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Show I REMARKS - ST PRESIDST GEORGE Q. CAKKOH y AID PRESIDEHT W1LF0RD WOODRUFF, J . AT TUB SstyrU Semiannual Gmcrrnte 0 tt OiurcA 0 Jctvi Chn xsf LaSBrJtay SaVM, OiUZer 6, 1S9J, totTeo!ia!eV JJloxwa the adtptkji Ittt the General AncnVjf moJ.tt. ,tiifti'i Ui-td Ay JVrf-rfoit JVrf-rfoit ItVfordiroodniJjrin rttalhn to nural Marriagt; I'rrtlHcnt Urorsr 1 Cannon. On Uie"ioTh of January, 1541, the Lord ga e His servant Joseph Smith a revelation, ths 15th paragraph of whlcirl will read: 'Vn!r, verily I say itttto you. that whed I give a commandment to any of the sons of men. to tli a work unto air ntinfi and Iboso kons-of moo. so with all their might, and with alt tbey have, to jerform that work, sod omw not their diligence, and tb-ir enemies come upon them, and h)uJr them from performing that work; behold It Ueaaveth mi 10 require th: work noxnoreat tbe hand of tho ons of mro,'bat to accept of their effsrlngO Tlie. Lird says other things connected con-nected with this, whcli I da not think it necessary to real, tut the whole revelation Is pnyitable, and cau be read by thac who deire to do so. It is on thisba.Js that PnvJdent Woodruff has'felt himself jusUfled In Issuing tills manifesto. I suppose It would not be Justice to this Conference not to say something some-thing upon thU subject; and yet everyone knows how delicate a subject sub-ject it is, and hoi-dillk-ult it is to approach it without saying something some-thing that may offend somebody. So far as I ant concerned, I can say that of the men In this Church who have endeavored en-deavored to maintain this prlnclph of plural nnrriage, I am one. In public an I In private I have avowed y lelkf in It. I hivede-fenJed hivede-fenJed It everywhere an I unicral. circumstanc.-s, and when It wa-neceary wa-neceary have said that I conld ered Uiecommani wasUnjingand imperative upon me. Hut a change has taken plaie. We have, Jntheflr!.p!acv, endeavored to show that the IiarjrJilcii affecte4 this feature of our religion was un-constitutional. un-constitutional. Wc believed foryeata that the law of July 1, 15-ii, was in direct wnlllot with llie tint amend men; tr the Constitution, KhK-li says thaftjngre shall make ik lair res?cling an cstiblishtueiii ol rellgiou, or prohibiting the free exj-rclse thereof." Wc retted upon Uiat. and for years continued the practice of jJural marriage, believing the law agaiust it to be an unennstl lutlonal one, autl that vru had the nght, under the Constitution, U earryouttlU) prluciule ractlcally in our lives. So confident was I in relation to this vie. ttiat in conver satious with President Grant, and with his Attorney General, ex-Senator ex-Senator Wllllsms, of Oregon, I said to them Uiat If my caws were not barred by the statute of limitations I would be willing to have It made a tt case, in order that the law might be teted. We were sustained In this view not only by ur owu interpretation of the amendment to the Constitution, but alo by some of the bu-t legal mill Is In fha country,n ho took exactly tlie same Ties tlia; wa did that this law was an Interference with relig ious rightx. and that so long as our practices did unt interfere Willi the happiness and peace of society, or of other-, w e It id the right to carry Out this principle. In factv It hi within six or ei'hl nionlns that, iu i conver-atlotl with two United j States Senators, each conversation ' biting separate from the other, botlnj of them expressed them-elve, though not in the same language,! to this effect: "Mr. Caunou. ir this j feature Uiat ycu practice ha I not I been a'socialed with religion, It I night have ben tolcrsteil-biityou have avocUttJ ll with rellgiou and it has aroused the rePgious sent! mentoft'ie nation, and that sent! i ment cannot bo rrsMeJ. Sofsrasj the practice Itself Is concerned, If you had not made It a part of your faith and r.ti Institution I sanloneJ l.Jr religion, It might bavr gone along unnoticed." I do 1 not give tho exact language; but -..w:. ! uiv .uva uja, lui'j lllt veyed to me. Xow, ve were very confl-Icnt Uiat this 1st was an un-con-tltulioualnnc. President JJ in-fel in-fel II. Welts rill remember Ho he and LlrieJ lo Rel u case to test the cocautulionallty of the law during the lifetime of President Drlgham Young. Wo wanted to get Hrother Erastus S.oo-r. It Is the lat tiling that we should have tlistight of to put a.mau like be was in the gap If we! hvl not been fl.-mly convinced that the law was tlcssnitttutional and would be declared so by Uie rnited States Sjpreme Couit. We telegraphed to Hrother Erastus In tlie south, thinking that his case would ust bo harmd by tile slitute of limitation-, lie rtf.lled to us rocceruing It, an I we found Uiat It was barred.. Brother A. M. Musser propoX-d himself, il I lemembrr aright, to be a test case; tut then-was then-was a defect In his casi Wc wanted want-ed this case, whenever it was pre-scnted, pre-scnted, to be presenlcJ fairly, that there sliould be no evasion CoUt it, but that It shddU be a cam that could bo tested fairly before thecourts .f the country. Finally. Ilrothcr George Reynolds wa? selected. I said to iny-elf, when I learned the result, "It 1 the la.t time that I will ever have -inythlng to do with a test case again which will Involve the liberty of anybody." I was promised when he was sentencu, by one high In authority and who ha-J the light to make th" jjromi'r, Ibat he should b rclcaStn, when the cir-cums'jttttes cir-cums'jttttes wt.ru told to hlca; for they were laid fairly before him, and he was told that tlie evidence had been furnished by Brother Reynolds Rey-nolds hlm-elf, and that everything had been tlono to make it a test case; the government had been aided In the securing of witnesses, and 110 difficulty thrown In the way. Afterwards, on the second trial, I believu Hrother Reynolds' lawyers got frightcacd,an J there was something occurred then that gave It adifferentappearance. Uulwhcnthe fads Were related, as t stated, to one high in authority, he promised me 4batGixirgo Reynolds should bo pir-tloned. pir-tloned. There veto those, however, in this city who were determine! deter-mine! that he should not escape imprisonment,- and the prosecuting prose-cuting attorney wrote a lettir which -changed tbe mind of this high official, ai be afterward told ro", and be declined to carry out that which X had received as a promise. pro-mise. But even then there were circumstances connected with this decision -that made us reluctant to accept IL Since that time the history of proceedings Is before you and before tho world. We have felt at though this command of God -was of such Importance to us, Involving so many serious consequences, that we should 'do all In our power to have the world know tbe position that wc occupied. There may be meu among us who believed they would be damned If they did not obey this, accepting it as a direct command from God. Therefore, you can understand un-derstand how tenaciously we have protested, and how vigorously we have endeavored, as far as we could, to make iMic our views upon this subject. I suppose tbera are two classes here today in this congregation one class who feel to sorrow t the bottom of their hearts because of the necessity of this action that we have now taken; another class who will say: "Did I not tell you so?" "Did I not tell you it would come to this?" "Did I not siy to you that you ought to take advantage of and comply w lth this y ears ago, Instead of enduring that -which you have suftercd slnco that time?" Thtrc I may bo men here today who pride themselves on their foresight, and who take eredlt to themselves bo cause they foresaw, as they allege. 1 that which wo havo dons today.and would leld others to belisro that If their counsct had been" adopted, If the views tliat they presented had been accepted by tho people. It m'ght have saved very serious con-sequecccE con-sequecccE to lis alt and left Us In a Uetler position than that which we occupy today. Bat I, for ourIIUer entirely with this view. I beilvo that It was necessary that we should wit new unto God, tlie Eternal Kather.untothe heavens and unto the earth, that this was really a principle dear ious dearcr.it ml ijbt be said, lit some fespects, than life Itself. We could not have dune tbs had we submitted V. the time that tlioso of whom I speak suggested submission. Wccould not have left our own nation without excuse. It might have said, "Had we known all that you tell tu now concerning this, wo should have had very dlf ferent views about this feature of your religion than wo dl I lave." But now, alter tbe occurrences of the past six years have !een witnessed wit-nessed by this entire nation anl by the world, aud by God the Eternal .Father anl the heavenly hosts, no onocan plead as an exi-ue that they have ireen Ignorant f our belief be-lief and the dearness of this prlu-"Ij.lo prlu-"Ij.lo to us. Upwards of thirteen hundred men havo been It.car-cerateJ It.car-cerateJ In prison, going there lur various terms from one or three months up to years. They have gjne there willingly, as martyrs ta this principle, making a proic-i uiat. the heavens and the earth should bear record of, that they were con cienliou In espousing this principle, princi-ple, and that it was not for sensual InJalgenco, because if sensual Indulgence In-dulgence bad been the olJn.t wj could have obtained it without such sacrifices as were involved In obedience obe-dience to this law wlthtv.il a -In; to prison, with Kit sustaining wives iud ciilldreil, without the oblo ipiy that his been heap-si ipon us because of this action of ojrs. If licentious motives had prompted us, w o could have secured the results in a cheaper way and In 1 way more In consonance with un.-venal un.-venal custom throughout oar own land and all Christendom But tho sacrifices that wo have made In this respect bear testimony to the heavens ind to the earth that we have been sincere au 1 conscientious In all that we have done, and that we have net becu prompted by a desire to usu women for lustful purposes, but to save them, to make them honorable, and to leave no niirgin of women In our society to become a prey t lust, so that ever woman In our land shoull have the opportunity of br-coming br-coming a virtuous wife and a-i nonortd mother, lovcJnnd respected by her oflsprlng and by all her associate. as-sociate. If no other result his atteude I ivbat mar bu termed our obstinacy, these results are, at least, upon record, and they never cau bj blotted out. the imprisonment of the-e men. the sufferings the untold, un-told, unwritten, yea. the unmen tlottable. it may be said, sutlerings of wives and children, tbey are recorded re-corded In Ilea Veil and are ktio n to men upon tlie earth, and they form a chipter that will never be blotted out. Latter-day Saints, there has been nothing lost In tbe live yeara that bat e J ust passed. We have lost no credit. There has been no honor sic-rifleed. sic-rifleed. We can look God In the face ibat-I,!fwewefe permitted toiloso. so far as this Is concerned, we can; we can look the holy angels in the face; we can look mankind In the face-without face-without a blush, or w Ithout feeling that wo have done an thing unworthy un-worthy of our manhood orof our professions pro-fessions and the faith that Gol has given unto us. This all of us cn do; and If no other result has followed what may be called our obstinacy, than these which I now describe, tliey arc gran I enough to pay us for all that wc have (tone through. Bdt Die time lias come when, in the provllence of GoJ, it seemed ue?rsnry thai som-thin; should be done to meet the requirements of the country, to meet the deininds that have been Wide upou U, and to save the people. President Woodrtlil and others of U have been appealed to IiUnlraJs ot tinir", I miaht ffy; I cuu say for myself, that I ha c been appealed to many scores of times to get out something and lo announce smithing. smi-thing. Some of our lea ling brethren liavcsald: "Inimuchas vfehave ceased loira perntUVtdu for piural inanlages to be solemnli-sl, why cannot we luussthebenentof that? Why cannot Wo tell the worl I it, so as to have the benefit et it? Our .oncmt'aarealleglngtfonsUutlylliat J we still practise this In iccret, ami j thai wcaro dishonest and guilty of j evasion. . Now, If we have really j put a step to grrlllag permissions to clen to ttke more wives than one, why should not the world know It I aud wc have tbe advantage of It?" These remarks have been made to us repeatedly. But ot no time has the Spirit seemed lo indicate that I this should be done. We have waited wait-ed fct the Jord it niovo In the I niattci ind on the 21'.h of Septum-I Septum-I ber, President Woodruff male up his mind that he woutd write somc- tiling, anl he "hvl the spirit ,f It. II ItsI jirajed rbaut ( It and bad besought God repeatedly I lo (how him what lo do. At that I lime the Spirit canto upon liiiil, and , the document that has been read In your hearing was the result. I know that it was right, much as it lias gone against the grain with me In many respects, because many of you know the content wa bare had upon this point. 1'ut whetl (Jod speaks, and wheuGodma'vsknow!t Ills mind aud will, I ho that I and all latter-day Saints will bow in submission to it. When that document as prepared It was au' mltlcil. Bu, ns is said in this motion ttist has l-ecn nude, President Woodruff Is tlie only man uron the earth who holds the keysnf the sealing power. TiniKjApo-tles-ill around me i'.v s)l thtftoille authority author-ity thai he has Wc are all ordained or-dained with the same ordination. We all hare ha 1 the same keys and the some lowers bestowed bon us. But there Is an order in tho Church of Go-I.and that order Is Hut there is only one man at n time on tho earth who holds the kess; of sealing, and that man Is tlie President of tbe Church, now Wlllord Woodruff. Therefore, ho signed that document docu-ment himself. Moiiu have wondered and silJ, ' Why didn't his Counselors Coun-selors slgu? Why didn't others sign?" Weill I give you the reason because he Is the only man on tho earth that has this right, and he exercised it, and ho did this Willi the approval of all of us to whom tho' muter was submitted, after he had made up hlsmlnd, and wc sustained It; for we had male It asuljrct of prayer also, Ibat God would direct us. There nevr was a time In this Church when I believe the lea ling meu of this Church have en-detvored en-detvored to live nearer to God. because be-cause they have seen the path In which we walked environed with difficulties, beret with all manner of snare", and wo have bal tbe rcspousiklllty resting upon us of of your sal vatlon, to a certain extent. ex-tent. Gxl has chosen us, not we ourselves, to be the shepherds of Ills flock. Wc have not sought this responsibility You know Wilford Woodruff too well to believe that be would seek such an office ss he now fills. I trust you know the rest of us sufllciently to believe the same concerning us. I have shrunk from the Apostlcshlp. I have shrunk from being a member cf the First Presidency I have felt that If I could get my salvation In any other way, I prayed G jd that He ould give It to me, after He reiealeil to me that I wouldbcanApostle,wben I was comparatively a child; and I have had that feeling ever since. These Apostles, all of them, feel the responsibility which rests upon them at leaders of the people, GoJ having nudo us, Iu His providence, your shepherds. Wc fee that the flock is In our charge, and If any harm befall this flock through us, we will have to answer for it In the day of tho Ixird Jesus; we shall bare to stand and renderan account I of that which has been enliusted t0 ' us and If We arc falthlessj and carc--, aed do hot Htb f a as to have the word of God coutluuatly with 1 us and know Ills mlqd and will, Ihed our condemnation will " stlfennd certain, and we cannot cscapo it. But you ara our witde-3t as to whether (Jod fa wlUi lis or not, as-well as the Holy Ghost-j You have received, and It Is, ou"r pflviWO W rs-elve, the tcstlniooy. of Jesus Christ as to whether Uiese men who stand at 1 your head are the servants of God, whom God has chose.i, and through whom Got gives Instructions to Hi people. You know It, because the testimony of tbe Spirit is with you, and tbeSnlrit of Gad burns in your bams when you hear tho w'ord of Gad declared by theae strvanLs, and there Is a testimony living In your hearts concerning It. Now, reallimi the full responsibility responsi-bility of this, this action has been taken. Will It try pjauy of the SalnU? Perhaps It will and perhaps per-haps it will try thoss who bare not obeyed this law as much as any others in the Church. But all that we can say to you Is that which we repeatedly say to you go unto God yourselves, If you aoi tried over this anl cannot sco Its purpose; go to your secret chambers an J oak God and plead with Him. In the nama of Jems, to give you a testimony as lt. hxs given it to us, and I promise you that you will not come away empty, nor dlXiUsfled; you will have a tc)linlny, and lliht will bo poured out upon you, and otl will see things that perhaps you cannot see an I understand at the present time. I pray God (o bless all of you, ray brethren an J sisters; to fill you with His Holy Spirit; to keep you in the pith of exaltation which He has marked out for us; to be with us on the right hand nud on tlie left Iu our future as He has been In the past. Before I sit down I wish to call attention to one lenlirkablc thing, audit may In atPcviJcncclo Jou that the devil Is not pleased with what we have done. It is seldom I havo seen so many lies, and such flagrant, outrageous lies tild about the latter-day Saints as I havo quite recently. I have not time to reaJ the paper", but I have happened hap-pened to pick up two or three ttpcrs arid glance fit them, and tbe most infernal (pardon me for using that expression) lies ever framed are told. It srenu as though the Uevll Is mad every way. "Now," says he, they are going to tne adranUnc of this, and I am determined they shall have no benefit of It; I will till the earth with lies concerning them, , and neutrallzs this declaration of President WooJnitPe." And you will see in all the pipers everything that, can be said to neutralixe tlie t fleet of Mils. Tu me It Is pretty good evidence that tile devil Is not pleased with what we are dc!g. When we kept silence concerning this, then we were a very mean aud Lai people; and now that we have broken the silence an 1 made public our position, why, we are wicked In other direction", and no credence can be attached to anything that we say. You may kuuw by tills that bis satanlc majesty Is not .b-ased 1 with our action. I hope lie liever will be. |