Show Q 0 o I 1 V I 1 1 1 n AR i jat eze 1 i 1 v j m 4 01 ii riis TIIS i jf 14 11 1 I we h anig ave laaen t e e n f witch v f t V i il e 6 copy c 0 p y ofa ota ietter letter written by elder eider addressed to his fr friends lends in thelast the 1 east I 1 I 1 the he names and sid address dress of those friends are omitted ED gd D E NJ y gentlemen though thou 1 h not members of the church to which et I 1 have the honor to belong you cannot look upon matters connela connected with our history from the same standpoint thata thad that I 1 do dof yet from the pleasant and abd scenes that transpired with us hen whan I 1 was as a a resident of your city I 1 cannot forego the inclination of writing to you it is now a little more than elgh eighteen teed years yearb since sincel I 1 left your busy and flourishing g town the vigor of manhood then animated our bodies and our but minds arid and though our pursuits ani and professions were diverse a kindly meling always existed between us but now the sun of our existence is fast declining in the western sky and how bow soon it may set with some bome or adlof all ail of us none but that being who gave Us as exl exi ex ax i can determine in view of this contingency and from considerations of our dour agreeable associations I 1 am impelled to the pleasant task of giving you farther reasons why my falih increases in the truth of my religion with the increase of mayears my years sears then I 1 was comparatively young and full of combativeness combative ness nesb and zeal but now ex per pen peri fence lence enee ence has hits somewhat modified my feelings and from a careful observation of men and things I 1 am taught calmness consideration and faith in the true and living god there is a tacit ac by the american government that our religion cannot be disproved by the scriptures of the old or new now testament nor yet by the highest order of talent in the nati nation oli ois aided by all thel the sciences that can embellish that talent talen tand taud and so despairing of the ability of men denof of science erudition and theology to suc sue gess eess tully refute it they resort to penal enactments against its further farther develop ment and progress now the inquiry naturally arises if men have not skill I 1 learning biblical knowledge and general intelligence to effectually expose its fallacy in the broad field of investigation have they skill learning biblical knowledge and general intelligence enough to enable them to enact laws sufficiently potent to impede the onward marcil march of truth if it might were right they possibly could accomplish it lare tare not the people of the united states the fountain from which all constitutional law issues and land are they not higher highba and stronger than the law itself it so soi toi can the law jaw annul that which the makers of that law are unable to do stringent enactments agai agal natus baffle us if the overruling hand of providence were palsied but there is an overruling providence in this case and in al all ail lother other cases pertaining to the family of man some same of you may yet remember that ini in the year gli 1 published au article articie ire JRe republican publican I 1 in which it was stated concerning the southe southern rn reu rebellion lion ilon that the demon of war would bageon rage on the american continent till the material in which he chose to operate was consumed consume di then he would depart andrake and take up his abode on the banks of the rhine has that prediction been fulfilled if it has been then I 1 call cah assure you in the name of that god that inspired that prediction that every enactment of the american government prejudicial to the church of jesus christ day saints in utah territory will prove more prejudicial and disastrous to the nation than to the latter day saints keep your eyes open to the course and character of the legisla congress in connection with the foregoing sentiment I 1 am borry sorry to feel under the necessity of giving utterance to these words but as further progo of the correctness of my position I 1 will here state that any favors shown by the government to the latter day saints will be answered on its ita hoad with more than equal tavor favor by a providential hand band if the government would prosper and hush bush the he cordent discordant dis diB elements that threaten to rend it asunder asu uder if it would settle gettle the mormon question and be happy and prosperous itself and allow the saints to be happy and prosperous also let it graciously give to the latter day saints the lands in this territory which they possess and have reclaimed from the desert by honest toil toll we have earned these lands by killing snakes making roads building bridges fighting indians a md and grasshoppers making canals and water ditches we have made an oasis in the debert desert which has afforded subsequent s riding ca 4 a resting place and a base ase fort supplies heretofore curf ouram i arth h have av 6 been to us by ox ari ali ardd arid d mule 16 teams le the igar igat laie laae ifie of over i a thousand miles bosta and charges to enable listo us to 7 form forrd this base of supplies and being first and forem foremost oat bAt iu ju thed these thesa mountain regions we have borne barne th the burden and heat of the day I 1 cannot think the morals morais of the nation will suffer very materially by the example of what is termed our peculiar institutions therefore let th the government allow mormonism biam blAm ao a it lol fol rs called to sink by its owa own weight or 8 wim swim by its own couyancy bou yancy if it cau can exist on a boisterous sea with such auch a tide tlde of opposition betting setting I 1 in aga against not it auar quarters tipra it Is pretty good e evidence vid ence enco that there is a helping band under underneath neith it invisible to the world but the saints if it cannot r swim af pf course ibb must sin bin it with out congress luteff interfering ering with it t but they tell it is a stumbling blang block and rock of offense to the american people no doubt it is so but did god ever reveal any law or system of religion that hat was not noi a stumbling block andi ands and rock of offense at the time it was re I 1 healed now wherefore therefore as the thie government and people of the united states treat the saints BO will heaven treat them if it they frown frowd upon us ua they will be frowned upon if they smile upon us they will be smiled upon if they heap blessings upon us blessings will be hea heaped p upon them if they he heap ap curses upon us bo curses will be heaped upon them no man has ever lifted up bis his hand or voice against or the cormons mormons Mor mons and has continued to do so but bat that has baa become a candidate for disgrace and dishonor amongst men to say nothing of hereafter A true and faithful latter day saint is better thought of today to day by the outside world than a miserable apostate uttering the cry of 1 I exposed or something else olee equally flaunting and false I 1 am an american cit eit citizen iden lien my father and grandfather were such before me 1 I 1 love my country I 1 love her I 1 and stripes yet as a faithful watchman upon her walls I 1 will utter the warning ory cry when I 1 bee see herdti her in danger now my friends for such 1 I esteem you let mesay to you and what isay ibay I 1 bay say to you I 1 say to all that joseph smith was a true true and faithful prophet of god his mantle mantie fell on brigham young not in a corner but in the presence of tho thousands of people I 1 saw baw him myself when it fell and he has worn it to this day and will continue to wear it while helices he lives ilves I 1 am no stranger to you you know me and knew me forbears for years did 1 I 1 ever tell you yon a lie did I 1 ever attempt to defraud or deceive any of you and when I 1 left you did Ilea liea I 1 leave veany any debt unpaid not to my knowledge but I 1 hareno bave have no righteousness to td boast of I 1 as well as you am dependant on the mercy of our god and while I 1 am tilot not much given to I 1 cannot withhold 11 from youa scriptural invitation don jon come so go along with withes 1111 and we 1 will elli do 00 thee t ee good for iov the bordba lord nord th F good od concerning graehl srael jle jie 1 I 1 i remain gentlemen idt n in JJ c moat respectfully 1 youn your sincere friend end rl L t fi THE researches of geologists and other othir scientific men are continually adducing adduch ij proof that the great west of america including the rocky mountain regi revionia reg ionia onla onia onis one of the richest geologically and in the known world almost every week richly prized mementoes of prehistoric ages are being brought to light proving that america I 1 the new world is by no means an infant infant among gods goda creations and onee once teamed with aa as numerous races and forms of life human and animal as any other portion of the earth could ever boast the colorado tribune of the at ath not I 1 basan hasan hab has an account of the disc discovery ov of f the remains of anaas a mastodon todon aith at the e F fort eort ort ont L lyon yon resen reservation in that territory this deni denizen of the ancient world supposed to be a reale of the period of the earths geological formation was waa of enormous magnitude one of the teeth weighed bik six pounds and measured gix six by twelve inches the tribune saya bayr that the tusks were four feet in diameter but this must be a mistake and may mean four feet in circumference which would be enormous and almost incredible the hopeni openings nga in the several vertebrae for the spinal arrow marrow were three and a half inches in diameter the bones crumbled to dust on being exposed to the air |