The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-04-01

pus posee, but in accordance with d.
vlne law, TO obtain His divine sane
toR. Consequently marriage is es.
sentiilly religious belief with the
Latter-dsy SAINTS. !.
The Consultation OF the United
States contemp 'ated protection OF
religious belief or lis citizens. II
must have meant the carrying out
OF religious beliefs, for no pro lection
could be afforded to the thoughts of
men. as they need LOT to be sold,
and nes d no protection. Otherwise
the Constitution ia impracti0able.
But We are tod that marrying
more than one wife is q crime. True
the amendments of the Constitution
nave SO made it. But crime is the
result Of infringing upon
the rights Of another p aon
Bigamy, or the secret marry
Ing and cohabitati ion with more than
one woman, is an injury to wife
But the plurality of tue Latter-day
Saints require that the first wife Of
a man shall have full knowledge
and give consent to plural marriage,
therefore il does not jnrripge upon
her rights,an0 has not the essence Of
crime. Again we are referred to
| the Suffice or funeral pile, and the
| practices Of the Thugs, but such
| comparison is Inconsistent because
| they interfere with the rights
of individuals by destroying
life, and although pfactlsed as re-
ligion are crimes. The plurality OF
wlves, however, as practised under
the divine laws of God, fosters life
and increase. Dspraved men can
not C nceiVe Of any thing but impure
relations with the opposite sex, and
marriage f eqently among the world
ia but cover for RIGHTEOUSNESS. In
fact means are taken TO prevent the
very intention IF marriage. The
world do not understand the mar
riage rela lions of the Saints. It
is an ordinance thst telangs
to this world, where alone it can
be attended to, ,.llhuukh having, "a
have stated, the most Important
bearing upon the word to CONS.
The ordinance Of mar iage can be
attended to by prox' fol- those who
are dead, just az in the baptism or
the dead. Hhis may appear curio2 -
to those who do not real ze our failh;
but il just as consistent as the pracs
tice Of standing as G0d-fathers and
Godmothels. IN the baptism by
sprinkling OF Infants, in the Church
Of England. l coald say more On
this subject of ordinances ad-
minisiered by proxy, buL time WILL
not permit. However there is a
consolation given the Latter.day
Saints, who realize how necessary
are all the laws Of God, which can
only be administered by His serv
ants and in properly appointe
places. Well, but what are you
going to do about the lave which
FORBID plural marriage, am asked
This is an Individual matter, for
which every m5mber of the church
is alone responsible; they them
selves must decide whether to do
the will OF Gcd, and suffer the con>
| sequences Of the laws ofmen, or not.
For myself | am pleased with the
knowledge have, and the position
| occupy, and feel to say [ will do
as Gsd requires me and accept the
consequences. But men will say
this ia rebellion against the United
States government. [ c3nnot help
it; God has decleed CERTAIN laws,
and men have mad 'aws in Opp3si~
| ton thereto; and [ can Only leave
the results with G ri The people
OF Utah have not lad oppogiuni les
| to place them sslveS c0rrec " before
the world, IS ye1. they have been
nissepresented and misunderstood,
and consequently per>eGuted. Bus
the time is coming when shay will
be kno an and appreciated. What
| God undert *, cannot be destroyed,
but must aud viii prevail. The
kingdom of God vail continue, His
wore will increase and prosper un-
| til the second coming Of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ to reign
over the world. II people, societies,
nations and donjnlons will fight
against God, let them do it, we can
| not help it. Those who do his will
| and continue to stand up for right
will be preserved by Him, whe will
give them an eternal glory in the
world to come.
PRESIDENT GEORGE CANNON
said he could not forbear making a
few remarks. There was general
dislike against the church from mis-
understanding iss intentions. It was
generally supposed that we were
endeavorlng TO introduce feature
of eastern nations entirely st war
with American IDEAS, anu that it
must not be permitted to exist. The
remarks Of Bother Penro&e show
that naturally the institutiOn of
plural marriage must be limited to
such men as are aole to live purely
and worthy OF Its relations. There
are some men so constituted that
they coulG not enter into its obliga-
tions. We are told that the sexes are
equal in numbers and this
forbids such relation. But
we understand that marriage
is entirely a religious duty. The
fact Is evident that more women are
religiously inclined than men, from
the very character of their confding
natures; consequently greater