The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-12-25

| cleanliness, and their hospitality. They
were hated for their very graces, and were
outlawed because they were reformers.
One of the chief objections brought against
them by the first mob which attacked them
in Missouri, was that they believed in spir-
itual manifestations and in the power of
God to heal. 1t is worthy of note that in
this nation to day, among those who are
not Mormons, scarcely any belief has more
adherents than the belief in spiritual man
ifestations; and the belief that the sick
can be healed by what is called the Faith
cure'' is openly avowed by numerous mem
bers Of orthodox Christian sects.
Another cause of hatred against the
Mormon people in those same days was
their alleged sympathy with abolitionism-
doctrine which the government after
wards maintained With incalculable cost of
blood and treasure. One of the principal
reasons of their expulsion from Illinois was
the medication of the principle of union
which in the earliest patriots was es-
teemed virtue, and whose practice made
are not contradictions of history; they are
instances which prove that history repeats
itself
Turning their backs upon home and prop
erty, but with the love of country and the
love of liberty still warm in their hearts,
they set out on their weary, unexplored
way. Under all these circumstances never
+Of 49,
or the union had entered into their minds.
They believed the government to be the
best that human wisdom ever framed
They were loyal to the flag. They deplored
the excuses which had been committed
under it, and of course had measure of
contempt for men who lacked the cour-
age in official positions to defend the rights
of citizens, and who thus betrayed their
trust. But they carried with them into the
wilderness profound reverence for the
men who founded the government, for the
constitution aud for all the institutions of
liberty which had grown up under it.
They 10 'ked forward then as they do now,
to the time when it will be their destiny to
uphold and maintain the integrity of those
w
queathed to the country. A cr0wning
proof of II cir patriotism, exhibited at this
time, was an act which crippled their effec-
tive strength, but gave 500 men to fight the
nations battles with Mexico If ever
thought of disloyalty had OBJ
tanned against them, this incident
ought to have removed it. The flower
of their camp marched gladly away under
the flag of the republic, and those who
remained bore the same emblem with them
to the chambers of these mountains It's
starry folds kissed the breezes which blew
over the valley in 1S47, when Mexico still
claimed possession of the country. And it
has ever since, and always, been revered
as the symbol of human 'rights-a banner
Offering freedom to the oppressed of all
nations.
Broad hints have been thrown out that
the Mormons were not loyal because they
have not rushed to battle and did not enter
with eagerness in the fratricidal strife
which ragged for upwards of four years in
our land. But this charge has no founda-
ton in truth. At the time of the civil war.
IEOOpS WCIC lCdu4AJ III ItSDOuSc
to the call of the executive, for the protec
ton of the mail route and to defend the
overland line from the attacks of indians.
Undoubtedly we are averse to war, but not
because of any lack of that courage which
in brave men prompts them to defend
themselves. The ready enlistment of the
battalion gave proof of that. Yet the
people universally abhor the thought of
bloodshed. We have shown this in our
treatment of the Indians. We have always
preferred to feed and clothe rather
than to fight them. At the same time, we
have been under the necessity of defending
our settlements against their attacks, and
under such circumstances have thought it
iustifiabIe to mete out swift and severe
punishment. But no feeling to hunt and
slay for the mere love of carnage has ever
been INDUCED in towards any human being,
white or red The tribes who lived in
Utah when the Mormons came knew
nothing of the white man. Many of them
had never beheld any of our race They
owned the land upon which we settled, and
we lived here for twenty years before any
attempt was made to extinguish their title.
We were their friends, and they trusted US.
Wherever Mormons travelled among neigh
boring tribes, and they were known, they
ran but little risk of attack; for the kind
ness and humanity which they had shown
to the Indians with whom they had been
brought in contact, had gained them the
credit of being the Indians friends. Hence
no part of the continent was ever settled
more peacefully and with less trouble be-
tween the two races than Utah territory
We had no presents to give to them when
we came, for we were almost destitute of
even the barest neces sites for our own ex-
istence. Our wagons did not contain food
enough to last till another harvest; but
scanty as our provisions were, we shared
them with our red neighbors. This has
been the policy steadfastly pursued wher-
ever we have gone.
For years after reaching their new-found
home, the people though suffering many
privations and encountering many hard
ships, enjoyed peace which had never
been known by them as Mormons. Those
who have not had the experience can
scarcely imagine how much the life of the
first few years of our settlement in these
valleys was enjoyed. No necessity for
standing guard over the houses of promi-
nent men to protect them from violence
No necessity of fortifying against the at
tacks of murderous foes! The very doors
of the houses were not fastened at night,
and men, women and children retired to
rest without shadow of fear or the least
n,,nrnhancinn that their slear 1un11ld ho