THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
J^c
J^i
Crx^(?^<UL^ J^Ciy'V^^&n^
Ijtovacc ^caucr
|]^cmov{ixL
li ( ) S T ON:
.1 . I'. M KN |i I M , I' r II I.I S II I. II .
18S9.
College
Library
SH-tiB
3n i^tcmoriam.
" Yes I THE GRAVE
Hath quenched that eye. and deaths relentless frost
Withered that arm; but the unfading fame
Which virtue hangs upon its votarys tomb,
The deathless memory of that man,
• ■ " ■ • THE remembrance
With which we still shall contemplate
His well-spent pilgrimage on earth.
Shall never pass away."
— She/ley.
J 157321
WvcfiXCC,
This ti-ibutc of respect and a])prefiati(>ii is
offered to tlie puhlie in nieniory of onr whose
services to liis fellow-men cannot he too highly
estimated. All tiic l)eautiful words that arc lu-i-e
.-aid of liiiii 1 can heartily endorse. l)ni'in<^ a
most intimate aci|uaintaiiee oi' onci- iilty yeai's, I
never knew him to falter in tiie line of duty, or to
swerve from the liii;'h sliindard of manhood he had
established foi' him-elf. ('aim and diiiiiilied in all
emergencies, he was evei- thi' steadfast friend, the
valued counsellor. In teuderesl lo\ c. I cherish the
memory of my late associnte. II'ii;\(i-: Skavkh.
d. r. MiAi.iM.
Boston, Mas.s.. Oct. 7, l«8!i.
^Viogvayttg,
gio|,u*aphy.
HoitACK Si;a\i;i; \v;is Ixumi in liosloii on tlie'
2;")lh oC August, 1810. He was the second son of
NatlianicI and Il.innuli Seavei', and as a l)ov was
bright and promisinji', early <i'ivin,ii' evidence ol'tiie
kimlness and aliilits w liicii cliai-actcrized his al'ter
lil'c and inaih' iiini conspicuous anionic' his IMlows
in all that niai-ks||ic snpciioi- man. lie was de-
scended IVoni <;-ood oM New l^njiland stock, and
was pi'ond that his anccsloi-s were Americans and
l'ou<i"ht in ihcLircat lii'Vohition. lie was educated
in the iniiihc scliools, and was iii'eatlx attached t
these institutions, all lilnitinu- tlielo\c ol' justice.
liberty, and lair play, that wci'c promiucnl trails
in his character, to the early traiuin<;' in c<piality
and x'H-rcliancc w liii-ji he rcceixcd while alleiid-
inj;" liie schools ol' l>n-«lon. Theii- >al'el\ and
perpetuity he regarded as nece,->ar\ to tiie siahilil \
( >
8 SJlooivaplui.
<il' this g'()\'C'rmiU'iit. iiiul was i'\ci' rt-adv to resist
with liis pDW-frCiil xoicc aixl pen aiiv ciicroacli-
iiu'iit on tlicii' rights.
He was nanu'd aftiM- llu' once famous I'liitariaii
minister, Hofaee Holly, and his |)arents intenih'd
that he sliould {"oUow in tiie r()()tste|)s of that
])o|)nL'tr man. But early in lil'e. while at Plym-
outh, Mass., he had the g'ood ioi'lune to atti'm|it
the defence of the Chfistian Reli,i;ion hefoic a
dcbatin<i" clnh, oi" which he was a memliei-, and
was himseir so swayed hy the ai'ii'nments of his
companions that theneeCorth his faith l)ei;an to
wane. After listenini;' to the noted Frc'ethiid<er,
Robert Dale Owen, in Albany, N. Y ., Mk. Sk.w kh,
who had now <.;i\cn up all idea of l)eeomini;' a
niinistei', ixMionnced his former theo|ot;ieal ideas,
and — to use his own woi'ds — " droj)ped the min-
isterial j)art of my | his | name, Holly, and ever
alU'r retained the Hi'athen part, Horace."
On his rt'turn from Albany, where he had
worked several months as ])rintii', Mh. !Si-:.\\ ki:
eiiteri'd thi' ottiee ol" the IxvestigatoK in the
yeai- 1S37, as e(miposit(»r. Mr. Kncehind's ti'ial
for blaspliemy was then in pro^'ress. and on \isit-
ing that worthy geutleman later in jail alter his
conviction, he was so impressed with tlu' fanat-
SJiooviipUtv
icisiii tli;it lind iiiipi-isoiicd linn, that luiiici'oi'lli lie
resolved to (U'Vote his life to the ovcrthi'ow of nil
I'onus of suiKTstition and tvi'annv ovei- the human
mind.
About this time, Mr. .1. P. ^rcnduni, who liad
also hecunu- a disciple oC Free Tliou<^lit, assumed
control ofTiiK Bo.s'i'dx IwKSTK.A'roi;. and as Mr.
Kneeland was unable to attend to all the ialito|-ial
work, Mk. Sk.v\ki; was iu\ ited to as>ist him, and
in 1S39, after Mi". Kneeland had left Boston to
reside in the AVesI, he liecame sole oeen|iant of
the editorial chair, thus \aeated. Then he^an
that i-emarkalile part nei-ship liet ween himself and
Ml'. Mendimi, which, havim;' continued foi- o\ cr
Hfly years, has rijiciKMl into more than lii'othcrly
atreetion and is now oidy severed by the ity hand
ol'di'alh. As one of oui- contemporaries remarked
of him: "From that day to this prt'sent time.
Ml!. Si:a\ I.I! Iiiis (lilig'ently and heroicidly labon-d
as compositor, editor, ;ind lecturer, for the de-
velopment and promotion of the nood cause of
Free 'riiouj^'lit. as he has nnderslooil il> principles
and objects. Both in season and out o|' si-ason,
ill health and sicknes>, with scarcely a day'- inter-
ruption foi' llie la>t half ci'iiUii-y. he has siooil at
his post like a faithful scntiiiel and a-ked foi- no
10
iSJogvitphy.
(tiscli;ii-L;c (Vuin his \viii-r;irc in l)cli;iir oC I'liix ci-sjil
Mi'iilal Lil)ci-|y. niul iin';iiiist rcliiiioiis hiiioti'N.
priest cTii ft. intolciancc. and siipi'i'stition."
He was espeeially loud of (lel)ates, reg^ardiiij:;
free discussion as a |)i-inie factoi- in the promotion
of truth; and cvci-v Sunday. Ixfore Paine Hall
was estai)hshed. wouhl lind liim in HospitalhT
Hall, the most hrilliant and eMectiw of tlie nian\'
ahle oi'ators who used to assiMuhU' there, I'eadv to
wi-estlt- in (U'l)ate with such men as AVetlierell,
Verity. Kiu^-. liurk. Hal)C(Kd<. and others. We
are knowinii' to the fact that many a Cln-istian
wild (h-opped into " ohl Hospitaller " from a spirit
of miscliief or curiosity, came away, after hsteninji^
to one of yin. Sk.wkh's forceful ai-,<i:umi'nts. with
ideas that lc(l him forexcr froni tlie faitii of his
fatiiers. It was llu' (len,i;iit of iiis friends to lind
him pitted in ch'hatc aii'ainst some Chi-istian oppo-
ut'Ut. and uid'ortunalc indeed was that indi\iduai
to whom it was allotted to defend theolo<>-v asrainst
his seathin<;- atta(d<s. On sevei'al occasions have
we seen these woiliiies so discomforted and
dumbfounded by the powerful and irresistible
loyic of Mk. Sk.wki;, that they ha\e laislu'd from
the hall without a word, and ii'lt iiim undisputed
master ol' the situation.
|5iogvaphv|.
11
At the iiiccliiii;- licld in New ^'ork City, ^lay
•1. 1S4."). w liriT w ;is Milder coiisidci'alioii tlic adop-
tiiiii of ;i iiaiiic under w liieli all dissenters could
unite against the eonniKiii I'oe, (Jhrisli.-iiiit y, it was
llie eliKjUeiit reniaiks oC yoiiui;- Sk.w'KK, then in
early iiianhood, w hieii hi'oiiiiiil (irdei- mit of chaos,
and caused the word liijidel to he adopted liy the
Coiiveiitioii. II. L. (Treen, in ri'lerriii";' to his ap-
pearance at the j^-reat Wat kins' Glen Convt'Utioii,
held ill Aui;iist, 1<S7S, says: "It was after nine
o'clock when he an'i\'ed IVoiii l>ostoii, and lie was
of course <ireafly laliiiiied; lint a lar^c iiieetiu<>-
was heiiiu' held ill the Town Park, and when it
was learned that the well-known ICditor oi' the
Ixvksti<;AT<iI! was proeiit, all clauiored I'or a
spc'i'cli. Iluudreds wiio had known him throu>ih
the Twivs'iii.A'roi; for years were [irescnt who
had lle\er iiejore seen hilll. lie eaille I'oiward
and s|)oke |ni- lilteeii niiiiiiles, and no more elo-
ijllellt spicch was e\er lieJore deli\cre(l. I"]\ cr)'
sentence wa.- lull orihouL;hl and wisdom and ^-oud
common >eii>.e. lie rcaeiie(l e\ ciN heart lii'lore
iiiiii, and il' there were ()rtliodo\ people |ireseiit,
(and there iiiiisi have lieeii a ijrcat many,) they
could hilt have adinitled that a <;ood and i;"reat
mail was addrcssiuL!' iheiii, — one who waseiililled
12 23uigvaphy.
to the rcs|)cct (if cxci-v line IViciHl n\' liiininiiity."'
At the State FiTctliinkci's' ( 'oiiNcnlioii at AUciiiy.
(N. Y..) Sci.t.n, 12. ;m(l 1:5. ISS.-,. lii> rcin;ii-ks
clianiu'd tlir laruc aiidii'iicc assciiihlfd in tin-
()])i'i'a House, and ihcy left ])i-ofonndly inipivssi-tl
witli tin- worth and ^ri'atness oC the veneraljlc
man w lio achh'essed tlicin. 'I^hiis it was. He was
one of Nature's nohlenieii. and was posst'ssed ol"
((uahties that in othei- and niore |io|»uhir walks ol"
hCe, had he eliosen tiieni. wouhl iiave covi'i'ed liini
witii wealtli and lame, and ranked iiim amonj.;' the
I'ortunate of earth. But who siiall say his re-
wai'd is not yreatei- in tiie eonseiousness of a thity
well performeil. and the impression he has made
and is yet to make on the |)|-o<;'ressivi' thought of
the eounti'v?
His life, though jon^'. has ix^'U an exeei'din^'ly
placid and i|uiet one. antl. except an occasional
al)sence from home on a lecturing' toni', has hi-en
mostly passed within the Tour walls of his sane-
tum, surrouncU'd hy his hooks and the t'xchanj;"es
that he loved to peruse. 1 )urin,ii' the loii<;- years
of his editorial worl< — the lonii'est, perha])s, of
any li\iuu' man — he met many ol' the leadin;^' ri'-
forniers of this trouhlons |)eriod, and numlHTi'd
among his j)ersonal friends sueh illu.strious names
2Jiocjvitplir(. 13
as William Lioy*! (Tarrison, AVciuk-ll I*hilli|)s,
TluM..k»iv Fai-kcr, VAv/mv Wright, Chark-s Brad-
laugh, Gt'orgc J. Holyoakt', Colonel Kohert G.
Ingersoll, James Partou, Parker Pillslmry, and
others. Blessed with a philosophic tiMiipciament,
he was at home in any society, and possessing" a
rai'c I'mul nf anccdntc and prrsoiial remiiiisccuees,
was a most agreeable and cnlcilaining companion.
But he also loved solit iidc, and \vlu're"none in-
trude," eould he always happy and occupied with
his own tlioughts.
In |)hysi(pic he was most couunandiug, his
large head and dignitied bearing securing to him
naturallv and al ail limes {\\v dei'erence oi' those
with whom he came in contact. Personally he
was the most kind and agreeable oi" men. (xeuer-
ous to a lanlt, he had little regard lor money, and
would cheerlnlly pai't with his earnings to any one
who might solicit assistauci'. In i'act, so heedless
wa> he ol' his own interests in this respect that
it wa> I'onnd neee>>ar\ I'oi- his I'rii'ud- to he cun-
staully on the watch lor those who. knowing ^Ih.
Sk.wkk's iveal'ness, wcic always waiting an oj)-
porluuity to bother him with iheii' sorrowful tales.
lie was considerate and good natuicd always,
easil\ approached, and would rt-assun- with a
14 iJuigviiphy.
smile atid a Isind word those wlio might otliciwist'
l)c disconcerted hy liis im|>(tsii\i;- presencf. All
the employees in the IwKS'rK.ATOK ofliee \ft\rd
hiin, and cordially accorded to liim that aihiiiia-
tion wiiich true gri-atness ever inspires.
Since tlie deatli of his wile in IS.IS, Mk.
Seaver has resided in his brother's family, and
to his sister-in-law, Mi's. Lydia Seavei', is due the
thanks of all Liberals for the kind care slu' has
taken of ]SrK. Seaver during- his last illness.
He was one of the i)i'onioters of tlu- Paine
Memorial Building enterprise', and was President
of the Paine Memorial Coi'poration at the lime of
his death. It was cbietly owing to his hearty and
disinterested support tliat ^Nfr. Mendum was able
to save the building Ibr the purposes Ibi- which
it was intended. This will always renuiin a tem])le
for him as well as Mr. Mendum, and as long a.s
it stands will reflect ci'edit to both. But his gi-eat-
est monument will I'Ver be The Boston Iwesti-
OATOR; for whatever the pajier has been for the
last fifty years, he has made it. To this Avork lii'
has concentrated the energies ol' his intellectual
life, the force of his genius, the value of his expe-
rience. The etiect these efforts have had in mould-
ing Liberal thought and modifying Puritanical
^iogvaphij.
15
ideas, it is impossible to cstininlc ; hut, i(" tiu'
eloquent Iniicrsoll's woids he ti-iic, he aiul his
iissoeiiites ha\c helped to |jl)ei-ali/e a (,'oiitiiieiit.
As l)rave and true men as >[i;. Si:a\i;i; have
stood lor tile riii'ht, as honest heaiMs ha\e sntlered
lor the wcll'ai'e ol' mankind; i)Ul. in oin' opinion,
no philosopher has lived in whom wisdom and
(■(»nra;4e, (irnnu'ss and eonrtesv. ha\c heeii moi'e
happilv Mended than in the iiolile one w ho^e lili'
has jnst elihed awav.
As his life \\a^ l)i'a\'e and i;'ood, >o was his
death calm and philosophic. I'^or allhonuh he
has known for some wc(d\s thai death was ine\i-
talile, it has caused him no trouMe lieyond the
natural reuret that he nnist pai't with Mr. Meii-
dmii, and w a> I'oreed to lea\e the scenes of earth
which he so hcaitilx enjo\e(l. When he leai'ned
that his old li-ieud ( 'olonel Inii'ersoll woidd >peak
at his Cuiieral, he maiiiresled a po>ili\e plea-ure.
and more than once alluded to it in the da\^ pre-
ceding' ilis di>solullou. lie died a~- he lived, a
Fi'eethinkcr. He had no I'ailh in reliuiou^ ol' anv
kimi, which he always looked upon n^ hut dill'ereut
loi'ms ol" superstition. Inn he did po»e>- in a rare
decree thai lart;ei- I'ailh I hat , wlialevcr happened,
living' or dead, woidd he natural, and iherelore
16
iJiogvaphri.
ri<j;'lit. Tlic (•(iin|ilaint l'i-i>iii w liicli he sutl'crrd was
dropsy, and s'wwv liis liisl attack. la>t .laniiai-y. In-
lias hccii ni'adually lailiiiu'. till the end, w liicli
cauic pcacclullv and calndv. — "JiJ. ,1A"
Ifxxncval ^evinces.
^uucval ^evinces.
I'liK last ceremonies over tlic body of the Ix-lovod editor
of 'riiK iNVKSTKiATOK, MoisACE Skavkii, wei'c pciToniied on
Sunday afternoon, in I'ainc Hall. Col. Robert 0. ln<jersoIl
delivered the I'liiieral address, and the hall was packed l>y
sympathetic and sorrowing friends, — imndreds tiiriicil away
from the doors being unable to pass through the dense crowd
that tlironircd about the entrance. It was necessary to issue
invitations of admission a lew days before the funeral to
special friends, in order tliat tliey might be assured seats in
the hall. I-ong before two o'clock every chair was lilled, and
soon after tliat hour the doors were tinown open to tlie assem-
blage in the .street ; but the building could not accommodate
one fpiarter part of the many who sought admission.
The casket stood in fi'ont of the platform, displaying half
tlie ligure and the features of the deceased. A wreath of
Mowers lay at the heatl of the cotlin ; a bouipiet reposed on the
dead Kdilor's breast; anil then, occupying the rest of the
space on the casket, was a llorai torch wilii the inscription,
"Gone before." A line crayon portrait of Mil. Skavek rested
on a draped easel on the lell side of the stage, on wliich hung
a wreath of Mowers, with a card bearing the words, " A good
iieart has cca.sed to beat ; a great heart is silent."
20 ^xxucval ^cvxUccs.
The rmu'ial services began with the singing of the follow-
ing li.vmn, i)y tiic Temple liuartette.
LAY ME LOW.
Lay me low, my work is done,
I am weary, lay me low ;
Where the wild (lowers woo the sun,
Wlipie the balmy breezes blow;
Where the butterfly takes wing,
Where the aspens drooping grow:
Where the young birds chirp and sing.
I am weai7, let me go.
I liave striven hard and long.
In the world's unequal light,
Always to resist the wrong,
Always to maintain the right:
Always with a stubborn heart
Taking, giving blow for blow;
Brothers, I liave played my part —
I am weary, let me go.
Shield and buckler, hang them up.
Drape the standard on the wall;
I have drained tlie mortal cup
To the finish, dregs and all.
When my work is done, 'tis best
To let all my troubles go:
I am weary, let me rest —
I am weary, lay me low.
g u 1 CI y .
BY
Col. Robert G. Ingersoll.
Horace Skavkk was a pioiu'iT, a torcli-ln'aivr,
a toiler in that t;i-ca1 ticid we call the world, — a
woi'ker I'oi' Ills tellow-iiuMi. At the end of" liis
task he has fallen aslee]>, and we are nu't to tell
the story of his lon<;- and useful life, — to pay oni-
tribute to his work and worth.
lie was one who saw tlu' dawn while others
lived in ni<>^ht. He ki'|)t lii< face towaid the
•■ pni'i)lin<i' east," and watched ihe coniini;' of tlie
blessed day.
Ho always sunuiit i'ur li^ht. Iii> ulijeci was
to know, to lind a ri'ason for hi> faith, — a fait on
which to build.
In sn|)er>tilion's sand- he son<;"hl the <;eins o|"
trnlli ; in superstition's ni^hl lie looked lor stars.
Born in New En<;land, — reared amid I he cruel
superstition- of his ayi' and time, — lu' had the
22 gulooy.
iii;mli(>(i(l Mild the cdnraiic \n iint'stig'atc, .-111(1 lie
liiid tlic iioodiicss and the coiiragt' to tell his
hoiK'st tliouylits.
He was always kind, and s(iiii;iit to win the
conHdcncc of nu'ii liy synipaliiy and lovr. TIrtl'
was no taint or tonch of" malice in his blood. To
him liis fellows did not si'em (U'|)i-aved, — they
were not wholly bad. — there was within the heart
oi' each tiie seeds of g-ood. He knt'W that back of
every tlioii<ilit and act were forc-es nncontrolied.
He wisely said: " Circninstances liirnish the seeds
of good and evil, and man is Init the soil in
which they gi-ow.'' He fonglit the creed and
loved the man. He pitied those who leai-i'd and
shuddered at the thongdit of death, — who dwelt
in darkness and in dread.
Tlu' religion of his day filled his heart with
horroi'.
He was kind, compassionatt', and tender, and
conld not fall n])on his knees before a cruel and
revengeful (iod, — he could not liow to one who
slew with famine, sword, and lire, — to one pitiless
as ])estilence, relentless as the lightning stroke.
Jehovah had no atti'ibutes that he could love.
He attacked the ci'eed of New England, — a
creed that had within it the ferocity of Knox, the
^ixlogij. 23
malice of Cal\in, the cruelty of Jonathan Ed-
wai'ds; a rdiyidii lliat had a iiioiistci- for a (io(l;
a ri'liyion wliosc do<;-nias would have shocked
c-anMil)als feast in<;' upon l)alH'.s.
Horace Skaveh followed the light of his
brain, — the iin|)ulse oj'his heart.
He was attacked, but he answered the insultt-r
with a smile; and even he who coined malig'iiant
lies was treated as a friend misled. lie did not
ask God to forgive his iMUMuies; he forgavt' them
him-elf.
He was sineei-e. Sincerity is the true and per-
fect mirror of the mind. It rellects the honest
thought. It is the loundation of character, and
without it tlieic is no moi'al grandeur.
Saeri'd ari' tlu' li])> from which have issued
oidy truth. Over all wi'alth. al)o\c all station,
above the nolile. the robed, an<l tlu' crowned, rises
the sincere man.
Happy is the man who neither paints nor
patches, veils nor veneers! lilessed is he who
wears no uiasUI
The man who lie^ before us wra|)ped in pei-fec(
peaci' practised no art to hide or half eouceal his
thought. He dill not write or ^peak the doidile
wortls that might be useful in ri'ticat.
'24 gulOfilj.
He gave a truthi'iil transcrij)! ol' liis muikU ami
souglit to make liis meaning eleai- as light.
To list.' iiis own words, lie had "the eourage
whieh impels a man to do his dnty, — to hold fast
his integrity, — to maintain a eonseienee void ol"
oftenee, at evei-y hazard and at every saeriliee, in
defiance of tlu' world."'
lie lived to ills idi'al. He sought the ai)j)roI)a-
tion oC himself. He tlid not huild his eharactcr
upon the o])inions of others, and it was out of the
very depths of liis nature that he asked tlu' pro-
found question : —
" What is there in other men tliat makes us
desire their a])])robation and fear their censure
more than our own?""
Horace Seavki: was a good and loyal citizen
of the natiu-al republic, a l)eHever in intellectual
hospitality, <me who knew that bigotry is born of
ignorance and fear, the j)rovincialisms of tlu' bi-ain.'
He did not belong to the tribe, or to the nation,
but to the human race. His sympathy was wide
as want, and. like the sky, bent above the suii'er-
ing world.
This man had that superli thing which we call
moral courage. — courage in its highest form. He
knew that his thoughts were not the thoughts ol"
iiiilogy. 25
othei-s, tliat he was witli tlic few, and tliat wlu-iv
one would taki- his side, thousands would \)v liis
caji^c'i- foi's. He knew tliat wealth would seoni,
and cultured iji^noi'anee deride, and that all be-
lievers in tlie ci-eeds, butt i-essed l)y law and cus-
tom, would iiuil the missiles of" revenye and hate.
He knew that lies, like snakes, would fill the
pathway of ids liie; and yet he told his honest
thought, told it without hatred and without con-
tempt, told it as it leally was. And so. thiough
ail his days, his heart was sound and stainless to
the core.
When he enlisted in the army whose hannei" is
light, the honest investigator was looked upon as
lost and cui'st, and vvL'n Christian ci'iminals held
him in eontempt. The l)elieving eml)i'//,ler, the
Orthodox wife-hi'atei', — rwn the murdei-er, —
lifted his bloody hands and thanked God that on
his soul there was no stain of unbelief!
In nearly every State of our Republic tlu' man
who denies tlii' absurdities and ini])ossil)ilities lying
at the foundation of wiiat is called <)rtliodo\ re-
ligion was denied his civil rigiits. IK" was not
canopied by the M'gis of the law. lie >tood lie-
yond the reach ol"sympathy. He was not allowed
to testify a":ainst the invadt'r of his home, the
2() l;iilogu.
seeker for his life. Ilis lips wi'i-c closi'd. He
was declared dishoiiDi-alilc hecaiist' hv was honest.
His iinl)elief made hiiu a soeial lc])er, a pariah, an
(Hitcast. He was the victim of I'cliiiious hate and
scorn. Arrayed aj;ainst him wvw all tlu' foix-es
and all the hypocrisies of society.
All mistakes and lies wei'e his enemies. Even
the Thi'ist was denounced as a (listurl)t'i' of the
peace hecause he told his thoughts in kind and
candid words, llv was called a hlaspiiemer l)c-
eause he sought to rescue tlu' rejjutation of his
God from the slanders of Orthodox priests.
Such was the bigotry of the time that natural
love was lost. The unhelieving son was hated hy
his pious sire, and even the mothei-'s heai't by her
creed turned into stone.
Horace Seavei! ])ui-sm'd his way. He woi'kcd
and wrought as ])est he could, in solitude and
want. He knew the day would come. He livt'd
to l)e rewarded for his toil, — to see most ol' the
laws repealed that had made outcasts oi' tlie
noblest, the Avisest, and the best. He lived to see
the foremost preachers of the world attack the
sacred creeds. He lived to see the sciences re-
leased from superstition's eintch. He lived to see
the Orthodox theologian take his place with the
3;xiUniU. 27
prof'essoi- of till- l)lacl< ;irt. tlu' luit uiu'-tclUT. and
Hstroloj^ei". He lived to see tlie Ijest and greatest
of tile world a(cc|it his thouglit, — to set' the theo-
logian displaced by the great and tiiie priests of
Nature, — bv ITuiulioldt and 1 )ar\\in. In Huxley
and Haeekel.
Within the nai-i'ow coniiJass of his life the
world was ehanged. Tiu' railway, the steauiship,
the telegraph, made all nations neighbors. Count-
li'ss inventions have made the luxiu'ies of tlic past
tile necessities of to-day. 1/dr has bern rin'ichcd
and man innoblcd. The gfeologist has read the
records of IVost and llamc. of wind and I'ain;
the asti'ononicr lias told ilic story of the stars,
the biologist has sought the gX'rin of life. — and
in every department of knowli'dge the torch of
science sheds its sacred light. The ancient crci'ds
have grown absurd; the miracles are small and
mean; the ins|)ired book is filled with fables told
to please a childish woild. and the dogma of tter-
nal pain now shocks tlii' heart and brain.
He li\fd to see a monument unveiled to nriiiio
in the cit\ of K'ome. — to (iiordano Bruno, — that
great man who two hundred and eighty-nine years
ago sull'ered death by lire for having |)roclaimed
the truths that siuci- have Idled the world with
28 i'uloQiv
joy. He livt'd to sih' tlic victim of tlu' cIhu'cIi a
victor, — lived to see iiis ineinorv lionoi-ed by a
nation freed from Pajjal chains.
He worked knowing what tlie end innst he, —
expecting little while he lived, — Init he knew that
every fact in the wide universe was on his side.
He knew that truth can wait, — and so he w<jrked
patient as eternity.
He had the hiain of a philosopher and the heart
of a child.
Horace Seaver was a man of common sense.
By th.at I mean one who knows the law of aver-
age. He denied the Bible, not on account of
what has been discovered in astrcmoniy or the
length of time it took to form the delta of the Nile,
but he compared the things he found in the in-
spired book with what he knew.
He knew that antiquity added nothing to prob-
ability, — that lapse of time can never take tlie
j)lace of cause, and that the dust can never gather
thick enough u])on mistakes to make them ecpial
with the truth. He knew that the old, by no
possibility, conld have been more wonderful than
tin- ni'W. and that the present is a perjietual torch
by whic-li we know the |)ast.
To him all miracles were mistakes, whose
parents were cunning and credulity.
gulofjiv 29
He knew that iiiiraclcs were not, because tliey
are not.
He believed in tlie sublime, unbroken, and etei--
nai march ol' causes and etlects, — denvinj;' the
cliaos ol" chanci' and the caijricc <il' power.
lie tested tiie past l)y tiie now, and judged of
all the nu'n and races of the woi'ld I)y tliose he
knew.
He believi'd in reli<;ion ol' I'rct' tiiought and
good deed, — ol' character, ol' sincerity, of honest
endeavor, of clieei'fid lio|)i', of sympathy, — and,
above all, in tiic religion oi' love and liberty, — in
a religion for every day, i'or the world in which
we live, I'or the pi'esent ; the religion of i-oof and
raiment, of food, oi' intelligence, <if intellectual
hospitality, — the religion that gives luallh and
iiappiness, freedom and content,— in the nligion
of work, and in the ceremonies ol' honest lalior.
He lived foi- this world; M" there be anothci- hi'
will live for that.
He did what he coidd for the destruction of
Feai' — the destruction of the imaginary monster
who I'l'wards the few in heaven — the monster
who tortures the many in perdition.
He was the friend of all the world, and sought
to civili/.c llic human I'ace.
30 l:\xUinil.
For mnvv llian fifty years ho labored to free the
bodies and souls ol' inrii, and many thousands have
read his words with joy. lie sought the sutt'ering
and oppressed. He sat by those in pain, and his
hand was laid in ))ity on the bi-ow ofdcatii.
He asked only to l)e treated as hv tix-ated
others. He asked for only what he eainrd, and
he had the manhood to cheerfully aceej)! the con-
sequences of his actions. He expected no reward
for the goodness of another.
Hilt he has lived his life, ^\'c sjiould shed no
tears except tiic ti-ai's of gratitude. We should
rejoice that lie lived so long.
In Nature's course his time had come. The
four seasons Avere complete in him. The spring
could never come again. Hi' had taki-n life's
seven steps. The measure of his years was full.
When the day is done, when the work of a life
is finished, when the gold of i-vening meets the
dusk of night, beneath the silent stars the tired
laborei' should fall asleej). T(» outlive usefulness
is a doubU' <leatli : —
Let me nol live after my flaiiie laclcs oil,
To be the snuff of younger spirits.
"When the old oak is visited in vain by spring,
w lu'ii liybt and rain no longer tin-ill, it is not well
J:uloQr|. • 31
to stand IcaHi'ss, dcsolatf, and aloiu-. It is hcltrr
far to la 11 where J^ature sol'tly c-ovcrs all with
woven moss and creeping" vine.
How little, al'ter all, wv know <>(' what is ill oi-
well! How little of this wondi-ous stream of
cataracts and pools — this stream oC life that rises
in a world nukuown and Hows to that mysterious
sea whose shore the i'ool of one who comes hath
never pressedl How lillle of this liie we know —
this stra":yliny wav of li^hl "twixt "loom and
jj^loom, this sti-ip of land hy verdure clad hetween
the nid<nown wastes, this throhliint;' moment lilled
will) love atid pain, this dream that iii's between
the shadowy shori's of sleep and death !
We stand n|ion lliisver<;"e of crnmhlint;' lime.
We love, we ho|)e, we ilisapju'ar. A<4"ain we
niinj;-|e with the dnst and the "knot intrin>ccati'"
forevei' falls apart.
i)nt thi> we know: A noble life enriches all
1 he woi-ld.
1I(H;.\( !•: Si;a\ i;i; li\e(l foi- other-. lie ae-
eepted toil and hope defcri'cd. l*o\eity was lii-
portion. lake Socrates, he did not seek to .idorn
his body, i)nl ralhci' hi> soul with I lie jewels of
charily, modi-sty, e<»uraye, and. abo\e all, with a
lo\ f of liberl \.
32 i'ulooij.
Farcwt'll, O brave and modest man!
Your lips, between wiiieli trutli Iniist into
blossom, are forever elosed. Your lovinu,' lieart
has ceased t<> heat. ^ Oiir busy brain is slill, and
from your hand has dropped the sacred torch.
Your noble, sell-denying' lili- has honored us,
and we will honor you!
You were my friend, and I was youis. Above
your silent clay, I pay this tribute to your worth.
Farewell !
Fxincval ^evinces. 33
At the conclusion of the eulogj- the quartette sang,
" I am Wandering Down Life's Sliady I'ath.''
After the singing those present were given an opportunity-
to take a final look at the face of Mr. Skavkk. Hundreds
availed themselves of this privilege. The pall-bearers were
Messrs. Wyzeman .Marshall. James Parton, Geo. N. Hill, C.
1'. Somerhv, .lolm A. 0'Malle\'. Russell Marston. and Krncst
Mendum.
The hearse and line of carriages moved to Korest Hills
Cemetery, where he was laid at rest at his mother's side. As
the funeral procession reached Forest Hills, it was joined l\v
Colonel Ingersoll's carriage. Friends gathered with uncovered
heads, and the casket was lowered into the grave amid a deep
silence. Colonel Ingersoll stood beneath a young maple-tree,
looking with sorrowful interest at the resting-place of his friend.
Those present evidently expected a few words, but a feeling
" good -by " was all that could be heard. The Colonel was too
deei)ly affected to say more, and as the workmen levelled oil'
the grave, and loving hands laid the flowers upon it. Colonel
Ingersoll and the assembled friends turned siU-nlly and sadly
nwav.
^Icsohitious.
JUsolutious.
Al ;i iiirctiiiji' 1)1" llic Cliicatii) Si'culni- rninii,
Proffssor MilK-soii. ('li;iinii;iii. the iulldw iiiii' I'l'so-
lutious, oIlriTil In inic (il'diii- iiu'IiiIk'I's, vvciv read
l)y Mrs. M. A. Frccinaii, ami adopted uiiani-
inoiisly: —
Whereafi, the grand army of Free Thoiiglit on our C'uiili-
nent has recentlj- sustaiiu'd nii irreparable loss in tlu' tlcatli of
Horace Seaver, the veteran editor of Thk Boston Invkstiga-
Tou, who for more than half a century has been the leader of
a dauntless host of men and women enlisted in the ennobling
cause of human rights ;
And whereas, Horace Seaver, as a man, has always com-
manded the respect of his associates and fellow-men, and has
ever been deserving at the hands of all Freethinkers, of llic
liighi'st honor for his uuscilish devotion to the principles of
mental freedom ;
Rexnived, That we, members of the Chicago Secular Union,
with the deepest emotions of sorrow, deplore the loss of this
great and good man ;
38 2tcsoUittous.
Resolved, That we lierebj- extend our fullest measure of
sympath)- to Josiah P. Mendum, his surviving partner and co-
worker in a long and wcU-fought battle for the rights of man ;
Resolved, That we express our approbation of the course
of The Boston Investigatok, in opposing all forms of slaverj',
and in attacking ecclesiastical wrongs and abuses. May it live
to see truth triumphant, and man free, the world over.
Yours, &c.,
Augusta A. Holmes,
Secretary C. S. U.
The following resolutions weir !uloj)ted by
the Tngersoll Secular Society: —
Wliereas, The Ingersoll Secular Society has met with an
irreparable loss in the death of our aged friend and Brother,
Horace Seaver ;
Resolved, That while we bow to the inevitable, we deeply
lament his loss, not only to our Society, but to the world ;
Resolved, That we hereby express our respect and esteem
for our late President, whose kindly presence we shall miss,
and whose wise words we shall hear no more ;
Resolved, That a copj- of these Resolutions be entered
upon the records of our Society, and that a copy be sent to The
Boston Investi(;atok, and the Paine Memorial Corporation.
+tcivucc ^cuucv^s oo\civU.
Horace f^caucv'S Mloiii.
Tlic (listin<'uisliino; characteristic- of IIokace
Skavkk was ck'votiun to his wdi-Ic. OtiuT men
have written with l)i'i<i,liter and strongir pens
a'j^ainst the reUgious crimes <il' thi- past and the
relij^ions follies of the present; no man has writ-
ten with iimre earnest pnrpose or witli "greater
fidelity to principle than he. The stupendous
lal)or of till'- man apiinst the Church as an enemy
of human iihcrty. as the representative of false
ideas, can never lu- measured; hut we can realize
somewhat his miji^hty work when we rememl)er
that for o\rr tifty yeai's he dealt liis sturdy idows
agaiu>l wliat he believed to l)e wi-ony. and lor
what he believed to i)e right.
lu all ages the test of moral eourage ha> been
to speak oue's houi'st thoughts, and specially
oiieV I lioughls ii|t<>ii religion- subjects. llouAcK
Ska\ i:k was ne\er asiiamed of his conviclious,
and iievi'r ali'aid to utter them, lie lo>l friends
44 Boviicc i^cuucv's 32Xovh.
tliiit wvvv not worth kt'i'piiij;', and won (rk'nds
woi'tli liavinij;-, by liis tearloss course. IIo illiis-
fratcd I)}' a lonu' Hi'*' 'li' l)ravi' speakiiiy tliat a
man yains most hy hi'ing- time and lionost.
It is sonu'limc's said of a man tliat Nature in-
tended liim lor a minister or a law3er; hut, how-
ever tiiis may be, it is a very difficult matter foi-
a person to decide just what lie is inteiuled t'oi'.
The tirst choice that a vouny man makes of a
trade or occupation may not always be the best
I'oi' himst'li', noi' tlu' one wliich he is best adapted
for. It is a fact that a j:,'reat many men have
achieved distinction in a direction contrary to
their tastes and desires. After all, it matters
less where we work than how wi' work. Genius
finds the sky, and dullness finds the ground, no
matter if the one is born in a palace and the other
in a hovel.
It may be true that IIokace Seavek would
have been famous as an actor, had he adopted
the stage as a profession, to which he was early
inclined, as he has confessed; or as a minister,
had he studied theology and entered tlie pulpit
as his parents wished, for he possessed talents
that would Inive adorned almost any walk or
calling. But he always counted it fortunate
Boviicc i'Ciiucv's (JiTlovh.
45
tliJit 111- Ix'Cium' a |)riiitt'r; and once, in s])cakini;-
on tliis suhjoct, he said: "To he a inintcr is
greater tiian to lir a soldii-r, or an actor, and
nuicli lii'i'ati'r than to l)c a minister." It st'onis
as though iiis iil'c-woi-k was dctcrniiniMl lor hint.
Certain it is tliat iiad iu' cuti-red nny otiici- print-
ing-office than that oT tlie 1xvksti(;at<)I!. tlic in-
cidents that fixed lii> caret'i' wouhl lia\ t' hct-n
nnknown to iiini, or hi' wonlil lia\r ln-cn so sit-
naled as not to Ik- inlhienceil \)\ them. It was
the step into an InfiiU'l ])rintin<;-office that settU-d
the part that II()i!A( K Ska\ Ki; was to |il,iy n|)on
tile stage ol' life. Had lie apphed lor work in a
Christian otliee. he might have liecome a good
piintei', — he niiglit even liave l)eeonie a great and
good man outside ol' tiic cliarmcd circlr of ()rliio-
doxy, wherein all the hnman \ irlncs are supposed
to dwell; hnt he would not lia\e occupied that diili-
eult, hut nohle, i)ost which his lilt- has adorned,
and with which his iianie is idcntiHid.
To say that the atnios|)liere of the IwKsii-
(;at<H{ ofliec was not wholly nucongeuial to iiis
nature would hi' true, although he had not iheii at-
tained tiiat freedom from >ii|ii'rstilioii iii;ii ;illo\\ed
him to accept all tlii' sentiments lh;it lie piil into
t\pi'. The soil, lio\\e\ir, \\a- nearer reail\ than
46 Horace ^caucv's ?^ovU.
Ill' iniagiiKHl. and tin- sci'ds (jf nu'iital {'reeclom, that
wcri' destined to boar sucli a magniticent harvest,
fell upon ground that needed hut littU' prepai-i-
tion.
Perhaps the one ineident that hastened to
fruition the gi-owing sentiments in thi' mind ol'
Horace Se.wek was the eonvietion ol" Ahner
Kneeland for blasphemy.
Justice was a })art of this man's nature, and
he rejected the Christian scheme largely on ac-
count of the inherent injustice in the logic of its
dogmas. He wanted the right, the trui', the just,
to prevail, and the work of his jjen and voice was
always hi behalf of justice to man.
When Mr. Kneeland was sent to jail for ex-
pressing his honest dissent from the Universalist
idea of God, the last cord of sympathy that bound
iiim to Christianity was broken. That the public
avowal oi' one's opinions upon religious mattei's
was a crime punishable with imprisonment shocked
all his notions of equity. Horace Seaver was,
from the hour that Abner Kneeland passed through
the door of the jail, an avowed enemy of the Chris-
tianity which inspired the persecution of this good
man. Referring to this time in a recent address
delivered in Paine Hall, Mr. Seaver said: —
Hovace ^caucv's SClovU. 47
"I was in tlir ollicc uluii Mr. Kiicilaiid was
sent to prison, and I rcnicnibt'i- one day going- to
the Jail to visit him, and looking at him through
the prison bars, 1 said to him. ' Mr. Kneelaiid, I
can now understand what Thomas Jett'erson meant
when he said, " I have sworn u|)on tlie altar of God
eti'rnal hostility to every Torm ol' tyranny over the
mind of man!"' Mr. Kneeland said, Oly young
friend, always swear by that motto.' I havr al-
ways tried to."
When Mr. Seaveh ix'tui-ncd from that visit he
knew what his work was to be. IK' at once as-
sumed llic editorial iiianagemiiit of the Iwi'.s'n-
<;A'I'(>k, and commnieed thai famous battle lor
"universal mental liberty" and the rights of man
whieh ended <mly when he was coiKineicd b\
dealli. The keynote of his lile-woi-k is found in
these wolds of his: —
'• ( )iie of the most important rights which hu-
man beings possess abstractly, and which ought
to be guaranteed to tlu'in by the society of whi<-h
they ai'c members, is the right to express opinions,
withont fear or molestation. That men onghl lo
possess tlii> righl. not only as a matter of ab>tract
justice, but as a mailer of" political expediencv. is
a proposition that carries its own evidence along
with it. 'I'lie i-iglil lo ihiids IVeel\ npoii all -nb-
Jccts belongs to us nalnrall\. and no govcinmeni
can deprive us of it."
48 Ho face ^caucv's SClovli.
HoKACE Seaver deleiulcd this i-ij;lif willi nil
tlic native force of liis intelk'ct, and with a tenac-
ity that is certain to win i-espect, il' not \ ictory.
We do not claim that no other man conhl have
done the woi-k wliicii Mi;. Skavki; did. We only
claim lor him the credit ol' what hi' did. IK'
championed an nn)X)]>ular cause; he sided with the
wron<;x'd and oppressed, with only one thought
to i)rompt his act, — that hv was doing- right.
This is a high motive I'oi' hmiian action. We
to-day enjoy comparative freedom. It is easy
now to speak the trnth, — easier than it was fifty
year.s ago. We are eating fruit from the tree that
Horace Seaver, and other men like him, set ont
half a century ago, and which they watclu'd witii
jealous care. It is not the brilliant effort, but the
])atient labor, that has erected human monuments.
It is not the lightning's tlash, Itul the constant
radiance ol' the sun, that lights the cai'th. It is
not the daring act of a moment, but the coui'age-
ousness of a lifetime, that overcomes the obstacles
in the path of progress.
We may not be able to point to any particular
act of Horace Seaver, oi- pick out any work of
his pen, that shines with that splendor that at-
tracts the eye, but we can do something I'ai- better:
HoviKC i«c<i\)cv'6 MlovU. 49
Wf can pdiiil 1(1 a long lili' of hnvd and noljle toil
for the iinj)r()vi'inc'nt oi' his I'ellow-man. Hokack
Skavk,h worked every day. and every day worked
with an object. Thiis may not be genius, but it
is greatness. Such work nuiy not make uuicli
noise, but it makes life sweeter and the world
l)etter.
Fi'W nun have gone to their rest who liavc
performed their part with more honor to them-
selves and to their race, than this man. wlio said.
when near the end of his life journey, "Work has
never Ikh'u a buiden to me, l)ut always a pleasure."
L. A'. W.
A TRIBUTE TO HORACE SEAVER.
To (lie! 'tis liiit to rest,
To leavo a reeord of a well-sponl life,
III aid of the opprest.
Add to this a halo of undying fame,
A gloiious lile, a great immortal name,
Indeed, is to be blest.
This has been thy lot;
Well hast thou served our cause,
No selfish aim or thought
Was ever held long time enough to trace
A line of envious sordidness
Upon thy noble face.
One tear, and then we part,
Each to the station that claims us for the day I
One sigh that wells up from the heart!
Farewell, benevolent teacher, thy goal is won:
Well hast thou earned a sweet and dreamless rest.
Posterity bless thee for the good thou'st done!
Huou C. Robertson.
HORACE SEAVER-
"fiuini:, I'lni.osoiniEU, .\ni> friend.'
Horace Seaver, no deceiver,
A tniin direct in all his ways:
Strong of stature, true to Nature,
Fills lie the measure of his days.
In liis history there 's no mystery —
No mylh or fetich he adored;
He, a true man, loved each human.
Anil superstition's shame deplored.
Horace Seaveb, high believer
In every sentiment sublime;
Iconoclastic to the plastic
Mud-balls by the river Time.
Valiant hater of the traitor —
Dogmas that were built to blind.
Undismayed " Investigator,"
Faithful to the rights of mind.
Horace Seaver, with the lever
Of the potent printing press,
Man has lifted, truth has sifted,
An<l found the liars weighing less
Than the ashes which wind dashes.
Or the d\ist from thresher's tlo(U-.
Bore in vanguard Freedom's stamiard
When priestlings mocked at temple's door.
HoitAcB Skavkic, rich receiver
Of votive homage of the just;
II is to show forth how to go forth,
By owning liight the only iiKixt.
Such endeavor wins whatever
E3tat4' may be of future bliss
Other worlds in; his lielteri'd brother
Attests he lilled his place in this.
John Prescott (ii ii.n
'4'vilJtxtcs fvom the ^Hcss,
'tributes from the grcss.
From the Boston Evening Record.
Regular patrons of the Kgleston S(iiiare cars used to watch,
some inoiiths ago, for a dignilied old gentleman, who regularly
boarded the car a few streets below Dover, and always at the
same time, — near 5 o'clock in the afternoon. He would always
be found patiently waiting, for the cars are few and far between
on that line, and his long white hair as it fell upon his shoulders
made an interesting picture. The drivers used to watch for
him, too, and omitted their customary glare as they stopped
just where it would be most convenient for the old gentleman
to get aboard. Slowly, almost painfully, he stopped up, and if
the car was crowded, as it usually' was, he would quietly stand
on the rear platform until some one gave him a seat. More
than once have I seen well-dressed ladies surrender a seat to
him ; and once a man who was lame and wore a G. A. R. badge
stood, that the foelile old body might have a comfortable i)lace
to rest. (Juietly he would accept these courtesies, and then sit
without seeming to see or notice anybody until the car had just
passed Dale Street, when he would slowly step olT, and enter
an old-fashioned house almost iiitldcn by an immense hedge.
Every ilny he was seen on his homewani trip, and every
day the journey seemed harder for him, and the weight of four-
score years seemetl almost too much for lii.s feeble body. One
56 J'vilnitcs from the 3Pvcss.
da}- we missed him, and the next he did not come, and for
months the familiar face has not been seen.
Yesterda\- there was crape on the door of the old-fasliioned
house bej'ond the high iiedge, and they told us tiiat IIohace
Seaver, the Editor of the Investigator, was dead.
From the boston herald.
There was so much sterling goodness of mind and heart
in this eminent and self-made Freethinker, and his opinions
have been so honestly and fearlesslj' expressed for the last fifty
years, that he has commanded the respect of even those who
differed from him. lie always hit square -from the shoulder,
and 3'ou alwa3"s knew where to find him. What was weak in
the forms of Christianity with which he was most familiar, he
did not hesitate to expose, and it was eas^' to see why, as a
very pronounced individualist, taking a not uncommon view of
a certain type of Christianity as a representative of the Chris-
tian religion, he was led to glory in being an " Infidel." He
belonged to a group of men who, fifty years ago or less, were
eome-outers from Orthodox Christianity, and felt that they
had reason to justify their action. Among them were Garrison,
Phillips, Parker, and Pillsburj-. These men were reformers in
politics and in religion, and had great influence during the
"reform era" in New Kngland life. Society is changed to-day
from what it was when these men held forth most successfully- ;
but forty or fifty 3'ears ago the services to society at large which
these men rendered cannot he too highly appreciated, and
among them j\1k. Skavkr held a high and iionorablc place.
i'vilnitcs from the Stress. 57
From the boston advertiser.
Mr. IIorack Skavkh, of liiu iNVK^iTicAiOR, whose funeral
occurs to-morrow at I'aine Sleiiiorial Hall, was born and re-
ceived his education in this city. His connection with the
Agnostic movement, of which the Investigator is a leading
exponent, began over fifty years ago, and he has been connected
with that paper as its editor for the past half century. It is
not now so generally known, however, that Mr. Seaver was at
one time a leader in the labor agitation of 1840-1850. He was
a strong advocate of the ''ten hours' movement," and helped
the agitation by every means in his power. Again, in the Free
Soil discussions, preceding the war, he was one of the strongest
friends of the abolitionists. At a public meeting of the Free
•Soil part}', Mr. Seavek was called upon to speak. Few who
heard that address forgot it afterwards, and Mr. J. P. Haile,
who presided, came over and shook his hand, saying: " Young
man, if you enter polities, I will guarantee that you will be
elected to Congress in the course of time." Among the last
letters written to Mu. Seaver was the following, written on the
announcement that his recovery was despaired of:
"Friend Seavek: —
" We are thinking about you all the time. We know that
vou have done a great work, and that in the course of Nature
j-ou have reached the twilight hour. We know tins, :ind yet
we want to hold yon back and keep you with us for many years.
lUit, after all, it makes liut little dilference. We join you in a
little while. Only a moment lies between the lives of men.
You Lave sowed good seed. Others will reap, and bless you
for your noble work. K- <!. Inoersoli.."
58 i'vlliutcs from the ITvcss.
From the Boston Globe.
Ill the death of IIokace Skavek, the champion of Free
Thought in this cit^' for llie past fift}- j-ears, a figure passes
out which is of equal interest to those who agree with his views
and those who do not.
The deceased editor of the Boston Investigator is a land-
iiinik measuring tlie progress of New England toleration for
hall' a eenturj-. Like not a few others who started out with the
intention of following the ministry, Mr. Seaver was led to turn
down the opposite road through an event in this city which to-
day would be regarded us a most flagrant act of intolerance.
This event was none other than the prosecution, conviction,
and sentence to jail, in 1838, of Abner Kneeland, formerly a
Universalist ))reaeher, on the charge of blasphemy. The
ardent and warm-hearted Seaver was so moved b^' this act of
religious persecution that, having visited Kneeland in prison,
he came out with tears in his eyes, and was henceforth a pro-
nounced Infidel. When Colonel IngersoU warms up in his. re-
cital of these events next Sunday, in pronouncing Mu. Seaver's
eulogy, one of his most impassioned efforts may be looked for.
It seems almost like a dream to look back fift}- j-ears in
the history of New England toleration. The times that locked
Abner Kneeland in a felon's cell for preaching Pantheism
will never return again in this country. Toleration of all
religious beliefs is now an established fact. The cardinal teach-
ings of Christianity remain and will never be shaken ; but men
maj- interpret them, each in his own way, and with perfect civil
liberty as to the expression of his views.
Tvlbiitcs fvom the JVcss. 59
From the Banner of Light.
The Banner joins its voice with the m:ui3' now being raised
in appreciation of the life-work of that veteran apostle of Free
Thought, the late Hokace Seavek, a brief account of whose life
and rejjorl of whose obsequies will be found on the first and
fifth pages of the present issue.
Mu. Seaveu was our life-long friend ; we have for years
admired his unllinching attitude regarding the theologic creeds
which New England has so persistently buttressed with forms
of law, and sentinelled with the shibboleths of social custom.
Mr. Seavek rose from the printer's case to the editoi-ial
chair, and left a noble record in whatsoever department of life
be devoted his energies.
Although he held the views of a non-immortalist, he was
ncvcrtlieless open to consider all tilings [lertaining to human
welfare ; and has frequently in public and private taken the
broadest views along humanitarian lines ; glimpses of his inner
nature have long led us to feel that within his iicart of hearts
ho was a conscientious Agnostic concerning, not a bald denier
of, tiic possibility of a continuous, conscious existence for the
fellow-men whom he so much loved and strove to benefit while
in mortal life.
Mr. Seaver was a close reader of The Banner of Lifjht,
Mr. Meniluin, the publisher of the Investk:ator, (himself an
old personal friend of ours,) once stating to us that when ii
number of The Banner was missing Mu. Seavek seemed dis-
appointed, as it was invariably perused by him on the Sabl)ath,
as a sort of '• Sunilay Hilile."
00 2^rilnxtcs from the iPrcss.
From the Peabody Reporter.
IIoKACE Seaver, editor of The Boston Investicatok, died
at his home on the 21st of August, 1889. He was born August
25lh, 1810. His funeral occurred last Sunday at Paine Me-
morial Hall, Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, a life-long friend of his,
pronouncing the eulog}'.
For the last half ccntur}- the late Horace Seaver has been
a prominent figure. Like many other Liberal thinkers, he
started out in life to follow the ministry', and undoubtedly
would have continued longer, had it not been for the conviction
and sentence to jail in 1838 of the Rev. Abner Kueeland, for-
merly a Universalist preacher, on the charge of blasphemy'.
Not a blemish can be found in the life of the late Editor
Seaver. He was upright, honest, moral, truthful, and chari-
table. He was ever more considerate for the feelings of his
religious opponents than they were of his.
He saw good in everything, and respected all good. No
man living was more tolerant of the views of others than was
the late Mr. Seaver ; but he had expressed a doubt of the
hereafter, and the Christian churches showed less forbearance
for his views than he did for theirs.
He wished for that happiness in a life after death as
earnestly as any one ; his desire to meet the loved ones gone
before was as strong ; he was anxious and alwa3"s seekiug
after proof of that glorious immortalit\-, but the shadow of
death came to him before the revelation that must have come
to him now, if ever.
If he was not ready to accept as much by faith, if the
Jvilmtcs fvom the jTvcss. (51
word "hope" had a diirerent meaning to him, he was not
alone ; for there are millions standing upon the platform from
which he has just stepped.
If accepting the Golden Rule, if following the teachings of
the Sermon on the Mount, if a lielief in the moral law, makes a
Christian, the late Hokace Seaver was a Christian in the full
sense of the word. If he had not the faith and the hope of
the Protestant and the Catholic, he had what is greater than
these — he had charity.
From the Truth Seeker, (N. Y.).
It is with feelings of the profoiindest regret that we an-
nounce to our readers the death of Horace Seaver. He died
just before noon, on the 21st inst., at his residence, No. 2727
Washington Street, Boston. He had been troubled with an
affection of the heart for a long time, and for some six months
past had been confined to the house. The immediate cause of
his death was dropsy.
What are the feelings that must be touched, and the
avenues of retlection that must be opened, by this death, our
readers feel and know as well as we. Of the value of a
life like that of Mb. Seaver, no thoughtful man needs to be
told. In a world where most seem little more than boys, than
unreasoning automatons, to be uianii)ulaled by false-hearted
.schemers, while by their incapacity all have to sulfer — in this
world Mi{. Seaver was a man with the gift of reason, to sec
under appearances, penetrate shams, pierce to the inner truth
of things with the subtle power of logic, and publish Ut his
fellows in what quarter their interests lie.
62 3'vlbutcs from the iVcss.
In !i world where moral cowardice and base spiritless
disloyally to truth envelope and well-nigh extinguish all, Mr.
Seaver was a man with firm and intrepid determination to
speak out his truth, in total disregard of all the sneers and
scoffs and disrespect that could issue from angered ignorance
and detected fraud. He was veracious, he was frank, he was
benevolent, he was courteous, he was gentle. lie was an
honor to our cause, he was an ornament to his generation, he
was one of those few for whose goodness we learn to forgive
the shortcomings of the rest of mankind, and love it after all.
To say now what would have rendered superfluous all the pre-
ceding, — he was a friend of Robert G. Ingersoll. Let him
have honor and gratitude and remembrance, — and let all
tr}- to be like him.
From the boston evening Transcript.
It was, no doubt, too much to saj- of Mr. IIorack Seaver,
who died }"esterda_v, that "he had Liberalized a continent"
(as had been said of him), because, in the broad sense, the
Liberalization of the continent was as much the result of other
forces as Mr. Seaver himself was ; but it is perfectlj- certain
that his fift3' years of constant and intelligent work in a single
channel must have borne much fruit. Ilis editorship of The
Investigator was a story which had two chapters, the one much
unlike the other. The first was a record of resistance and
struggle, in which the prison doors which had closed behind
Abner Kneeland, the paper's first editor, ma}- be said to have
haunted the vision of its editor. Its second epoch was one in
which the paper's existence came to be almost overlooked in
the tumult of a Free Thinking generation. Mr. Seaver's life
at
i'vibiites from the i'vcss. 63
was, like that of manj' other Freethinkers, a proof that the pre-
dominance of a master-idea, a strong conviction in the mind,
has an effect at once elevating and steadying upon the char-
acter ; and that it seems to make not much dilference in the
result upon conduct whether this conviction is of the positive
or the negative sort. For fifty years he worked side by side
with his venerable associate on The Investigator, Mr. Men-
dum ; and throughout that time, it is said, there had never been
the slightest l)reak in the pleasantness of the relations between
the two men. Mr. Seavek's career saw the end of the church
militant, and the establishment of sj'stems of thought upon the
basis of thought ; and toward the accomplishment of such a
result few men or women of the present epoch have contributed
more largely than he.
B F. UNDERWOOD, IN PORTLAND OREGONIAN.
FIoKACK .Si'.AVKK, of Hostou, wliosc dculli Occurred yester-
day, was in some respects a remarkable man. Your dispatch
says that he was 70 years old. lie was nearly eighty. For
more than fifty years he was editor of The Boston Investigator,
of which Abner Kncehmd was the first editor, and during all
this time not a numlier of the paper appeared without edito-
rials from Mr. Shaver's pen. He was a printer by trade, and
took great pride in his craft, and until the last few years he
put most of his editorials in type without writing a word of
them.
Ilia style had a natural diguily ninl :i Uen. Franklin sort
of simplicity. He was an admirer of Shakespeare, and quoted
often from him in writing and speaking. Mit. Skavku was an
64 2^t*ilnxtcs fx'om the 5%-css.
eloquent and effective speaker, and had he cultivated iiis
oratorical and dramatical talents, and exercised them in some
popular field, tiiev would doubtless have gained for iiini a
reputation. The most touching funeral address I ever beard
was one in which Mr. Seavkk, over the dead body of a friend,
paid a tribute to iiis meinoiv. lie never tired of dwelling on
the great efforts of Webster and Phillips. The latter he
thouglit the most polished and perfect orator of modern times.
Mr. Seaver was a man of simple habits and unostentatious
life. His naturally- generous and charitable disposition made
him ever read}' to overlook the mistakes and infirmities of his
fellow-men.
Mr. Seaver's philosophy was that of " conmion sense ;"
and he cared little for idealistic theories or metaphysical specu-
lations. " One world at a time "—an expression which Colonel
Ingersoll and others have made famiUar to the public the last
few years — was Mr. Seaver's motto half a centur}' ago, and
he never changed it. During all these 3'ears The Investigator
advocated unsectarian schools, the removal of disabilities on
account of religious belief, the taxation of church propertj",
and the complete secularization of the State. It spoke out
boldly for many of the reforms that have triumphed, and for
others that have passed through the period of execration, when
it required rare moral courage to give them support. Even
those who ma}' think they have reason to regret Mr. Seaver's
opposition to Christian beliefs and authorities cannot withhold
admiration of his character, loyaUy to his convictions, and
brave defence of many a struggling reform.
i'vibiitcs fvom the i%-css. 65
H. L. Green, in the Buffalo 'N. Y.' Courier.
Tlie telegiaijli inCorins iiiu tliiit IIohack Seaver, tho editor
of The Boston Investicatok, is dead. It is probable that not
many of your readers iiuow who Horace Seaveu was ; but to
liiose of them who are known as Freethinkers the information
will be received with sadness, for next to Col. Ingersoll he was
without doubt the most distinguished Freethinker in America.
And at his doatli ho was, I think, the oldest editor in this
country. He had edited The Boston Investigator for over 50
years. It was announced in that paper last week that that
issue was the only one that had appeared for the last 50 years
tiiat did not contain an editorial from Mh. Seavek's pen. A
few weeks ago I wrote for the Freethinker's Magazine of this
city a biographical sketch of Horace Seaver. I am sure it
would gratify many of his friends and admirers in Western
New York if you would give it place in j'our columns.
FROM THE MARLBORO' (MASS. TIMES.
The grandest piece of elegiac eloquence and Ihrenctic
oratory we ever heard, or remember to have read, was the
eulogy proiKJUiii-cd by Col. Robert (!. Injicrsoil o\cr the ilead
body of his and huniauity's friend, Horace Seaver, the editor
of the iNVK.sTKiAToK aiid one of the best-known Inlidcls in the
world, at Paine Memorial Hall, Boston, last .Sunday afternoon.
No abstract we could make of the finisiicd work would do any
sort of justice to it, and nothing we could say of Horace Seavku
would even faintly express the high estimation in which we
held that scholar, hero, and [jhilanthropist ; but next week we
will give Col. Ingersoll's oration in full, and we beg leave to
bespeak its careful perusal.
66 Tvibxitcs from the i'vess.
From the la Salle (Illj republican.
The Boston Investigator of August 28th contained the
obituary of its venerable editor, Horace Heaver, who died on
the 21st, in his 79lh j'ear. Mu. Seaver was well known, by
reputation, to millions of his countrymen, as well as to many
in other lands ; but such was his retiring nature, and so seldom
did he venture awaj- from home, that the number who were per-
sonally acquainted with him was limited to a comparatively
small circle, embracing, however, man}' of the brightest and
best men of his time, — such as Emerson, Garrison, Greeley,
Sumner, Parker, Phillips, and others of like school, — and in all
the qualities that make men great he was their peer. All good
men and women who ever had the pleasure of his acquaintance,
among all classes whose friendship was worth having, were his
steadfast friends.
The writer spent one year of his apprenticeship in the
office of the Investigator when Mr. Seaver was in his prime,
a dozen or fifteen years after he became the editor. The office
was then in the loft of a dingy old building at No. 35 Wash-
ington Street, — if our memory is correct, — not far from Corn-
hill. The paper and its conductors, as well as the cause they
were engaged in, were not popular at that time : it was a deadly
warfare of the forces of truth and reason against the cohorts of
error and superstition in league with church and State and in
possession of all the strongholds and positions of advantage,
and it was a great struggle on the part of the proprietor, Mr.
J. P. Mendum, the worthy and noble co-laborer with Mr. Sea-
vEK, to maintain headway on the gallant Investigator. But
if the progress made was slow, it was sure, and it is consola-
^vtbiitcs fvoiu the gvcss. 07
tory to know thiit tliose good men liave Iheci to witness the
success and continnally increasing strength of the cause to
which they devoted their lives.
For years the Investigator has been firmly established in
one of the most beautiful and substantial edifices in the city of
Boston, known as the I'ainc Memorial Building, and the paper
circulates wherever the English language prevails. Mr. Seaver
was a printer, and at the time we speak of performed the daily
task of a compositor. Xow and then some of the friends would
call in to chat with him on the cause, among whom were Tyler
Parsons, Otis Clapp, James M. Beckett, Parker Pillsbury, and
Rev. Walter Balfour, and their conversation was equal to a
Lil)eral education to such as had the pleasure of listening to it.
Mk. Skaveu had the habit of setting up in type many of
his editorials witliout even writing a word of them, taking his
composing stick and setting column alter column " out of his
head," so to speak ; yet so clear-headed was he that the articles
thus composed were among the most comprehensive, solid,
terse, and logical contributions to the Liberal literature of the
time, and their truths are still thundering and reverberating
around tlie fastnesses of superstition, and will continue to shake
up the heathen until the niillciinuiin of Universal Mental Liberty
reigns over all mankind.
Mr. Sbaver was a broad-gauged man of the highest men-
tal calibre. Had ho devoted himself to politics he would liave
a<-hieved a fame cc|Ual tf) that of any of the great statesmen of
his native Commonwealth. In battling for the cau.se he so
honestly believed in, he did not indulge in jest or scoff at the
blindness of the victims of error ; he sought rather to illuniinnte
their minds with the light of reason and truth ; he was friendly.
68 Jl'vibutcs from the ^vcss.
kind, and courteous; in favor of hearing all sides; open to
conviction, but irresistible in the force of his arguments, which
no man was ever able to withstand. He was philanthropic in
the highest degree, and not only willing, but anxious to help
along an}' good cause, no matter if it were conducted even
under the auspices of sectarians with vyhom he did not frater-
nize ; if it was of a progessive and elevating tendency, it had
his heartj- support. When Father Matthew, the great Irish
apostle of temperance, came to Boston, Mr. Seaver was among
the foremost in receiving and entertaining him while there. He
believed in temperance in all things, but was no prohibitionist,
believing not in reforming mankind by statutory enactments.
He was also a stalwart champion of the rights of labor,
and his co-operation was often sought in behalf of those strug-
gling under the oppression of monej' tyrants. We have lis-
tened to the great orators of Massachusetts in Faneuil Hall,
Everett and Webster, Choatc and Phillips ; but never did we
hear the principles of right and justice and the true gospel of
freedom expounded by any one of them with half the ability,
clearness, and eloquence that was manifested by Horace Seaver
in a fifty minutes" speech in that old " Cradle of Libertj',"
during a strike of one of the labor organizations in Boston.
Doubtless Mr. Seaveu had his faults, as all men have, but
few have left a clearer record. No man's conduct was ever
more thoroughly squared by the Golden Rule than his. He
won not renown amidst scenes of carnage on fields of battle,
nor in high official station ; but the power of his influence upon
human destiny, working as silently and unseen as the life-
giving principle in Nature, cannot be estimated. It is not too
much to say, that the world is as much indebted to Horace
i'vilmtcs from the iiHcss. 09
Seaver as to any mail for the enlargement of the l)oundaries
of political, social, and religious freedom, and for the greater
progress and iiappiness enjoyed hy mankind during the last
iialf century. The loss of such a man, though he may have
passed the allotted span and (inished his work, cannot be con-
templated without feelings of profound sadness.
From the Peabody (Mass.' Reporter.
HoKACE Seaver, the venerable editor of The Boston
Investigator, a few weeks ago allowed, for the first time for
more than half a century, the Investigator to appear without
an editorial IVom him. He has been in failing health for years.
Every reader of the Investigator, and every one who is per-
sonally acquainted with Mr. Skaver, will unite in a hearty
wish for his speedy return to good health. ♦ ♦ ♦
Since our reference to the editor of the Investigator
was put in type, all that was intellect and life in Horace
Seaver has passed away. lie knows now if any one does of
tile hereafter.
From the Boomerang. Laramie Wyo. Ter.^
Horace .Seaver, well known as the editor of The Huston
Investigator, is dead. He was a strong Anti-Slavery man,
and was a warm friend of Wendell Phillips, Parker Pillsbury.
and William Lloyd Garrison. At the funeral, Sunday, in raiiie
.Memorial Hall, a eulogy was pronounced by Colonel U. (>.
Ingersoll. ,
70 a'vlbutcs from the ^vcss.
FROM FREE THOUGHT SAN FRANCISCO).
Last Sunday afternoon, sa3-s a brief dispatch in :i morn-
ing paper, the funeral of Horace Seaver, late editor of The
Boston Investigatok, was held in Paine Memorial Hall.
Colonel IngersoU delivered the eulogy, according to the re-
quest of the deceased.
So passes away the oldest Liberal editor, and the editor
of the oldest Liberal paper in the world. We cannot say that
he has passed to a higher life, because we do not know ; but
to us it seems there could be no higher life than that which he
led as the advocate of religious liberty and the enemy of super-
stition.
Mr. Seaver left but brief records for the use of his biog-
raphers. He did not tell of his troubles, for during the past few
years he suffered much more than the readers of his paper were
permitted to know. In 1888 a volume of selections from his
writings, edited by L. K. Washburn, was published under the
title of " Occasional Thoughts." It would seem that this should
have included at least a brief sketch of the life of so remarka-
ble a man, but it did not. We know, however, that in early-
life Mr. Seaver learned the printer's trade, and that when in
consequence of religious persecution Mr. Kneeland was obliged
to sever his connection with the Investigator, Mr. Seaver and
his associate, Josiah P. Mendum, assumed control of it, tlie
one as editor and the other as pulilisher. For more than fifty
years thereafter no issue of the Investigator appeared that
did not contain something from the pen of Horace Seaver.
In early life, we are told, Mr Seaver married a lady with
whom he lived in unalloj'ed happiness until her death. He
never remarried.
^'vilnxtcs fvom the 2*vc6b. 71
We hope that a full and faithful account of the life and
labors of Horace Seaver will be written and published. It
would be a most instructive and helpful work. lie pos-
sessed more than ordinary- powers either as a writer or an
orator. He did not achieve what the world calls great suc-
cess. He held no high office of position or power. He had
a broad and capacious mind, a good memory, the faculty to
apply an observation where it would have the most force, a
lidelity to facts, an equable temper, a ready pen, and a good
address as a public speaker. He was as faithful as the sun,
and these qualities won for him from thousands the high
esteem and the love which tiie genius and talent of more
brilliant men has failed to gain, though applied to upholding
sacred errors and flattering the vanity and ministering to the
prejudices of the world. As a lesson and an inspiration, his
life is not surpassed by that of any character which this century
has produced.
ViEux Temps, in Hampshire County Journal.
The death of Horace Seavkk, for til\v-one years editor
of The Boston Investigator, is a marked event in the history
of journalism. The long ])eriod for which this man has advo-
cated, almost single-handed, against sneers, cruel misrepre-
sentation and abuse, the Liberal sentiments of his well-known
predecessor, Abner Kneeland, has witnessed a tremendous
revolution of pulilic sentiment in New Kngland touching theo-
logical matters, in which Mr. Skavkr has borne a prominent
and honorable part. Of a calm, judicious, and sinc^ere tem-
perament, he has courageously and persistently vindicated,
through constant difficulties and discouragements, the incsti-
72 JTvlbutcs from the ^^vcss.
mablc right of free discussion on all disputed questions, with-
out malice or detraction of his theological opponents, and never
losing the serenity' of his temper. The Invkstigatou will he
fortunate if it shall find an editorial successor who will display
equal wisdom, prudence, and trutlil'ulness.
His death brings to mind my brief acquaintance with
Abner Kneeland in 1.S42-3. He was tiien residing at Salubria,
a precinct of Farmington. Van Buren Co. (Iowa), and fre-
quently visited the main village. His personal appearance
was verj- striking and prepossessing. With snow-white hair,
cheeks full and ruddy as those of a boy, and active movement,
he did not seem to be past the age of fift\'. I had previousl}-
known of his experience in Boston, and wished to learn from his
own lips some account of it. Space forbids anj-thing like a
full recital of what I learned from him. More than fifty years
ago he was, as editor of the Investigator, prosecuteil for
blasphemy, and sentenced to imprisonment and fine The
prosecution, strange to say, or now believed, was instigated
by some fanatics whose names I cannot recall. The so-called
blasphemous words, elicited during an editorial controvers}'
between the Investigator and a Universalist journal, were —
" The Universalists believe in a God which I do not," evidently
meaning that he did not believe in the kind of God that the
Universalists did. It is said that the compositor placed a
comma before the pronoun "which " that altered the sense of
the phrase, and made it appear as a disbelief in an}- God.
Mr. Kneeland was not an Atheist. He believed in a
governing power, but, like a sensible thinker, would not under-
take lo doflne it logically or mathematically. He was, even at
that early day, an Agnostic, when the term, even, was not
Jl'vibutcs fvom the ih*c5s. 73
khown. lie endured his term of imprisonment and paid iiis
line witli perfect equanimity, and, when released, went on in
the same course This outrageous prosecution, so disgrace-
ful to its instigators and tlie State, is now viewed with wonder,
astonislmiont, and indignation. Tlie abominable enactment
under wiiich this com iction was ol)taincd still stands upon the
statute books of Massachusetts, — a dead letter to all intents
and purposes, but none the less an atfront to an enlightened
(niblic sentiment.
Mr. Kneeland was not permitted to remain wholly in
quiet in his new home. At an election in August, 1842, one
of the candidates for election to the Legislature, a personal
Ibllower of Mr. Kneeland's, was piiblic'ly insulted and driven
■from the hustings at Farraington ; and on the evening of elec-
tion day, Mr. Kneeland was hanged and l)urned in efligy by a
score of rougiis, on the most pul)lic thoroughfare. I saw him
the next morning, smiling and unrullled in temper. " Why,"
said he, " these very men, — and 1 know ever^' one of them, —
who are so jealous for God and the Bible, would shoot a man on
tiie slightest provocation, and go ten miles to see a dog-ligUt."
Leaving that part of the West soon after this occurrence, I am
unal>le to say at what time or place Mr. Kneeland died ; but 1
esteem it a fortunate event of my life that I was permitted
to know hitn personally, and be a witness of his unvarying
humanitv, tnodestv of conduct, and unassumiiiir Itcneficence.
74 5:'vtbutc6 from the ITvcss.
From secular thought Toronto, Canada'.
It is with feelings of piofouiKl regret that we lejirii of the deatli
of that trill}' honest and bravo man, Horace Seaveu, at the
advanced age of 79. As editor of The Boston Investigator,
he displaj'ed an ability and geniality of disposition that few
men could equal. lie was a veteran in the cause of Fi'ec
Thought, which, in every sense, he served faithfully and well.
In him were concentrated those manj- qualities which constitute
true greatness of character. Sincere in his convictions, stead-
fast in his pursuits, and noble in his conduct, he won the love
of all with whom he came in contact. His benevolent self-
sacrificing acts speak with "trumpet-tongue" the goodness of
his nature and the purity of his life. He is gone, but the
glory of his deeds remains enshrined in the hearts of his manj-
friends, and will serve as a sublime object worthy of the emu-
lation of all who aspire to lives of industry, honor, and un-
sullied integrity. — "Peace be to his memory."
From Lucifer (Kansas).
The demise of the venerable editor of The Hoston Inves-
TKiATOK, noticed elsewhere, was not unexpected. Some weeks
ago we were notified of his serious illness, and at the advanced
age of 79 it is not at all surprising that his vital forces should
fail to rail}- under the best of medical assistance. Particulars
concerning the closing hours of this oldest and perhaps best
known of all the Free Thought editors have not yet been re-
ceived at this office.
yvi bates from the ^vess, 75
From Hampshire 'Mass.' County journal.
Col. Robert G. Ingersoll's latest and most touching cft'ort
was delivered Sunday, Aug. 25, at the funeral of noble Horace
Skavkr, editor of the Invkstiuatou. Mr. Sf.avkk visited
Abner Kneeland, tlie first editor of ttiat paper, in prison, wlicn
he was sentenced for blasphemy. The alleged blaspiieniy was
uttered in 1837. His imprisonment made Seaver an Infidel,
and all his life he has fought "Orthodox" bigotry and Cal-
vinism with tireless energy. He was a friend of Colonel Inger-
soli, and it was fitting that he should preside at the funeral
services, and as Mr. .Seavek and his paper are widely known
all over the counUy, an added interest will be given to the funeral
oration.'
From Celestial City, Cal.'.
We regret to chronicle the death, which occurred Aug. 21,
of HoKACE Seaver, the veteran editor of The Boston Inves-
tigator. Of strict integrity, faithful to friends, manly and
in<lependent in all his acts, true to iiis best ideals of duty, and
zealous in all good works, he won the respect and esteem of
all wiio knew his worth. A good man has gone hence, — and
"his works shall praise liiiii in the gates."
76 i'vlbtitcs from tTtc IPvcss.
From the Portland Oregonian.
Tlie yet remaining few who fought against slavery in the
United States are fast following Phillips and Garrison. Hokack
Skaveu, editor of the Investicatou, died at Boston on Wed-
nesday, Aug. 21, almost eighty years of age. He was an
earnest and intelligent anti-slavery enthusiast, and did good
service to the countr}*.
Mr. h. l. Green, in the freethinkers magazine.
Mr. Green, in the October number, makes some extracts
fiom the volume of Mr. .Seaveks writings, entitled " Occa-
sional Thoughts," and then pa^'s him this fine compliment: —
" Mr. Seavek was no fanatic, no wild extremist ; his rea-
son was his guide on every question, and he expressed himself
in so plain a manner that a child could easil3' understand him.
He had not been spoiled by something called education. His
' common sense ' was as clear as crystal.
"In our opinion, Horace Seavek was to the Freethought
movement what Horace Greeley was to the anti-slaverj- move-
ment. He was not a Wendell Phillips or a Robert G. Inger-
soU, but he was the great educator of the people, who created a
constituency that gave orators their audiences ; and, after everj-
thing else has been said in relation to Mr. Seaver, it must be
admitted that his great, kind, humane heart, that went out in
sympathy to everybody, was his most conspicuous quality.
He was ' the Good Samaritan' of Liberalism."
Itttcvs.
AlcttcVS.
Atlantic City, N. J., August 30, 1880.
My Dear Friend Mendum: — Your note containing tiie
sad anil [)uinful news of our friend Seaveu's deatli was duly
received. For some little time previous, from what you iiad
written and what was said in the Investigatok, I was not en-
tirely uiii)re|)ared to receive the sad intelligence. But notwitli-
standing, what a blow when it ditl come to liis friends, and to
no one could it come so forcibly as to yourself, who have
been, may it be said, a long and life companion and friend.
Toiling side hy side, heart beating to heart, with one and tlic
same purpose in view, for more than half a century, is certainly
a remarkable coincidence; and to be cutoff and separated now
at so late a day in life cannot be but most keenly and deeply
felt in the sympathizing and loving heart !
What a miss! and what a change ! Always at his post
ready for duty, and how faithfully he performed it ! To be
with the Investigatou, with j'oursclf as the adviser and helper,
he was in his glory. In all but the name, never could there
be two brothers more attached to each other, in all respects,
than were you and our dearly loved friend who has |>assed, it
is hoped, into that life where we shall all meet again.
One of the strongest cords that have bound you to the
old IvESTiOATOK, for the success of which, and in which you
80 |:cttcvs.
have so long lived and labored, is broken, and can never he
replaced ; but there is a melancholy pleasure for you to know
that von had him for so long a time with j'ou, and tliat you
enjoyed his society so much and so well. We are probably
the only two persons living who have known him so long and
intimately, and to me lie always seemed more like a broliicr
than anything else.
You and those connected with the oHice and paper will
miss him more and more, until time, the great healer of all sor-
row, shall remove the heavy burden that has crushed the
wounded heart.
I received, probably from some one in the office, the Iler-
ald containing the notice and remarks of his death, also the
eulogj' by Colonel Ingersoll. The editorial in the Investigator
was well written, and a good one. I do not know that more
could be said.
Please give my kind regards to all connected with the
office, and please receive personally my sincere sympathy in
this hour of your affliction. T. Prince.
MuscOTAH, Kan., August 31, 1889.
My Dear Mendum : — I have seen a telegram stating the
death of Mu. Seaver. The end must come — has come to
him, aud will come to us all full soon. Let us trj- to live up
to the lofty example of Mr. Seavkr, — absolute devotion to
truth, forgetful of all lemporar}' self-interests. Such are the
saviors of the world. But it is only a little, a very little, the
greatest man can do. Multitudes and centuries come and go,
betters. 81
Init progress tivcps witli a snail's pace along the path of evolu-
tion and bistor\-. The men of ideas, of conscience, are onl}-
here and there, and the masses improve onlj- slightly from age
to age. Human institutions advance only as the race advances,
little by little, each teacher contributing his mite much as the
little marine insects build up the coral reefs from the bottom
of the ocean. Boast as we may we are only insects of a higher
order, helpless and powerless in the hands of destiny — liorn,
live, and die in the hands of a power as absolute and immova-
ble bj- any strength of our own as are flies and mosquitos.
We strut and imagine we are somewhat. I suppose flies do ;
and thus each plays his little part on the stage of his life
and world, — with death at last to end all, and it comes so
speedily with the autumn frost, to fly and to man.
You can hardl}- suijplj- Mr. Seaver's place at the head of
the Investigator. But you must do the best that can be done.
You can hardly And the man j-ou need, — constant hard work,
ability, special talent, experience, without hope of reward.
Where will you look for all these qualifications in one man?
But the Investigator must go on, and must not he impaired.
I am sure you will find a man somewhere, but where I cannot
tell. Hoping for your success. I am,
Very trul}- yours,
A. J. G rover.
Sai.km, Ohio, September I, 1889.
Dear Fkiknd Mkndum: — I wish to say that the death
of IloKAi E Seaver bus wrought upon my feelings to such an
extent that my mind has been occupied almost continually with
82 Xcttcvs.
the presence of this grand man ever since the news of his
death reached me. For about thirtj- years I have been a con-
stant reader of the Investigator, and manj-are the obligations
I feel under to him for the light he has given me. I have not
the ability- to express my high appreciation of him, but as the
years have rolled around I have learned to love him with a fer-
vor like that of a son's love for a father. I look upon Horace
Seaver as one of the greatest men that ever lived, and the
tribute to his memory by Colonel R. G. Ingersoll, beautiful as
it is, does not tell the story equal to his greatness. My sympa-
thies are with you in your great bereavement. With sorrow
and sadness, T am, yours truly,
M. L. Edwards.
New York, August 23, 1889.
J. P. Mendum, Esq. — My Dear Sir : — Your notice that
3'our bosom friend and partner, the editor of the enduring
Investigator, has passed away, fills us with profound grief.
For years we have looked to him as the Father of the Faithful ;
and now that we cannot see him, and no longer read his weeklj-
messages of loving wisdom and saving common sense, it seems
as though we were orphaned indeed. For us, for the large
circle thus left bereaved, let the sympathy and mourning be —
not for him! — for his years were golden, his seed was sown
and ripened. AVell had he earned his rest ! It is Nature's
reward. May there be strong and worthy successors to gather
and continue the work into which his noble life has passed.
Yours with sincerest sympathj',
T. B. Wakeman.
fetters. 83
Portland, Oregon, August 22, 1889.
Friend Mendum : — I received your letter last week stat-
ing that Mr. Skaver's coiulitiou gave but little hope of his
living beyond a few daj's, and this morning I read with sadness,
though not with surprise, a dispatch announcing his doath.
Knowing how long he and jou were associated, how close were
your relations, and how deep and strong your friendship for
each other, and how great and valuable were his public service,
I almost forgot my own personal sorrow in sj-mpathy for you
in this great bereavement, and in contemplating the irreparable
loss the Liberal cause has sutfered in the death of the honored
and venerable editor of The Boston Investigator.
My acquaintance, correspondence, and intercourse with
Mr. Seaver extends through tiiirty years. I first became
acquainted with him in 1857. The last letter I received from
him was written at his home last May, I think. Hut few men
knew him better than I, and can appreciate and endorse nil
that you have said in regard to his unselfish devotion and
inestimable services to the cause of Free Thought. Others
started and turned back, or faltered by the way; but Horace
Seaver continued faithful and loyal to his convictions from
j-outh to the end of a long and honorable life. lie battled
bravely for the truth in "times that tried men's souls," and
lived to see in the intellectual and religious condition of to-da^-
the result, in a degree to which his modesty and lack of self-
appreciation would never allow him to take credit, of his years
of patient and unremitting labors.
Colonel Ingersoll, I see, is to give tlie funeral address.
Even his eloquence can scafce do justice to Horace Seavek
and his work, though to his work the eloquent orator of Liber-
84 Xcttcvs.
alism is himself greatly indebted, as we all are. I did not
expect when I bid him good-by in his office last April that I
should ever see Mr. Seaver again ; but tlie thought, now tliat
he is dead, that I shall meet him no more, is sad and i)ainful.
The influence of his life and Avork remains, and we who survive
him, inspired bj- his example, must continue the work to which
he, through evil and through good report, devoted his entire
life. I write from a full heart, but resti-ain ni}- pen. I can no
longer saj', as I have so many j^ears, " Regards to Mu. Sea-
ver," but I send best regards to all who have been associated
with him at Paine Memorial, and best wishes for the future of
the paper, which, under Mr. Seaver's management and your
own, has done such far-reaching and noble work.
Mrs. Underwood, who joins me in the sentiments expressed,
sends best regards and s^-mpathj- in your great loss and trouble.
Yours, &c.,
B. F. Underwood.
New York, Aug. 29, 1889.
J. P. Mendim, Esq., Boston, (Mass.) — Dear Friend: —
On seeing to-day the notice of the death of Horace Seaver,
I was inexpressibly shocked, and felt almost as if one of my
own family had died ! I, as well as every Freethinker, must feel
his loss deepl}', and I especially" sympathize with j'ou as his
almost long-life friend and associate. It had always been mj-
highest wish to be able to visit Boston and shake the hands
of both you and liira, whom both I consider as dear friends,
although we never met personally.* Since 1849 (now 40 years)
I have read the Investigator, and come to look upon both of
^'cttcvs. 85
j'ou as brothers and kin. While feasting ra}- ej-es upon the
noble countenance of my friend Seaver in the Investigator,
(jour likeness I have and treasure in m}' album), I looked for-
ward with J03-OUS anticipations to an intended visit to Boston,
where 1 proposed and purposed to meet you personally. Alas !
it was not to be, and death has rudely torn him away who was
a shining light among men ! How soon both of us may follow,
who can tell?
Horace Seaveu has lived for mankind's good, — he helped
to make men wiser and better, and in life, as in death, was a
shining example to all men. Vuiir and our greatest consola-
tion is in the memory of his grand life, and the hope that it
has instigated worthy followers. The world is the better for
the lives of such men, and we can glory in looking back upon
him and such as he whose greatest reward ever was in their
own conscience and in the consciousness of being of great value
to their fellow-men. May he find worthy successors. Ma}'
you live long yet to navigate our worthy paper, and may you
bear philosophically, as he would have done, the loss of this
great and good man.
Of course I realize that none of us are children any more,
and that in the course of Nature we both may soon fall into
that sleep that knows no waking ; but 1 hope that you may be
spared many years of usefulness and activity yet, to instruct
and teach men "the way they ought to go." May you have
or find a worth}' successor in the editorship upon whom the
mantle of our departed brother may worihily fall, and may he
profit by the example set him so gloriously by our Hokack
.Seaver. Fraternally yours,
A. Kl.SIlEK<i.
86 l^cttcvs.
Albany, N. Y., August 23, 1889.
Dear Mr. Mendum : — I am sorry that it will be almost
impossible for me to attend the funeral of IIorack Seaver. I
have been tr3-ing to make arrangements to get away from Al-
bany for a few days for the past four weeks, and I find that I
am no nearer this short vacation now than when I began to
expect that I could soon leave all care behind for a brief
period.
Although I have only had the pleasure of meeting the
veteran Editor of the Investigator a few times, — three times
in Boston, and everj' da}' during the three-days' sessions of the
New York State Freethinkers' Convention held here in Albany
in September, 1885, — j'et his death seems to me like that of
one whom I have been well acquainted with from youth. Our
interests and struggles in a common cause, no doubt, have
awakened the sentiment of friendly sympathy. I always
admired his blunt and open honesty of speech and editorials.
His great faith in the final triumph of complete Mental Liberty
and the eventual destruction of superstition was inspiring.
Liberty, toleration, truth, reason, conscience, wisdom, valor,
and happiness, were the virtuous sentiments that shone around
him.
He was a grand and heroic American. He was the most
consistent person I ever knew. After he had weighed all the
arguments for and against any principle, and was satisfied that
the principle was correct, he always consistently advocated it,
no matter where its complete evolution would seem to lead to.
For the j-ears that he has toiled, for the work he has done, in
helping to propagate Free Thought ideas, in helping to estab-
lish among men true manhood, he deserves the gratitude of all
i'cttcvs. 87
honest and libertj- -loving Americans. Althougli his words
were read in otlier lands than our own, yet he was peculiarly
an American. lie loved the land of his birth, and ever hoped
that it would be the greatest and best nation that ever existed.
Such, brielly, was Hokace Seaver.
J. J. McCabe.
Medfoud, Mass., August 29, 1889.
Dear Mk. Mendum : — This morning brings the news of
the death of m^' late excellent friend and beloved brother,
Horace Seaver. The sad tidings has brought distress and
grief to my heart. Allow me to offer to you, dear Sir, my
profoundest sympathy in this your bitter sorrow and great loss.
To 3'ou especially it is an irreparable loss. " We may not see
his like again." The world has lost a champion, a wise, a
good, and true man. Some twelve j'ears ago the deceased and
I came to an understanding, that which ever of us should out-
live the other, the living one should speak to the friends of the
departed. Wlien we met last .January after his sickness, he
playfully said, '• I mean to be the last, and have taken out a
new lease of life."
I am truly glad, that the author of " The Gods" is to be
with j'ou on Sunday. No more fitting man could be selected
among mortals. No more eloquent tongue could pronounce
the obsequies of the immortal Seaver, whose name linked with
your own honored name will survive in liie ages to conio, when
harvests of Free Thought will be gatliured. If at all aliU' 1
shall be with you on Sunday.
Yours,
\\ . 1). LUKKEN, M.D.
88 betters.
Cincinnati, O., September 25, 1889.
Dear Mr. Menddm : — Your kindly note pursued me here
b}' way of Concord, arriving too late for your purpose. It would
have given me high satisfaction to add my humble testimonj- to
the rare integrity and worth of our late friend, Mk. Seaver
as a man, and of his abilitj-, candor, and fairness as an editor,
which post he has so nobly graced for more than half a century
without any change of .Journal or Proprietor.
Surel}* such an acquaintance and relationship as has grown
up between you as owner and Mr. Seaver as editor of the
brave old Investigator, in a half-centurj' period, filled with
incident and experience of ever_v conceivable character, — from
peaceful agitation and discussion of almost ever^- problem per-
taining to human growth, unfoldmcnt, and happiness, to the
most dreadful clash of arms, " with confused noise and gar-
ments rolled in blood," — such an acquaintance was not suddenly
severed without profound sorrow on your part, such as only
loss of nearest and dearest earthly friends could equal.
Companions in arms, you have indeed long been ; and with
onl^- the mild arms of truth and argument, appeal and expostu-
lation, the most effective, indeed the only truly effective, wea-
pons in the field of legitimate human controversy.
" Cannon balls may aid the truth,
But thought's a weapon stronger."
You, dear friend, have the satisfaction of knowing that in
all the fifty years' warfare waged by you and your noble coad-
jutor, you never once appealed to any power but free, friendly'
discussion and argument. On that plane, be assured, you had
always a friend and fellow soldier, in
Your sj'mpathizing friend,
Parker Pillsbury.
2:ettcvs. 89
Fall River, Mass.
Dear Mr. Mendum : —
It is with pain anrl sadness I come to lay a little flower of
friendship and esteem upon the grave of one of earth's noblest
men, — Horace Seaver. Mr. SEAVERwas one of the best and
wisest men it was ever my fortune to meet. For seventeen
years I enjoyed a correspondence witli him, uninterrupted, ex-
cept bj- illness, and ceasing, at last, with death, lie placed the
first copy of the Investigator in my hands that I had ever seen,
and showt'cl me where 1 belonged in the world of mental free-
dom. He directed my reading and helped to shape my thought
through such authors as Frances Wright, Baron d'Holbach,
Paine, Volney, Hume, and others of similar character. To
read such books was like the opening of a new world, transcend-
ent with light and loveliness, — a new universe luminous with
truth and knowledge, and pulsing with sweet, sentient life It
was a deliglit to sit at his feet and listen to his words, whether
in reminiscence of a past and gone period, tracing the progress
of events, forecasting the future of the race when the bonds of
superstition should be broken, or in keen denunciation of some
sham or hypocrisy. His clear vision, his ability to see the right
waj' through mists of perplexing doubt and clouds of fear was
almost marvellous. Careful, conscientious, honest as the sun-
light ; I never, in all tlie years of my acquaintance, knew him
to knowingly- say, or do, a wrong thing. Tender, considerate,
gentle and humane, wise and patient under all circumstances,
toiling always to bless his fellow-creatures, to lift humanity to a
higher plane of living and thinking, his death is a most serious
los.s to his ho.sts of friends and to the world at large.
He sorrowed over the faults and frailties of others, grieved
because of the bigotry and superstitions of society, and was
90 ^ctttvs.
untiring in his labor to remove them. He had great cliarily
for the shortcomings of others, and never failed to bestow the
word of praise whenever he could consistent!)- do so. His ten-
der heart was moved to pity at the sight of siitlering, which he
endeavored to remove to tlie best of his ability. He served
humanity with a loyal zeal as roj'ally as a king. The necessi-
ties of the destitute and distressed were the prayers that he
answered with kind encouragement and substantial aid. Call-
ing upon one occasion on a sick man in indigent circumstances
he found a clergyman praying at the bedside. After the minis-
ter had taken his departure, Mr. Seaver approached the couch
of pain, and, taking the emaciated hand of the suti'crer, he
said, " I am not in the habit of praying as is the friend who
has just gone out, but here is something that may help to make
your troubles a little easier to bear," and a crisp bank-note was
pressed into the trembling hand of the suffering sick one. On
another occasion, he was walking down a street in Boston one
snowy, slippery day. There was an alarm of fire, and the en-
gines came rushing along at full speed. A little child was
crossing the street directly in the path of the flying engine. In
another instant she would have been killed. Mr. Seaver saw
at a glance the danger, and, at the risk of his own life, rushed
to the rescue of the little one. He saved her life, but fell him-
self, and suffered Ihereb)- an injur)- to his right hand from which
he never fully recovered. It was a brave and daring act, for
which he felt fully rewarded in the saving of a human life,
although he never knew, or sought to know, the name of the
child or where she lived.
Such was the beautiful character of the man whose
■actions just
Smell sweet and blossom in the dust."
^cttcvs. 91
There is a translation from the Persian that is expressive
of the goodness, grace, and beauty that seemed to radiate from
his life. It runs thus : —
"A traveller, toiling on a weary way,
Found in his jjatli apiece of fragrant clay;
'This seems hut common earth,' said he, ' but how
Delightful I It is full of sweetness now!
Whence is thy fragrance ? " From the clay there grows
A voice — ' I have been very near a rose.' "
So Hon.\CE Skaver made better all who came within reach
of his influence, and there are nobler men and truer women to-day
because he has lived, for his was that rare nature in which was
blended the purity and simplicity of childiiood and the dignity',
wisdom, nobility, and grandeur of true manliness. His work
is his noblest monument, and will stand forever unshaken by
the blasts of ignorance and superstition. He toiled for all
human rights, and among these he bravely recognized the
rights of women and children. His clear utterances for the
equality of the sexes, not because it might be deemed ex-
pedient, but because it is just and right, will ring down the
aisles of Time, and, floating back, will bathe his name in floods
of light as bright and golden as the stars.
He was modest in his manners, pure and chaste in con-
versation, guileless and honest as a child, and lirave as a
warrior in the cause of truth and universal mental liberty.
The motto, ''One world at a time," originated with him, and
he nobly lived for the world in which he was born, and as
Colonel Ingersoll eloquently said at the funeral obsequies, " If
there is another world, he will live for that."
Kew men possess so many virtues as did our loved and
lamented friend, and, if he had faults, thev were inircvoaled to
92 i-cttcvs.
even his most intimate companions. His life was a credit and
lienor to all Liberal sentiment, to the highest civilization of
the times which his pen and useful living helped to make, and
he died as he lived, — a truthful, honest, respected, and self-
respecting man.
The world owes Horace Seavek a debt of gratitude for
his unflinching fidelity to right in face of great obstacles, much
venom and vindictive spite, for iiis adherence to principle, his
devotion to truth, and for his sturdy blows in "breaking the
way for future generations."
He has gone, and we mourn his loss ; but his memory is as
fragrant as flowers, and the example he has left behind will
make good men and good women of all who strive to follow it.
He has passed into the serene quiet of majestic silence. He
has become a memorj- that brightens and glorifies the past
with which he was identified.
So, altliougli the vase be broken
That held the rarest Howcr,
All the air contains the token
Of its enduring power.
His was a patient, noble life,
By many changes crossed ;
Its modest sweetness, free from strife,
Can never more be lost.
Its every day bore jewels bright,
J To shine in every age :
Each one hath made, with living liglit,
An altruistic page.
Such lives bear fruitage rich and fair —
They are not lived in vain;
Tho" oft beset by toil and care,
The world has all the gain.
Susan H. Wixon.
betters. 93
HORACE SEAVER AND HIS WORK.
About fifty-five years ago, when I was a sehool-boj-, near
the city of New York, I lieard one of our teachers say that a
paper had been recently started in Boston of a character so
abominable that its existence was a disgrace, not to New Kng-
land merel3', but to the human race. It was called The Boston
Investigator, he said, and its sole object was to revile every-
thing that good people held sacred. I cannot now recall much
that he said of this appalling sheet, but I remember well the
look of sorrow that darkened his benevolent face as he spoke
of it. He was one of the best men I have ever known, and
one of the most devoted of teachers, a graduate of Williams
College, and a student of theologj'. He created in m^' youth-
ful mind such an abhorrence of the paper that if I had been
within reach of a copy, I should have had some apprehension in
touching it. As he felt concerning it, many others did at that
time, who had been trained to regard religion and virtue as
synonymous terms.
After the lapse of twenty years or more, during which I
had neither seen nor heard of the paper, being in Boston for
the first time I noticed among the piles of folded newspapers
at the news-stand of the depot two co[)ies of the self-same ter-
rible Investigator. 1 boldly bought one of them, and looked
carefully over it for that total depravity wliicii 1 had been led
to expect. I found it filled, for the most part, with bland and
innocent speculations concerning the system of the universe,
such as would naturally arise in the minds of thoughtful per-
.sons, living in (piiet places, who had not been able to accept
the usual .solutions of the great enigma. I looked in vain for
anything to justify my old teacher's intense antipathy : no arro-
94 Setters.
gance, no disrespect toward people of a different opinion,
nothing calculated to lessen in any one the regard which human
beings naturalh" have for whatever is right and becoming. A
more kindl}' and harmless paper I never opened. It was such
a sheet as a club of reflective men might maintain as a conven-
ient mental exchange ; and such it really was, the subscribers
being all members of the same. I remember the entreaties of
the editor to his contributors to bear in mind that the Investi-
gator's space was limited, — it would only hold so much, —
and they must therefore cut their communications down, so as
to give others a chance to be heard.
Perhaps the greatest service which the late editor of the
Investigator rendered his countrymen was in proving the
utter harmlessness of free-thinking, and so preparing the way
for a total severance between systems of belief and rules of
conduct. The great error which most of us commit in this
matter is in attaching such an excessive importance to theories
of the universe that people are prevented from uniting together
for good purposes who are in the most perfect moral accord.
The time, I hope, will come when the universe will be handed
over to students and scientists, to be dealt with according to
its merits, leaving the rest of mankind free to enjoy existence,
and to combine for amelioration of the common lot. I very
much admire the remark of a learned gentleman, who said the
other da}% " If I could ascertain to an absolute certaintj-
whether there is a life after death by stepping across the street,
I would not take the trouble to go." He was a wise man.
All over this country we see communities unable to get
together on Sundays, and enjo}' noble and elevating pleasures
in common, and at the common expense, because they cannot
^ettcvs. 95
agree concerning the universe. Here in this city where I live,
there are fifteen or twent}' little struggling societies, each con-
sisting of one or two hundred members, that are obliged to
expend the greater part of their moral and pecuniary strength in
just ke('i)ing alive. If we could hut consent to let the universe
alone, and concern ourselves with Ihe problem of present
human welfare, we could form societies for mutual good cheer
on a scale of magnificence, and malce the day of rest a suffi-
cient reward for the labors and anxieties of the other six.
We cannot be too grateful to the late Mr. Seaver for the
service he rendered us in assisting to break down those arti-
ficial barriers, not merely by destroying the beliefs on which
they rest, but by showing the fulilit}- of all the attempts of
man to know the unknowable. I hope the Investioatok will
continue his work with ever-increasing power and effieienc}'.
James Parton.
Wamplm, Pa., Aug. 26, 1889.
J. P. Menuum, — Dear Sir : — We received the sad in-
telligence of Mk. Seaver's death this morning.
Not wliiTc his aclioiis challenged loud arolaim,
Not with the hope to see a blazoned name,
Hill with a lourago steadfast, he has fought,
That wc who follow have a freer thought.
His sense of duty clear, no one could bind ;
Strong blows he struck, ycl tempered mild and kind.
Yours, ^:c,
N.
96 ^cttcvs.
Le Maks, Iowa, Aug. 25, 1889.
J. P. Mendcm, Esq., Boston, (Mass.), — Dear Sir: — I
was surprised and grieved at tlie discovery- of a statement in a
dail_v paper, the 22d ult., giving a brief account of the deatli of
HoRACK Seavek. Tiie cause he advocated so manfully will
realize the loss it has to sustain in his death. The history of
Universal Mental Freedom cannot be written and leave /u".s-
name and work out. His sincerity, fairness, and peculiar tact
have been a marvel to me for years. His fertile brain was so
poised that opposition respectfully gave way. It has been
said that Thomas Jefferson was born for tiic part he acted in
our Government. This is no more true than that Houace
Seaver was a born editor and advocate of justice. His work
demonstrates it. When I reflect upon the fact that his active
and necessary career is at an end, it sends a pang through my
brain. I have thought many times already. Who will fill his
place? I have looked from one to another of the noble chief-
tains in the field doing such valiant work with doubt, and j-et I
cannot be satisfied that it is impossible to find some one that
will successfully carry the work on.
The Investigator and the cause have nobl}' survived the
administration of Abner Kneeland, and let us hope it may the
death of its recent revered editor. He has fought an honest,
generous, noble, mental battle. As the custodian of justice,
he has done his duty fearlessly. His life has caused a spon-
taneous monument of respect and gratitude to spring up in the
mind of a host of admirers. His is no single monument, for
each individual has builded for himself, and the spire touches
the sky of excellence. His pathway has been thorny, and, no
doubt, man^' times he felt that ingratitude was his compensa-
Xcttcvs. 97
tion. It soems to lie luimaii to be unappreciated while life
lasts. Could he look back now and understand the estimate
placed upon him, his satisfaction would be complete. The
(lowers along his thorn\- path tiiat are now springing up from
the seed he has sown disclose liis value. Tlieir character
demonstrates that they are no diurnal, but centurj- plants.
Their stability should inspire us with new hope and energy. Tiie
foundation of his success has been persistent ellbrt and honest
purpose. Yours,
II. D. Ballard.
Boston, September 16, 1889.
Mk. J. P. Mendum : — Dear Sir, — I deeply sj'mpathize
with 3'ou in the loss of 3-our brave and honest partner, Horace
Seaver.
After working together for fifty years for the advance-
ment of humanity and civilization — iiand in li;uid, the ties of
friendship growing nearer and dearer with each day's labor, —
and now to be separated, the heart must bleed and become
lonely at the loss.
Horace Seaver was a genial, earnest, and conscientious
man, his heart constantly beating for the welfare of all mankind ;
never working for the aggrandizement of liimself, but for tiie
benefit of others ; his way of life was unostentatious, quiet,
modest, and reserved ; no one questioned his honesty of pur-
po.se, his tidclity or integrity, and his great loss falls upon all
who knew him with sorrow and grief.
I have enjoyed the friendship of IIokack Skavkk for a
quarter of a ceutury, and during that period have passed many
98 fetters.
pleasant hours in Lis socictj*. I keenly feel his loss, but how
much deeper must your sorrow be than mine?
I followed him to his final resting-place at Forest Hills, and
as we quietly drove through that city of the dead all nature
seemed to express a feeling of joy to welcome him back to his
mother earth. The green grass with its sweet aroma, the brill-
iant sunlight reflecting all around, the flickering tree-tops
tipped with golden light bowed their leafy branches in token of
lionor and respect for him who has done so much to earn the
title of a brave and honest man.
" After life's fitful fever he sleeps well :
Treason has done his worst; nor steel, nor poison,
Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing.
Can touch him further!"'
Respectfully yours,
Wyzeman Marshall.
Prescott, Arizona, Aug. 24, 1889.
JosiAH P. Mendum, Esq. — Dear Good Sir: — The sad
news just broke in on us. and if our little band of Liberals
could assist you in this hour of grief we would more than gladlj-
do it. We add our deeply-felt sorrow to yours over the loss
of our good, noble, Horace Seaver, — " The able brain, noble
soul, and good star of Liberals."
He, however, may be dead, but his writings stand as a
grand monument indestructible for all times to come. We
mourn with you, dear Sir, and sincerelj- hope that j-ou,
although bereft of more than a friend, will with stout heart
bear the lieavy loss. Our sympathy is with you, clean and
unselfish.
Grand, noble, good man, farewell ! His iiieraorv will
forever live in our hearts. To you, dear j\lr. Menduni, our
best wishes for the future.
Most respectfully your friend,
Jul. N. Rodenburg,
Secretary for our little Band of Liberals
of Prcacott, Arizona.
Florence, Mass., August 23, 188U.
My Dear Friend Mr. Menuum : — Yours of the 2l8t
inst., announcing the death of our brother, Mr. Seaver, re-
ceived yesterday. I do not think an}- one is adequate to por-
tray the deep and S3'mpathetic feelings which overwhelm 30U
at this time. There was a warmness between you and Mr.
SEAVEUof which it would be didicult to find a parallel. The
work of iialf 11 century, in which you have been closely united
and agreed, — tliat of one steady aggressive attack upon the
popular religion of our day, — is indeed wonderful, and it is
doubtful if coming posterity siuiU ever realize the ol>ligation
Ihcy are under to yourself and Mu. Seaver for the work done.
I have been a witness to your effort, and constant in my wishes
for your success, which I think may be regarded as fully
accomplished.
I am still in poor health from nervous prostration, which
will prevent me being present at Mu. Skaveu's funeral.
Fraternally vours,
A. T. Lilly.
100 fetters.
Prescott, Arizona, Aug. 24, 1889.
Friend Mendum : — We feel it a duty to give a parting
word to the dead, and to our beloved brother, Horace Seaver,
who has passed from life rich with all the fragrance of the
beautiful flowers of purity that he has planted during his short
day among us, which has made death a flowery way, and life
worth living. To the brave and true departed, with tearful
ej"es we sav, farewell ! Trul}' j'ours,
J. W. R.
Albany, N. Y. August 28, 1889.
Friend Mendum : — The notice of the death and burial of
Horace Seaver did not reach me until the day after his funeral.
What a glorious career was that of this honest and trul3- great
man! For over fifty years he stood, an unfaltering sentinel
on the confines of Free Thought, with weapon in hand, battling
for the right against the wrong, — for the emancipation of the
human intellect from the thraldom of the church — from the
superstition of the age, ind the traditions of a barbarous antiq-
uity'. And what was the weapon he used? The same that
was used by Voltaire and Paine : it was the Pen !
When we look back along the vista of the past, while he
stood at the rudder of the old Investigator, his career was
most remarkable. Ever true to his honest convictions as the
"needle to the pole," his editorials bristle with gems of pro-
found thought, and convincing and unanswerable argument.
If immortalit}' consists in the name one leaves behind him, his
is a glorious and brilliant immortality, growing in splendor as
the ages wear away.
I^ettcvs. 101
Horace Seaver was a benefactor to his race. It seems
to ine. for the benefit of humanit}-, such men as Horace Seayer
never ought to die ; or, tliat they ought to have two lives to
live, and know as much at the beginning of the second as thej'
did at tile termination of the first. But then, after all, when
we have spent a lifetime in battle for the benefit of mankind,
almost from the cradle to the grave, and the machine is worn
out in doing good for our fellow-creatures, and our sun has
set beneath the horizon, death comes as a welcome relief; and
there is a fascination in the thought that we shall be laid away
to rest forever ; that the struggles, perplexities, and disappoint-
ments of this mortal life shall cease forever to disturb and
molest us in the grave.
A. SCIIELL.
Snowviu.e, Va., August 27, 1889.
J. P. Menuuh, Esq., Boston, Mass: — In the death of
Horace Seaver, every reader of his beloved Investioatok
will feel that a personal friend has gone, leaving a void that
nothing and no one tan ever fill. Yet in the midst of our own
grief, we each and all recognize that there is one who will feel
that deeper sorrow that only those can feel whose nearest and
dearest friend has forever departed, leaving him henceforth as
one whoso counsellor and staff has been taken frf)Mi him.
Mk. Seaver and you have been so long looked upon as
complement parts of one another, that it now seems almost
impossible for us to conceive of the one as gone and the i>tlu'r
alone. But there is a sweet consolation lor us nil in the
thought, that there is no shadow or cloud on the record-page of
102 Inciters.
our brave and good old hero, Horace Seaver. His whole life
was one of love, humanit}', and kindliness. The influence of
his good words and good works is world-wide and everlasting.
Every memory I have of him — going back nearh- forty years
— is pleasant, and we can say this of so few.
I shall not attempt to pen an eulogy upon him, for our
brave and good IngersoU will do this better than any one else
can possibly do it. I merely wish to add my testimonial to
that of the thousands who will speak for the worth and value
of the noble life that has been so well lived. " A good mem-
ory is his best monument, a noble life his best epitaph."
Elmina Drake Slenker.
"Washington, D. C, Aug. 23, 1889.
Dear Mr. Mendum : — With deep regret and sorrow, I
have seen from a newspaper report, that Mr. Horace Seaver,
the editor of Tue Boston Investigator, is no more among the
living. He was doubtless one of the ablest and noblest leaders
of the cause of Free Thought in this country, a powerful
champion of universal mental liberty.
"Whenever I api)roached him with a communication for
publication in the Investigator, he always treated me — a
German Freethinker and a naturalized American citizen —
very kindl}' and very friendly. In addition to his rich mental
gifts. Nature had provided him with a big heart. Peace to
his ashes !
The newspaper report referred to, contained in one of the
evening papers of this city, of yesterdaj', reads : —
^cttcvs. 103
HoKACE Seaver, editor ol' Ihv Investioatok for tlic last
fifty-one j-ears, died in Boston j-esterdaj-, aged soventy-nino
years. Mr. Seaver was widely Iciiown as a writer and a
lecturer on Free Thought. He was also a strong anti-slavery
man, and a close friend of Phillips, Pillsbury, and Garrison.
The funeral takes place Sunday from Paino Memorial Hall,
and Col. Robert G. IngersoU, who was a warm friend of the
deceased, will pronounce the eulogy.
Respectfully yours,
J. G. riERTWir..
Davenport, Wash. Ter., Sept. 7, 1889.
My Dear Mr. Mendum : — I have just read of the death
of our dear hero and friend, Mr. Horace Seaver. I read also
R. G. Ingersoll's tribute to his memory.
A great and good man has passed away. His memory is
fresh, and his good deeds and writings are immortal. Horace
Seaver was a grand man. He did a great work, and those
who come after us, and live among arrant cowards, as they evi-
dently shall, will appreciate this honest and brave man. He
stood at the helm for over lilly years. What a grand record I
Not fifty years of sunshine, but fifty years of storm. Wliere is
the man of all those you have known that could have filled his
place, or done his work? He seemed born for the editorship of
the Investicatok. It may truly be said of him that he lived
long and well. He died in the mellow autumn of a ripe old age.
104 XctUvs.
He lived long enough to sec some of his grand ideas afcc])tcd
bj' the intelligent part of the world. How beautiful to see a
life rounded out with such comparative success. It was after
contemplating such a splendid life that the bard was inspired
to say, " Let me die the death of ^le righteous."
His clay now rests on the bosom of mother earth. To
Horace Seaver we all must sa}', Karewell ! But his deeds live
in our hearts. The grand old Investigator waves over his
silent dust. It still proclaims the glorious ideas of the "old
man eloquent," whose tongue is now silent, to the wide, wide
world, — justice, liberty, and equalitj*. Long may the flag of
the Investigator wave.
W. S. Bell.
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