Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1881-10-22


money to establish and maintain;
and yet, after all this, we have a
handful of crazy, stubborn lunatics
in Utah who are holding high car
nival in that country in what they
please torall the true Christian relI-
gion.
1t is generally understood by
thinking men, that these preten-
tions toward religion in this singu-
lar, absurd way, is the only thing
which allows it to exist at hll. Well,
let us see how this is: In the first
place the Constitution of the United
States provides, in substance, that
all men, regardless of race, color, or
nationality, shall worship All Nigh
ty God according to the dictates of
their own conseiences, without mo-
lestation from any man or set of
men. This is wise and judicious
provision, one which the trainers of
our Constitution knew to be abso-
lutely necessary for the protection
and recognition of mems different
views of this question. But when
men go outside the bounds of NOR
ality and criminality, then it is time
to use the curb and rein. They are,
in the very act itself, violating a
law which is prevalent from the At
lantic to the Pacific ocean, which
stands out in characters of living
light, and says, in substance, that
no man shall have but one wife at
one and the same time.
Why, suppose that some crazy
hoodlum were to institute a new
tangled religion in our midst in
which one of his members had to
be sacrificed on the altar every
month, burned to death as a part Of
their worship; how quick the law
of the land would jump in and de-
mand that justice be done, and the
offending parties arraigned for man
slaughter. We had a case a few
years ago in one of the New En-
gland States, just exactly like the
supposed one above. A poor, inno-
cent, gOlden-haired, darling little
girl was murdered outright because
her parents were called upon, they
say, by the Divine Being. They
were inspired. Well, the law took
it in hand and nipped 1t in the bud.
Yes, the Morlnons are all inspired,
and Guiteau, who has bathed ma
ton in tears, and caused so much
anxiety, and suffering, and conster-
nation, he was also inspired what
are you going to do with him?
Again, everybody knows that it
is positively against the law to live
with more than one wife at the
same time; and they also know it
to be punishable by number OF
years in the State prison. Go and
examine the records of your crimi-
nal court, and ten to one you will
find that some poor, unfortunate
mortal with more nerve than brains,
has taken unto himself more than
one woman, and his name stands
on one side of the sheet, and just
opposite you will find ''Polygamy,"
which means ''too much married."
Turn the pages over with a trem-
bling hand, and refer to former
terms, and without the greatest ac-
cident you will find that some in
considerate genius has actually
been sent to prison for this crime,
and by the law that we are all ex-
pected and forced to obey, ipdiUiCI,t-
ally. Oh, inconsistency, how much
you lack of being jewel!
To come right down to hard, So
Der sense, is not this the great
est piece Of inconsistency magma
Bile ? Here 1t is in a nutshell: One
poor individual is jerked up here
and hustled off to prision for the
very identical thing that set of
men and women a few miles away,
and under the Jurisdiction OF the
same Government, are reveling in
every day of their lives. The gift
ed and talented r. Dewitt Talmage |
has ascribed to this unchristian
the well-deserved epithet |
Of "that bag Of hell" We need |
more Talmages to show this absurd
ity up in its true light. They are
growing in number, wealth, and
boldness with each rising sun, and
who knows that Brigham Young's |
declaration will not some day prove
true, that he expected to make the
whole United States bow at his
shrine and succumb to his infamous
and dastardly teachings.
Don't you remember reading
some thing about the Mountain
Meadows Massacre, few years
ago? Yes, this is familiar to us all.
You remember how many precious
lives were lost on this occasion how
the murderous bullets and battle
axes went to the hearts and brains
IF those upright people? Mormon
SIN did the bloody work. These
mps of hell stained the pages OF
American history with their blood.
What did the United States author
ties do in this case? Nothing; sim
ply nothing, except discussed the
natter little and let it drop where
/ has laid ever since, and viii con-
inue to stay, likely, until another
me of those unparalleled butcheries
hall awaken their indignation.