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Show "MOIIMUN LAW." Under (beheading "Mormon Law," the Cincinnati Ga::ctte gels off the following cutting piece of sarcasm: There ia a tradition of a tyrant who made laws and pretended to publish them, but posted them so high that the people could not read them, and thus contrived to punish them for breaking laws they were ignorant of. j The tradition is much used in fine I writing and oratory as a simile of I tyranny. Tho peculiarity of the trial j and sentence of Hawkins, the Mormon, 1 and of the indictments of other Mor- mona that are awaiting trial, is that i Hawkins did not know that he wasvio-! wasvio-! lating the law under which he has been ; found guilty and sentenced to the pem-: pem-: tenliary. Tho law was enacted by the Mormons themselves. Very likely j Hawkins was ono of tho makers of the ! law. He did not know that it forbade i the thing for which he has now been j oondemued, nor was that the intent of i the law, nor is it in fact the usual ! meaning of the words. , It should bo borne in mind that j these prosecutions are not under the ; United States act against polygamy, but under tho Mormon act against : adultery, prostitution, etc. We a e not expressing any opinion on the question whether the Mormons have any rights (hat a monogamous people ought to respeci; but we suppose that no one will pretend that this Irial and . the ruling of Ihe courl, and the verdict . and sentence, are legal. The moral i and legal offense is polygamy. The : man is tried for adultery and lewd and j lascivious conduct, in living with a woman to whom he was married according ac-cording to t he laws and customs of the society which enacted (his law. He is ientenccd for violating a law which ho was ignorant that ho was breaking. He was found guilty by a change of tne meaning oi worus irom ineir universally uni-versally accepted meaning, and Ihe conviction was brought about by rulings of the court which subordinated all the rulen of law to the ond of convic lion. We are not saying that the monogamous monog-amous people of our cities, where vir- ' tue has achieved her perfect work, ought not to fall on the Mormons and hew them in pieces, as Samuel hewed Agag. Wc are not affirming that it is not an outrage lo the moral sentiment cf the nation to give lo ihcso people even the form of a legal trial. We are merely mentioning that Judge McKcan has been so zealous that he has set aside all rules of law, and has forced a conviction under a law which the accused ac-cused had not violated. |