| Show ELDER I 1 0 LITTLE FIELDS REJOINDER A TO tim tini leer OP OF josepn toll muter OF naxos namos mr roae rose ph smith lamona jDa monis iowa birin bir bibin in the opening portion of your third letter you reiterate your quotation from the molds worda ot of the prophet jacob wherein he in the name e and by the authority of joho yah forbids the Nep hep hites to practice plural marriage in a former letter I 1 answered your arguments derived from the words of jacob I 1 showed clearly the ur auy nuy ur M tempt on sour soar pant part to sustain aust aln ain your opposition to plural marriage age aga from them and yet you reiterate the bame same quotations and the same ments you cling to these words of jacob as a browing man clings to a straws and probably flatter yours yourE yourself eit eif that in so BO doing great praise is due to you for holding on so eo firmly to the iron rod of gods goda word mr smith you are not frank nor ingenious in the uso ubo you make of tho the words of jacob you yon do not quote and apply them in tuli tuii you select the sentences that suit your purpose and weave them into an argument designed to sustain your position you are like the man who declared he could prove from the 5 cathings each cach ings of paul that it was wan right costeal to steal when asked foz for the passage ho he quoted fro from eph aj tha words lat fat him that stole steal omitting tho words ano nox nore noro it is true that acob jacob reproved reprove the Nep nop hites ites itea for their sexual collup corruption the nature of that corruption I 1 explained in a former letter it consisted in part of torn forn fornication fornicate icat leat on whoredom and adultery but eat the marriage system laws and ordinances under which the patriarchs and prophets of the hebrew race married plural wives was unknown among the Nep hites hence I 1 it t is impossible that the practice of that thai system could have been one of the sins for which jacob so severely reproved them thene there are two hinds kinds of marriage ono la Is pure holy heavenly it 16 came from god it Is con trilled trolled by his EUs la iams lawi vea ves tad end ordinances and ja ial designed to cl elevate ovate puri purl purity purify tys 3 refine and perfect tho the human race the other la Is low jow degrading and corrupt it had its origin in manig mania wickedness and to is calculated to debase pollute and destroy mankind they are as different in their natures and effects as aa light is from daran darkness or virtue from vice david for ablong time practiced the former and was blessed being tempted of tha the devil ho he fell into the latter and was cursed with t n sore soro cursing precisely BO 90 with solomon ahila ho he practiced right boua plural marrial marriage rab dab he rhe was favored of god as no man has ever been be fore foro or since but when he took wives unlawfully he too fell and incurred the vengeance of god upon his head what impartial leador leadon of cf the scriptures cannot eee tee this great lesson imon in the lives of these two men aud and the vast difference be tween right and wrong plural mar it wab was thin thie not the tho form I 1 or jr which the Nep hites practiced and which jacob forbade I 1 admit that the dispensation of tho the gospel through jacob was waa a strictly monogamous one I 1 admit that under it polygamy would have been it a crime but bat I 1 do not admit that it was the dispensation of the falness of times that no later one should ever be given nor that the marriage laws binding under it were designed to be thereafter binding upon all peoples and nations for all time to come indeed jacob himself fore stalls buch tuch an idea aften after the tremendous rebuke which he administered to the Nep hites hiten because of their sexual sins bins and after laying down with the most moat rigid strictness the law unto them he prophecies unto them he foretells that the system he has just laid down to them is not to continue ai J ways he predicts that in a 5 future dispensation god will give further commandments to his people concerning their sexual relations These are ane the words of hia hla prophecy oy I 1 wherefore saith balth the lord lri jil if I 1 will wili raise up beed seed unto me I 1 wiil will command my people otherwise they ey shall hearken unto these thines things a ie the monog 0 analo ja law r just given these words of jacob immediate ly follow those you quote why did you not noi quote them too wais wals it not becalm that to do to so would be to remove the keystone of the arch of your argument and eunner euffer the whole to fall to the ground thia thib sentence Is ia in the nature of a prophecy a revelation that under the dispensation of the gospel in which god should choose to rear a peculiarly righteous seed unto himself to accomplish hh his own purpose in the earth earths he would reveal to lilb ilia people eople new laws concerning marriage in in the faco taco of such a prophecy how bow can you mr smith make it consistent with your conscience to hold that the marriage laws of jacob jboob were never to be changed or added to and that the bilty must be a changeable biang if ho he has caused to be fulfilled this prophecy which he inspired hib his servant to utter 1 have fully and completely answered all your menta drawn um jamb f how everyou will wiil aill cling to them for comfort and solace in your opposition to claral mair marriage fage lage for if you yield them up as one of your weapons you will not be abla to eite cite cites citey in alithe ail all the scriptures that have been given for the instruction profit learning comfort and of mankind one single word phrase or sentence ben een tence that indicates the plural marriage ma arlage system of the latter day saints of utah to be in conflict with the will or law of god in the fifth paragraph of your let ter you allude to adam noah and lehi leni and because no record has survived the mutations of time proving that they during the period of their lives had each but one wife 3 you yon set sat it down as 6 the opening 9 count in the tl sn bis tan your position ohai thai god never intended a plurality of nivea to be practiced practised it is true the creator started the tho peopling ol oi tho the oarth carth with adam and eve hb chose to 0 o commence that stupendous work with the two beings to whom no doubt the right belonged che the cho commencement waa incited email small from two millions deAc descended ended the stream of lite widened and deepened as it flowed through the coming ages the tho sourpk of this stream was wab pure pune and that it was corrupted by the time it reached ed the days of nosh noah by abominations of men and women Is no argument ainest against c such a of polygamy as they themselves had introduced to accommodate their lascivious desires they had inaugurated it god was not known in tho the matter hence his hla anger angerjas was wab kindled them and the flood resul resulted ted tel with norh nord who is sometimes called tho the second adam the earth seamed seemed again in some respects to resume it pristine condition noah and his sons had but one wine wire each BO far as the bible gives an all account p and ashl was in the same condition but all this argues no nothing g against polygamy my there were w other righteous m and good men who lived ved in various dispensa gions who did not hold the b eys ays of this ministry and sir I 1 writs write of no new now goodr cosmos adgy aoby when I 1 declare to you vou that it if these men were not thus favored that joseph smith your father did receive from the annd a dispensation of this ministry you say the revelation of cf 1943 on celestial marriage is of doubtful parentage sanu sana aud aun you cannot accept it n evidence nevertheless it iaGo lago Is Aloda dd eternal truth revealed through your tather father you undertake to deny its vy by rd ing to thin thi that this revelation was fabricated by president brigham young after your fathers leathand deat hand hence your father was not a polygamist in my last I 1 sufficiently disproved thia thir position of youra yours by the affidavit of elder david full mer concerning which you yon make no allusion this affidavit positively states abates that on or about the twelfth day of august A D 1843 1 this revelation on celestial marriage wass wab was by your fathers and consent read before the high council on that date assembled in the city of nauvoo by your now deceased and honored uncle hyrum smith your father fathers a death occurred on the day of june 1814 these dates show that this reading took place a little less than one year pevious to joseph smiths death this plainly relieves president young from your charge and liebes lishes the fact that that revelation was given through the agency of the prophet joseph I 1 have given you the names of women who wore were hes hia wives these ladles ladies live in utah and sustain the highest credibility fbi ibi lity they are willing to aspea speak k for thele therE themselves elvea As you tou have been a student at lw law you should know something of the tb e nature of evidence I 1 but there is a saying which I 1 hope cull can haxe hase no application to you that a man convinced nwe nis v vill Is of tho the flame bame opinion still now sir bir do you admit that I 1 have proven that your father did practice poly gamy I 1 desire positively that you will answer this question this was one of the main questions contemplated in my open letter I 1 there denied the position your conference too took 16 upon this point in the temple as being correct you have introduced many side issues and heem dispo disposed eed ted to dodge this main question I 1 call you back to it again this and the question of tempie temple building were among my original questions before you ramble quite all over creation expecting me to follow I 1 nok abt you to bay buy gayes yes or no as to whether you are axe or are not convinced that your father plurality abraham ww trl mot moo a poty giama it you soni de declare elare in contradiction to all historians and commentators who have left their heir testimony on the historic page it has been reserved for joep joseph h i mith of Lamoni to make jaske this announcement to prove that abraham was a polygamist let me call cali the attention of the reader to the sixteenth chapter of genesis the tho touching history of hagar and the solicitude of the heavenly father for the child ishmael ishmaul Ish maul maal and the fact that ishmael among the seed of abraham all go to show that gid recognized them as being of the family of abraham and to disprove your assertion that hagar was given to abraham by baral saral only let iet me quote Josep josephus huf hup barat baral aut B 1 0 olo 10 accordingly saral barat at gods command brought to t 0 his bed one of her handmaids hand maids a woman of egyptian descent la in or der to obtain children by her As ae god commanded this his the matter is in favor of polygamy and moses mosea was not a mih mist tyoa jou you bay say prom from the second chapter of exodus we learn lear that moses tock zipporah to wife and in the twelfth chapter of Num numbers berf berk we read of his marrying and ethiopian woman I 1 hope las ins y readers will roal roan these fass pass passages a and satisfy themselves how un warrantable la your assertion when you confound these thess two women i together and eay bay that thoy they were wore we re ono and the mm sam person th these ese were tb the fhe e two wives of moses thus making him a poleg adist and when aaron and miriam took occasion to speak against moes mo es concerning this matter the anger of the lord was kindled against them and miriam became leprous affords you no comfort berecca must have ruled her house in respect to her husbands wives as joseph smiths wife emma would havo have done if he had not nolt as you U a assert asbert secretly banned binned against 10 her r isaacs affords me no discouragement ra at least how rebecca ruled 13 not important for me to dis cues how emma smith woula have ruled does doeg not call for criticism from ine lne but tho the close of the sen ben just jost quoted requires nomo nome ex es riia plia atlon I 1 am not aware that anything I 1 haxe have written during this controversy con cou wili justify the implication thau thag joseph smith the prophet nener nager sinned sinne secretly hu hia wife emms emrus or any other being eding I 1 know not that in any transaction tran in the tha order of celestial marriage ho ba edmea against your year ima mother have you understood file filo mo to says say directly or indirectly that felber feiber to tos aly wives 5 up lamm to your mother I 1 it he did so BO I 1 did not know concerning it but I 1 will positively bit sit ively state that during the reel genes dence at nauvoo our mother emma E m was waa present when at least four of hla his wives were sealed to him to which she gave her consent oona cona ent positive tiva evidence can be produced to this effect here la it a little of it elret the statement of your cousin lovina walker the daughter of the patriarch hyum hyrum smith certificate 1 I lovins walker 1 hereby certify that while I 1 was living with aunt emma smith in fulton city fulton co ille in the year 1816 eha bhe told me that bhe she emma smith was present and witnessed the marrying or ote lizy lizi partridge emliy emily F mily partridge maria lawrence and sarah lawrence to her ber hubband husband joseph smith nud aud that bhe she gave her consent thereto LOVINA WALRER wo we hereby witness that lovina waler waier made and signed the above state menton this thib day ofa of june une A D 1869 1889 at salt arke city bale eale lako lake county utah territory of her own free tree will and accord hyrum 6 sarau E SMITH JOB P F SMITH and next the alti alli affidavit davit of one of the ladias mentioned in the above certificate confirm confirming ink Inz the fagot ot gt the preb pree presence ence ol of your mother at the time that she fhe the mant nant amm aff was seal ed to your father AFFIDAVIT TERm territory ToRy OF UTAH t sa s1 county of bait balt lake lahe ba it remembered that on the first day of aray may A D 1869 personally appeared appa app ared Bared before smith judge of probate for said county emily dow partridge young who was by me sworn in dua due form of law and upon her oath blid that ou on theale the elo eio day of may A D 1843 at the city of county ot of hancock Hanco cb state ot of illinois tbt bhe was married or sealed to joseph josep h hsmith president of the church 0 of I 1 beaus jeang chrisa or aay sain JAIn tsi 9 by james adams a high priest in n sald said 1 according to the laws of the bome bame regulating marriage in the presence of emma hale smith and eliza marfa marla partridge lyman ezily EMILY ay n P YOUNG subscribed and abom tob to by the said emily P young tho the day and year first above abote written E binm bing probate judge hence tho the prophet did not secret ly Y sin dinst hib hia wife emma you will observe that the above affiant states that bhe ehe was married to your father on may 11 II 1843 while the revelation on plural mar ariage as a subsequently published bearb bears date of july 1848 1843 by means of the revelation the law of plural marriage was wab given to the hurch but long prior to its date the principle was revealed to your father oather and ho he was commanded to practice jt it lithe the case caso case of joseph is only favorable to your vie view w in seeming he was waa the eron hron of rachel rachil the only legal wife jacob asa 11 I 1 am pleased that you yon thus admit rachel waa was jacobs legal wife at fit lebale ia evident she bhe wab was hia hla second wife leah was jacobs wife aeden seven years before bachel rachel be came his wife esch each of these wives had a handmaid which they gave to their husbad husband for wives geh 10 1885 18 85 chap 30 8 12 hence josephs joseph birth was polygamous ones and |
