Show AT THE TABERNACLE Au luteresting Discourse by Elder fe If Roberts The services in the Tabernacle rSrn day afternoon were commenced with the choir singing the hymn f Mortals awke with angels loin And chant the solemn lay Elder A H Raleigh offered the opening open-ing prayer and the choir sang another hymn I know thnt my Redeemer live What comfort tnls swee sentence gives The Sacrament was administered by the priesthood of the Thirteenth Ward ELDER B H KOUKBTS addressed the congregation and said In one of the revelations printed in the Bool of the Doctrine and Covenants given to the prophet Joseph rinith on December 16th 1833 are found the following words of the Lord And for this purpose have I established the constitution of this land by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood This language + + e accept as authority But suppose we did not believe in revelation individually I am of the opinion that no reasonable person can studY the history of the American nation wlthontbeconiing convinced that OoU was witti the patriots who founded our government Consider the position of the opponents in the Revolutionary Warone a trained army of the British nation who was considered the mistress of the seas with all her power disci pulls and resources and on the other hand the thirteen colonies represented by the patriots who were inexperienced in warfare and munitions of defence And yet victory perched on the banners ot tho > e WHO were struggling for right Who can question but that Divine providence was with the leaders of those who were fighting tor liberty And after the Revolution had ceased and when the emergencies ot a government developed to the colonies their 071 weakness when a convention was caned and a confederation formed the instances instan-ces of Divine guidance were further manifested A contract was formed a union made the like of which had not been before witnessed on this earth The constitution granting unto the government gov-ernment a supreme power over all the states in making laws for the general good bears the impress of Divinity upon it in organizing the best form of government gov-ernment known among men An impression im-pression has gone abroad a slander has been circulated throughout the world that the Latter Day Saints are oppasec to this glorious form of government The contrary is shown by the revelation I have referred to The whole line of conduct of the Latter Day Saints since the first organization of the church refute this calumny When our leaders left their homes in Missouri and came to Utah Territory it was then part of the Mexican country or government Our church leaders brought with them the old flag which they had learned years before to love and respect Had they desired to rebel against the Unit States Government they nau ample opportunity after coming here and before be-fore this territory was ceded by treaty with the Mexican Government to b long to these United States von they did not have any such desires on the contrary they declared that Utah was part of the United States government It has been falsely asserted by the present executive representative of Utah that the Saints did not contribute to subjugating subju-gating this part of the country to the United States and similar other false assertions have been made tending to rob our respected pioneers of that need of praise due to them History recording record-ing the doings of the Mormon Battalion Battal-ion amply refutes these falsehoods The fact is that the representatives of the United States government sent to us have considered it their business to misrepresent misconstrue and falsify our actions and live The result is that embittered feelings of unfriendliness have been engendered towards us the Latter Day Saints Special legislation has been secured by the efforts of our enemies until now we are experiencing the persecutions daily being practice upon us Aid it is contemplated to take from us every vestige of liberty unless we will subscribe to an oath that we are not connected with the Mormon Church etc etc And again our opponents oppo-nents are endeavoring to procure the passage of of a law placing tae govern fl JJat ment of our 1w and territorial affairs in the hands of a commission of thirteen men It is proposed to take possession of all the property belonging to the Latter Lat-ter Day Saints Church a preliminary to robbing and despoiling them of all that belongs to them Only recently we have been called to witness the greatest I outrage upon the rules of jurisprudence in compelling a legal wife to testify against her husband No matter how we protest it seems that the United States government determined to enforce en-force its usurpation of right They have the power and apparently are determined to persecute us Here we are situated with the law of God on one land acid the law of man on the other The Bible tells us to render unto Ceasar the things that are Ceasars and to pay homage to and acknowledge the princi nnlitics and powers of this world The apostles of the Savior were punished and imprisoned beause they persisted in preachingin the name of Jesus Peter when threatened with punishment Torso doinganswered and declared unto them Whether it rightin the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God judge ye We ought to obey God rather than man These + words are recorded re-corded in the Acts of the Apostles 4th chap 19th ver and 5th chap 29th ver This declaration holds good today for the faints have been commanded in the revelation oi December 16th 1833 that hey should conduct themselves According Ac-cording to the laws and constitution ef the people which I have suffered to be established and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh according to the just and holy principles princi-ples And in another revelation given August 6th 1833 the Lord said And now Verily I say unto you concerning the laws of the land it is my will that my people shonld observe to do all things whatsoever I command them and that law of the land which is constitutional consti-tutional supporting the principles of reedcm in maintaining rights and priv IltjeQ belonging to all mankind and is justifiable before me And as pertain ng to law of man whatsoever is more or less than these comelh of evil These are the words of the Lord unto the Saints It is true that the law against plural marriage which we declare p TIfg ocgasw1 care to be unconstitutional has been decided upon by the United States i upreme Court to constitutional W have a right however American ci i I zen > to disagree wi h the decisions of the supreme Court which are not infallible in-fallible and have been in other instances instan-ces subsequently reversed and declared I invalid We are in the power of the I United States government What is oar duty under the circumstances I tan only speak for myself I declare all solemnity that I do believethatwhat is commonly known BS the Mormon 11 Church has been organized by revela tion from God and tuat He has given 1 us commandments and that plural marriage iq a divinely appointed law of heaven Did I not know that our re ligion was of divine origin I could entertain ideas of compromise but as I I am today I cannot conscientiously deny that which I tfflrm to be true Of t course prsistence in our belief will bring us into further worldly trouble and persecution from those who are I eterrained to oppose I s hut we have no alternative God has commanded us to live by all the laws that proceed from I His mouth We are promised that we shall be tried in all things and in every way and God in accordance with His revelations is now roving his people and while we are suU ring in this world we are laying up treasures in heaven Instead of feeling afraid I am more than ever filled with confidence in the promises of God May we remain faithful faith-ful to our covenants with Him is my prayer Amen The choir sang theSong of Triumph with solo by Win H Foster Elder George Bywater pronounced the benediction ben-ediction |