| Show eat and ELOQUENCE before a session of the payson literary caul FRIENDS FELLOW CITIZENS I 1 am pleased to greet you this evening as associates in and citizens of our gibat republic we are representatives and advocates of freedom and I 1 am proad to be able to say our government is n grand and glorious one from hor possessions in america forty eight territories have been carved thirty eight of which are now enjoying the privilege of statehood leaving only ten which have not become sufficiently strong to throw off their swaddling claths cloths and enjoy the rights of bbate government oar territory with a population of more than was forty two years ago a wilderness a desert beyond the borders of the united states belonging to our neighboring government of mexico its parched abil its vacant valleys told its early visitors of its with the exception of a few explorers the indians were the only human beings that had seen the barren waste since the extinction of the nation fourteen hundred and forty seven years prior and possibly since the days of noah A wilderness a desert yes and eo complete that it was thought a civilized people could not subsist hero to substantiate this I 1 refer you to the offer of col bridger of 1000 for the first bushel of corn raised here the rich silver mines of utah were not then discovered no roads connected the canyon s and valleys no bridges spanned the rivers no workshops were erected and the whistle of the steam engine had not been hoard in our secluded spot nor even within the united states but for a period of twenty years could one leave a land of plenty the shades of the walnut the chestnut and the orange the springs bubbling up in tho shade of the pine and the pleasant association of friends to come to such a forsaken country as this the effort required to do this was founded in love of freedom nothing but a deep love for independence the virtue of the sacred family ties and a desire to worship god unmolested could have induced a people to settle the dreary wild by contrasting the past with the pr ebent the picture is muro highly illuminated imagine buo ouo toiled in the burning sun having lived in tho dugout and eaten root and rawhide transact fed in an instant from the past to the present I 1 fancy he would be overcome by joy and weep through the ecstacy caubet by the contract it had ben truthfully said there is no standstill A person a community a nation must either progress or retrograde the history 01 our fer shows that has been and is still progressing who is to be honored for our prosperity my do sire is to bestow honor where honor is due did the government of mexico lend a hand did our own parent institution hover over the little band of exiles to warn and protect it or is our present condition to be credited under god to the gallant herbic and undaunted pioneer if and following years I 1 not answer this history and our workout veterans bhoj where the honor is due 1 hero is no perhaps an instance in the h story of the world of a people eo small who have in so abort a time and under such adverse achieved so much the dug outs have given place to brck palaces warmed and lighted by electricity the cradle and reap hook are nearly forgotten the hand mill kurpa sed jy bigam mills is n me beuto of bygone days the ox team and tho cart have given placy to fast horses aud liuo carriages and the never tiring iron hordo the telegraphic and the telephonic menta bring our people in close communion contributing largely to the wealth and comfort of oar community outside of our borders where is here a country upon the wide earth with fewer haupers paupers pau pers nine tenths of bijur commonwealth own the houses llroy occupy besides cattan and lands fhe sail when properly yields abundantly in regard to oj in our we compare with othar cerri boned iu he union yet we aro utah has a bright and glorious though things to some i uk gloomy ai the present the true saints are cheerful knowing that the clouds of darkness will soon be dispersed one hundred and fifty thou blind people armed in the holy cause of truth whose prayers ascend to the throna of marcy cannot fail to be head the future no ono unless inspired by him who sees all things can read but the purposes of god never fad and his promises to us are that the more we are wrenched and knocked about the stronger we ob that tho inhabitants of tho earth would study the bibly und become acquainted with the prophecies contained therein for thereby they can avoid much distress and calamity which otherwise will ceiaa their destruction keeping m mind that small beginnings mako great endings let us continue our labors and knowing that the constitution of our land was framed for the good of all the members of our great republic let us press onward in the cause we have espoused surrender no virtue honor and obey the immortal constitution of our dearly beloved country for wo have the truth though there be hundreds of reports to the contrary and although deemed heretics now we will be tho heroes of the future to be praised to be adorned ado raed for utah will thea not be the queen of the west alone but of the east the north and the south |
