Show TABERNACLE SERVICES r Discourses by Elders John Caine and Junius E Wells Sunday afternoons services at the Tabernacle were commenced by the choir singing the hymn Arise 0 glorious Zlnn Thou joy of laittr days Opening prayer by Elder Wm L Binder The choir sang another hymn Twas on that dark that solemn night When powers of earth and hell arose The Sacrament of the Lords Supper was administered by the priesthood of the Twentyfirst Ward ELDER JOHN T OAINE addressed the congregation and said the Latterday Saints understood that every one of the elders was liable at any time tote called upon to speak in public meetings and to give a reason for the hope that is within them With other religious denominations de-nominations it was usual to have ministers min-isters or preachers who prepared subjects sub-jects on which to speak on the Sabbath days In common with many others he felt diffidence in occupying the pulpit pul-pit not because he was ashamed of the gospel of Christ for he knew it Was the power of God unto salvation to everyone every-one who believed He was proud of the faith which he had embraced but doubted his ability to speak of it to the edification of the congregation unless he had the assistance of the spirit of God He was aware that a vast amount of ignorance and prejudice existed throughout the world as regards the Lat terday Saints The majority of Christian Chris-tian people assume that as they have the Holy Scriptures the Bible in their midst they necessarily have the gospel among them But not so the fact is evident that a falling away from the 1 M fJ true faith occ rred after the death of Christ and His apostles and that the Bible which is simply a record of the sayings and doings of the prophets and apostlesshows in the revelations otSt John that an angel would restore the gdspel in these the last days This we claim has been done and we today present to the world the gospel precisely as taught by theSavior and His apostles The opponents of our faith have created i a monster and present it to the people of the world as being what is termed Mormonism We deny the ability ofe and one to explain our pnnciples ideas intentions and belief better than we can do ourselves If correct information i informa-tion is desired On anY subject it is certainly cer-tainly not correct to go to an enemy or opposer for that information We believe be-lieve in Jesus Christ the Son of God and in the atonement He wrought for all mankind and we are today teaching the same faith the same plan of salva ti n with all its ordinances gifts and blessings as taught and practiced by Christ His apostles and theIr immediate successdrs It is not only in our religious religi-ous faith that we are misrepresented but also in our political views and actions The persecution which is now being inflicted upon us by which our j brethren are consigned to prison we believe be-lieve to be brought about byillegal and institutional methods Men are not tried by juries of their peers but bv juries who not only have no sympathy with the accused but who are required by government prosecutor to be in ynpnth with the prosecution Thus Jurls are empannelled warranted to com ict This mode of procedure together to-gether with many other illegal acts marie the people feel that those liberties whit h they had inherited were being wrenched trom them and they felt to mourn rather than rejoice on Independent Indepen-dent day to mourn for their liberties Instead therefore of hoisting flags to the masthead on the Fourth of July a few ere placed at halfmast as an ex > ression of mourning This act has been construed by our opponents as an insult to the flag We know that not such insult was intended The Mormons Mor-mons may be fanatics but they are not fools and it would have been an exceedingly ex-ceedingly foolhardy act in them to attempt at-tempt to insult the American flag The ring of unprincipled adventures who seek to rule or ruin Utah and who have for years sought in numerous ways to incite the Mormons to commit some overt act by which they could be brought in conflict with the government have seized this incident of half mastin the flags as the opportunity so long desired declaring it to have been intended as a deliberate insult to the flag and treason against the government In answer to this I will say that we owe no apologies or explanations of our action to these men but to our fellowcitizens throughout through-out the nation who may have been mslead by the cry of treason or insult to the flag thatjthe Mormon people love the flag of our country and reverelice I the institutions of the country they be Ieve that the men who wrote the Declaration laration of Independence as well as those who adopted the Constitution were inspired of God in their labors Ji ft tf altf is absurd then to assert fliaf the Mormons mon would even think of offering in ultto the government or its flag much less to be guilty of such an act of folly We want no conflict with the govern inent we have aright fo protest against and object to the biased construction and maladmhnstration of law which we have experienced our faith teaches se that offences must needs come but woe to them by whom they come Form For-m eif I would much rather be in the place occupied by our brethren who are in bonds and in prison thanstand where the men do who have prosecuted theml We have been told that trials and persecution per-secution would come upon us that they were necessary for our growth and progress God help us to endure these trials and to be faithful to the end ELHEK JUMUS F WELLS said in addressing ad-dressing the congregation he desired to bear a testimony to the truth He had reasons to rejoice in associations wih the Saints because of their purity love and holiness which gives continued con-tinued sense of happiness and security in contrast with the contrary condition of tIle world today The Saints know that God has revealed in these days the principles of eternal truth identical with those as taughtbyourSavior Jesus Christ and we challenge all the world I to make comparisoh and discover and prove that they are different In listening I listen-ing some few weeks ago to a sermon preached by one ol the most foremost dh inns of today I learned that his faith was that if the Bible were true then Mormonism was true Ye agree with theReverend Henry War Beecherin this opinion We assert that our belief comprises the trge gospel of Jesus Christ It is also true that the Chris tian world cannot harmonize the varied doctrines taught by them with the teachings of the Biblesl They are unwilling un-willing to accept the simple first principles princi-ples of the gospeL The ministration of angels is looked upon as absurdity Reason is ascribed be the firstprinci ple of a religions belief whereas the Bible says faith in God is the first We can see no other way to believe and practice the truths of God asrevealed unto us and recorded in the Bible The I judgment of the world caundt have any effect upon us We have no doubt about the results of our belief Men will not seek to investigate and ascertain ascer-tain the truthfulness of our belief at least they do not seemed disposed to do so The hostility shown towards us is calculated to establish our integrity and therefore we have no desire to avoid the trials and troubles that we are now passing through The principles of eternal truth cannot be destroyed or uprooted If we have errors they can be eradicated Fault 1 is found with our f tmily relations but it is forgotten that Jesus Christ Himself was born of polygamous poly-gamous earthly parents Let our principles and marriage relationsbe investigated in-vestigated by honorable persons and we are not afraid of being aindged immoral Im-moral Men are today cast Into prison bondage who are moral and pure and iu this respact far above the men Who have so placed them We are fearless and independent and because of our religious belief we are not accorded equal rights with that of other communitie We look forward to the day when our true condition will be manifest to the government of this nation There is only one thing for us to do and that is to maintain our fidelity to that which I we know to be true and in so doing God will sustain us in our integrity Oi > record disproves any charge of out being criminal or lawbreakers Our persecutors perse-cutors have had the effrontery to advocate advo-cate indulgence In crime as a means of overcoming Mormonism We may have imperfections but God knows the sincerity sin-cerity of our hearts Thechoirsang the anthem I Waited for the Lord Benediction pronounced bv Elder A H Raleigh |