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Show LIVES OF IF0 II. As Portrayed Last Sunday by B. H. Roberts. A Stranger's First Impression on Arriving in Utah and Beho Iding Her Scenery. An Honest and Industrious People are Not Licentious and Blood-Thirsty. The weal her being line on Sunday, induced a very large congregation to attend the services beld in the Meet ing-house. After the usual opening ser-! ser-! vices, Eider Frank Taylor said he was proud to know that he was a Latter-day Latter-day Saint. The speaker felt this more forcibly a short time ago, when a gen-tleman, gen-tleman, wiih whom he was acquainted, talked to him of the corruptions and Jicentiousnes of the Mormon people. "I wish you were not a Mormon Mr. Taylor," sai-t the man, "as I am in- Iterested in you and think it is a pity you should spend your time among such people. I am truly sorry you are one of these people. I thanked him for his kind intentions, and told him I was V'-ry proud of being a Mormon, and that I thought he had the boot on the wrong foot, because the Latter-day Latter-day Saints were the best peopls on the ; face of the whole earth, and that they were the people who enjoyed their liberty and freedom more than any other religious body I then asked him to compare himself, and see iif he could find where he had done more good to the world th in I had. or if lis had any mire liberties. -r if h,; treated his" fello .v-bci with any more humanity. He said, Well, Mr. Taylor, I don't m?an you, I mean the Mormons, I believe you are all right.'" "Well," said I, you certainly mean me, as I am a Latter-day Saint, and am proud to belong to this iJespised I people.but who are greatly blessed, nev ertheless." On my mission with Eider B. II. Roberts 1 have observed the - great difference between this people and tlios living outside of this inter-mountain inter-mountain region. This was fore bly brought U my mind whan trur-liug over the U. I'. R. it. sime tim si i e. In the car where I was. were two young ini-ii, who were talking t an old gentleman, and telling him what a fine country Wyoming was. The old gentleman watched for the fine country coun-try when we went through that State, but failed to see it in the saaae way the boys did. When he passed Evan-ston.and Evan-ston.and crossed the line into Utah, he xclaimed, "Why this is beginning to look like a good country." The boys told bim that he was now in the Mor-mtn Mor-mtn country, and they were very disappointed because he thought Utah better than Wyoming. They then told bim stories of Danites aud de stroying angels, and how he would have t protect himself, etc. He listened very patiently for a long time, and when nearing Ogden arose and said: "Gentlemen, this may be true that yeu are telling mt, but this people are undoubtedly a very industrious class, and they must be honest to be industrious, and people that are honest and industrious are not the licentious and blood-thirsty people you tell me the Mormons are." "Well," said the bojs, "the Mormons are all slaves and have to pay a tenth of all they possess, to support a lot of fat priests in Salt Lake city." '-Well," said the gentleman, "I don't know how they do, but from the looks of things it wouldn't hurt you folks in Wyoming to try the same way." If you travel from the East, or North, or South, you can see w hat the land was ! before the Mormons got here, as in some of the territories the country has not been made to blossom as Utah has been by the Mormons. We can see the workings of the Lord, and we cannot help but acknowledge His hand. Elder li. II. Roberts next addressed the congregation. He referred to an incident in the life of the Savior, which touched on the principles spoken of by the previous speaker. When the Savior was preaching in the region where lie was raised, His doctrine doc-trine touched the hearts of His hearers, hear-ers, and they marveled and said, "Never spake man such truth as this man does!'. But the Pharisees and lawyers tri4- to neutralize, his teachings teach-ings by asking whether the elders upheld Him, and whence did He get teachings. These learned men did not study His doctrine, but rejected it on account of its humble origin,crying out, "Can auy good come out of Nazareth?'' And so it is with men in our day. They will reject good, not from itsjintrinsic value, but because of its origin. Only the common people peo-ple will accept truth from whatever origin it springs, for it is well known that all great achievements, both temporal and spiritual, come from the masses and not from the clasees. Then is it a wonder that the doctrine of the Latter-day Saints is not received, when the Savior's doctrine was rejected? re-jected? Not long since, in traveling, X happened to sit close to a gentleman who was talking to a lady, and telling her that he knew where Joseph Smith was born, and how low and humble his parents were, and said he could not understand how people could believe in a prophet whose origin was so humble. I tried to join in this conversation, con-versation, but could not, so I contented myself with reflections and they were something like this: "If we trace the origin of the Son of God I wonder if it will have any prestige over the origin of Joseph Smith?" -Joseph, the husband of Mary,was a carpenter, and Joseph Smith's father was a farmer, and a farmer is just as good as a carpenter. car-penter. This puts me in mind of an incident. A young man who was a deserter from the English army came to America, and after traveling around a good deal finally came out nere, and in loafing around he became acquainted with one of our young mountain girls. In conversing with her he said: "The only objection I have to America is that you have no aristocrats." The young lady wanted to know what an aristocrat was. "Why,' said he, "people of leisure, with money, who don't do anything for a living." "Oh!" said the girl, "we have plenty of them, only we call them tramps." And I say that the farmer who makes two blades of grass grow where only one giew before, and in fact all tradesmen, carpenters, blacksmiths, etc., ere the true nobility of the earth. Jesus Christ was born in a stable and cradled in a manger, and I don't think you can find a more humble cradle or a lower origia than that. Jesus said, "because the world hates you, therefore I have chosen you out of the world." The country the Savior was in was overran with lawyers and learned seen, and they sent to the Savior to try and entrap him int nay in;: something against Ceat;r. At one time they asked li'in if it was light, to pay tributft u Ce.isar, for th-y thought by getting him to commit himself, ihej could have him trifd before a magistrate. and as the Jews had a strong inclination to revolt at this time, to say anything against Ceasar was a very previous offense. But the Savior gave an answer, "Render unto Ceasar that which is Ceasar's, and unto God that which is God's." This reply 'onirMe!y baffled t'i;n. B.it the Savior"? trial and doath was perfort.lv lawful. They made him carry his Cio-s befoie tl.e rabble, and stripped him oflislihe3 and crucified him between tw thieves, and I would ask, was Joseph Smith's death an more humiliating? I answer, no. These enemies of Joseph Smith tried to make him coinRiit hiir.salf, and failing in thn tiiey boasted that as iaw could not reach him, powder and ball could, and it did, as history plainly lolls us. When the Savior sa .v the women of Jerusalem weeping for Him as He passed with His cross, He said unto them, "Weep not for me, but for the judgment which will come upon this people and Jerusalem." The sequel proved that judgment did surely befall them. |