolution This may bo the conclusion of faith but from the premises of reason it cannot be drawn In what has been written the tone lies been kept in the ex positive key rather than controversial Just as there are many gradations of belief so will bo the opinions of what has been asserted The strongest statement will be regarded as too harsh and misleading by some and too mild by others This has NOT been an argument there is no weakest link to search for the statements made have been dulled or toned down from a greater brilliancy that might have been their due That this greater brilliancy might have been obtained on the part of the writer is for each individual reader to decide Errors and misstatements there are perhaps but care to avoid them has been exercised by the writer to the whole extent of his ability After all life is governed NOT by religion but by ethics And the greatest human duty each of ns bears to nil is respect for the mental idiosyncrasies of the mind toward belief in partially known facts without the pale of demonstrated facts Tis bigotry not philosophy that is a disease of the mind mill the more lute tho mind the less bigoted is it Words mean nothing without sincerity in their expression The meanest hypocrite is the saneminded moralist posing as a professional guide to conduct and appealing to fear as tho controlling goad What is to bo wondered at in the fact that as a class professional moralists are seducers of ethics above all others Can we wallow in the mud of guilt as tho professional moralist must do and escape its stain Tuscola r T 4 BLUE GRASS BLADE Hausmans Reply to Dr Barnes All Depends upon Individual Contemplation of the World as a WholeMonistic Conception Is the Most Rational By Dr A Hnusinan In my answer to Mr Bowerman I stated that a critique in order to be effective must prove one of two things either that wrongIfopinions impossible to reconcile because the contestants may interpret their significance in a different way employing different thingsforexist and consequently I can not use them as a basis for George investigates the question from a standpoint entirely different from my own still believing in the old religious doctrines and disregarding the new truth science has given us within the last fifty yearsthat is why I cull his conception narrow Both critics accept Henry Georges opinion as authority and a refutation of their strictures would simply mean a repetition of the second part of the book which treats the same subject But there is this difference While Mr Bowerman does not argue the cause but merely gives vent to his indignation because somebody dares to attack teachings he has accepted as gospel Dr Barnes points out statements which appear not to be in harmony with the facts and because others unaccustomed to contemplate the world from the monistic viewpoint may ex perience the same THfflculty in grasping the logicalconclusions which the theory of evolution compels us to accept I think it incumbent to discuss his objections for the sake of better under Barnes findsHlaek of lucidity while others have favorably commented upon the clearness of the treatise Icall only ascribe to the briefness with which I was compelled to treat the subject and which makes it easy to lose the thread of argumentation It is not the object of the hook to discuss all the details of the social question and devise ways and means for the removal of existing evils but to establish tho natural fundamental principles of society the biological laws which have created all our social institutions and must be reckoned with in all our plans for reform An investigation of the cause of the evils is not equivalent to a defense it is the first postulation for a remedy which is suggested by the cause In so far as I cannot understand how the socalled Single Tax in Henry Georges work it is confiscation af all private laud can be practically applied and abolish poverty as it is claimed I have an animus against it the same as against all chimerical meas ures because they cause energy that might serve useful purpose to be wasted in fruitless endeavors and therefore are an im pediment to progress I have briefly stated the causes of poverty and if Dr Barnes can give more or better ones and show how the Single Tax will remove them I am open to conviction Dr Barnes believes in equality and refers to the Declaration of Independence as authority on which to base his belief It seems hard in the face of patriotic sentiment to admit the truth that the first statement in this venerable and famous document is an error Men were neither created equal nor are they en dowed with any rights of any kind whatever Who granted such rights and at what time and among what people were they observed There was no trace of these ethical principles during n the 45000 years before the foundation of our republic nor have they become apparent in this country during the 131 years that have elapsed since they were embodied in that document To say H all have an equal right to landetc is a statement without material basis and how the equalization is to he effected by collecting economic rent or single tax is a conundrum which is explained neither by Henry George nor his followers they say it does and you must believe it The social question can be understood only when we first establish the absolute immutable biological laws which form the natural basis of society and all its institutions and ethical prin ciples and are as fixed as the axioms in mathematics They are Every individual requires a certain amount of material for subsistence which is derived from the earth land and water by means of physical labor and for every one who does not produce the sustenance for himself somebody else must do so This simple law of labor develops into a complicated system through the introduction of the principle of division of labor and its concomitant unique device of money the true significance of which cannot be understood if not considered in connection with the other conditions Dr Barnes ideas about money seem to be peculiar because ho denies its function as standard by which the relative value of all the products of labor is measured and considers the prices established for all commodities merely the result of whim and emotions while to me a certain stability indicates necessity as the dominant factor Values may be fic titious and fanciful but when expressed in money the amount always hears a certain relation to other values In reply to his statement that I call land capital it may he used in its place I quote the following Only land and labor are the factors of production money represents the product capital the excess of money a person posiw the amount required for the necessities of life land the term does not imply a fixed quantity Capital alone never made u man very wealthy seems a conundrum to me because money is tho only thing that makes a person wealthy and land which docs not produco money has no value Money is often exchanged for land 14auso the latter offers greatest securityit can neither be lost nor stolen Marshall Field is cited as an instance of tho great advantage the ownership of land in u desirable locality will confer over those who do not own the land on which they carry on their bus iness Very true but how did he acquire this advantage of over three acres against his competitors Did ho take up the No Did he steal it No Ho bought it provided ho did not inherit it and the accumulation of money capital must have preceded tile acquisition of land He is at this point where most of tho socialistic reform theories depart denouncing tho accomplished fact of possession but avoiding to investigate the causes which made possible such a result They declare it wrong that one man should own the tools of production which so many must use but make no attempt to explain how he obtained pos session of something coveted by all the rest and instead of directing their efforts against the agencies which still continue to maintain this condition as tine first step towards industrial liberty they waste their energy in preaching radical measures which have not the least chance for success They propose to change alto entire industrial system at one stroke to abolish wage labor profit making trade etc without the slightest idea of HOW it shall be duce WHO shall do it and WHERE the j i BLUE GRASS BLADE 5 beginning shall bo made For a short time I took un interest in the socialistic movement because am fully aware of the evils of our present state of society and the possibilities of re form if that portion of the people suffering most from the fects of the system were organize on lines where results are possible But withdrew in disgust when found that instead of acting of uniting in efforts to attain something possible the energy of the party is wasted in idle tlllkin using Utopian declarations making impossible demands and waiting for some savior to come along to do the work and fulfill the promises They want to commence building the new social structure at the roof instead of at the foundation but have neither a plan nor an architect to perform this impossible task It is similar with Henry Georges Single Tax nobody seems to have any definite idea how it is to be practically applied Mr Bowcrman mentions the introduction ofn bill to tax land value before the House of Commons in England as an instance of this kindas if the mere taxation of land was identical with Henry Georges proposition He further cites New Zealand as a country where the Single Foolish Believers Still Continue to Praise a Revengeful God for Committing a Wicked Act By George E Sly In the BookIf Genesis which was writ ten by Ezra after the return front Babylon there are two different accounts ofat flood mixed together One is tho Jehovis tic account commencing with verse 5 of chapter Then the Elohistic account commences with verse and continues to the end of the chapter Then the Jehovistiu commences chapter 7 and goes to verse 7 then the Elohistic to verse 20 chapter 8 then Tehovistic to the end of the chapter Elohistic commences chapter and goes to verse 18 then Jehovistiu to verse 28 then the account ends with the Elohistic contained in verses 28 and 29 In tho Elohistic account everything is by twos and in the Jehovistic they are by sevens And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth Then it was Gods fault not mans for it was just as easy to make man always good And the Lord said I will destroy man whom I have created front tho face of tho earth both man and beast and the creeping things and the fowls of the air for itre pcutcth me that I have made them Gen 07 Who is foolish enough to be there that the Lord did something that he afterwards repented and that he destroyed the beasts creeping things and fowls cause man was wicked If hu did then it was a very wicked thing for God to do Then God commands Noah to make an Ark and put into it two of every living L Tax was in operation pretending that the superior socialcon ditions there were due to its action The fact is that the legislation which created the present state of social order dates back from 1870 several years before the publication of Henry Georges work and the figures of tho revenue which I gave in my reply to Mr Bowcrman shows that Single Tax plays no part whatever in the administration of that country- I looked up the literature at my disposition for information and found a brief mention of Henry George in the University of Literature and in Meyers Conversation Lexicon I did not find his name in the Encyclopaedia Brittanica and in Johnsons New Universal Encyclopaedia nor did I see his workmen tioned in the long essays on political economy and rent in the last named three books of reference Dr Barnes calls the Single Tax a moral subject an appellation which seems justified as far as it refers to tho motives which prompted Henry George to invent it I have no doubt he was moved by the very best of intentions when writing his book but sentiment has no place in solving questions concerning the general welfare Alameda Calif I Noahs Fictitious Flood thing Gen 010 79 15 In the Jeho vistic account by sevens Gen 72 And Noah went in and hU sons and his wife and his sons wives with him Gen 77 And they went in again Gen 713 There was only one window Gen j 16 and they kept that closed Gen 86 It must have been a very delightful at mosphere to live in for 130 days Gen 7 24 83or rather 230 days Gen 712 2483 0 or rather 375 days Gen 711 81314And the Lord smelled a sweet savor Gen 821 It must have been the very sweet atmosphere from tho Ark After tho enormous Hood only 27 feet inches highIii cubits a cubit was 182 feet had subsided that covered the mountains Gen 720 Noah built till altar and sacrificed of tine clean beasts and fowls Gen 820 Tho Ark was twice as high as the flood for the Ark wits 30 cubits high and the Hood only 15 cubits high The mountains must have been anthills Then God promises not to cut off tiny more by tho waters of a Hood Gen 011 and made tho first rainbow as a token Gen 013 After that great event Noah celebrated his miraculous deliverance by getting beastly drunk and going to sleep naked Gen 021 When ho awoke ho cursed his grandchild Canaan For Noah found grace in the oyes of thu Lord for ho was a just man and per fect in his generation and Noah walked with God Gen 68 9 And all tho days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty nine years Gen 0 20 Or moons About 75 years ll Tho Mayas of Yucatan have a history of tho sinking of the islands between the West Indies and Africa called Atlantis wherein 74000000 people were drowned caused by the shrinking of the earths surface as it cooled That cataclysm oc curred 11500 years ago It is evident ra did not get his accounts of the flood from that event It is rather curious that the ancient Egyptians had no legend of a flood They were building the great pyramids at that time according to Bible chronology and Egyptian history Ezra could not have received the accounts from them Then from where did Ezra get his two accounts of the flood It must have been from the astronomers of Cltaldoa for when we turn our eyes towards the Southern heavens we can see the constellation Ar go the Ark floating on the Milky Way with the bright star Naos Noah on tho forward deck And in front of the Ark are the constellations Canis Major and Minor the two dogs Leo and Leo Minor the two lions Ursa Major and Minor the two bears Gemini the twins ready to enter the Ark by twos Also Lcpus the hare Monoccros the unicorn Tar sus tho bull Aries the rant Scorpio tho scorpion Cancer the crab creeping thin sHCelltn1l1lIs Pegasus and others also ready to enter Argo the Ark and escape tit Mood from the great river Eridanus near which constellation are the constellations of Cetus the whalo antitPisces tile fishes There is also the consMla tion Corvus tho raven that did not return to Noahs Ark and tho constellation of Colnmba tho love flyingo wards tho only window in the Argo Continued on Pago 13 I BLADEt6 BLUE GRASS The Vile Worm of Superstition Incidents and Personal Reminiscences Re viewed as Illustrating the Path of Goodness and Truth By Warren S Dean We often find that in the research and study of many little things that happened in our personal lives will make the tours more clear and open the way to some of j the larger problems humanity has to con r tend with For instance after the writer had gathered a pail of cherries and taken them to the house and after being sorted over by the wife and made ready to can we noticed there were quite a number of them thrown out that looked sound and good under an ordinary inspection Ask ing the wife in regard to them she told us they were useless on account of being wormy But having formed the habit early in life of doing a little investigating for ourselves we took our knife and opened a few to discover how the worms had done their hidden work We found first 1 small speck on the outside a little discol Jed and looking further we found whore the worm had eaten its way around the pith so that the flesh of the cherry was more or less blackened in the pathway doing this investigating the wife saidHI told you there were worms in those cherries We replied that it is a good thing to look for ourselves in this world and if there were more people who would take asH much interest to investi gate those things which pertain to the mind as they did to the food that went through their stomachs there would be far more respect shown for truth and honesty While gathering those cherries it was quite natural to have a number of them go the way of our mouth but after the inves tigation our relish for them somewhat wilted And we note all through life how many go blundering along taking things for granted because of the belief advice or say of others but when we investigate and find the truth or the vermin and vice in things that under ordinary inspection we overlook wo generally have that im pressed on our minds the rest of our days Looking back to more youthful days wo note now at mature ago how slack wo were in those things that pertain to the human mind or in other words so busily engaged in making a living that we had no thought to investigate how the miserable worm of superstition had left its vile effects on tha minds of others It was in the fore part of the season of 1870 that wo had tho pleasure of hearing Prof Underwood of Boston give a Freethought lecture in tho opera house at Quincy Ills His words were not only impressed on our mind that Sunday afternoon but wo thought it strange that a Unitarian minister should come to the platform and invite Prof Underwood to come to his church and lec ture that evening which ho did But tho Sunday following the clergy of Quincy made an effort to discredit Prof Under wood but we were convinced they failed to cover the trail of their worm ofmiser able superstition Mr Underwood had showed up too plainly their useless work to tho cause of humanity Up to that tune we had tho idea that those who professed religion or in other words those who H embraced superstition would be less likely to do a dishonest act than those who made no such professionIt not long before we had occasion to do a little investigating for ourselves in that line In the spring of 1879 we settled in the southwestern part of Osborne county Kan and took up a homestead and while there worked around the neighborhood as a handy man willing to try and make himself use ful After the sod school house was built it was proposed by some of tho sanc of Joseph A Conant of Ft Fairfield Maine Passes Away at Age of 79 Years Beautiful Tribute to His Memory By George E Baxter Joseph Conant who resided at Fort Fairfield Maine a Freethinker of many years standing a Blade subscriber a devoted friends to every humanitarian movement crossed the great river on August 31 last and the cause has lost one of its most lie wits 79 years of age Ho requested that no religious cere monies or prayers he used at his funeral and his son Isaac with whom ho lived re spected his fathers last wish The at tendance at his funeral wits unusually large and their closest attention was given to the speaker Music was furnished and the address by request was delivered by George E Baxter of Andover N B The litter has kindly furnished his address to the Blade for publication which follows Introduction Dear friends This is an occasion when wo are brought titled to start a Paradise Sunday School At the first session they voted for Squire C for superintendenta man more noted for his honest commonsenso than for piety and for yours truly for assistant superin tendent It is unnecessary to state that the superintendents voted for did not put themselves in line to advance the cause of the Paradise of Fools But it put us in line to find out tho true nature of those advocates of sanctified su perstition by doing a little investigating for ourselves with the result that they not only tried to blacken the character and pathway of those who had found their 1thoorganizations shielded those pets of super stition not only giving them help and ouragement in causing trouble and worry for those who investigated but among their numerous ways they had added to their forces the tools of political ringsters As wo look back over our personal exper iences wo realize that we were but a stud ent learning in the school of life trying in our little way to find tho true and right disdaining rewards from those who conceal the It trail of tho vile worms from the sight of honest people for their own selfish terest Delhi N Y Funeral LifeLong Freethinker I faithfulchampions Jface to face with that great mystery that we call death 1 The funeral rite is a natural which has been observed in some all people from the earliest saelllmentIworlds history and wo are today in accordance with an universal as the human race the last earthly duty towards him who now lies in the stillness of death before us In tho presence of death how beliefs and dog mas wither and decay In every heart there grows the sacred flower of eternal hope Immortality is a word that hope has been whispering to love through all tho ages pastIIgnorant anxious humanity have over stood upon tho brink of the open grave andIpeered into its darksomo gloom but it had to content itself with what consolation faith and hope and love could give For this faith and love and hope we are 1 not indebted to any priesthood or any church or any book It is born of human affection and has ebbed and flowed in the human heart all down tho ages and is still found where love kisses tho lips of death rrrra it I IBLUEGRASS BLADE 7 Religious superstition borne of priest craft and divine revelations has ever preyed upon these noble feelings of the human heart and made death to be a mis take in the economy of nature Filled the future life with phantoms of gods and devils and made the sweet idea of im mortality a curse instead of a blessing But we rejoice to know that these gloomy dogmas and persistWently in co are passing awayanda more cheerful view is being entertained Why weep ye then for him who having won The bound of mans appointed years at t last Lifes blessings all enjoyed lifes labours Serenely to his final rest has passed And I am glad that he has livou thus long And glad that ho has gone to his reward Nor deem that kindly nature did him wrong Softly to disengaged the vital cord When his weak hand grew palsied and his eye Dark with the mists of age it was his time to die While the soft memory of his virtues yet brightjThe choir then sang the following favor ite verses admired by the deceased Lay mo low my work is done- I am weary lay mo low Where the wild flowers wop tho sun Where tho balmy breezes blow Where tho butterfly takes wing Where the willows drooping grow Where the spring birds chirp and sing I I am weary let me have striven hard and long In tho worlds unequal fight Always to resist the wrong Always to maintain tho right Always with courageous heart Ever striving truth to know Brothers I have played my part I am weary let mo go Shield and buckler hung them up Drape tho standard on tho wall I have drained the mortalcup To tho finish dregs and all Now my work is done tis best That I hence in peace should go It is finished let mo rest am weary let mo go The Address I am hero to fulfil a pledge given to Brother Conant some years ago that if I should survive him I would officiate at his funeral and it is a source of much gratifi cation to me that his wishes can be com plied with- Brother Content as you are probably all aware was very decidedly opposed to the popular theology or the current doctrines of Christianity and he died in that frame of mind and he was convinced that it would be hypocrisy and mockery for tiny priest or preacher to read the x pnlnr funeral ritual and prayers over his death body during his lifetime ho wanted no part in the Christian heaven nor tho Christian hell and now when the seal of death is placed upon his lips it would be dishonor able to disrespect his lifelong convictions During his long and busy life he had tile courage of his convictions lie stood for what he thought was the truth when he stood practically alone The men or women who have had the moral courage to differ from tho popular religious creedall down through the centuries have proved to be benefactors of their race heroes reform ers and saviors When we lack the cour age of our convictions we become time servers and tho cause of truth and good ness is not advanced If men and women generally had the courage of their religious convictions what a revelation would soon take place in the popular religious creed In religious matters wo appear to be guided by the dogmas of priestcraft and the teachings of divine revelations instead of our reason and common sense But tho masses are gradually beginning to think and it is every day becoming more difficult for tho average man and woman to believe the story of the garden of Eden with its talking snake and its manlike god as veritable history The advanced students among tho clergy of most every denomina tion now regard these bible stories as fables myths legends not history and the timo is near at hand when tho mythical character of the now testament doctrines will also be admitted Does itnot seem very much like a myth to say that a man was born who had a holy ghost for a father and consequently ho must bo the son of goelor that a man who was dead and buried should como to life again live for weeks among his friends and then balloonliko go up into the air out ofsight and never como down again That sounds as much like a fable as the story of the garden of Eden or the building of tho tower of Babel or tho story of Jonah and tho whale Wo can not estimate how much tho world is indebted to tho men and wo men of tho past who had the courage of their convictions Wo are slowly but surely advancing in religious thought The dogmas of nn eternity of endless tor ment of a heaven paved with gold where tho chief occupation is singing Tho doc trine of a vicarious atonement and similar doctrines are not now believed and taught as they were 30 years ago when I first be came acquainted with our departed friend came acquainted with our departed friend And who can tell how much his influence has contributed to bring about this change of public sentiment Tile religious growth of public sentiment in a rational and scien title direction may be measured by the fol lowing beautiful poem by President Hyde of Bowdoin University Tho advanced thinkers among the preach ers of the popular religion now claim that the doctrine of the resurrection and a future life is the basis of the christion re ligion Hence it is that on funeral occasions this doctrine as set forth by Paul is the ritual used to give comfort and consola tion from the grief caused by death What mockery to offer as consolation to the grief stricken heart the doctrine of tho resur rection of the body when time cease to no more Paul tried to prove a future life and the resurrection of the body from the sowing of seed and the harvest that was produced from it But we know now that Paul was decidedly in error in his nature studies When he says II thou fool that which thou sewest is not quickened except it die If the seed dies it never quickens it never grows When anything dies it never comes up in the same form again It is resolved into its kindred elements dust to dust gas to gas mineral to mineral to reappear in other fortes of life In the poetic words of Bryant 1Iy heart is raved within me when I thinkof the great miracle that still goes on in silence around methe perpetual work of thy creation finished yet renewed for everLo All grow old and diebut see again how on the faltering footsteps of cay youth presses ever gay and beautiful youth in all its beautiful forms Why do we worry ourselves about the tomorrow of life If there is another state of existence it will bo because that is the order of nature and time will soon give us all that knowledge As Dr Wilson in ono of his funeral orations pointedly remarks While none of us know what the future will be still of this one thing we may nil bo sure when a man is dead he will know every bit as much as ho knew before ho was born Where were wo before wo were born That dont trouble us Where shall we be when wo cease to exist Why should we try to answer that question Tn the poetic language of Ingersoll Life is a narrow vale between two eternities we strive in vain to look beyond tho heights Wo cry aloud And the only answer is the echo of our wailing cry from the voiceless lips of the unreplying lead there comes no word but in tho night Continued on page 12 8 mD GRASS BLADE BLUE GRASS BLADE Published weekly at Lexington Ky rounded by Charles Chllten Moore In lilt and edited by him until his death February 1SII JAMES E HUGHES Publisher and Manager JOHN CHARLESWORTH Edlter 1269 N Limestone Street Lexington Ky p o ass SUBSCRIPTION RATES By mall postpaid 161 per year In advance Five new yearly subscribers at one remittance 101 each Five trial subscriptions sent In with one remittance for six months II cents each Trial subscriptions II cents per month Ferelga subscriptions postpaid ISM per year ADVERTISING RATES One Inch single column Insertion It cents one month or tour insertions Jllt six months 111 one year 111 Quarter column single insertion 110 one month 4M six months 2111 one year 61000 Half column whole column or larger advertisements at special rates upon application The publisher has the right to reject any and all advertisements offered GENERAL BUSINESS RULES ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS to the Blade will be discontinued at the expiration of the term for which the subscription has been paid up In advance The address slip on the paper will show sub scribers the date of expiration of subscription Back numbers or numbers mltted will be sent If asked for upon renewal li case of dlsclntlnuance SHOULD ANY SUBSCRIBER change his or her address advise thl fflce giving both old and new address as desired THE OFFICE ef publication of the at Illlit North stone Street Lexington Kentucky etl all Freethinkers will be given a hearty welcome THE BLADE Is enterd at the Poitofflce at Lexington Kentucky as secendclasi mailing matter ADDRESS ALL COMMUNICATIONS TO THE BLUE GRASS BLADE P O Bex IU Lexington Ky WHAT FHEETIIOUGJ1T HAS DONE Man is now practically the master of earth sea andsky The wonderful awlolwe deemed impossible inventions of locomotion through steam electricity etc girdling continents gave man mastery over the earths surface leaving scarce a spot unexplored and taking for granted the report that two Americans have reached the polar territory tile whole surface of the globe is now at mans command For several years past there laws been in use boats ofII submarine character moving rapidly beneath the waters of old ocean under intelligent guidance and with tho numberless craft that sail the billowy surface carrying men and merchandise from one country to another tho sea itself is now under the controlof maul The recent successful flight of machines in the air heavier than the atmosphere with capabilities of guidance and control brings tho air itself within the category of nouns con quests and in a little while it will seem almost impossible to suggest other channels for mauls inventive genius to expend itself Such achievements as these would lave been impossible and were considered when a belief in god md the ortho lox religion were almost universal Tim inference tliin is that only as man has drawn away from god discarded or disregarded tiny such belief lint those inventions oml discoveries been made possible Even in tho arduous un dertaking of reaching the frozen territory of tie North r polo as may bo inferred from tho report of both claimants so far published there was no thought of god or prayer nor did either of them or any of their attendants place any reliance Oil god or prayer to reach tho long coveted goal but ample provisions were made to satisfy tho physical demands and secular instruments wore used in tho long and weary march to enable them to reach their jounnya end Had either Cook or Peary dropped their means of travel or their scientific instruments by tile nysidt mill relied on god and prayer their ambition woiuQ never have been gratified and tho physical fetus already in evidence show that roan CUll do much better without gtia help than with Progress is seen on every hand on ovory Mdc and in every direction save in theology and the orthodox religion These are the same old childish prodigies that were taught to children centuries ago Neither theologyor orthodoxy are capable of progress Does not progress mean change Then wouldnot change destroy both theology ml orthodoxy I Both are completed They havo reached their finality Tho return flow of tho tide has set in and both tire on the down grade Science hits wrested tho cosmos from the control of tho gods and with the masterful inventions wo have outlined placed it under the control ff man Therefore man lilts now no use for gods religion churches or priests They represent the dark ages of tho wilderness of human intellect andtill will flee in fright from tho horizon of mans vision as his intellect broadens and cop ens Every material advance has carried matt farther away from god or a belief in god Men are no longer ques tioning theology about fanciful theory of heaven or a dread mythical hell but they question the elements for further and greater improvements availing themselves of long hidden resources and limitless energy Natures vast storehouse is now becoming mans property and in the glory of this conquest no god will over participate Modern science had scarce been born ere it began to question every conclusion advanced by thooi For this theology turned with malice and envy upon this now child of tho human brain Every new idea advanced every thought uttered was received with ridicule and bitterly denounced as high treason against tho heavenly hierarchy But science struggled on amid pains and penalties of the most violent order until human control over innumerable of tho natural forces became It fact and the hitherto glory of of tho conflict tween Jehovah was dimmed The intensity science and religion embodied in tho personality of scientific men and the priesthood simply served as a stim ulant to men of more active mind which encouraged and cheered them for behind all and beyond all they saw and felt that the triumph of science was certain On the other land the church resorted to trickery and subterfuge The moment this course had been taken tho church began to lose its control and it fell into a harmless disuse Men that is some men and some women uso it today for selfish and pecuniary purposes and this is the last remaining merit tho church can boast vln J I BLUE GRASS BLADE 9 With tho constant entries into now fields the unexplored now being brought into tho realm of the explored the un known brought into tho realms of the known it would bo sheerest folly to set a limit to tho conquests of the human mind FlceII1uhle to prevent many acts of religious injustice and intoler inflicted upon individuals and communities in the ofu loving and merciful Christ but it lots cheered IIIUlIleurged on men of muster mints encouraging them to deeper researches and investigations acting as a stim ulant clearing away tho debris of controversy shouldering tho heaviest guns in the battle of intellect and blazing a pathway for other intrepid minds to tread upon Our constant and ceaseless war upon tho church and church authority has served the purpose of compelling the church and her priests to turn their attention to us while men and women penetrated into unknown depths without the church knowing what they were actually doing Drawing tho fire of the enemys guns towards ourselves wo have saved scientific men unmet bitter hostility and theological struction Freethought forced the church to take the de fensive and she has hard little time during tho past fifty years to devote to aggressive propaganda Should the question bo again asked as to what benefit Freethought hats conferred upon tho race point to these achievements and tho tongue of falsehood and slander will bo effectually silenced MEETING CALLED FOR ST LOUIS The Blade expresses tho hope that by this time enough has been said by Freethinkers writing to its columns upon tho subject of organization to convince till who are inter ested that we must have an organization and not permit this splendid opportunity to pass by without taking that action necessary to bring it into existence In this issue will bo found several additional letters on tho subject Oulouo has so far been received whichex presses tho slightest doubt concerning tho prospective success of such an organization and that doubt is qualified to such an extent that it is not in opposition to tho move ment We call attention to each and all of these letters because front them we can learn tho general drift of Free thought sentiment in tho country and each now idea sub gusted gives mental food for those who tire willing to take an active part in its formation We have been privately advised not to proceed too rapidly to the organizing point but to take things cautiously and sure This advice is wholesome Too much haste might ruin tho purpose wo have in view For this reason wo suggest that tho middle of November would bo a more appropriate season for holding the proposed meeting and that it should bo hold either at Cincinnati or St Louis Either point would bo acceptable to a large number of our friends and wo believe that tho mouth of November would r 4 find the majority with more leisure time at their disposal and inure to tho better interests of tho movement It may be stated right here that tho Blade is in pos session of the names and addresses as well as a partial knowledge of their ability of a number of men andwomen who are willing and anxious to engage in field work in behalf of Freethought and the organization could conven iently consider ways and means of putting them to work It may not bo possible to start them out all at one time We can do this by taking one at a time and as the demand increases provide means for supplying it We need have no fear so far as the propaganda is concerned but we need tho brains and tho necessary financial aid to start a prop aganda in somo way Keeping in touch with these ele ments and drawing to our aid tho brain sinew and the combined strength of all friends of tho cause we can con struct a winning platform adopt a winning system of propaganda and make the organization a power for good in tho land Our present inclination is to call tho meeting for St Louis as the larger number naming any place have sug gested it and for the second Sunday in November which will bo tho 14th of that month It seems to us from all tho expressions given that the date and place of tho meet ing as hero given will bo tho most practical and the most suitable for the majority If however later opinions are given which would induce a change that change can readily be made This is not final or conclusive Wo wish to please as many as possible and finally call tho meeting at sucha place as will be most convenient to the larger num her and best adapted to tho purposes wo have under con sideration For fear tho oflicers and members of existing societies organized for Freethought purposes should bo inclined to tho belief that tho now organization as proposed is being designed to supplant them we wish to state that the sole object in view is to unite all upon a common platform and to this end all existing societies are invited to send a delegate and 10 represented at this meeting to discuss the form dive principles thereof The main object in view is to blend all into one harmonious wholo upon a purely Free thought basis as opposing sacerdotalism theology and kindred cults thereto minus utility of tho isms that have wrecked former societies of this character Realizing that tho work wo havo thus assumed is of gigantic proportions an undertaking of vast importance to tho cause we advo cite no mere playhouse for children it is necessary that wo proceed with till duo caution that no mistake shall be male no dissensions spring therefrom but when once for mally announced it will bring the mass of Liberal people ill America to tho now standard wo tire about to plant Under these circumstances provided no serious opposi tion is made during tho next few lays the meeting of Free thinkers for the purpose of launching the now organization will bo hold at St Louis on Sunday the 14th dayof all those who have promised to attend prepare 10 BLUE GRASS BLADE themselves for this meeting So arrange your business and domestic affairs that you can be at the meetingand start right now to make those preparations Do not put this off until it is too late and then wish you hadstarted sooner Let all who can attend the meeting Come with advice suggestions and counsel Remember that the whole is always greater than a part and it is also much wiser The cause needs your help It needs you It needs every man and woman whoso heart beats for humanity and for humanity alone Lot us have a meeting that willring forth a new Declaration of Independence a fitting tribute to the Centennial year of the death of Americas greatest patriot Like him let us each say that These are the times that try mens souls but we must include women as well Let each and all cast from the heart and mind any personal or selfish motive we may have entertained but sink personality into the common good Better progress has been made towards the end here de sired than the Blade had anticipated This is decidedly encouraging Let everybody now get in line If you can not attend the meeting send a letter ofencouragement and in it give expression to your views concerning the or ganization This much will bo of help The letter being read and the suggestions discussed some good may be drawn therefrom Do not leave this for the other man or woman to do but do it yourself These letters may be ad dressed to the Blade office as a temporary convenience and they will bo carefully preserved for the meeting when it is held We want a perfect flood of them Yore than this however wo want as largo an attendance as it is possible to St Louis as the rallying point wo ought to draw a large number of Freethinkers from Ohio Indiana Illinois Wisconsin Iowa Missouri Kansas Oklahoma Arkansas Tennessee and other points There is no reason why the meeting should not prove a record breaker Now friends remember JSt Louis November 14th At 0 oclock a m TIM FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY It is a well known fact that an of vision will as sumo as many different aspects asthere are standpoints front which it may be viewed Tithe one hundred different persons allow them to each view the same object and each will naturally deliver himself of a different opinion formed upon honest reflection perhaps but arising from having viewed tho object from different standpoints There is yet another principle to be applied to the for mation of opinion Self interest or egoism An investigator who starts out with preconceived notions and who seeks nothing but corroborative testimony with which to sustain these notions will magnify all that favors his per sonal views and belittle that which opposes The result if desired can thus bo readily attained but tho honest n investigator goes after a result independent of what it maybe and announces whatever he attains no matter whom it may help or injure The former class of investigation seems to have been in dulged to a largo extent representatives of that organi zation known as the Foreign Bible Society tho colportuers of which lire animated by selfinterest at the very inception of their selfassumed duties When any man or woman can readily take upon themselves the fancied duty of dis tributing bibles free of cost to and among the people of other nations we are bound to first assume that ho or she really believes that it is a good thing to have such people read tho bible and that it is their heavenordained duty to get the bible into as many hands and homes as possible With this understanding in view we are justified in the assumption that these people are actually biased in favor of the bible without thought or reason and as naturally prejudicedagainst any and all human beings who refuse to accept the bible as a gift from their hands We have just read tho selected parts of reports from the agents of this Foreign Bible Society as these selections have been given to the daily papers of America tho select ions being made with a view to aiding in a further extor tion of cash for an extension of this kind of labor in foreign fields From these reports we learn that tho persons submitting them denounce certain people of European countries as being atheists and socialists and opposed to both god and scripture These reports then go on to descriho tho class of people referred to as being densely ignorant for tho very simple reason that they declined to accept books bibles and tracts telling of a crucified savior These statements to the thinking mind cannot be made to agree The very fact that a man can be described as an atheist implies that ho has done some reading and thinking upon subjects of theology and therefore is not to bo classed as ignorant so far as religious matters are concerned On tho other hand when a man is admittedly a socialist it is a safe conclusion that ho has studied and thought upon matters pertaining to the social economy and in this re spect he is far from being ignorant As a matter of fact both atheism and socialism are products of education and both aro a standing protest against tyranny the ono re ligious tyranny and the other economic tyranny Could the facts really be known in tho matters reported by tho agents of tho Foreign Bible Society the men who refused to accept Bibles as gifts were far better educated than the ono making tho offer and know more concerning the evils resulting from biblical influences than tho whole bible soci ety combined We aro justified in assuming that disappointment at the rebuffs met with induced tho agents to submit such a report This assumption is based upon the known fact that the society they represented and the agents themselves simply desired to mako now converts from bible reading if possible so that they could be induced to part with somo of their hardearned money for tho benefit of tho society and BLUE GRASS BLADE 11 tho agents ostensibly to permit of an extension of tho work of distributing bibles a sort of purchasing more sheep for tho sake of tho fleece Tho ignorance of the people whom theso agents so unjustly criticise can only bo as sumed by tho agents a result ofIl dwarfed intellect a narrowed vision and a prejudiced mind Personal knowl edge of tho mental makeup of those who find pleasure in distributing bibles and tracts on religious subjects will impress any man or woman with tho feeling that they arc not destined to sot tho world on firo with thoir intellect or to startle tho race with somo now and useful discovery They aro as useful as tho bible and no more They are incompetent to judge of the intellectual merits or demerits of other people Their opinion adds no weight A distort ed vision produces a distorted conception of things Biblo society agents naturally believe as may bo inferred from their occupation that to curse and abuse their fellowman gives greater glory to their god and profits to themselves Thus it has over been and always will bo so long as there bo industrious fools enough to keep tho superstition on its feet Tho societys agents may succeed in fooling tho oflicers into believing that which they have reported but millions of Americans will judgo the agents less kindly thoughwith feelings of charity for their vain sentiments The one great trouble with this class of people is that they insist upon viewing mankind through theological spectacles in stead of discarding tho tinted glasses and using tho naked eye BEANS ORIGIN AND DESTINY Once again wo refer to tho coming publication of Dr Ilausmans book which has been slightly delayed by tho desire of tho author to introduce some additional matter now under consideration While bearing somewhat upon tho subject matter of tho book itself these will appear in the form of an appendix which with tho insertion of tho criticisms and replies have served to delay tho late of publication and issue It is now unnecessary to urge upon our readers the necessity of securing a wide distribution of this book Its value to tho cause of reform and progress is not to bo lightly estimated With tho criticisms that will bo published of its pages and tho replies of tho author there is men tal food for all classes of people When wo consider that Prof Haeckol has accepted and endorsed tho main tenets advanced its value for propa gandic purposes is enhanced We now request that in tending subscribers do so at once while those who hnvo subscribed send in their subscription price as soon as possibleIf have no mechanical mishaps in tho printing and binding departments wo hope to hmo the book ready for mailing before tho end of tho present month EDITORIAL POTPOURIIIt iwith many introrc able to attend the recent l Union and this will account for tho delay in getting a report of tho proceedings Business of the highest im r portance to the Blade demanded our presence at tho office but we hope to make up txEvery Freethinker should havo his eyes towardISt Louis and remember that the date iset for 14 This will prove an important item for tho NovemberIfare and progress of our cause t Wordsworth informs us that heaven lies about us intour infancy but it manages to slip away from us long before wo get old enough to cease wearingswaddling clothes Tho church sees to it that wo get plenty of the i other place after that t Many years ago it was said by Theocritus that it been leered by heaven that of man his fellowman hadIstand in noedl11ul while the sentiment is sublime merely beggar to differ with the scholar Greek as to source of the decreetIt is reported that Parkhurst once said that hell was on both sides of the tomb but it was always intended for tho other follow especially tho one who did not see the universe from our particular point of view 0 Try and remember friends that wo are now accepting now subscribers at tho rate of ono dollar for tho first year After that provided they aro pleased enough with the paper to continue with it they can do so at tho regular rate This reduction is made as a means of getting it introduced x Tho Granger published at Auburn Nebraska edited by T II Dundas recently published Mrs Henrys poem Prisoners of Fate which appeared in tho Blade some weeks ago We wish to congratulate Bro Davis upon tho fine appear ance of tho Humanitarian Review and wo express a profound pleasure that Brother Frantz has made a reentry into its service From a report recently submitted to tho Blade by Proto A C Clausen of St Ansgar Iowa of tho work ho has done through tho ExMinisters Correspondence Bureau which ho is conducting wo observe that an excellent start has been made and considerable advantage may result from his efforts We need many more men with the heart and mind and energy of Bro Clausen 1 12 BLUE GRASS BLADE FUNERAL OF LIFELONG FREE THINKER Continued from page 7 of death hope sees a star and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing- It is the dictates of love that causes us to cherish the hope of meeting our loved ones that has passed in the journey of life beyond our horizon So strong is the desire that we think with Whittier Some how some where meet we must or with Ella Wheeler Wilcox in her beauti ful poem The Beyond It seemeth such a little way to me across that strange countrythe Beyond And yet not strange for it has grown to be the home of those I am so fond They make it seem familiar and most dear As journeying friends bring distant regions near I never stand above a bier and see The seal of death set on some well loved face But that I think One more to welcome me When I shall cross the intervening space Between this land and that one over there One more to make the strange Beyond seem fair But friends this is sentiment poetry imagination If we must believe in a future life let it be a cheering and inspir ing one But the immortality that we should desire and should strive to obtain is to live in the deeds we do If we live in the deedWC do how important becomes every act How brim full of meaning is every hour of existence This view of mortality demands that we have the cour age of our convictions It demands fidelity to our highest conceptions of right and duty It demands that we think and plan and work for the general good We may dream of another life where misspent time can be improved and we even enjoy the reverie but let us here and now enjoy the happiness that flows from that truer im mortalityof blessing mankind in the deeds we doIf we have grasped this practical view of immortality we need give ourselves little or no concern about the state of our souls in another sphere of existence beyond the grave The right use of this world is the only possible preparation for anotherif there be another and if there be not an other future generations will find it easier to do the right and to enjoy more of the higher pleasures of the world because we have lived and toiled and died In this sense our departed brother is immortal The world is the better for his having lived and toiled and died When a young man scarcely out of his teens with his youthful bride by hiflide ho carved out of the forests a home for themselves and the children born unto themnine sons and r = two daughters He had faith in well directed labor to overcome the difficulties of life He preyed more by deeds than words He believed that virtue was its own reward and vice its own punishment He was early in life convinced of that sub lime truth the world is governed by wise immaterial law and in his philosophy of life there was no need of gods nor devils The individual dies but the race is im mortal May the inspiration of his life in spire his sons with high manly ideals of life and duty Let us beau in mind that the great law of moral rectitude is inherent in humanity and is not depending for its sanction upon any belief in a hereafter much less upon any particular theory of an after life The moral law is a great fact in human nature it is one of the everlast ing verities that remain amid the downfall of creeds and dogmas No matter what our views are about the soul or an after life we must submit our conduct to the test of the great laws of right That theory of the hereafter is best which brings the most inspiration and strength to discharge the duties of the hour The future is wisely hidden from our view The present only is ours and every moment brings its own obligations We should all be obligated to develop the nobler faculties of our natures and daily to approach to our ideal of a perfect manhood and womanhood If wo do this the world will be the better for our having lived Let us be remembered by the good we lava done Let us be so engaged in the honorable discharge of the duties of life that we will have no time to waste in idle forebodings and anxious fears about the condition of our souls in another state existenceWe for the coming Of that bright and glorious day When the clouds that dim our vision Will have rolled at last away And the light that now is hidden From our sad and weary eyes Break beyond the dark deep river Where the solemn secret lies Shall wo find those gone before us Standing on the other shore With their hands stretched out in welcome Glad to clasp our own once more Shall we loved ones leave behind us But to meet again on high In a realm all peace and beauty Far above the summer sky Or shall we when life is over But lie down to quiet rest With our brains unsexed forever Folded hands upon the breast In a sleep that knows no waking Where no suffering or pain Through the coming of the ages Shall disturb our dreams again f J1 None unit tell usand the questions That we ask have no reply Let us live our lives with patience Do our duty till we die For wo know whatever follows After life or endless rest He who gave us hearts for loving Must do all things for the best At the Grave Dear friends Sorrow for the dead is the only sorrow from which wo refuse to be divorced Every other wound we seek to heal every other affliction to forget but this wound we consider it a duty to keep open The love which survives the tomb is one of the noblest attributes of the soil There is a voice from the tomb sweeter than song There is a remembrance of the dead to which we turn even from the charms of the living Oh the grove The gravel It buries every error covers every defect extinguishes every resentment From its peaceful bosom spring none but fond regrets and tender recollections The grave of those we love is a place for meditation In this peaceful silent couch we lay the mortal remains of our departed brother to slump the long dreamless sleep of death on the top of mother earth Wo are consoled by the thought that the dead are at rest Eyes that are curtained by the drapery of death shed no tears of grief hearts of dust do not feel It is the living heart that feels Let us so live that when tile summons comes to join the innumerable caravan that moves toward that mysterious realm where eachshall take his place in the silent halls of death we go not like the quarry slave at night scourged to his dungeon but soothed and sustained by an unfaltering trust approach the grave like one who wraps tile drapery of his couch around hm and lies down to pleasant dreams Let us now resolve as a parting tribute to our departed brother that henceforth we will bo more faithful and affectionate in the discharge of our duty to the living Favors Organization Strongly MATIIIS OAT am in favor of organization on a broad platform was turned out of the Baptist Church about thiry years ago on a charge of heresy and havo been almost alone in the fight for freethought I am in favor of Freethinkers organizing in every state and county and especially a National organization am an Atheist and so declare myself independently You know what I have had to encounter I can not be at the convention but will become a member and aid all can Yours for free thought to the flnishE W SHIRLEY BLUE GRASS BLADE I All Favor Organization We Must Organize AIT VERNON OHlOl do not understand how any doubt can exist as to the necessity for organization The principles of freethought are in danger We are divided and manyof us lure not aware of our strength No cause can live if its fol lowers are scattered The religionists have united Superstition presents a firm array Its ranks are unbroken Its followers are held in line by the priests and preachers Every church has its organization We must organize Wo must establish a headquarters and organize an able corps of speakers These speakers will cover notch round in a short time They will spread the principles of freetliought and shatter all god theories Atheism willsweep through the lund dethroning gods and re storing Reason Every year will find us stronger Our cause will be gained We shall witness the complete triumph of Atheism To do this we must organize and contribute generously Cash is needed The future is bright But our cause is lost if we remain in our present condition Laws will be passed suppressing our publications The mails will be denied us and who can say that the prison will not claim us The power of the church is growing Eight god houses are erected each day in the United States alone The preachers voice is heard in the law making body of our nation Can wo ex pect any mercy from triumphant Chris tianity the religion based on crime His tory will answer As wealth increases and nn aristocracy appears the church will grow stronger It will be used as an in strument of oppression History will re peat itself again The church and tile aris tocracy will unite and the principles of freethought will disappear in the black sea or ignorance HAROLD BANNING Some Good Suggestions ITHACA N YT have read some of the discussion in regard to organization which has appeared in the Blue Oniss Blade of late will say that should be very glad of an organization if itelln bo consum muted on lines that will bring success To unite the different factions of Freetliought in n close organization is probably as im practical as to unite the different sects of the orthodox church However the various orthodox denominations have formed n loose organization known as the Evangelical Alliance and through this are able to work together in certain general ways as for in stance missionary work In n similar man ner I think it feasible to form nn alliance of the different Freethought factions such as Atheists Secularists Materialists nostics Freethinkers Spiritualists etc for the purpose of uniting their efforts on certain definite lines of action such as for in stance Taxation of Church Property Re striction of Church Influences in Public Schools Removal of Religious Mottoes from Coins etc The things that the factions could unite on to be determined in general council in which while the number of delegates should be unlimited the voting power of each faction composing the alliance should be equal In this way each faction would bo free to carryon its own propa gandism but could unite their forces for specific definite action Such an alliance I believe could bo made permanent and highly beneficial but I do not believe it possible to unite all the different liberal orders in a permanent close organization Very truly yours CIIAS G BROWN The Humanitarian Society PENTiWATER MICH We are organizing as John Wesley and Martin Luther organized getting members one by one No we shall not allow any National organization to absorb us The only authority we bow to is the authority of Truth Tile last member who joined wrote to me I consider ita great honor to belong to such a society with such a membership and especially with such ap resident as II M Fisk Pella Iowa E A FITCH Wilmington Vt Mr Fisk devised our Obsequy Plan I know of no better plan Why not adopt it If there is any law or imperfection either in our Obsequy nrrangjiucjts or in our Constitution I for one should like to have somebody point it out One solitary Freethinker undertook to find fault with our Humanitarian Society tile best name under which all liberal freethinking minds can unite and when reviewed his objections he complained that I grilled him Oh no I discussed his statements assertions and treated my opponent with kindly con sideration It is our place as Liberals to discriminate between persons and principles showing no mercy to errors lint abundant courtesy to persons In my numerous debates wtih clergymen several of them hurled at me the vilest epithets and often impugned my motives a violation of one of the first rules of logic and honorable controversy Let us hope that Freethinkers will always shun such tnctilW F JAMIESON For It and Will Join PELLA IOWAtun in favor of the new National organization and that the time of meeting in convention should be as early as October and the place should be St Louis or Cincinnati or some other cen tral point I will attend said convention and I will become a member and pledge my support in so far ns Itun able providing the platform is broad enough for all liberal people to stand on with plenty of elbowroom I would suggest that all people are eligible to membership who are in favor of free discussion and are opposed to church domination I dont care how many gods or ghosts they may believe in The free discussion will soon lop off the dead limbs and relegate to the rear the rubbish And the true and the beautiful and the good will be left to shine brighter than the noonday sun I do not mean to withdraw my support front any infidel orders to which I belong They are all doing good and should be supported but I want to see them all in one Yours for freetliought and reform H M FISK Heartily in Favor ARDMORE OKLAI heartily approve of your plan to start a freetliought organi zation and while it is impossible to attend I will be glad to become a member Wish ing you good luck IamA J CARSONI Straight Out For Organization TOLLAND CONNT favor such an organization ns yon name I nm with you play not be able to attend the meeting but would favor New York City for it I will certainly become a member GEO C BARTLETT NOAHS FICTITIOUS FLOOD Continued from Page 5 the Ark represented by four briuht we that the Bible storyo4 the Hood is fictitious and only the ancient astronomical drama of the heavens brought to earth by Ezra and woven into a nursery title to excite the admiration and wonder1 of little children In modern times older people are ignor lint and foolish enough to believe the Bb1 stories and think it was the wrath of God that brought the flood and praise him for doing such a wicked act People who investigate and find out the exact truth about the Bible stories as have been doing for the past a1 years find that the Bible is not the word of God but only a collection of novels and nursery tales written by monks for the purpose of enslaving tine ignorant people San Diego Calif t j 14 BLUE GRASS BLADE Naumans Orchestra E D NAUMAN 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Lucifer the Light Bearer The Pioneer Journalin Modern Times of an old and almost forgotten science the most important ofall sciences a science successfully and openly taught and practiced by the ancient Greeks and Egyp tians but ignored defeated scorned by all modern nations vizthc Science of Right Horning the Science of Good Generation The Century Dictionary thus defines Eugenics Tile doctrine of Progress or Evolution especially in the human race through improved conditions in the rela tions of the sexes Its central thought is freedom of Motherhood the SelfOwnership of Woman in the Realm of Sex and Reproduction in telligent and responsible Parenthood This much neglected this tabooed graced and almost unknown science was named Eugenics by Francis Gallon a cousin of and cQworker with tile great IlftlL Charles Darwin and now both in England and in Continental Europe is beginning to receive tho attention its importance demands Tile American Journal of Eugenics is now in its 30th year of publication sus tained by a long list of able and well known contributors women and men of nationaland international reputation j it is now published bimonthly standard mag azine sizeat Los Angeles Calif j price a year postpaid single copy 15c Trial subscribers will receive three back copyHofa lecture by the editor nil for 25c in stumps or coin For sale by newsdealers or sent postpaid by tho editor and publisher Moses Harman with lists and prices of standard English and American Eugenic publications Address 3319 Kel lam Ave Los Angeles Calif j BLUE GRASS BLADE 15 Be Sure and Subscribe For Secular Thought Fortnightly Journal of Rational Crltl clam In Politics Science and Religion Organ of the CANADIAN SECULAR UNION AND THE TORONTO SECULAR SOCIETY Editor J Spencer Ellis Published at 185 Queen St West To ronto Canada Terms U per annum in advance single copies 10 cents All communications for the Editorial de partment should be addressed J Spencer Ellis Secular Thought 185 Queen St West 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PRICE 25 CENTS EACH I have composed these songs for the benefit of Freethinkers or men of Common Sense who do not wish to insult our Cre ator with Bible rot QUIRIN BACHLER 2277 Fulton St Chicago Ill The Holy BibleIn Nutshell A New Booklet showing up the contradlt tlons and fallacies of the Christian bible Justt he thing to pass around among your religious friends to Jarr their faith and destroy their godwebs Ready Soo Order Nowl Single copy 10c 3 for 25c is for 100 Address J FRANTZ 1112 Eddy Street San Francisco Cal Give Em Fits Thats what 1HEl SCARLET SHADOW Walter Hurts great rad ical novel dons to the forces of bigotry and superstition And the sec ular press of the country goaded by the church element Is throwing a over It too No other novel of this decade has been so widely and so bitterly denounced by orthodox critic which sufficient proof that It Is all right It has cre ated a sensation In con servative circles and Bused consternation among the clergy- It is enthusiastically endowed by leading Freethinkers through out the world You ati know how Hurt can write and In this book he at Ills best It Is an Meant volume fit to ornament the finest library containing pages printed on heavy eggshell paper and bound In oxblood cloth Price J150 postpaid BLUE GRASS BLADE Lexington Ky W F Bozeman Leesburg Fla Southern Fruit and Produce Broker Melons a specialty Fifteen years experi ence buying and shipping melons Will as usual follolw the business in Georgia Ala bama and Indiana y fr ctf il t Mans Origin and Destiny 1 By Dr A Hausman Alameda California This is the Greatest Book of modern times on the theory of Evolution applied to Sociology U willshortly be issued in book form by the Blue Grass Blade making a book of nearly 500 pages The author has dedicated it to Prof Ernst Haeckel and the great Jena philosopher has accepted the dedication i200 200 Subscribe Now and Save Money All charges of postage will be prepaid upon advance subscriptions The first chapters are now 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