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A PENITENTIARY Convict likes me more than he does Chaplain Cooper. Frankfurt, Kv., 4-16-94. Charles C. Moore Kdltor Blue Grass Blade Lexington, Ky. Sir I have a copy of last week's Blade, and I like the paper so much I would like to have it the few weeks I am here. Mr. Moore, I am in the penitentiary here for two years. My time will be up the 21 of next month (May,) and if you will be o kind as to send me the Blade until the 21st of May. I will drop in and see you on the day my time is out and pay yon for same. Mr. Moore I am clerk in the office of the Kentucky Chair Company, and am outside all the time but Sunday, and I always hate to see Sunday come I go to hear the Sisters talk sometimes but I never go to hear Brother Cooper. I will be in Lexington on the 21st, and may be I can give you a little piece for your paper. Hoping I will receive a paper this week, I am Respectfully, Charlkv J. Brown. Brother the Blade will come to you regularly. Write me the piece. Come and see me as soon as yon get out. I have been in two jails, and may be sent to the penitentiary, and of course you being in the penitentiary does not prove, to me, that you are a bad man. I want to give you some kind of a job on the Blade. There are so many rascals on the outside of the penitentiary that I want to try some man on the inside of it iive my love to the warden and tell him I want him to stand in with me in editing the Blade, if they send me to the penitentiary. We would make a million dollars. My old breeches are about worn out, and I am going to buy me some striped ones just to get my hand in or rather to get my foot in." I walked six miles last fall to hear Bro Cooper preach. I heard him. If I have to go to hear him in the penitentiary I am going to get the Governor to commute my sen tence to hanging. What Cincinnati has to say about the Blasphemy. Cincinnati, Ohio, April 11, 1894. C C. Moore, Lexington, Ky. Dear Sir Your arrest for blusphemy (?) has excited a great deal of comment here among the liberal element, which numbers thousands. It will be discuss ed before the Ohio Liberal League, a society of 500 Free Thinkers. We rejoice that there is one editor in this country who will not muzzle the truth. Our sympathy and interest are excited in this test case, and it will be watched closely. It will awaken the whole country, and have a good effect. The sacrifice yon are making will endear you to every Free Thinker in this coun try, and even in Europe. The Christian religion is out of har mony with the existing realities of tnings, ana ail the triumphant thought of this age, and cannot stand. Brave men and brave women are coming to the front rapidly, but brave editors are needed above all else. When the press is muzzled, and interchange and com munication with the ignorant is cut off, we can only hope for a slow weary pro gression. All hail! to Editor Moore who barely tears away the blinds of superstition, and lets the pure light of iruin pour wrougu iair winaows, aiong the dim corridors of doubts, and stream into the priest-curtained orifice; who sweeps up the debris of decaying faiths, and tears down the cob-webs of worn out beliefs, and lights up the day of Rea son among men. This arrest excites my indignation, as it will every lover of liberty in this country. In the language of Bobby Burns, who understood human nature well, and the clergy in particular. They talk religion in their mouth. They talk of mercy, grace and truth, For what? to gie their malice skouth On some puir wight; And hunt him down, o'er right and ruth To ruin straight In spite o' crowds, in spite o' mobs. In spite of undermining jobs. In spite o' dark, banditti stabs, At worth an' merit. By scoundrels, e'en wi' holy robes. But hellish spirit. O' Pope! had I thy satire's darts. To gie the rascals their deserts, I'd rip their rotton, hollow hearts, An' tell aloud. Their jugglin', hocus-pocus arts To cheat the crowd." If your paper is published, as you ex pect, I would be glad to receive a copy. Wishing you success and a triumphant victory, 1 remain Truly Yours, J. It. Wilson, M. I). 4 Hast Fourth St, Cincinnati, O. A Dilemma. The Grand Jury of Lexington, Ky., re cently found two indictments against two (liiierent parties which are somewhat con flicting in nature. C. C. Moore is charged with blasphemy having published false Words concern inif the "birth of Jesus Christ." "intend ing thereby to treat with ridicule the ac count of the divine conception and birth of the biblical Christ" J. W. I.unsfonl is charged with obtain ing money bv lalse pretenses 111 claiming to call up spirits from another world. Sifting it down to the cause, one is charged with lielieving too little; the other with lielieving too much; or one is to be tried for not lielieving in a future life, and the other for proving that there is a f uture. What the petit jury is going to do about it is a puzzle to rational munis If they convict one they cannot convict the other provided the prisoners are tried on Christian principles; which, pre sumably they will le from the indict ments. )f course, they may set up a star cham ber court and trv lioth by prejudice simply, and convict them accordingly, leaving the science of the whole indict ment out of the play. But if justice is given, the jury must first have proofs that Jesus' conception was spiritual, and that there are no spirits to cull up from another world Ciiicinnati Light of Truth. I,evinnt"ii. Ky., is coming to the front in great style, and has easily attained a prominence that she is hardly entitled to on her merits. Not satisfied with furnish ing the country the principals in the Pol-lard-Breckinridge suit, she has now in dicted, arrested ami jailed Charles C. Moore, editor of the Blue-Grass Blade, for blaspheming in denying the divinity of Christ. If the Kentucky courts can not convince Mr. Moore of the error of his ways in any other manner they might try the good old method of the Pilgrim Fathers and roast mm at the stake. I Ridge wood (N.J.) Argus. Buckleyism in the Bells. Written for the Blue Grass Blada by Claudia H. Howard of Columbus, Ga J Oh, hear those.bells incessant ring, Ta-ling! ta-ling! come pray and sing. Be sure your hard-earned cash to bring. Dear sisters, now reflect; The church, it sorely needs your chink ; It in return dares you to think. And brings you to the very brink Of slavery most abject. It bids you swallow varus so great That time can scarcely extricate The mind from that most dreadful fate, A shrivelled intellect. It says, in dictatorial mood. Blind faith must be your daily food ' Submit like children, ne'er intrude With reason to protest Against the doctrines which we teach; A woman's mind not far may reach, And God who called the man to preach. Does him with truth invest. Speak not to us of reason clear, Of what you deem your proper sphere ; Just bring the filthy lucre here; We manage all the rest. Dare not to use the reason true Which the Creator gave to you. To think or doubt condemns vou to Alas ! eternal pain. To silence, the great preacher Paul Condemned the women, one and all : A woman twas who caused the fall. A woman weak and vain. True, Jesus no such doctrine taught. But I'aul the glorious truth has brought, And preachers orthodox have fought To carry on his reign. I'uto the hiehwavs, hedges, go. Where work is heavy lunds are low. Among the heathen seeds to sow. And tell them of their need. Go tame the wolf in foreign land ; But ne er 111 Christian pulpit stand ; 'Twas Paul, vou know, gave this command; Dear sisters, inve it heed Go teach the heathen every day; Go work for love, nor ask for pay, And when you drive the wolves away We men the lambs will feed. Go hew the wood, the water draw; To man he subject, tis God s law. Support us; we'll forever jaw Of God's most holy'plan ; The plan which makes you slaves so meek That vou will never dare to seek The vengeance which your hands should wreak I'pon the Pauline man. Come be the sweet submissive fool. ' To forge your chains, come be the tool, O sisters, dear, it is God's rule. Come, join the pious van, And let us teach you how to die That you may live ah ! by and by. Be slaves ; it is ordained on high. To question it, is rash. If there's a thing which you would know ; 1 1110 your nusuanu.- quiet go, And ask of them in accents low ; And Paul they will rehash 'Tis blasphemy to doubt God's word ; It is inspired all have heard. And to oppose it is absurd ; So come and bring the cash, And God will love you, yes he will. Although he seems your cup to fill With less of goodness than of ill The more you serve the times. Then, graceful bow and kiss the rod ; This path your great-grandmothers trod; It is the way to worship boa. Respond unto the chimes. Come hot and cold and rainy days ; According to our judgment praise ; And we Mill ut yoi The nickels and Ultra Blasphemy and Religious 1.1 t erty. (Weekly Pan tagraph, Richmind, Ky.) Thomas Jefferson, the founder of real popular Government, and who did more than all his contemporaries in building this Republic, declared that religion was not the subject of punishment but dis cussion That all men had equality of religious thought and practices, provid ed the rights of others were not dimin ished. He never feared the lilierty of speech 011 anv subject, provided truth had a fair field with falsehood. The case of C. C Moore, now in jail for "blasphemy" is the first one in our history so far as I know. There is no such offense as "blasphemy" in our con stitution orlaws.anil I advise our theolog ians to turn the eccentric religious sci entist out at once There is no more right in this Republic to imprison a Mohammedan than a Christian, so long as he confines himself to legitimate dif ferences of thought and acts. The of fense ot Mormonism was not the assumed divinity of Joe Smith, but polygamy which violated the law monog tiny, the policy of the nation. When polygamy was abolished the Mormons were left un disturbed in their faith. As I have read the charges against Moore in the jour nals, he calmly stated that Christ was born of the "Virgin Mary," in the man ner of other men a theological crime in the dark ages, but not now. Blas phemy is from theGreek words to "speak evil of," and is not sustained in the pub lished indictment And to tell the truth according to our law, is not in itself in dictable or punishable by law. Should Moore lie indicted for publishing tracts and strewing them over the jiews and floors of the church, an indictment could lie made and punishment follow; not for technical "blasphemy," but for a nuisance - nothing more. I advise the theolo gians to liberate Moore and punish him, if they can for disturbing the religions of others having equal rights with him self. It would not win converts to the Christian churches to punish Moore, the poor and ierhaps honest defender of truth as he sees, and leave Ingersoll, his advocate, undisturlied who is causing more misery to the human race than any man living by offensively abusing Christ and giving the world over to des pair, by denying the existance of the Cre ator and ruler of the Universe God him self. Cass irs Marcki.i.i's Clay, White Hall. Ky., 4-15, '94. Bro. Clav - You are a fine old Kentucky ' gentleman, and I have printed in the Hi. auk, that vou are the oulv hero that Kentucky ever produced; but durn me if I I can get onlo your racket. If I under ! stand you, as reported, over your own i signature, by ouresteeined contemporary, I the Semi-Weekly Puutagraph, of Kicli- moiid, Ky., you want them to turn me out of jail liecause I did not blaspheme ' and then put me right straight back again I because I am a nuisance. Certainly the i two are but links of the same rotten sau 1 sage, and why would you have this thus? ' Seems to uie you are straining a point in ! legal technicality that amounts to 110th- iug more than a quibble. I would just as soon lie in jail for blasphemv as for nuisance The only point is this; 11111st I as a good citien, and one that has lieen specially trained in theology, refrain from expressing my opinion that Jesus of Na.areth, though he was a great moral . hero, and must have had a grand and good woman for a mother, to be such a man, had nevertheless a natural human father and mother, simply liecause a preacher of 110 note and no prominence I and 110 special distinction except as a ' financier, chips in with a lot of Lexing i ton politicians and editors who know no more about theology than a hog knows about Sunday, with a distinct political purpose in view, that a blind horse can see through just as easily as you can see through a mosquito bar ? To lie consistent with the distin guished attitude that you assumed as the opponent of slavery, when you were the only man in Kentucky that dared to do so and when the same spirit that now puts me in jail, tore down your printing house here in Lexington, both you and Inger soll know that vou both ought to be Pro hibitionists and woman suffragists; and Col. Ingersoll, in a recent conversation with me, virtually admitted as much; but neither ot you have the courage 01 your convictions, and while in the article about me, you evidentlv feel that it i your duty as a true man to defend me Irom the Tray, Blanch and Swtstheart," that snap at my heels, you throw 'tub to the whale a sop to the ecclesiastic Cerberus by a sycophantic pander, to these people, that comes with a wc rse grace from you than from any man in America. The Bible, from Genesis to Revelations, teaches the propriety of slavery and makes laws for men to 'my and sell their fellow men just as t ley would do hogs. You had the heroism to sav thrlr' such a doctrine was damnable, and I-xington, away yonder before the war,' made you suffer for it as they are now doing me, and the parallelism between your expe rience and mine is so striking that the newspaper men here have printed it; and yet you seem to be trying to damn me with faint praise. I don t want it. and won't have it. I do not expect any better from the average Lexington editor or average preacher, but I have a right to expect better from vou. If you are not square out for me. t don't want any of your sugar with vermifuge in it If' you like my stvle stand up tor me like a man. and if you don't, just jump on me with both feet like the others do. The Lord "spewed out" the Laodiceans because they were neither hot nor cold It seems that a change has come over the spirit of vour dreams Excepting myself in my book "The Rational View," and not in the Blade, you are the only man who, in my memory and knowledge, has ever written an atheistic argument here. You sat down and did that thing on a cold collar here, not long ago about six months when there was noth ing special to call it forth, and you printed it in the Illustrated Kentuckian, published in this city, over your full classic name, and address, at your fa mous residence. And now you" bounce me and Bro. Ingersoll for "denying the existence of the Creator and Rulerof the Universe." I can not tell a lie; Bob never did it; I did it with my little hatchet, or Blade. I deny in toto, that either Col. Inger soll or I have ever said one word "of fensely abusing Christ," and I challenge you or any man in the I'nited States to produce the well authenticated language. I have a greater admiration for Jesus of Nazareth than I have for any character in history: 1 have a greater admiration for him than any man in Lexington has, and I have come nearer being like him than any man in Fayette county has done. You are all wrong on Ingersoll. He does not come up to the standard that I would like to see him reach, and that he could reach; but he is the greatest genius that America has produced, and is one of the greatest benefactors of humanity that the world has seen I WILL TALK the Br eren ot the Heathen aColjfrre Hali. Cjncin- ., StTnday Evening, May 6, 189',- D. V, Which Means Deo Volente, or Diablo Volente, Ac cording to Taste, Chas. C. MoorenKSQ., Editor liu-grass Blade, Lexington, Ky. Dear Sir:- The Ohio Liberal Society is a large society of this city, who have lectures upon various scientific, economic, educa tional and other ques.ions that are agi tating the public mind of the day. We have College Hall for a meeting place that will hold 500 people, and as a rule our lectures are free and well at tended by the best thinkers of this city. We had decided some time since to wind up our course the last Sunday of this month, owing to the approach of hot weather. This will make thirty-two lectures we have had the past course. Many are in favor of prolonging the course and I write you to ascertain if you can not give us a lecturere upon "Prohibition" or any subject vou may name Sundav evening, May 6. ' We will assure you of a packed house and of such a class of people whom you will appreciate as an audience. Will pay all expenses to and from Lex ington, and if you desire to charge for the lecture will pay you a fair price. We have thought of having a lecture upon this subject by some one who could handle the subject in a common sense logical manner, without bringing in this "Divine" business too much, and think that you are the man to do it. As you are hounded by the theological wolves of your vicinity, it may be that you could suggest another subject which at this time would bear largely upon Christian Morality, Christian Purity of the Breckenridge class, Religious Toler ence or something else If you say you will accept our invita tion please reply Ivy return mail, giving subject, and we will attend to proper no tices in papers so there will be a large and enthusiastic audience to greet you. Hoping to receive a favorable reply I remain Yours Truly, Gko. E. Lu'.ht, President The Ohio Liberal Societv. Lkxinc.tos, Kv., April 23. 1S94 To Oeo. V.. Light. Hsu., President Ohio Liberal Society, Dkar BkoThkk:- I11 answer to your kind and compli mentary letter of the 22 iust, I shall have to say that 1 will take great pride and pleasure in complying with your request to address-if my "round unvarnished tale" mav lie described by so dignified a word "The Ohio Liberal Society," of which you have the honor to be presi dent, at the time and place mentioned in your letter, but without one cent of expense to the sticiety which you renrg- I do advertising for the y. & C, It. K., and am paid bv a free pass 011 that road. I shall speak "as the spirit giyeth utter- j auce," and even had 1 now any idea as to what I shall say, the probability would i lie that 1 could not at all ilescrilie it by announcing any one subject. In general terms, however, you may expect that I hall talk about morals, and religion and politics from the stand point of the combination of Atheist Pro hibitionist and Woman Suffragist that I am. I will bring several hundred copies of my paper, the lilue-Grass Blade, for free distribution. There will be an excursion from this city to yours on that day, and I think it highly probable that a good many Chris- BEST COPY tians and heathens will go from here to hear me With many thanks for the compliment and honor you do me, I am sir, . Fraternally Yours, Charles C. Moore. P. S Your letter and this response will tie published in the Blue-Grass Blade of Sunday, Aprtl 29. I will bring some copies of my infidel book "The Hational View." I shall lie at the Palace Hotel, Cincin nati, the Saturday night befere. M. The Band Plays You Remember Me. Bethany, Ky., March 28, 94. Editor CVe,, Moore, he Dear Sir:- ' As I am more thaj paid up with your paper, I hope you will not consider me mean and low, and "no gentleman" when I ask vou to ston mv naoer at once. I I believe in Prohibition and vote as I be lieve; but I believe in something else as well. Yon object to Catholics and Episcopa lians flaunting Lent into your face, and so I object to your flaunting Infidelity into my face, while you are lecturing others on consistency, don't forget to take a lesson yourself. You need not think that Prohibition Christians will take your paper for the sake of Prohi bition when it conies into their homes spitting gaul and venom on the fair name of the founder of their religion. One can not take fire into his bosom and not be burned; neither can a man take a wolf into his house without endangering the lives of his children. And you need not think that because you lied and was a hypocrite, when yon were a preacher, and said you believed the Bible, all other preachers are the same. I do not know why yon should say such things of the preachers, unless you jndge them by yourself. I am sorry for the man over at MUledge ville who would rather be a Prohibition infidel than a whiskey preacher. A man is a fool for '"rathering" to be either. And I venture to offer a little modest ad vice, that when you want to link your name with others of your own ilk, with some regard to "the eternal fitness of things," you make the list Tom Payne, Voltaire, C. C. Moore and the DeviL No, no, Charley, you can't send your paper to me under the disguise of pro hibition, when it comes slinging tilth and insult into the faces of those, who under other circumstances, would be glad to give it a helping hand. Yours no Moore, Jeptha Bell. Charles C. Moore Charles C. Moore has announced him self a candidate on the Prohibition ticket, provided the celebrated temperance lec turer, George W. Bain, will not run. Moore is the editor of the Blue-Grass Blade, an infidel, although he has the ap pearance of a christian man. He says he is in earnest, and will meet on the stump any ot the candidates save Breckinridge. He says he would not recognize Breckin ridge privately or socially, nor would he agree to debate with him publicly. He will be an interesting man to listen to when the speaking has begun, since he never has been known to mince matters when talking of men's morals. In his paper he criticises the persons he sees fit to without regard to friendship or so cietv. He looks like a mountain fanner and calls himself a heathen. He wears his hair long and his bushy, gray beard cov ers his face so completely that only his eyes and nose can be observed. He has Jjeen c ne.wspajaalhis life, pub lished a number nBSfTnWif whirft is an infidel book styled "The Rational View. St Louis Chronicle. Sample Copies. I will gladly send sample copies, free of any charge, to any one wno may ass ttiom anil whn i1l nromise to distribute them as he, or she, may think to my ad vantage. Announce the in mm New Goods in every Department. Two Special Barp 1000 Men's Suit- (in plain and fancy Cheviots) at $H $15 and IS. 475 Hov's Suits (age 1(1 to 13) at $3 7." For Men. Latest in Hats. Inijiorted Neckwear. Fine Gloves. L. & G. 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If you haven't bought anything in the jewelry or sil verware line this year, call or write as for price on anything yon desire, one dollar now goes as far as three dollars two years ago. Test type for testing your own eyes sent tree to any address. "Write for one. Otis W. Snyder, Manu facturing jeweler and optician, 8 North D. ADLER &SON. Jewelers and Money Brokers. Watches and Jewelry Repaired By competent workman. 17 South Upper St., Lexington, Kentucky. Dailv Arrival of F. thu to our w timely. Bargain Men's and Boys' tv word for it by buying your CLOTH II N H ATS, SHO ALTOGEHTER FROM US. We save you many a doi1' ning around and to select from.