Show ea A STRONG DEFENCE c E OF or PINEAL PLURAL plural MARRIAGE under UNDER the thi e of the mormon problem I 1 11 a pamphlet of te venty siz alz pages bagis has been published in boston by a citizen of massachusetts tt it was written though not published prior to tho the passage of the edmunds bill and Is addressed to tho honorable henry aj L hawes Geor georgef goe hoar william W crapo benjamin IV harris hairis amarozo A ranney leopold morse selwyn Z 7 bowman eben F bjone stone will william am A russell kuss Kusa ell eil john W candler william W rice bice amasa amaan norcross george D robinson Bo binson senators and representatives of massachusetts massachi Mass achu otts etts it la is mainly on the morality mor mon allty and lawfulness of plural marriages marriage and coming from a gentile who has never had any connection whatever wa with th tho th 0 the I 1 mormon church I 1 it t carries a force peculiarly its own the writer boldly assails the popular and incorrect notions on this subject s atad reasons upon it on the basis of divine laws law of natural law and of constitutional law it is divided into two parte parme tho the first treating of the subject on general plea the second being a review oi of the decision of the supreme court of the united states in the roy rey rey key noida nolda case referring Ba ferning ferring to the recent wild and unreasoning agitation by ministers and church people to instigate persecution against the chemor enior mons 11 the author anthor says baya ha lie was in j cited by the cruel and improper methods thus advocated to rid him se belr self eif elf of prejudices and pre pro judgments ai much as possible and to examine the mormon question candidly and without bias and the first thing for him to solve wes wag to determine from the evidence attainable who their polygamy as charged by its enemies la is an au evil in itself an abomination a 11 stigma and a stench heap as elegantly proclaimed pr 0 baits by its christian assailants in the brown university in providence rhode island we came across the famous work by rev martin ma dan D 3 D published in I 1 london jondon in 1780 under tho title of friche fliChe lyp thora being a treatise on fem bem female afe ale ruin in its consequences prevention and remedy ho he found within on tile the flyleaf fly leaf of the book boob in the handwriting of judge potter by whom the volume was presented to the university library these words 99 J 1 wish the subject could be ventilated anew a new upon U pon these matters the deray clergy seem to wt act like the goom goose who hid aid her head in the wall ja E bi 26 JL otter potter 11 this work la Is familiar to the leading men in this community aa as a vigorous supporter of the rightfulness divinity and benefits lenell ta to so society clety of plural mar riago according to the regulations prevailing among the tho ancient israelites nud aud patriarchs dr madan was add afi an english clergyman and was I 1 chaplin ChaPlI rl of 0 the lock HO hospi spi tal institution for the cure and reclamation of p profligate ro fia to persons and BO fan far conquered the 1 prejudices of his class clasa aa as to see the tru truth th through the clouds of error which false roii roll religion conand and perverted customs hau had hail cast aroun around clit it and had the courage to advocate it in the tho face of a frowning world copious extracts are given in the pamphlet from madans madana work 1 which show clearly that plural mar ariage Is not adultery thad that it Is not contrary to the religion established 1 by jems java christ that it vas was yas ap p proved roved of god that if the bible is 2 any e criterion Zi of right and wrong no one has authority to say a man may not have more wives than one that it Is Js superstition not religion that condemns the practice that the tile dif dlf ference between the ancient jews and modern christians in tais ro re gard is that the jews took a plu ralley of women whom they maintained protected aul awl ani provided for fo r agreeably 1 to gods word words and the 1 96 christians take a pluri plurality LY of women and turn them out to rum ruin and destruction that one system filled with wilh obligations ot of men to women ant ani and women to men and was dished by infinite wisdom the other I 1 la of human contrivance and Include includes 3 that which carries no lie dobli watton ration or responsibility either of 1 4 man to woman or woman to man Quota quotations tiong are also made from the r works of lork bolingbroke the emi nent philosopher and statesman loading leading in the same direction ex are taken from india an denu dent and modem by rev bev david OAl oai 0 alien allen lenan an american afi missionary for twenty anve dve years in india bas ouis similar views aad giving the decisions of the tho missionaries in id relation to the retention of plural voves wives by con eon converts vints to christianity in regard to the tho supposed criminality of plural mar marriage riago it is contrary to law wo we clip frova stow the pamphlet I 1 Is it every violation of jot or E keate tate statute a crime and ia to every euch fuch violator a edmiral cd ed minal minai were the men who came forth un harmol from burning fiery furnace criminals because they ibey violated his decree was daniel a criminal in not obeying obe y an established statute of king xing darius it was charged against Bo socrate crate crato that he corrupted the youth th against jesus that deblas ho blasi kou YOU ahomed the charges being proved to the satisfaction of their j judges I 1 both of those teachers and exam clars of morality and religion I 1 died the deaths of criminals wab yaa roger rogen williams a criminal in maintaining ta as he did that anything short of unlimited toleration for foe all religious systems wa dete detestable persecution for it ho he was banished n an au act that disgraced ma se ats and honored bhole island into territory ho ivas delcam ed were tho the founders of our republic criminals or patriots in resisting and violating as they did certain laws of the english parliament are the mormons cormons to bo be adjudged criminals it if they do not obey sect beet of the tho JRe statutes Hta lutes lutea of the united states which statute attari sect beet Hta lutes lutea of the united states which statute attari makes every lovery manica person who marries another in a territory or other place over johi chich 1 ch the united stated bbate havo jurisdiction guilty of bigamy and puni punishable shab le by tine fine and jm imprisonment all these questions can be clearly answered A distinct conception of the nature 0 of human rights nights and of human crimes answers the question and solves the mormon problem F first arst what Is tho the nature of human rights I 1 conceive it to be a power a capacity iu in human belaga of acquiring or receiving sensations emotions mental or spiritual influences this power or capacity is born in inhuman human beings not derived irom from church or state Is 13 a part apart of their nature and hence is natural i exercised in their normal direction these powers and capacities are rights because they ey are in t tha 3 lin lines iines the right lines iines or direction of nature hence the normal arche of human powers or capacities in acquiring or receiving sensations emotions mental spiritual and perhaps other influences constitute natural human eights rights it is not right for fon any legislature abridge to them except so far as it maybe may be necessary to prevent their possessor from infringing on the correspond n d ing equal rights of other pei pel perso sone neAn an achot aed act ot a sovereigns sovereign or of a legis legislature liture to curtail natural hu human man rights ex alt lle tvr n c a hlf ing equal rights of other perso sone neAn an achot aed act ot a sovereigns sovereign or of a legis legislature liture to curtail natural hu human man rights ex alt lle tvr n c a hlf copt for that purpose 0 ia is itself a crime and its promoters are criminal dale daie hence king damus darius the judges of socrates sacrates Sacr ates atea and of jesus of massachusetts and the E english ministries were criminals not their victims he argues that human crimes are violations by one or more human beings of the natural rights of other human beings and goes on to say the plural marriages of the Mormon Mor mon moan mons bif sif if there be no foree force nor fraud used in ef effecting or r maintaining them do not mot violate the rights in in person or pro property porty of other jio people pie or of any person they aro not overt or open copen acts against pe peace aee gee and good order orders they are not in JU to bis his social duties j but are arp on the contrary in the performance of what the parties to them most religiously believe to be their social duties A marriage is a civil contract between a man mar and a woman for fon social purposes the parties thereto have each one a natural right to enter in ja to buch euch contract if thereby they vi no other person persons rights in tho the case of a proposed sed second mar ariage of the same man and another woman no person BO vor for a ag 91 I 1 on can 8 see e 6 can reasonably object to it unless it be botho the first wife if ehe she do not object huoh pauch more if sho ebo favor the I 1 proposed second marriage I 1 do not see any reasonable objection to ib it it may not be to my taste nor to your taste but we are not parties to it our tastes ought not to control other independent persons marriage preferences IE it certainly ia Is against our prejudices but prejudices are subtle enemies they enslave and d warf dwarf every person who entertains them As ahava said the tho parties to a second marriage hayo bavo a natural right tight to enter into ezuch buch cou con contrast tract 1 jf they violate boother no other oiher persona persons lona sona rights no other othor person oy ot legislature lature is rightfully entitled to oppose pr or r remonstrate e bonstra to against it otherwise jaban an by moral means meana force or fraud authorized or employed against any of the married part leas to melt a crime crimo legislators it are in my opinion greater greate r criminals than the ignorant poverty or moneymaking money making oln officials cial ulal who execute their statute statutes a ho he speaks in favor oi 01 toleration as follows I 1 let it not be forgotten nor mis apprehended anat mormon plural marriages are by the parties to them and held assa as sacred creda ereda a part of their worship as blen slen is by the jews or immersion or sprinkling is by baptists and rationalists or as celeba celibacy cy is s by tho the shakers and by the roman catholic priesthood if a ship blila on in bager roger illiams NV viiu VilU ams day a ship was of only some few hundred tons toils huz nax burden burdon tion elen caid ouid carry hundreds of Pa rapists papists ts protestants jews and turks on a long boyage the voyage of life to io most of us is dut but a abort one without internal intern al religious strafes fes simply by these sects and nationalities mutually aasta abstaining ining from persecution of one another talen then certainly t is not impossible in the vast territory of the united states where each state is 18 at biber liberty tys without let hindrance or other restraint than moral bues to establish monogamy polygamy or i any other marriage institution thiet tho the of each state may respectively desire for americans of all creeds modes of faiths faith falth and re publican social institutions to dwell together in peace har harmony monys and prosperity if they will abstain from persecution or violation of one an others natural rights i in my fathe fathers rs house iuro are many mansions fon for aught I 1 known to the contrary jesus jesua may anay hav have pre pie pared among those many mansions a place for the tho mormons cormons Mor mons the first part of the pamphlet closes with question afif gif if the mormon housa of worship is destroyed whose house will next burn tho second part Is worthy of a more ext extended notice than wo we have space for forto borto today to day dabit it ia is an abl abi of the decision division in the reynolds casse carse case casu and points out its weah weak and JJ il logical parts with great cie clo amess luness and force the work ia is worthy of the consideration of thoughtful people everywhere and is calculated to correct many erroneous notions that have prevailed upon a subject important to the the whole human family |