The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-04-13

of the oppressed without asking any
mans or any set Of mems opinions;
vet these eastern men talk about
our oppression. 1 am happy and
proud In being an American citizen,
but am prouder of being a member
of this church. and of the knowl-
edge have obtained. Ny nature is
proud, and I could not have borne
the contempt and scorn heaped upon
me as a member of the church, by
persons who were my interiors men
tally, morally and physically. had it
net been my knowledge that the
work and it's members were so much
to be reyered and loved. Great men
have not foated with the tide, nor
been swayed by public opinion when
it went contrary to right. Public
opinion followed Christ to the gar
den, but did not sway him; public
opinion followed Christ to the bench
of heather Judge and cried out
cruelty him! cruelty himl but the
Judge washed his hands Of the crime
committed on our elder brother ;
public opinion has made rivers of
blood to flow; public opinion has
made the four walls of the dungeon
to come together and crush out the
lives of the imprisoned; public
opinion eXterminated sixty mil
lions during the time Of the
inquisition; public opinion caused
the pilgrim fathers to leave the old
countries, and land on the shores Of
a new country, and found a free
government. L told an army officer
while l was in Washington, that we
would do our best to obey the laws
passed by Congress, but if laws are
passed to make US a race of slaves,
it will have to be done at the ex-
pense of our lives. You NAV bury
US in the mud of the Missouri bot
tom. or in the depth of the sea. but
while we breathe the free air of the
mountains and drink of the pure
water that flows down our canyons,
you cannot make slaves of us. If
there had been a Charles Sumner or
Daniel Webster in the Capitol, the
advocates of such a freedOm-des-
troying measure as the EdmundS
bill would have been driven into the
corners Of the halls of Congress, I'M
til they would have hung their
heads in shame for attempting to
pass such measure in the land of
liberty and freedom. This spirit of
freedom is among this people, and
they will love and obey the princi-
pies of the gospel, even though il
should be at the point of the bay-
onet, or the mouth of the cannon,
or though the rope may be woven
and placed around their necks. I
cannot say what the course of the
Latter-day Saints will be, but l will
say, if the time should come when
they will be asked to renOunce their
principles, and they have the Holy
Ghost in their hearts, they will turn
their face to Jerusalem, fall on their
knees, and cry: Abba Father, we
know though Invest and art our
God. If the time should come
when we must leave our homes,
as my father has been called upon
more than once to do, l, for one,
would freely make a deed of all |
posses and turn it over to the Pres |
ident of the United States, rather
than it should fall into the hands of !
the ungodly, designing, unprincipled
men In this territory, who look with |
longing eyes upon our possessions.
| respect President Arthur for his
courage in vetoing the Chinese bill, |
and for asking the power to send 4!
able men on the commission to this
territory to solve the Edmunds |
problem. But who does not know,
how bad returning board can be a.?
We have had an instance in the ac-
ton of Governor Murray, return
ing Allen G. Campbell with 1900
votes to Congress over the peoples
choice, George @. Cannon. with
$4,000 votes. | will say for the
of my hearers that in
the east l found a heavy under cur
rent of sentiment which, Just so
soon as it is convinced that the
origin Of the bill was the grasping
of the revenue and power of this
territory. for lustful purposes, and
the assessment Of heavy taxes, that
will cause myriadS to rise and boldly
and Yaliantly wage war against
the unhOly men and means used for
our hurt. When the secession
leaders said to our delegate, under
the dome Of the capitol. Now is YOUR
time to strike for freedom, what
was the reply? No, gentlemen, we
have asked, and will ask again and
again for our liberty, and we will
obtain it under the glorious stars
and stripes. | do not want to ap-
pear brave or bOastfel, for l am
a timid man, coward if
you please, but l want to covenant
here before you that l am willing to
and will defend my religious con-
victiOns with all | possess
IT expect to possess, with all my
life is worth, both here, and here
after. We may be prosecuted le-
yally,but that does not always make
t just, for Jesus was nailed to the \
cross by the edict OF legal opinion, II
md he went below all things to as
lend above all things. | bear testi- i
nOny that this IS Gods kingdom,
Ind is as the little stone cut out of
he mountain which will roll forth
md ill the whole earth, and every /
knee shall bow, to whom? to Presi-
lent John Taylor to any man? No, h
mt IN IaSuS 'hriCt orr limo of