We have had a very interesting Conference, and a great many thoughts,
ideas and reflections have been presented to the people in a clear and
pointed manner, and I have been pleased to see the unanimity and
harmony that have existed in our midst. And while I attempt to speak
to you I shall ask an interest in your prayers that I may be
strengthened to perform the labor. It is difficult for a people to
under stand and to retain everything that may be said in a Conference
like this, where there are so many subjects dwelt upon and so many
principles enunciated; but it is a great blessing for us that we are
situated as we are, and that we possess the intelligence which has
been communicated from time to time. Many great and precious
principles having been revealed unto us, it becomes necessary for us
to try to compre hend them, that we may understand the position
we occupy before God, before the world in which we live, and before
the intelligences that exist behind the veil in the eternal worlds. We
have a great and important mission committed unto us, and it is for us
to seek to comprehend that mission and fulfill the various duties and
responsibilities devolving upon us. The Lord has given unto us a form
of government, an organization, priesthood and authority to enable us
to perform these several duties, and he has certain plans, purposes
and designs to accomplish pertaining to us, pertaining to this nation,
to other nations, and to the world in which we live—pertaining to
those who have lived and are now in another state of existence, and
also pertaining to those who shall yet live.
The time in which we live is denominated in Scripture "the
dispensation of the fullness of times," wherein it is said God will
gather together all things in one, whether they be things in the earth
or things in the heavens. This dispensation embraces all other
dispensations, all principles and powers, rights, privileges,
immunities and developments that have existed among men in the various
ages that are past. This globe did not originate with man, nor was it
constructed, designed or manipulated by him, nor were any of its
organisms, sentient or inanimate; for we are told that in the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth and all that in them
is: nor did this dispensation with which we are associated, nor have
any of the dispensations associated with the works, plans or designs
of the Almighty originated with man. After man had fallen, and it
became necessary that he be driven from the garden, it needed the
interposi tion of the Almighty, for as is said in the Book of Job, it
was necessary to "deliver his soul from the pit; I have found a
ransom." That ransom was the Only Begotten Son of God who offered
himself in the beginning to meet the demands of justice, to carry out
the purposes of the Almighty, and to be a Savior and Redeemer to man.
Adam was perfectly helpless in this respect, and it needed the direct
interposition of the Almighty for the accomplishment of this object.
In the patriarchal, or antediluvian age, when men were put in
possession of any hope, any intelligence, any knowledge, or any
revelation pertaining to God, these things did not originate with man,
they came from the Lord and were given by inspiration; and when on
account of the wickedness and corruption of mankind the old world had
to be destroyed, a way was provided for a small remnant to be spared.
By whom? By man? No. God dictated it. The Prophets prophesied about
it. They taught the antediluvians as the people of this day are being
taught, they warned them of the impending ruin that would overwhelm
them, of the prison house to which they would go, and of the wrath and
indignation of Heaven which would be poured out upon the peoples of
the earth. It came to pass as they had declared. But God provided a
way for the perpetuation of the human family. It was foretold to
Methuselah that his seed should be preserved to perpetuate the human
family upon the earth, and it was so. Noah, who was one of his
descendants, fulfilled that decree.
Again, in later ages when the children of Israel were in bondage in
Egypt, they did not originate the method of their own deliverance, or
point out the way for its accom plishment. They were in a state
of bondage and vassalage. God raised them up a Moses, revealed His
will to him, set him apart for this mission, told him what to do, and
after some little difficulties arising from human weaknesses were
removed, Moses was accepted, and the Lord became his instructor, and
pointed out in all instances the course that he should pursue, and in
what manner the children of Israel were to be delivered, and He, the
Holy One of Israel, gave them His law and ordinances, and revealed
unto them His will, and stood by and sustained, guided and directed
them. This salvation did not come from the people, it did not
originate with them, they owed it all to God, the source of all truth,
all light, all intelligence, all power and blessings. The time at
length arrived that the Son of God was to come. Neither the Scribes
and Pharisees, the High Priests and Sadducees, nor any of the sects and
parties of the day comprehended the things that were about to
transpire, and had nothing to do with bringing them to pass. His
advent was announced to His mother by an angel, and His birth was
heralded to shepherds by an angelic host, and the wise men of the East
were led by his star to Bethlehem of Judea, where they found the
infant Savior, whom they recognized as the Messiah, and to whom they
brought presents of gold, frankincense and myrrh; and whom they
worshipped.
It is said in speaking of the Son of God, that he did not come to do
His own will, nor to carry out His own purposes, nor to fulfill any
particular plan of his own, but he came to do the will of his Father
who sent him. Jesus in selecting his disciples, took one man here and
another there—a tax gatherer, a fisherman, and others who it was
thought were the most unlikely of any men to carry out the purposes of
God. He left the great men out of the question, that is the High
Priests and the popular and pious of all classes, and he selected his
own laborers to perform his own work; and he subsequently told them,
You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and set you apart unto
this mission. When a message had to be proclaimed to the world in
these last days the agents were chosen on the same principle. There
was any amount of teachers of divinity, any amount of professors of
theology, any amount of reverend, and right reverend fathers and all
classes of religious men and religious teachers; but God did not
recognize them. He chose a young uneducated man and inspired him with
the spirit of revelation, and placed upon him a mission and required
him to perform it; and he was obedient to that requirement. I speak of
this to show that we none of us had anything to do with the
introduction of this work, but that, as in all other dispensations in
the various ages of the world, God was the originator of everything
that tended to develop a knowledge of Himself and of his plans and
purposes; to unfold the past, to develop the present, and to make
manifest the future.
To whom are we indebted for this book, called the Bible. We are told
that holy men of old spake as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost.
And from whence did they receive that Holy Ghost? Not of man, nor by
man, but by the revelations of God, through our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. We sometimes feel to exalt ourselves a little in the position
that we occupy pertaining to the Priesthood, pertaining to our
organization, and pertaining to ordinances, etc. What have we to glory
in? Nothing. None of us knew anything until it was revealed. None of
us could comprehend any of these principles only as they have been
made manifest. But by obedience to the Gospel we have received the
Holy Ghost, and that Spirit takes of the things of God, and shows them
to us. We have received this and hence have been baptized into one
baptism, and all partaken of the selfsame Spirit, as Paul expressed
it, "dividing to every man severally as he will." The question arises,
What is the object of this? It is that the world should be visited
from time to time and communications made to the human family. Because
light cleaves to light, truth cleaves to truth, intelligence cleaves
to intelligence; and as we are all made in the image of God, and as
God is the God and Father of the spirits of all flesh, it is His
right, it is His prerogative to communicate with the human family. We
are told that there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the
Almighty giveth it understanding. God having made the earth, made the
people to inhabit it, and made all things that exist therein, has a
right to dictate, has a right to make known His will, has a right to
communicate with whom he will and control matters as he sees proper:
it belongs to him by right; and he has seen proper in these last days
to restore His Gospel to the earth, and, as I said before,
intelligence cleaves to intelligence. We read in the Scriptures
concerning man being a son of God. We read in the Scriptures about men
becoming the adopted sons of God through obedience to the Gospel.
Hence it is said: "Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we
shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." By what means?
Through the atonement of Jesus Christ and by the medium of the Gospel,
which has been introduced in different ages for that purpose. God
having felt disposed to reveal the Gospel in these last days, has
given the same principles and powers, the same light, revelation and
intelligence that he did in former ages, for the accomplishment of the
same work, and for the fulfillment of his purposes relating to the
human family who are his children. Hence we occupy a very peculiar
position in relation to God, in relation to the earth in which we live
and the people thereof in relation to both to the living and to the
dead.
It is proper for us to comprehend the position that we occupy. We
sometimes arrive at curious conclusions pertaining to the wickedness
of the world, and a variety of other things associated therewith. And
permit me to say here, that we had no more to do with the peoples of
the world, or the placing of them in the position they occupy, than we
had in restoring the Gospel. We find ourselves a few people mixed up
with the world. We find too that when the word of God is made manifest
and the revelations of God are developed, that many things as they
exist amongst mankind are out of order. There is a great amount of
priestcraft, idolatry, corruption, oppression, tyranny, murder,
bloodshed, covetousness, licentiousness, and every kind of iniquity
that can be conceived of; and that is more clearly made manifest to us
because the Lord has been teaching us through the Prophets, and
inspiring us with other feelings, and given unto us to comprehend
things more clearly than others do. But what have we to do
with the people of the world? We complain sometimes that they do not
treat us exactly right. Well, they do not in all respects, and I do
not think this is very difficult to understand. But there is nothing
new about that, God has revealed unto us His law, and they do not
comprehend it, neither do they want to; nor did the antediluvians.
They were very wicked, very corrupt and very depraved, very immoral
and very dishonest; but that was a matter between them and the Lord,
and he dealt with them; and it is his business to deal with the
nations of the earth at the present time and not ours further than we
are directed by him. What is the mission that we have to perform to
this nation? It is to preach the Gospel. That is one thing. That was
the mission given to the disciples of Jesus in his day: Go ye into all
the world and preach the Gospel; he that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall be damned. This
mission is being carried out in the fact of our sending
representatives of this latter-day work to all the civilized nations
that will receive our missionaries. But we are not placed here to
control people; we are not placed here to use any improper influence
over the minds or consciences of men. It is not for us to attempt to
do what Mahomet did—to say that there was but one God, and Mahomet was
his prophet, and by force compel all others to acknowledge it. To
attempt to do that would be to attempt to interfere with the agency of
man; and anything of that kind is altogether foreign to the character
and spirit of our mission. We preach the Gospel to the people, and it
is for them to receive or reject as they may choose. We have done this
to a great extent. Many of you Elders who are before and around me—and
there are some thousands—have been engaged preaching this Gospel, but
none of you ever used coercion, none of you ever attempted to force
any man to obey the message you had to declare. If you did, you did
not understand your calling. And when you have been among the
different nations preaching this Gospel, have you sought to interfere
with their governments or with their laws, or endeavored to stir up
commotion or rebellion or trouble of any kind? No. I am at the
defiance of the world to prove any such statement. That does not
belong to our faith. When the Elders are sent forth, they go as
servants of God with a message from the Lord, to unfold the
Scriptures, and to bear testimony of the things that they themselves
are witnesses of; and to administer the ordinances of the Gospel to
all those who believe on their words. This is the position that we
occupy in these matters. And what else do we do? We gather the people
together; and they no sooner receive this Gospel than they are anxious
to gather with the people of God. Why? Because the Scriptures say that
they would? Because the Scriptures say, "gather my people, those that
have made a covenant with me by sacrifice?" No, but because they have
obeyed the Gospel and received the Holy Ghost, and that Holy Ghost has
instructed them pertaining to these matters, as it instructed the
prophets in former times that such an event would transpire. The
people have gathered together, and you could not keep them back if you
were to try to. They have been trying. You know that Mr. Evarts wrote communica tions to the European ministers requesting them to
use their influence by way of putting a stop to the "Mormon"
emigration. It is rather a sorry comment upon the government of this
nation, that boasts of being "the land of the free, the home of the
brave, and the asylum for the oppressed," and that a little over a
hundred years ago the chief complaint against the nation from whence
the colonists came, was the lack of religious toleration; to think
that they should so far forget their original condition as to call
upon what they term the effete monarchies of Europe to assist them in
suppressing religious liberty and controlling human freedom. And when
this subject was brought before Mr. Gladstone, the Prime Minister of
Great Britain, a short time ago by some pragmatical zealot in the
British Parliament, calling his attention to the request of the
American Secretary, he very distinctly told him that "he was unable to
interfere with the operations of the Mormons in England, as he
presumed their converts went with them willingly." Thus while the
American government is trying to exert force and to interfere with
religious matters and bind the consciences of men, the British
government pleads for and guarantees to its subjects religious and
social liberty. I am told that Mr. Evarts is a great-grandson of Roger
Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. I
should not have thought that that gentleman would have so soon
forgotten the position occupied by his ancestor. But it seems that
such is the fact, nevertheless.
I repeat, our mission is to preach the Gospel, and then to gather the
people who embrace it. And why? That there might be a nucleus formed,
a people gathered who would be under the inspiration of the Almighty,
and who would be willing to listen to the voice of God, a people who
would receive and obey His word when it was made known to them. And
this people in their gathered condition are called Zion, or the pure
in heart. I wish we were pure in heart; that is, I wish we were more
so than we are. And this is something that we all need to reflect
upon, to consider the pit from whence we were dug, and the rock from
whence we were hewn. I have heard people say, they were born in sin,
and cradled in iniquity. It is probably very true. Many of us have
been rocked in these cradles, and we have been nurtured amidst
infamies, and we have been surrounded by and enveloped in evils of all
kinds. We talk sometimes about Babylon—"Come out of her O my people,
that ye partake not of her sins, nor receive of her plagues." We need
not say too much about those people, for we came out from them
ourselves; and it would not be becoming on our part to speak badly
about our former status. That reminds me of a conversation I had some
years ago with some Protestants who were abusing the Catholics. I
reminded them of the fact that they descended from them. They were
calling the Catholic Church the Mother of Harlots. Well, said I, if
that be true, she has brought forth a scurvy offspring. History
certainly informs us that the Protestants came out from the Catholics,
and therefore, if the Catholic Church is the mother, they certainly
must be the daughters, and one would think there should be some
affinity between them. It is not considered proper for persons to rail
against their mother.
It is well for us to comprehend our position with regard to
the nation. Being gathered together, as a people, we have assumed a
political status, for we not only brought our religion and our spirits
with us, but our bodies also; and by thus being gathered in this land
we become naturally an integral part of the United States. We have
received by the act of the government of the United States a
territorial form of government, in which we are authorized to perform
certain functions of a political nature, and to enjoy, as do all other
Territories, the free and full rights of American citizens therein,
and thus have become a part of the body politic of these United
States, with all the rights, privileges and immunities pertaining
thereto, as exercised and enjoyed by all American citizens throughout
this broad land; and these are guaranteed unto us in the Constitution
of the United States and by the Congress of the United States, in an
instrument denominated the Organic Act. And I will say this much for
the United States; with all her faults and infirmities, I do not
believe there is a nation upon the face of the earth today, where we
could have as much liberty as we here enjoy and that is precious
little, God knows. We are told sometimes that we live under popular
government, and that the voice of the people rules. It used to, but
who rules now? Well, no matter, we have got to make the best we can of
it. We have a territorial form of government, with a governor
appointed by the administration. I was going to say, God save the
mark. We have judges and other officers; and we have a nominal
legislature that makes our laws, but those laws can be vetoed by one
man. There is a great deal of absolutism about it. But these are the
circumstances in which we are placed; and I suppose it is thought by a
great many that we ought to consider it a great privilege to be
allowed to live. We do think so, but we are not indebted to any
officials for it; they did not give us our life, neither did this
government. There are certain principles that are inherent in man,
that belong to man, and that were enunciated in an early day, before
the United States government was formed, and they are principles that
rightfully belong to all men everywhere. They are described in the
Declaration of Independence as inalienable rights, one of which is
that men have a right to live; another is that they have a right to
pursue happiness; and another is that they have a right to be free and
no man has authority to deprive them of those God-given rights, and
none but tyrants would do it. These principles I say, are inalienable
in man; they belong to him; they existed before any constitutions were
framed or any laws made. Men have in various ages striven to strip
their fellow men of these rights, and dispossess them of them. And
hence the wars, the bloodshed and carnage that have spread over the
earth. We therefore are not indebted to the United States for these
rights; we were free as men born into the world, having the right to
do as we please, to act as we please, as long as we do not transgress
constitutional law nor violate the rights of others.
Being organized, then, into a government such as it is—that is, the
name of a government, the name of a legislature, the name of a free
people—being organized as we are, what next? We are necessarily
obliged to look after our affairs as men, our political affairs. Our
mission to the world is a mission of peace, the Gospel
proclaims peace on earth and good will to man. Then, being organized
in a governmental capacity, we have certain rights. They profess to
give them to us, but they don't. They try to deprive us of them while
professing to impart them. I might enter into a long line of argument
here; no matter, I am merely speaking upon some general principles.
What then is our duty here, say as a people—leaving religion out of
the question altogether? As men and as American citizens, we have the
right to all the privileges, and immunities, protection and rights of
every kind that any men in these United States have, and no honorable
man or men would seek to deprive us of them. When we talk about
rights, these are the rights, as I understand them, that we possess in
this nation. Is it proper, therefore, for us, as men and as citizens
of the United States to look after our rights? I think it is. Do we
want to violate law? No, we do not, although we know many of these
laws are wrong, corrupt and unconstitutional. We have no right to find
fault with others about their religion. We preach the Gospel; they
receive or reject it as they please. If we have found the benefit of
embracing it, let us be thankful; but we will not interfere with them
in their religion. Are they Methodists? They can worship as they
please—Presbyterians, Catholics, Baptists, or any other "ists" can
worship as they please, that is none of our business, that is a matter
between them and their God. But when they interfere with our rights as
citizens of the United States, it becomes our business to look after
our liberties.
As religionists we call upon them, as a duty committed to us, as we
aver, by the Almighty. Our mission is to call upon this nation and all
nations to repent of their sins, of their lasciviousness, adulteries,
fornications, murders, blasphemies and of all dishonest and corrupt
practices. But in this we use no force; having laid these matters
before them, they have their free will to receive or reject. As
religionists they may proclaim us bigamists or polygamists or what
they please, that is their business, and they must answer for their
own acts; as politicians or statesmen they must at least give us the
benefit of the Constitution and laws; these, as a portion of the body
politic, we contend for as part of our political rights. We do not
claim, nor profess, nor desire to interfere with any man's religion or
conscience. We have nothing to do with their religion, nor they with
ours. Religious faith or belief is not a political factor. The
Constitution has debarred its introduction into the arena of politics;
and every officer of the United States has pledged himself under a
solemn oath to abide by and sustain that Instrument, and not one of
them can interfere with it without a violation of his oath.
What have we done in defense of our liberties? I have heard several
people say that we are inclined to be aggressive. I think we are not
aggressive, but some of the laws are very aggressive. We have a grand
jury organized of some fifteen men. How many of them are Latter-day
Saints? Two, I think. So I suppose there is one-tenth of the citizens
of this Territory loyal, patriotic and honorable, and the rest are
considered to be unpatriotic, disloyal, etc. But we ought at least to
be tried before we are condemned; that is the law as I understand it.
Now this one-tenth of loyal, good and virtuous people get
thirteen men empanelled, and the nine-tenths get but two to represent
them. But unfortunately for these loyal and patriotic people, carefully
prepared statistics show that this ten percent of population
supplies eighty percent of the criminals. How is it in other things?
There is considerable said about offices and officers. Where is there
a man appointed from among the people to hold any office in the gift
of the national government? To use the words of a thoughtful
non-" Mormon" observer, —though the 'Gentiles' constitute only
ten percent of the population, yet from this small minority are taken the
incumbents of nearly every position of influence and emolument. They
have the governor, with absolute veto power, secretary, judges,
marshals, prosecuting attorney, land register, recorder,
surveyor-general, clerks of the courts, commissioners, principal
post office mail contractors, postal agents, revenue assessors and
collectors, superintendent of Indian affairs, Indian agencies, Indian
supplies, army contractors, etc."
According to the common usages of men, we have at least a reasonable
right to our proper proportion, but it is evident we do not have it.
And then our educational interests are interfered with by these very
men who state how ignorant we are. For instance, the Legislature of
Utah appropriated the means of the people to help build a university.
Who was to furnish the means? The people of this territory. Who said
they should not do it? The Governor, and through his action the
appropriation was vetoed. These are some of the things we have to
contend with. On the other hand, laws are enacted inimical to the
interests of this people. And then His Ex cellency goes to work and
appoints a set of officers contrary to the law of the land; goes
beyond the act of Congress and appoints officers to fill nearly every
office in the Territory, vacant or not, as the case may be. I am not
going to enter into the details of it, but we have generally found
that there were people in those offices; that they had a right there,
and that the law provided that they should hold over until their
successors were elected and qualified. I believe the law so reads;
indeed, I am told that the law not only reads so, but that the
Governor's commissions to many of these officers also reads so, and
hence his present action is violative of his own commission.
These are some of the things we have to contend with. Do we wish to
fight the government of the United States? No. What shall we do? Stand
up for the rights granted to us by the laws and constitution of the
United States as American citizens. We have ex post facto laws,
religious inquisitorial laws, we have laws which smack strongly of
bills of attainder, and we have test oaths presented, all of which and
many others are unconstitutional and are violative of our
constitutional rights. I have the opinion of some of the best jurists
of the nation to the effect that all these things are a violation of
law, and that men have no business to be subjected to such infamies,
nor become their own accusers. An eminent jurist speaking of this
queried how this kind of thing would apply in Washington, where
miscegenation has prevailed to so great an extent. Suppose some of
those who practiced this thing were placed under such a law, how would
it operate with them? Why several members of Congress have said that
if the Edmunds law had been made applicable to adulterers, and
men had to become their own accusers, it would unseat three fourths of
the members of Congress. Ex post facto laws have been passed, which
are clearly unconstitutional, and it is for us to test them in the
courts, and we mean to do it; for although as religionists we go as
messengers of peace to the nations, yet as American citizens we mean
to contend for our rights, inch by inch, legally and constitutionally,
God being our helper.
Another thing God expects us to do, and that is to maintain the
principle of human rights. I have felt sorrowful in watching the
action of Congress towards us—sorrowful, not only on our own account,
but on theirs. We fear no evil arising from those things, for we are
anxiously performing our duty before God. But we owe it to ourselves
as men, we owe it to our families, our children, and to posterity; we
owe it to the lovers of freedom in this land, of which there are
thousands, yea, millions, who despise acts of oppression and tyranny;
we owe it to all liberty-loving men, to stand up for human rights and
protect human freedom, and in the name of God we will do it, and let
all the congregation say Amen. (The immense congregation responded,
Amen.)
Joseph, the despised of his father's house became their deliverer.
Moses, the foundling and outcast of Egypt, became the deliverer and
lawgiver of Israel. Jesus, the despised Nazarene, introduced
principles that revolutionized the moral ideas and ethics of the
world. And it may not be among the improbabilities, that the
prophecies of Joseph Smith may be fulfilled and that the calumniated
and despised Mormons may yet become the protectors of the Constitution
and the guardians of religious liberty and human freedom in these
United States.
Now these are some of my feelings upon some of these points. And I
will proceed a little further and say that I do not blame many men for
entertaining the sentiments which they do towards us. There is a
feeling and desire to see fair play and honesty deep down in the
hearts of millions of the people of these United States, who ardently
desire to see justice equally and honorably administered to all people
within the nation. That was manifested very clearly during the passage
of the Edmunds bill, and while many of those venerable Senators and
honorable members of the House could not conscientiously with their
limited information and the false statements made by our enemies
sustain Polygamy, yet, to their honor be it spoken, they endeavored to
maintain human rights, free toleration and religious liberty, and the
rights of man without distinction of party throughout the realm. We
honor, appreciate and respect such men as honorable representatives of
the founders of this nation, and of the thousands who today embrace
similar opinions. It is the debauched, the corrupt, the violators of
principles and law and desecrators of the sacred principles of
liberty, it is their pernicious practices which are striking at the
foundation of the institutions of this country and which are
demoralizing and destroying the nation, and there are thousands of
high-minded and honorable men today who, on account of trickery,
hypocrisy, dishonesty and crime stand aloof from the filthy pool of
politics. They have seen honor, truth, integrity and virtue trampled
under foot, they have seen corruption and crime like a
repulsive octopus pushing its Briarean arms into every department of
State; they have seen corruption and crime like a deadly simoom
permeating every department of the body politic, and debauching and
corrupting the nation, and they have shrunk from the disgusting
contact; how far they can reconcile this with their ideas of
patriotism it is for these aggressors to say. It is not the honorable
and upright, the men of virtue and integrity that we would proclaim
against; it is the vicious, the untruthful, the calumniators, the
corrupt and debauched, the stirrers up of sedition and strife, and the
enemies of law, order, virtue, righteousness, justice, human liberty
and the rights of man to whom our remarks would apply.
Again, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, and all classes
have come among us, and who has interfered with them? Has anybody
interfered with their worship? No. Has any violence of any kind been
offered them? No, you cannot find it. We are at their defiance to show
any such thing here. What have we done? We have fostered them, as has
been referred to; we have treated them courteously and kindly and
gentlemanly as honorable people ought to do. What have they done?
Combined together to publish some of the most abominable falsehoods
that were ever circulated with regard to any community. Now, this
becomes rather a serious matter. Talk about love for these people! I
would do them good. If they were hungry I would feed them; if they
were naked I would clothe them; if they were sick I would administer
to them; but if they lied about me and about this people I would tell
them they were liars and defamers; I do not care how pious they are,
or how much religion they have got, I would tell them the naked truth
in relation to these matters.
They are the avowed advocates of moral reform, profess to be shocked
at our moral obliquity and complain of us as being licentious and
corrupt. Even every prominent Christian minister in this city joined
in a protest against customs inculcated in the Scriptures by the
Almighty, and practiced by Abraham, Jacob, David, and hosts of the
most venerated and honorable men that ever lived, practices which they
aver are lascivious and corrupt; and these same ministers issued a
circular calling upon their fellow ministers and brother Christians
throughout the United States to petition Congress for legislation
which should stop, as they claim, the "foul system of polygamy," and
hypocritically inserted, to blind the eyes of those not familiar with
Utah matters, a request for legislation for the suppression of
"adultery, seduction, lewd and lascivious cohabitation and kindred
offenses," that they might "be punishable as in the States and other
Territories of the Union;" and political demagogues joined with them
in the crusade.
Predicated upon these solicitations scores of petitions were forwarded
to Congress to this effect. They obtained their legislation and in
their frantic Christian zeal to stamp out polygamy, a Bible
institution, Congress, under this priestly influence so far forgot the
inalienable rights of man, constitutional guarantees and forms of
jurisprudence, as to disfranchise nine-tenths of this community for
the alleged crime of the one-tenth, and that too, without trial; thus
making the innocent suffer for the alleged acts of the guilty. And
today an infamous, expurgatory test oath is introduced, at variance with all precedents in this nation, which as stated by Judge
Black, is altogether "odious, unjust and unconstitutional," which
"reverses those rules of evidence which lie at the foundation of civil
liberty," and is a flagrant, violent and direct attack upon the
inherent rights of man. Thus in their intemperate, religious zeal
making a direct onslaught upon the bulwarks of republican
institutions, jeopardizing the safety of the state, and thoughtlessly,
recklessly and inconsiderately ignoring every just principle;
assailing the fundamental doctrines of political and religious
freedom; and exerting all their energies in attacking a phantom to
tear down the pillars of state and to destroy the Temple of Liberty,
though they themselves, as a Samson, perish in the ruins.
What is the moral effect? This same test-oath, while it assails a
Scriptural usage practiced by the most renowned, revered and honorable
men of antiquity, who are denominated men of righteousness and the
friends of God, protects and sustains the degraded, corrupt and
licentious who are supposed to be good Christians and not polygamists.
A very honorable, upright and virtuous gentleman, whom no one will
accuse of immorality or vice—the respected ex-mayor of this city, who
has filled that office with dignity and honor for the last six years,
has a son who was appointed registrar for the Fifth Precinct in this
city; this son had the painful and humiliating duty to perform of
refusing to register his father's name, because many years ago he had
had more than one wife, but who, through death, was for some time
without a wife at all, and has lately married one wife; and yet this
young man had to perform the disgusting task, according to the
provisions of said test-oath, of registering a notorious keeper of a
bagnio, and many of her harlot associates. Another circumstance
occurred of a gentleman who came to be registered, but thought it
would be impracticable for him to take the test-oath. More honorable
than many of his pious associates, he suggested that he did not know
that he could take the prescribed oath, for he not only had a wife,
but kept a mistress, but on examination he found the oath exempted all
those who might engage in illicit intercourse, provided the
association was not, as expressed in the oath, "in the marriage
relation." On discovering this, he observed, "I can take that oath,
for I am only married to one;" and he was accepted. Another young man
in this city, whilst having the test oath read to him, said he could
not take it, as he could not swear that he had not cohabited with more
than one woman; but when the reading was continued and the words "in
the marriage relation" sounded in his ears, be said, "I can go that,"
and was duly sworn.
Thus these moral and religious reformers and teachers, these
professors of high moral ideas, these inveighers against a scriptural
practice professedly because it is immoral, have introduced safeguards
to protect the libertine, the voluptuary and the harlot, whilst they
have made criminals of those who have been observing a law instituted
by the Almighty. Perhaps it would be considered too severe to call
these "reverend gentlemen" and those "venerable seigneurs" who
occupy
honorable positions in Congress by the harsh name of hypocrites, yet
it is very humiliating to the sensitive and virtuous to contemplate
the result of their ill-timed and intem perate acts, for they
have thus made themselves, while professing purity, the advocates and
abettors of vice, licentiousness, immorality and crime.
I wish here to apologize a little for the people of the United States,
for I think sometimes we carry the thing too far in relation to them.
Here are men supposed—would be in any other community—to be honorable
men, reverend men that are teachers of religion, combining against us.
And because they are considered honorable men, people say, why there
is the Reverend Mr. So and So and So and So, they have requested us to
send petitions to Congress, to do this and that because of the
wickedness and abominations of this people, and their
misrepresentations and falsehoods have been circulated in the
religious magazines and in the political papers, until the people
abroad hardly know what to think. Many of them think we are a very
infamous people; they think we are a great deal more corrupt than they
are, and that we need not be. And they go to work to legislate to
correct our morals. Now, with thousands of papers circulating these
falsehoods, and these falsehoods coming from supposed religious and
honorable men, is it any wonder that the people should be deceived
with regard to us. I read today an account of an attempt to drive our
Elders from some of their fields of labor. What for? Because they are
"Mormons." They are so wicked and so corrupt, and all because the
papers and reverend ministers said so and so; and thus thousands of
honorable men are deceived; but many of them, when they come to a
knowledge of the truth, will rejoice in it. I want, then, to stand in
defense of many of the people of the United States who are thus
deceived. It is said in the scriptures that the serpent cast out of
his mouth water as a flood. We have certainly had floods of
falsehoods, originating, many of them, with these pious people. Do we
want much association with these people? I think not. If they circulate
falsehoods about us, can we respect them very much? I think not. We
cannot hold communion with people who are corrupt, low and degraded.
We were down in the sloughs a little while ago ourselves; we have come
out from among them and know what they are. We know the infamies
which exist there, the licentiousness, the corruption, the social
evil, adulteries, fornication, sodomy, child murder, and every kind of
infamy. And they come here and want to teach our children these
things. We have got to be careful how we guard our homes, our
firesides, our wives, our sons and our daughters, from their
association. We don't want these practices insidiously introduced
among us. We want to preserve our purity, our virtue, our honor, and
our integrity.
The time is hastening on, and I shall have to stop. I wish to make
some further remarks, and would have liked to have talked some time
longer. But what shall we do? I will tell you what I will try to do. I
will try and humble myself before the Lord and seek for his blessing,
and say as one of old said: "Search me, Oh God, and know my heart; try
me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and
lead me in the way everlasting." I have talked with my counselors in
the same way, and they are of the same mind. We have talked with the
Twelve about these things, and they are of the same mind. Now, we
call upon all you Seventies, High Priests and Elders, you
Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons individually and in your quorum
capacity, upon the heads of families, upon the various organizations
in the Church, upon all the Saints who profess to revere His name, to
humble yourselves before God, to lay aside your covetousness and your
evils of every kind. And when you have done so, you that meet together
for prayers in your holy places, call upon God for guidance, direction
and deliverance, and he will hear your prayers and deliver you, and
your enemies shall have no power over you, for God is on the side of
Israel, and he will preserve his people. No power can stay the
progress of this work, for it is onward, onward, onward, and will be,
until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our God and
His Christ, and until every creature in heaven and in the earth and
under the earth shall be heard to exclaim, Blessings and glory and
honor and power and might and majesty and dominion be ascribed to Him
that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb forever.
We will leave the wicked in the hands of God: He will deal with them
in his own way. We are told that the wicked shall slay the wicked; and
one thing that I am sorry over in this nation is this: that they are
striking at the tree of liberty and trying to fetter humanity and
bring men into bondage, they are laying the axe at the root of this
government, and unless they speedily turn round and repent and follow
the principles they have sworn to sustain—the principles contained in
the Constitution of the United States—they will be overthrown, they
will be split up and divided, be disintegrated and become weak as
water; for the Lord will handle them in his own way. I say these
things in sorrow; but as sure as God lives unless there is a change of
policy these things will most assuredly take place.
Let us be pure, let us be virtuous, let us be honorable, let us
maintain our integrity, let us do good to all men, and tell the truth
always, and treat everybody right, no matter their profession or
creed, and love our religion and keep the commandments of God, and it
shall be well with Zion in time and throughout eternity.
God bless you. God bless all the Latter-day Saints. God bless all
rulers and all men everywhere in responsible situations who seek to do
right and to preserve law and justice and equity, and to maintain the
rights of all men, and let his wrath and indignation rest upon the
perverters of justice and those who seek to bind down the human
conscience and enslave their fellow men. God bless you and lead you in
the paths of life, in the name of Jesus. Amen.