The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1870-08-18

same man. And granting tns s,, surpas 0, eoo.o
this would indicate wise provision OF nature, by
which society should be supplied with domesrcs,
POLYGAMY CONDEMNS ITSELF.
But now we come to the sixth proposition which
IA n condemnation. OF the practice Of polygamy as
recorded In the Bible. ana the first instance refer
TO Is Lamcch. He is the INST polygamlst mentioned
in The bible and the first recorded during the first
two thousand years Of the worlds history. But this
man Lamech was q murderer. Thus polygamy
began with crime. Its initiation is baptized with
the blood OF murderer. But they say Cain was
murderer and Cain was monogamist, and that II
gaIny, then the murder committed by Cain. who
was monogamist, condemns monogamy. There
are two answers to this argument. First we have
no information that Cain at tnat time was q married
man. Second, the murder which Cain committed
ad not grow out OF monogamy but grew out OF MS
So much for the be- Inning o. poiysamE; - -.
nation lie has but one WIFE, Sarah. she Is child
q e% sa SIX
and the promise is not FULFILLED. In her anxiety 10
aa hi a aoI and N qo s her 70 Abraham
did not 20 after her, but Sarah brought her unto
a 1F ~
the Egyptian girl. But hark you, as soon as he had
done SO, sarah realized her SIN and repented Of II.
saying, "My wrong be upon me; The Lord Judge be-
tween me ana thee. DID this inn0cently. / thought
had to help the Lord out OF difficulty that he
would keep his promisc. numerous posteriy has
been promised 10 my husband, but was barren,
and therefore did this thing. Tut the Lord forgive
me- Let my WRONG be upon thee, Abraham, fer /
did It for thy sake.u 3
These are the facts. r
Now lie, us looA at some other points And the
first point we make is that God never recognized the
enid lshmae, born Of Eagar, as Abrahams son.
sns sa years 20 @ as ke s Il c thine e
only son Isaac, whom thou lowest, and get thee INTO
the land OF Moriah:n But. 1t IS said, the Lord APP
peared to Hagar. SO he appeared to the murderer
Cain. Does Gods appearance to Hagar approve
poygamy2 II SO, Gods appearance to Cain sanctions
promised to Hagar So it was also predicted that
lshmael should be wild man and his hand should
him. Do you say that the prediction that Hagar
should have q numerous posteny was sanction Of
should be wild man and his hand against
every man and every mans hand against
or others for him In sanctioned by the Almighty.
More than this. 1t Is said that In Genesis XVII 1e
81 VIII bless Sarah, and give thee son also by
But II you will turn to the Hebrew Bible you win
md the adverb ..also'' gives Q wrong meaning to
the text IN the English translation. The sense in
the original is ~ VIII bless thee and give thee
BY her," Thus it is true that God never recognized
1shmael as the son OF Abraham.
IL Is an oft.quoted text OF the Mormons, "KnOw
ye therefore. that they which are OF faith the same
are the children OF Abrahamn Galatians, li y,
and In this text Abraham Is held up as an example.
Very well. Let rs take the case Of Ilagar. When
her, "Return to thy mistress and submit thyself
unto her hands, Genesis xvi, o. sne was net
so AND %nen as aho 81
came Abraham said unto Sarah, "Behod, thy maid
Is IN thy hand; 90 to her as Il peaseth thee. And
when sarah dealt hardly with her she fed from
family broil me old Patriarch said She IS not nine
my choice All Of which shows that the second,
third fourth wives are slaves to the first. Women
VI Utah, Will you consent to that?
Il is a fact mat Abraham attempted to induce God
70 accept lshmael saying, "0h, that Ishnael might
nave the poygac osprng at the si head Of M0 the
Messlanlc line He knew that lie would be CON-
PEELED to admit enough before He had finished the
genealogy Of His only begoten Son, so he rejected
him and said, TIN Isaac Shall thy seed be called.n
l0en. XXI, ~ And ST. Paul gives the reason for THIS
Isaac was by PROMISE" GAL ", 23.) Ana IN Gal ",
10. he asserts that the works OF the flesh are adu
tery. forn,cation lascivousness uncleanness. 1t is
claimed tnat Abraham must have taken keturah
prior to the death of Sarah, as he had by her SIX
fore sprang there even of one and linn as good
muade Heoew TMo answers an e m sxy f or
given to this eection First ABRAHAM lived thirty ~
energy INTERNATIONALLY given to Abraham's BODY for
the generation Of Isaac was continued after Sarah's
rahs life time is to do violence TO the moral picture
OF his life who even in his younger years. had only
az e n a. ts Sara9 IN mt
motiye have violated the marriage rights Of Sarah
But it is said he sent away the sons Of Keturah
with presents during his life time This is not unan
five to thirty years old, ana he sent them away eight
years before his own death.
up amid the sancti.y Of monogamy, but having
robbed mis- brethren OF his brthrlght and deceived
Ara where he sees the ' beautiful Rachel and de-
slres her IN marriage The promise 10 given. He
,S o seven years or her On the night Of
morning he nnds that Leah, not Rachel, Is in his
bridal bed. He works seven years longer and Sc.
QOlygamy from choice but by fraud and the force Of
circumstances. In the next place we afflrm that,
pnor to Jacobs conversion atthe brook Jabbok, he
is not regarded as a particularly sanity man. He
could drive sharp bargain, take advantage Of his
fore high Heaven to his DID, blind fathe II am thy
beloved son Esau" But on his arrival at the brook
Jabbok he wrestled with an angel and was convert.
OF saint. Such the facts touching Jacob. It Is
said that there is no condemnation In the Bible
his SsosiVns hts pd snis Is
q Lean and Rachel Rae rSs that mir HS SSss
Became joyful fi' mothers. ''' But What ' are
the facts in the caseY They say miracle was per.
rom True SSa 81 ns to
when she fell into his hands through Abraham's
prevarlcaton in denying that she was his wife: But
prevarication. but rather to accomplish great
Interior END. Christ turned water into wine, but the
miracle was not IN approval OF intemperance but for
great moral purpose. Granting that miracle was
wrought on Leah and Rachel, 1t was not in approval
OF their .polygamlc marriages Jacob had been
called to be the ancestor or great nation, from
which the Messiah was to come, and Cod having
once called HIM would not change his great purpose
nor the means for its attainment though Jacob had
done wrong The Lord would have given jacob
twelve sons by Leah had she been his only wife, and
he Indicated His preference by choosing her son
Judah to be In the Messianic line.
But those who think that q miracle was wrought
ia tne case OF these women overlook the story Of Inc
nandrakes whose medicinal properties were highly
estimated by tie ancient ladies' who were afflicted
MIN s,crnty. The miracle was rather in the use Of
tne manurakeS than in an extra exertiOn OF Divine
power. IL Is true that Leah and Rachel used pious
expresssions wnen they triumphed over each other
IN chhdbearlng and these expressions are recorded
by the sacred historian the current Traditions OF
the times. NO one else claims that miracle was
@r0ught. Neither Noses nor Pau nor any OF the
sacred writer's alluda to the mir