| Show f x t 31E RICH RETURNS With 3Tore ill the Oljeyins of the Law 1 r 1 t t A To too Editor OfrnE HERXID Well suppose that law should be repealed re-pealed This question was asked bya defendant defend-ant who stood before Judge Zane on Tuesday last From the context of this defendants remarks it is fair to presume pre-sume that if the law were repealed he would feel it his duty to create anew I his polygamous relations and then under the sacred promises which must of necessity attend such unions and under the scanctity of the unchanging and eternal command he could win and wear some other trusting heart until anew a-new edict of human law should make it politic for him to cast away that tender heart torn and bleeding Jo not this person and the class of persons of which lie has chosen to make himself a representative I repre-sentative in their alleged effort to obey conscience merely pay homage to expediency I pediency Mr Editor whence comes > this sudden sud-den and violent regard for the Jaw I forbidding for-bidding the practice of plural marriage marri-age A man who now renounces despite de-spite your protest Mr Editor I cannot used any other wordhis polygamous relations and with these relations one or more of his wives thinks apparently apparent-ly that he is offering ample defense when he Says that his reverence for law will not permit him to live with more than one wife Why did not such a u 1 h f b tits I mail s tow uib siirceriby uy LUIS renunciation renun-ciation in 1862 ° or if he were not then in practice of polygamy why did he ever enter into that relation It is not the energy with which a law is enforced which would make it sacred to the citizen And therefore if a man has lived for years in persistent violation of the act 01 1SG2 he cannot now take any honor to himself for his tardy and com pulsorv obedience to the Edmunds law of 1882 Such a person may say that he was actuated by conscience Other p ople must not be deemed too harsh if they call his motive cowardice I urn not writing as the advocate or apolug ist of lawbreakers I recognize < I hope as clearly as any other the respect re-spect which every citizen owes to the statutes and institutions of his county coun-ty Merely I lay down these propositions proposi-tions That if a man violated the provisions pro-visions of the act of 1862 in obedience to a direct command from Almighty God he had to withdraw no more right tat t-at the mandate of a court from the revelations enforced by that command than he would have to commit murde > or perjury in answer to human requirement require-ment And that if he transgressed the law of 1SG2 without such divine call he was not only a wretched betrayer of confiding women and the lustful wrong er of unborn children but he was trai orous to the best government ever ii stituted by mankind There are a few questions which I believe be-lieve the young men of Utah would like t t have answered by any man who accepts ac-cepts of Jutice Zanes amnesty Those questions are as follows Did you enter into your polygamous relations in obedience to the require njents from Almighty God If you did why in the name of all that is eternal and holy do you renounce those relations Did you lie when you taught the women who have been your wives to believe that the doctrine of plural marriage mar-riage was of divine origin i If you did thus lie what do you call yourself and what do you expect your unfortunate children to call you when history shall place the record of your conduct side by side with that of Hyrum B Claw son 1 sonMr Editor you and others deem my remarks harsh and impertinent I care not This is no time for cringing opinions and honied words However imperfectly I may write this matter is of vital interest to the young people of the Latter day Saints Yours respectfully BEX E KICK OGDEN Oct 5 1885 |
