| Show ORATION BY DR WILLARD RICHARDS tile tiie day we celebrate this as s the third anniversary of the entrance of israels pioneers into the landof andi anda of our possession the third anniversary of tile the day oil on which te tiit plough first turned the sods of this thin valley vailey since tile the records of nephi a day fraught with greater interest nt erest to the family of man than any other since tile tiie death of jesus and that excepted since the birth of adam had llad adam not been born his great reat family had not existed had jesus not died there had llad been no savior were there no kingdom of truth liberty and freedom the principles of life and salvation not be applied to mail man and adams birth and jesus death would alike have produced anni ver saries of wailing and wo but as it is is these events are alike glorious with this the day we celebrate the birth of the latter day never dying freedom for six thousand years or since the tile days of chaos the sons and daughters of michael have been multiplying and walking mai ual val king to and fro on the earth seeking a resting g place a country of liberty freedom and equal rights and occasionally sio nally for a short period of time with long iong intervening intervals a portion of them have enjoyed the object of their search but as yei yel enoch and his little band are the only ones left on record who have succeeded in overcoming 0 their internal and external foes and of enjoying their freedom until they llad bd become come so perfected in the intelligence and privileges es granted unto them by all an alloise creator that they were fit as a people to be transplanted to a more heavenly soil soll but they could not diffuse the principles of righteousness they enjoyed among surrounding lati iati lations nations ons and earth was no place ar them longer to rest rost adani adam moses mose and El ellijay eti Eli lijah jali abra iam lam 1 am and aud solomon nephi jessus jesus and peter and a lhost of others ot liers in their day sought to establish the principles of freedom so that they might remain perpetually to future generations but sought in vain so great lias has been the wickedness so intense the darkness that has spread itself over mind that the apostles and prophets revelators revelatory and saviors that have arisen sent of god in successive ages have been banished or mar byred and the celestial light that shone through them was only permitted by the wicked to shine on earth long enough to make darkness doubly visible such as might be felt all the ancient prophets and righteous men saw sav by falth faith that a day of righteousness a day of freedom would come on the tile earth and they sought to establish it but wickedness prevailed and forbid the day of righteousness referred to is is one in which men can worship the god of abraham the father of the faithful in spirit and in truth with no one to molest or make afraid and while this day exists all men will have the tiie privilege of worshiping their diversified gods in any way they choose provided they tiley will not disturb their neighbors righteousness and freedom consists of a disposition to do right and the privilege of living according to that disposition but to men who do wrong there can be no freedom they are bound by the tiie power of the devil and the more perfect tile the law under which they the y live the greater their bondage while the mail man who wiio lives under the administration of righteous laws and does right lives above the law and is free oree lie he does just as he pleases all the time for he fie is never pleased to do wrong cori corl consequently the law has no lit blaim oil on him and this is all tile the freedom there i it worth living livid for in heaven fleaven on oil earth or in hell liell the prophet daniel fonsav for sam sav many ages since that in the latter days the god od of heaven would aw set t up a 1 kingdom that should never be destroyed and the same god having his liis eye on the same king kingdom doin dorn continual continually li knowing there was no government on oil earth that would suffer his infant kingdom which lie was about to set up to exist in their midst inspired wise men to write a constitution as tile tiie foundation for as free independent and gib rious a government as man mas was was then capable of enjoying and which was adopted as the constitution of the united states ot of america more than sixty years since while the principles of that constitution prevailed diled blied while men were governed by them justice was executed in equity man was free and truth looked abroad and end rejoiced in the freedom of the people and in process of time god sent his prophet in the midst ot of that people and commenced ins his work a work long before predicted even the establishment of a kingdom that would insure righteousness cou liberty and peace to all the tiie inhabitants of the tile earth the constitution principles and government of which should control tile the rulers as well as the ruled and make every man amenable to a higher power securing universal liberty to right and ensure ensuring universal destruction to wrong but under the tile administration of the american constitution the tile ii inhabitants of the union had so so corrupted their ways before the lord and imagined up unto e so many strange gods that ther then was little space in their midst f lo 10 n the reception of truth so thae thai when the prophet Prop prod liet ilet joseph began tr proclaim the falness of the everlasting eve r gospel as revealed to ihn hm by the angel flying through ahr midst of heaven very few could receive it the hearts of me i were so generally turned toward idols that it cost liim him years of liar ilar labor to establish the church ut u jesus christ of latter day sains haats with only members six ot on the at api of april and w 4 great groat eat ent hi lri been tite tile tiie ig ignorance ora ne c idel idolatry at y and w wickedness ick lck edness of governors and judges rulers and ruled priests and people from that day to the present that justice equity and truth have been obliged to hide at mid day and flee at midnight ht or risk the death of martyrs not that all the inhabitants of the great american union have raised tile tiie deadly weapon against against 0 the tile principles pies ples of eternal truth few comparatively have been the actual murderers of the saints many have been accessory before the fact many have rejoiced after the fact many more have llave stepped quietly behind the curtain as they supposed washed their hands in cent rent and whispered in each others ear car a mean act but im glad hes dead while millions MILLIONS more in their ignorance thoughtlessness and fear have remained quiet and peaceful and have not considered that so ion lon long iong 0 as they remain thus and do not raise tile tiie voice of reprobation ro against the murderers of G gods prophets they tiley are arc parta ac bers kers rs of the evil deeds of their fellow countrymen and innocent blood is staining 0 the borders of their garments fc ck a priest ridden ignorant people will have to pay tile the debt men cannot fight D truth life or salvation without a medium of communication consequently vilen the truth was proclaimed by tile the prophet and men wanted to oppose and fight it they had to appose and fight those who bei eved and received it who obey ed d and practiced it and those thus hus receiving the truth were t tade aade the medium of violence i tile the truth and the wicked vainly supposed that if they could destroy the channel of commini stion that truth itself would dene dewe ease frem from aern the tile earth it has not oen een cent it is not against the saints s individuals that the sword has een C cen n drawn most of them have idled ived for a along long iong time like other juen wen respected and aud beloved by their neighbors I 1 and acquaintances insomuch that they were sorry to part with them but when they embraced the falness of truth their wicked neighbors could not bear it they must drive truth from their air midst and the only way they tiley could accomplish it was to drive the individuals who wiio had received tile the truth the only way to get at the truth or falsehood tile the good or evil spirit that is in a man is through t tile the medium of the man hin himself i self seif hence every man is responsible for his own belief falth faith practice and the spirit lie he harbors within himself whether it be good or evil mormon is the tile name of an ancient prophet and signifies more mere good mormonism a new coined word by the enemy of all righteousness with which to reproach P roach the saints of the last days signifies ALL TRUTH PRESENT PAST and FUTURE and the mor mo mons nys creed is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth and this creed is what tile tiie devil and all his llis imps aro eternally fighting against and not against the believers of that creed only so far as tile the truth influences their actions from the first opening of the book boo ac of mormon mornion by the tile prophet joseph in the state of N Y truth found its haters baters and tile the saints their persecutors from which they retired t to kirtland ohio and in that Stat ethe prophet was dragged from his ilis bed at midnight tarred feathered pounded dr dragged aged over tile the frozen ground by ins his heels and left for dead by professing christian preachers and their fbi ibi followers who doubtless thou thought glit they were doing god service but did they thes think they were protecting 0 joseph in his llis constitutional ric rights 5 lits A temple was vas built at kirtland Kirt tand land and great improvements were nade made in in the town toun persecution followed allowed oll owed and the saints passed on 0 o missouri where they were mocked scourged urged imprisoned persecuted their houses burned goods confiscated men women and children indiscriminately mas acred in sight of tile the constituted authorities and those who survived old and young naked and helpless driven from missouri by the exterminating order of gov boggs n while their prophet and his companions were incarcerated in prison on the edict of a mock court and fed on human flesh I 1 the next refuge 0 of the saints was at nauvoo beautiful for situation but then a land of bushes swamps sloughs toes miasma fever an and d ague a land de populated by malaria disease and death speedily converted into fruitful fields and gardens interspersed with comfortable and respectable spec table dwellings for twenty thousand inhabitants abounding with fruit and gram grain in great variety r I 1 i ety overlooked by the temple of the tile lord planted and reared at the sacrifice of thousands of lives by all an unhealthy climate and gist mist constant fatigue in watching the mob to prevent the midnight incendiary cen diary and assassin W when lien llen joseph the prophet and hyrum the patriarch were massacred in in cartilage carthage 0 jail by the hands of a daylight Z mob while winie under the arrest and supervision of governor thomas ford and pledge D of the tile faith of the state and while his excellency was satiating his appetite at the tile table of his murdered victim in in the city of nauvoo 0 ye gods of eternity did not the tile heavens think that this tills infernal treachery of plighted z faith ought M to have satisfied all hell but bat were the sons of earth sat isfried with the sacrifice let tile the burning Z houses and grain stacks the murdered women and children of hancok county answer let lot tile the officers and soldiers of f governor ford who were sent tp ep ancock hancock II to prevent the legally constituted authorities of ail all sant ait gourji county froin ozon fulfilling their in protecting the citizens from violence ole oie ce and death answer let the hc tombs respond persecution followed persecution and mob followed mob until for the salvation of the union all ali the Sai sal saints tits who could get getaway away by the tho skin of their teeth leaving th thair ar honses houses gardens barns fields lm and of we w mi tle tie the prey of deou devouring ring a i i ice e nauvoo in feh fob 1846 f vm kinf vini aham the III ous jus us 01 i legal legai sit successor cessor of J h u ti in the tho presidency f ii ic C r i of jesus cliris chesl of I 1 r ai i saints as their choir opt net wt n ulde ulce r nide tudie aid vid like the 1 i wen W en abraha abraham ai klot lot know ahr they were nvere going bcd led v iward ivard iv ard iii ci a most lut iut ini iut int i 1 it if C aid ald and jid semon butr eting 50 i V vs h 4 1 sleet leet wazid like ilke a ator tor tot 0 it o so 1 not a tent left t ti iding iii ili ramp camp over ov r il light hight glit wonie i and i A til lil dren ildren en on the naked rt etli I 1 I 1 0 ope opp pe i t t the f t e sk sky y erl crl cracks k s and i ers ims im ss sabe abe sun moon and nol noi deli well for fore levea lelea days at a ti not no a spear of ras aras a oras knothe rame larie or bud on the thi trees scores r f fa fm milis ilis lils without a morsel of tr ird A teanis dying with hunger be tp bed d ding ing their course west by south 0 labor ca cano cino io nally 10 it the bor r ft rs of 1 fora for a morsel of read fread bread planting a colony at gar 01 grov and another at mount pistil without compass chart i r guide gulde or even an indian trail 1 ving ting nginr king 0 out and mahag maama 1 road roads and sand irid l idge 1 es through tho length of iva I v a they arrived at na mo eo river i iTi iliae ae almost immediately after their ar arrival thy thoy were hollowed k by ca cat pat t J allen alien with a call from flie tiie tl general government for five hf nirad troop for united states tee ice ain aiu afu mexico who were irle fledia tely to his or 0 yr y r whilst willist wives mother si sisters P F s W ds ugh ig 1 I liters friends and ariff teams teanis VAI irl I 1 left eft standing on the prairie to risk their I 1 fam fate against fal fai fannine nine cold cod eod dise disease asland and death aud aird by the n aged sed ted it infirm fiaai F ul ya il I 1 izi 3 id A orp orphans hais hals through toil and suder ing lug untold were located on the wesl west k S L bak bank of the missouri riv e cial caal ai lt V iter ites more than seve i kindred adred ia houses were erected in about days blit bilt but with all this labor toil aud and build 11 ija iju alij lii III i I 1 y were wire pad oad lail t eind rind caves eaves ahl ahi jlii jt us 11 I 1 the cacitti where to lay jay heads didik an ali 1 ent cut winter without sheep sheepskins skins skids or goat skins to cover them or corn enough jo ito satisfy hunger the mormon battalion Bat dat taiton tation of more than five hundred effective men followed their beloved leader col ool alien allen to ft leavenworth cn en worth whore where he died deeply lamented immediately arler alter the death of col allen alien the battalion was dogged to santafe under unnecessary and forced marches by that miserable excuse for a human being smith which unnecessary force with the poisons they were compelled to take from a quack surgeon broken down shoemaker Anderson broke many of their constitutions and those who wiio survived returned turned ro from santafe to 0 this place while a great majority continued their march to alfasso Al passo under the command of that worthy model of irish generalship eral ship col cook buffeting buffi ting rocky kenyons kan sand plains trackless deserts thirst subsisting on OIL hunger and fresh meat ineat without bread and making a new road to san diego met gen kearney hearney Kc arney arnes ari ail all an honor to his nation just in time tinie to save him from the grasp of treachery tind and california from the reaction re action of mexican influence and the treasonable aspirations of an aspiring aspirin demao demag demagogue 3 oue 01 opened a vein rein of gold of immeasurable extent which has |
