OCR Text |
Show : POLYGAMY. Its Deftinse by a Mormon Klder. Corrospon dories Old Colony Memorial.) THE ARQX'MEST OF POLYQAM T. Mr. Edit'tr: I noticed in your issue of January 27th, ono and one-half columns on Utah matters. Coming hero over twenty-seven years ago, when there were no houses, no fences, no hvmcs; whon ttio crickets, wolves, and Indians held high carnival around tho arid shorts of the Dead Sea of America; and having closely watched the developments here hy "Mormons and Gentiles," I have thought, as a subscriber to your paper, a few notes might prove acceptable. The Mormons coming overland somo 1,700 miles, through a track-1 track-1 leis desert, occupied by tho most powerful and hostile tribe of Indians, instigated to haired by resident trappers trap-pers and traders; starting on their 1 journey from the hands of their spoil-era spoil-era with nominally nothing; aceom- uliuhlnrr wl.ut tl,uu Kun ,1 :. U.J in the face of ridicule and stern opposition op-position from the whole world, and having to-day a territory, some 125,-000 125,-000 people, with seven per cent, more school facilities than Massachusetts, per ratio of population; creating out ui" ono of Nature's most forbidding witoU, prosperous aud beautiful cities; with lines of railroads north, south and went; with telegraphs permeating per-meating all p;irts of the territory; with street railroads, built and owned by thfinse ves, far surpassing other territories not clogged with "Mormon" ignorance; I couclude your correspondent correspon-dent must have been un fortune in makinjj acquaintance with our people or failed of introductions to a clats of high culture, "though it U generally considered that all things find their level." POLYGAMY, wo believe to bo God's right to establish es-tablish and man's right to accept; we believe it corrupt, evil and dis gustiug, except practiced as God directs, di-rects, in more purity and stronger control of lust than is exercised in inonogamic life, and in the natural concomitants that spring from a law of one wife; W6 believe that no man has a right to liberties with any woman, except she be his wife, and he assumes before God and man, openly and honestly, all responsibilities. responsibili-ties. I conceive that the intensity of feeling regarding polygamy arises from ignorance aud prejudice against 1 innovation; this prejudice existed 1.S00 years ago, against what were then considered the innovations of Jeaua. Thousands of our purest womon and clergy have given their names and influence to stem the wnves of prostitution surging around their own doors, and flooding the whole land. During five yenrs travel in Europe, I found the influence of England's virtuous Queen, seconded by the, titled Udies of the lnn'1, backed by strong religious and civil power, working for the same end; still each succeeding year, with their succeeding succeed-ing wates, seems to gather fresh strength, until thousands gazing at the ocean of pollution ask, " What will the eud be ?" Snail I be considered very ignorant for suggesting the possibility of tiie old prophet having an eve to its re- whon 1)0 ucn-ia the mat days seven women shall take hold of one mat, promising to eat their own food and wear their own apparel, if he would take away their reproach, and call them by bis name." Hefore christian men aud women raise their hauds in legislative, legisla-tive, social and religious ostracisms against the "Mormons," they should, (icy must, in consistency, liaten to the hign sanction of Almighty God in the hare fact of the Mother of Christ coming com-ing in a direct line ot descent through the polygamous families of old; il God then so hated polygamy, as some claim to now, could Mary have conceived con-ceived by the tluly Gnost ;vnd born such an oue as our Lord and Saviour 7 If polygamy to daj brands me and raim as subject of contempt and tpft-ial legislation, wiiat shall be said of "Abraham, the Father of tho Faithtul," and hi- seed, in whom all nations of -the earth were promised their richewt blessing? they were foundation foun-dation stones iu polygamy. We have au interesting subject ot thought in the word of Nathan, the propnet, wnen ne scathingly rebukes David for adultery; but in the rebuke reminds him that the Lord God had given him his master's wives to lie in his bosom, and the Lord would have given him more if thai had not been enough. Could God have given David these wives if polygamy had been unlawful? un-lawful? Whatever existed as God's law among his chosen people aud ins lired prophets, modern Christianity Christian-ity has Utile right to abrogate, as they deny any special revelaviou or authority au-thority for some eighteen hundred years and Christ's emphatic words were that he did not come to do away but to fulfil. the law. Not one word in the New Testament Testa-ment annuls polygamy. One passage pas-sage has been quoted hy the ignorance ignor-ance of Newman and others as bearing bear-ing on it namely, that a bishop whould be the husband of one wife. Nothing is moro plain than that this means, he should be a marritd man, no allusion of any kiud in it to polygamy. poly-gamy. , Your correspondent speaks of 110 souls massacred at Mountaiu Meadows Mea-dows and states "that they camped out of city limits on Jordan, and tor some unknown reason the 'Mormons' would not sell them any provisions, and they were so badly treated that they desired to get out of the territory as soon as possible." Now the fact is these people camped iu the city limits, bought all the provisions they wished and traded stock, members of the company dined with me several times, and had tree access to the products pro-ducts of my garden. For some cause they were anxious to make the trip tbat season, myself and others persuading per-suading them to winter in some of our valleys and take early start iu the spring. The company would have tried the northern route to sure destruction, de-struction, but after much evidence took the Boufhern. The company "G" speak(of numbered but a fraction frac-tion of 119, but coalesced with a company com-pany of rough men who committed a number of outrageous crimes between the elates aud Sail Lake city, and were sworn Indian killsrs, and to the best knowledge I can gain they committed desperate deeds between be-tween this point and Mountain Mea dows, poisoning the springs the Indians were forced to use, or perish I uony that the '"Mormons," as a people, killed those emigrants, and deem it moat unfair to charge and prejudice tho public beforehand against an individual or people when the chief one accused ia in custody, j i-ixious for trial, and tho whole (.lock r; Missachusetta honor will side with me. I should have been pleased tc have touched each point of your cor repondeut'n letter, but lor fear o utsing too much space. In conclusion I hope, as a former ' iwdent erf Masa&chneetts, that I shal find breadth of liberty in one of ita representative press to publish the foregoing. In ret-ppvt fully subscribing myself, I supposd I come under the 1st of your cnrrtvponilenl's "ignorant Mormons," Mor-mons," hb 1 hold no oGicica! position among them and nm Verv truly yourfl, Claudius Victor Spencer. |