The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-02-05

| there are some statements artfully inter
woven with the fabric of his story which
require specific refutation. Others may
be dismissed with general denial. He
puts remarks into the mouth of The late
President Brigham Young and other elders
OF the church which they never uttered
attributes acts to them which they never
performed, repeats stories that are taken
! from anti Mormon" works as though thew
were utterances of his own. and expresses
sentimentsias entertained by the 'sMor-
mons. watch are entirely foreign to their
oellef and feelings and intentions. These
all lead up to the main object of the arti-
cles. That is to
DECEIVE THE AMERICAN PUBLIC
and foster the latest scheme for the dis
Establishment of the monogamic "Mor-
mon'' people, by conveying the idea that
poiygamy is still taught and entered into
IN Utah, that the church dominates the
state, and that the 'Mormons'' are under
military discipline and ready to fight against
the government. To this end the oft re
futed and spurious story of the Mountain
Meadows massacre is told as fabricated by
! U tan romancers, and the Blood Atonement
hctlon is reproduced after the style of the
dime novelist. AS to the former. while the
general public believe that the tragedy was
perpetrated under the sanction, if not by
| the direction, of Brigham Young, the evil
dence elected at the trial which resulted in
IN the conviction of John d. Lee, demon
strated the entire disconnection of Presi-
dent Young and the Church over which he
presided with the awful occurrence that
has been so widely misrepresented for evil
purposes. The United States district at
torney officially and publicly announced
this at the trial. He declared he had
]
from the Church authorities to get at the
root of the matter and the accused was
convicted Of murder by jury composed
principally of members of the Mormon"
Church.
1t is a fundamental doctrine of our creed
that a murderer cannot be forgiven; that
he hath not eternal life abiding in him -
tnat if member of our church. having e.
ceived the light of the Holy Spirit, commits
this capital crime, he will not receive for
giveness in this world nor IN the world to
come. The revelations of God to the church
abound In commandments forbidding US to
shed blood. There are no people living
who have a greater horror of this offense
against the law of God and of man than
the Latter-day Saints, commonly, but err
roneously, called 'tMormons." This church
was no more responsible for the massacre
at Mountain Meadows than any Christian
|
committed by persons protesting to be its
members. 1t is but just TO the memory OF
President Brigham Young to say that the
evidence against his completely with this
dreadful crime, as accessory either before
or after the fact, is abundant, convincing
and complete.
1t is part of our faith that the only
atonement a murderer can make for his
''sln unto death'' is the shedding of his own
| blood, according to the fat of the Almighty
after the food: 'Who so sheddeth man 5
blood Dy man shall his blood be shed" But
the law must be executed by the lawfully
appointed officer.
THIS is BLOOD AToNEMENT,"
so much perverted by malgners of our faith.
| We believe also in the atonement wrought
by the shedding of Christ's blood on
Calvary; that it is eficacious for all the
race OF Adam for the sin committed by
Adam, and for the individual sins of all
who believe, repent, are baptized by one
having authority, and who receive the Holy
Ghost by the laying on of authorized hands
Capital crime committed by such an en-
Ilg htened person cannot be condoned by the
Redeemer's blood. For him there is "no
more sacrifice for sin - his life is forfeit,
and he only can pay the penalty. There is
no other blood atonement taught, practiced
or made part of the creed of the Latter day
| Saints.
| We do not believe, as stated by the pre-
tended Mormon that ''divulging the Sc
crets of the endowment house, marital un-
faithfulness on the part of the wife, leav-
| ing the Mormon church" are unpardon-
able, or that "the only atonement that can
be made for any of these offenses is the
atonement of blood.' The statement that
this doctrine is part of our duty.'' Is an
other proof that the writer is not 'Mor-
mon, " and that he does not understand or
else that he Wilfully misrepresents the
faith which he pretends to explain
| The connection drawn between this al
legged doctrine and the murders committed
at Mountain Meadows, also proves the falls
ity Of the claim that the writer is 'sMor-
mon, " and demonstrates his misapprehen-
sion of his own subject. The company that
fell victims to Indian ferocity and white
vengeance and rapacity were not ''Mor.
mons" They had revealed no secrets.
they had not left the church, they had done
nothing to justify their slaughter even on
the false theory of blood atonement, copied
by the writer in the Illustrated american
from old newspaper fiction. This should
be evident, even to the casual reader
Another statement is
Speaking Of the 'tMormons'' said to have
participated in the massacre, he SAYS
Some of them are alive today. They
nod to me Familiarity on the streets of Salt
Lake city, and nod back to them. The
| United States government knows who
they are, knows what they have done: and
yet it has never dared to arrest them or in
uerfere with them" This is as great a
libel on the officers of the United States
entrusted with enforcement of the law as
it is upon the Mormon" people The whole
machinery of the courts-ludges. iuries
prosecutors and peace officers, also the
municipal government and its police are in
the hands Of anti-"Mormons, VINO would
all be eager to punish participation IN that
crime, and most of whom would be glad to
avail themselves of the opportunities for
SANDER and excitement which revival of
this dead issue would afford. The non
sense OF his statement, then, is only
equaled by its falsehood, and in ATTEMPT
ing once more to make it appear that he Is
a Mormon he only affords one more
proof of his lmposture.
AS to the power and disposition of the
"Mormons'' to fight and the necessity of a
resort to arms he is equally ridiculous and
erroneous. There has been no militia.
| Mormon or Gentle, in the territory for.
more than twenty years. There are no
'Mormons" under arms. There has been
no drilling or military training. Peace and
equal rights with other American citizens
is
ALL THAT THE ''MoRMoNs'' DESIRE.
They do not believe they will be required
to handle the weapons of war. They have
profound faith that God will fight their
battles. There is not the slightest whisper
of a carnal conflict among them. There is
no pretext for a collision between the
| 'Mormons" and the government. The
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