Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-06-20
Don JOHN. AGAIN.

lustratlon furnished by the failure OF
Don John OF Austria, seems to have
made an impression upon our friends,
the enemy. They arc trying to get rid
Of that picture, or to reverse It as best
they can. and they ask us to read the
| history of that poor mortal once more.
| We shall be pleased to do so, but first
| permit us TO say that the eminent his
tUrlan of the Salt Lake Tribune is mis-
taken In some particulars. Don John
did not succeed Alva as governor of
| the Netherlands Between the reign
! Of Alva and Don John Is the admins
| tration OF Don Luis de Requesens
| Cuniga, Grand Commander of CASTLE
and Ex-Governor of Milan Don John
was not asshsslnated Suspicion, It is
true was expressed when the body was
opened, that he had been poisoned, but
historians dlscredIt this view and point
out that the pest was raging In his
camp at the time of his death, and
carried Off thousands of victims. they
say that I'm the mental condition
in which he was disappointed, torment
spirited. II was not strange that he
should prove an easy victim to a pesti-
lent disorder before which many
stronger men were falling, But these
are, of course only slight inaccuracies
| The Tribune also refers to Don John
as n gentleman OF high lineage" That
| is important only as indicating what
age" 1t Is pity that the article does
not give any clue as to whether the
high lineage" is 10 be regarded as
| higher on the paternal or the maternal
side. But inasmuch as Don John was
the son Of n pro1igate emperor and a
poor washerwoman. II may not be easy
to determine from which point of view
tine altitude of the lineage Is most i'm
posing. But, let that pass, too.
The main point is this, The patrio-
tic Nethcrlanders were at that time
struggling valiantly for their political
and religious rights. They were not
in rebellion. They were only trying to
maintain their rights which the rulers
were invading. Liberty of conscience
was the first and all-important object
for which William or Orange lived and
made sacrifices. Freedom OF worship
for all denominations, liberation for all
forms of faith. We're his demands But
these demands a fanatica ruler refused
TO grant. He would rather see the peO-
pie extermnated and the country desc
lated.
Ilsrsh lob a faftA ff Ia n
who undertook to serve bigotry against
freedom He came to the Netherlands,
intoxicated with glory. and did not
doubt his ability to cope with the pal
try troubles" there. and then, he
thought he would be free to go to
Scotland and libertea the, beautiful
Mary and with her ascend the throne
of Elizabeth. His political ambition
was boundless and he hoped to reach
the goal over the mangled body of the
goddess OF liberty who tried to main
tain her light on the plains of the Meth
erlands. From a human point of view
he had every chance of success He
was an experienced warrior. He was
backed by the king and the pope. He
plenty of money. His opponents were
few and weak. But, In spite OF all he
failed. Liberty came out triumphant. !
And Don John, the prosecutor, the tool !
of prosecutors, died broken hearted. |
abandoned. In a howell, and his remains
ANONYMOUSLY cut UP in pieces were
carried into Spain In sacks, as so |
nd lFf u
almost blasphemously, the disjolnted |
relics OF the great warrior were hur- |
ried through France" And that was
the warrior who, few years before, |
dreamed Of occupying the throne OF the |
United Kingdom after having extingu
ished the heavenly light Of liberty for
the preservation of which the follow
ers Of William Of Orange were will
ing to give their goods and their lives. |
Is there no lesson in this for modern |
prosecutors? The Latter-day Saints |
have from the first maintained their |
Constitutional rights 10 liberty of wor-
ship. just az the followers OF the II |
lustrious Prince OF orange did. There
never was any other trouble between |
the Church and it's opponents. That is |
the origin oT whatever difficulty there |
IL today. Church members maintain |
that they have all the political rights |
granted by the laws to other citizens.
This is denied by those who hope. like |
Don John did to climb to the heights
Of their political ambition, over the |
constitutional rights Of the saints, The |
Latter-d day Saints do not mix religion |
and politics Their opponents do. IN |
demanding that religious issues be
injected into political campaigns, The |
Latter day Saints do not demand the |
supremacy Of "ecClesiasticlsm." In fact |
they have no "eCclesiasticism, Their |
opponents demand that American citi- !
zens employ sectarlansm IA politi-
cal weapon against the Saints The
opponents are guilty Of everything OF |
which they accuse the Saints. We de-
maud nothing but equal rights under
the law We ask FOR nothing but that
the Constitution be respected And
the lesson of the failure Of Don John
is that right shall triumph and that
the prosecutors win fail miserably.
Heed a.
KING EDWARDS POLICY