Respected Friends and Fellow Citizens—I am called upon, by the wishes
and voice of many persons, to be one of your speakers on this ever
memorable day. While I congratulate myself upon the honor which you
have done me by this selection, I sincerely regret that I am not more
amply qualified to answer your expectations. But humble as my efforts
may be on this occasion, they are the more freely offered, knowing
that the ears and hearts of a generous people will make every
allowance for any deficiency that may appear in the style and subject
matter of my discourse.
The bursts of eloquence that have thundered from this stand this
morning cannot fail to have awakened in the minds of the audience
notions and views so enlarged, that it becomes a very difficult task
for your present speaker to sustain and carry forward the interest and
excitement with which your minds have already been fired by the
speakers that have preceded me.
We are met, fellow citizens, to cele brate one of the most important
events that ever embellished the pages of political history—an event
of which every American heart is proud to boast, in whatever land or
country he perchance may roam—I mean the bold, manly, and daring act
of our fathers in the Declaration of the Independence and Sovereignty
of these United States—an act worthy to be engraven in letters of
living light upon the tablets of our memory, and to be transmitted to
our children, with the sacred charge that they teach it to their
children, and to their children's children, till the "stripes and
stars" float over every land, and are mirrored on the crest of every
passing billow. They had not only the moral courage to sign the
Declaration of our nation's Independence, but hearts of iron and
nerves of steel to defend it by force of arms against the fearful odds
arrayed against them—the well-disciplined armies and mercenary allies
of the foolish and tyrannical George the III, King of Great Britain.
The progressive spirit of the times, on the one hand, and the
chains of cruelty and oppression, on the other, inspired the apostles
of American freedom to raise the standard of liberty, and unfurl its
banner to the world as a warning to oppressors, and as the star of
hope to the oppressed. The very name of America causes a thrill of
patriotic devotion to her best interests to quiver in the heart of
every citizen of Utah, with a zeal and a pride for the welfare of our
country that does honor to the memory of those departed heroes whose
ashes are mingled in our soil, and made rich and dear to us by their
own blood.
Remember Lexington, and Bunker Hill, and lastly Yorktown, with all the
intermediate scenes as narrated in the history of the American
Revolution! Remember the immortal Washington, chosen to lead our
infant armies through the perils and hardships of an unequal contest,
to the climax of victory and the pinnacle of fame! His name, embalmed
in the never-dying sympathies of his grateful countrymen, will be
heralded in the melody of song, "while the earth bears a plant or the
ocean rolls a wave." While Columbia's sons and daughters regret and
mourn his exit hence in accents like the following—
"Cold is the heart where valor reigned,
Mute is the tongue that joy inspired,
Still is the arm that conquest gained,
And dim the eye that glory fired,"
They will comfort themselves and quiet the pangs of their bereaved
hearts by chanting like this—
"Too mean for him a world like this;
He's landed on the happy shore,
Where all the brave partake of bliss,
And heroes meet to part no more."
In those early and perilous times, our men were few, and our resources
limited. Poverty was among the most potent enemies we had to
encounter; yet our arms were success ful; and it may not be amiss to
ask here, by whose power victory so often perched on our banner? It
was by the agency of that same angel of God that appeared unto Joseph
Smith, and revealed to him the history of the early inhabitants of
this country, whose mounds, bones, and remains of towns, cities, and
fortifications speak from the dust in the ears of the living with the
voice of undeniable truth. This same angel presides over the destinies
of America, and feels a lively interest in all our doings. He was in
the camp of Washington; and, by an invisible hand, led on our fathers
to conquest and victory; and all this to open and prepare the way for
the Church and kingdom of God to be established on the western
hemisphere, for the redemption of Israel and the salvation of the
world.
This same angel was with Columbus, and gave him deep impressions, by
dreams and by visions, respecting this New World. Trammeled by
poverty and by an unpopular cause, yet his persevering and unyielding
heart would not allow an obstacle in his way too great for him to
overcome; and the angel of God helped him—was with him on the stormy
deep, calmed the troubled elements, and guided his frail vessel to the
desired haven. Under the guardianship of this same angel, or Prince of
America, have the United States grown, increased, and flourished, like
the sturdy oak by the rivers of water.
To what point have the American arms been directed since the
Declaration of our National Independence, and proven unsuccessful? Not
one!
The peculiar respect that high Heaven has for this country, on account
of the promises made to the fathers, and on account of its being the
land where the mustard seed of truth was planted and destined to grow
in the last days, accounts for all this good fortune to our beloved
America.
But since the Prophets have been slain, the Saints persecuted,
despoiled of their goods, banished from their homes, and no earthly
arm to interpose for their rescue, what will be the future destiny of
this highly-favored country? Should I tell the truth as it clearly
passes before my mind's eye, my friends might censure me, and I might
be regarded as an enemy to my country. If I should not tell the truth,
but withhold it to please men, or to avoid giving offense to any, I
might be regarded, by the powers celestial, as the enemy of God. What
shall I do under these circumstances? Shall I be guilty of the crime
of hesitating for a moment? No. Neither time nor place to hesitate
now.
Were I called upon to give evidence before a court of justice in a
case to which my own father was a party litigant, the foolish might
regard me as opposed to my father, if conscience, justice, and truth
directed me to testify against his interest; but the wise would regard
me as possessing that integrity that kindred ties could not swerve nor
decoy from the truth and facts in the case. My testimony in relation
to the country that gave me birth, that gave birth to my father and my
father's father, is given upon the same principle, and prompted by a
similar motive.
So sure and certain as the great water courses wend their way to the
ocean, and there find their level—so sure as the passing
thundercloud hovers around yonder Twin Peaks of the Wasatch Mountains, and
upon their grey and barren rocks pours the fury of its storm, just so
sure and certain will the guardian angel of these United States fly to
a remote distance from their borders, and the anger of the Almighty
wax hot against them in causing them to drink from the cup of
bitterness and division, and the very dregs, stirred up by the hands
of foreign powers, in a manner more cruel and fierce than the enemies
of the Saints in the day of their greatest distress and anguish; and
all this because they laid not to heart the martyrdom of the Saints
and Prophets, avenged not their blood by punishing the murderers,
neither succored nor aided the Saints after they were despoiled of
their goods and homes.
Would to God that we could forget this part of our experience in the
land of our fathers! But we cannot forget it. It is incorporated in
our being. We shall carry it to our graves, and in the resurrection it
will rise with us. Had the United States been as faithful a guardian
to the Latter-day Saints as the angel of God has been to them, she
would never know dissolution, nor be humbled in dishonor by the
decrees of any foreign powers.
I ask no earthly being to endorse this my testimony, or to adopt it as
his own sentiment. A little time will prove whether Orson Hyde alone
has declared it, or whether the heavenly powers will back up this
testimony in the face of all the world.
When Justice is satisfied, and the blood of martyrs atoned for, the
guardian angel of America will return to his station, resume his
charge, and restore the Constitution of our country to the respect and
veneration of the people; for it was given by the inspiration of our
God.
One positive decree of Jehovah, respecting this land, is, that no king
shall ever be raised up here, and that whosoever seeketh to raise up a
king upon this land shall perish. The spirit of this decree is that no
king shall bear rule in this country. And the islands contiguous to
this land belong unto it by promise, for they are a part and parcel of
the land of Joseph, and they geographically belong to it—belong to it
by the covenants of the fathers: they also philo sophically incline to this nearer and greater land.
Europe may look with a jealous eye upon the movements of this country,
and contemplate the settlement and adjustment of a "Western question."
But at present there is an Eastern question pending; and it may be
wisdom and policy for the United States' Government to press the
adjustment of the Western question simultaneously with that of the
Eastern question. If the Western question is settled at all, now is
the time for the United States to settle it to the best advantage.
In case of a general war, nation rising against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom, which we have every reason to expect, it will be
remembered that we have an extensive coast to defend, not only east
and southerly, but also in the west. The transportation of troops will
be unavoidable; and the sad and melancholy fate of many destined for
the western coast by sea, around the southern cape, should admonish
the Government to spare no pains or expense to construct a railroad
with all dispatch across the continent, passing through the head and
center of Utah Territory; particularly as the transportation of
soldiers and the munitions of war are among the less weighty reasons
why a railroad should be constructed, connecting the Missouri River
with the Pacific coast.
But to confine ourselves for a moment to things within our own Basin.
Since the celebration, last year, of our nation's birth, two of our
great and good men have fallen by the hand of death—Doctor Willard
Richards and Patriarch John Smith. In them the citizens of Utah have
lost true and devoted friends; the country, patriots; the Church, able
advocates and defenders; and large families, kind and affectionate
husbands and fathers; also several most excellent men shot down by the
hostile savage from his ambush. Much suffering has been occasioned by
the Indian war. Many of our crops went to waste last year, by reason
of it, which has occasioned rather a scanty supply of food. But thanks
be to God, never have the fields of the valleys smiled with such
glowing prospects of abundant harvest as at the present time.
It is true that some of our settlements lost almost every head of
stock they had, by the Indians, last summer, and have been compelled
to cultivate their lands with few horses and oxen; yet the extensive
fields of wheat now waving in the breeze and fast ripening in the sun
are almost incredible.
Praise and thanksgiving be unto our God! This year we have had peace
with the red men, and plenty is about to crown the labors of the
husbandman.
If the United States are dissatisfied with the expenditure of the
twenty thousand dollars appropriated for the building of a State House
in this Territory, because a house was purchased that was already
built, instead of building one, I have no hesitancy in expressing my
conviction that a Government draft on us for the amount would be duly
honored ten days from sight, or ten minutes, perhaps. Our Indian wars
and other necessary and indispensable drafts upon our time and money
in this new country have prevented us from building a house; and we,
therefore, have been under the necessity of purchasing a very good and
commodious one, built before our Indian troubles were so serious. My
voice would be to pay back the twenty thousand dollars! And as the
expenses of the war have been wholly borne by us, without a dime's
appropriation for that purpose having yet reached us, we may expect to
rely wholly on our own resources and upon the arm of our God.
If we are deemed abundantly able to foot the bill of the
entire expenses of the war, pay back the twenty thousand dollars to
the Government, build our own State House, or occupy the one already
built, and even then support whole omnibuses full of wives and
children, though proscribed as we are from the benefits of the Land
Bill, the people of the United States must allow that we far excel all
other portions of their population in real smartness.
God and our country, now and forever, one and inseparable!