Show pa 0 M S BY APOSTLE MOSES THATCHER at the general annual bonfe conference rence friday afternoon april dah 1884 7 BY F I 1 GIBBS I 1 in the remarks that were made this morning by the bret brethren en and feer teer thau that they wera were were pro prompted apte by the holy holi ghost it was truly remar remarked by our aged and venerated resident president that unless sustained by the lord we cannot as a people eople accomplish his work and it certani certainly must be apparent to ever every 7 thoughtful mind that man in and of himself is very weak that he Is unable alone and ez unaided aided to accomplish com that which will result in his own salvation jt it is not difficult to understand or to compte comprehend hend the power ow of god as it is manifested in the affairs of nations but we cannot always see manages and controls individuals divi duals and yet no human being without his permission breathes the breath of life for he is the giver of life and when we as a community or as individuals sense this manifesting by our works a goodly degree of faith and bel bei before ore god then we are in the light but bot people on the other hai hal hand ici lei mho who undertake to exhibit their own wisdom OT or to depend d upon the knowledge of manwill man will if t t they h ey continue u e in nth that at spirit irit be led in into t 0 darkness and ana their life ilfe will result in failure allure during diring the 06 past few months I 1 have tho thought u M much upon a particular subject which has weighed heavily upon my mind by reason of the enmity the malace anti ansi hatred which I 1 have seen manifested towards the latter day saints and chave been heen led to believe that they are hated more mote fo for r their virtues th anfor their supposed vices in connection with this in reflecting upon such subjects I 1 have been led to believe that many among this people are apt to have compassion for the guilty and I 1 must confess myself that I 1 have havo never heard judgment passed as on any man by the authorities of the church without more or less pity in my llly heart for that man we are generally apt to be too lenient to the falsifier who becomes the accuser of his brethren we are too apt to look with pity ity upon u on one mhd may have fallen from from tre tte the path of chastity and forsaken the ways of the lord there is something thin in the human heart that is drawn out r in a sympathy and compassion for the erring 1 I will not attempt this at afternoon to show whether this is a corrector an incorrect sentiment whether w ether it isa is a failing or a virtue but I 1 have noticed noti cedon on the other hand when hatred prompts action there is but little if any mercy shown the shafts intended fer for the innocent are often dipped in doubly distilled poison before they are sped from the bow of envy by the hand of malace it was so in the days of the savior thrice tried and thrice condemned followed to the cross with but little human hutnan sympathy he endured the agonies ol of a cruel lingering death how much sympathy do you yo appose cain had when he slew his brother abel did cain hate abel because he was innocent or because he was guilty his hand would have paused aused lie he would have reflected had abel abel been as guilty before god as he was waa but he be was pure and because god recognized his purity by accepting his C offering there arose in cains heart envy malace and hatred that could only be appeased with blood athas it hag has been so in every every age of the world you may trace numan human human persecution you may trace the history of those who invented the rack the thumbscrew and the who wheel el ani and and you will find they have always been moved by one spirit that same spirit which raised the rebellion in heaven and that sought the glory and power of god the father and that found its culmination in sending to perdition lucifer and those that were cast out with him and milton interpreting the spirit that prompted pr Lucifer inthe course he pursued makes him say it is better to reign in hell than serve in heaven and wherever we find that spirit we find a spirit of envy a spirit of malice a spirit that desires to destroy that which is more excellent and worthy than itself in this way after a just comparison between our persecutors and ourselves we can account for the Derse cution to which wo we have been made subject let the youth of zion xion contemplate the character of the prophet joseph smith and see how evidences of prejudice hatred and malice were heaped upon him until those that were prompted by it succeeded at last in slaying him the they y perpetrated this deed without mercy without pity innocent and guiltless as he was how is it today to day converse with certain people in salt shit lake city those who live made anade it their business to hate to lie ile about and to do all in their power to persecute and despoil the late 4 ter day Saints land louwill you will find flud lurkin g in their breasts exactly the same spirit manifested by the wicked towards the saints of go god ba in all an ages of the world divest them of their malice and hatred and there would be little left woh Weh hehr hear eara a great deal about the immorality or allty of this POO people c but allow perikli me to say if I 1 we ive permitted eted ourselves ato eto X 1 to be led into wickedness duess if we would adopt the ways of the christian age it if we would cast our children lots nto into reservoirs and ash pits on vacant lots aud dung heaps or throw them on to the ibe he railroad trink trac kit it wo w to our sons and daughters disease and encourage them in ways that lead to death hell and the grave we should t then h en have assimilated as some of our would be have expressed e d it with american institutions hai in other oilier words then we should be hail hall fellows well met with the office seek e ers rs with adventurers with libertines and other destroyers of other peoples people Is peace and happiness it is because we cannot do this because we refuse to assimilate I 1 wc prefer to row against the current of borrup corruption I 1 n because the fruits of our labors political oli oll financial and social are goo good a and bespeak s ea ak a higher and better civilization trat that we are hated bated and ostracised ostracized and ana not because of any immorality that may exist in our midst we are sensible of the fact that we are arl not of the world that if we were the world would love iove us as its own we are sensible of the fact that we have come out from the world and that too for a wise purpose in the ike wisdom of god dod in Int these kiese mountains we expect to establish the foundation of a civilization that will yet be the admiration of the world we expect to bequeath to our children the blessings of physical and mental strength such uch as will enable them jostand to stand the test that will be required of them and the very principle and tenet of our religion against against which the christian feeling of the t e age aee appears to be so much shocked will be the chief cornerstone corner stone in the hands of the builder of rearing the structure that will be different from adyth anything ing else in the world because we practice celestial or plural marriage we are branded as lawbreakers law bi eakers breakers we are told that we seek to violate constitutional law and the enactments of the congress of the united states upon this point I 1 desire to make a few remarks I 1 was born in this country I 1 can trace my lineage to the revolutionary i fathers lathers I 1 love the institutions of my country I 1 love iove and venerate the constitution ution but I 1 am not so ignorant I 1 am not so blind that I 1 cannot see that anything which you or I 1 may do may be made contrad contrary y to law and may be called unconstitutional but I 1 hold that the constitution was made broad enough high enough and deep enough to enable us to practise our religion and be free before god and man I 1 hold hoid that if congress has a right to enact a law in relation to marriage it in might W h 4 just as consistently make a law affecting baptism or prescribing t the he manner if at all the sacrament of the lords supper er should hould be administered what wm you do about abou tit it I 1 says one I 1 do not pretend to know what oiher others will do neither do I 1 pretend to give advice in the premises but I 1 do say this that no nation or government has ever been able to crush the religious sentiment of any peo people ae unk unless s s it crushed the whole people e the nearest app approach roath to success in this direction that I 1 can find in history was that of charles IX advised by his wicked mother when he be slew the huguenots Huguen in the streets of paris but even this kind of treatment did not succeed and never can succeed for a persecuted religion will be an investigated religion and in my opinion it is truth that receives the thrust of the enemy far more frequently than evil I 1 wish to bear my iny testimony in relation rela reia to the latter day saints and their position we will abide iii ili in these mountains and we hlll plead with our government we will continue contin u e to petition tio congress and submit our memorials to the president of the united states and we will continue to love our country defend its interests and be epee fp mon in these mountains if if we were aught else if we could be bound hand band and foot as abject slaves we should be unworthy to be citizens of so great reat a republic as is ours it cannot ge be done and for this reason we have come from the nations of the civilized world of our own free will and choice expecting to enjoy and to bequeath eath thour children the freedom guaranteed by the laws and andi institutions of our country we came as intelligent tell igent independent men and wom worm en and a people who are inteli intelligent gent a and independent cannot be made a e slaves the result will doubtless doubt less lesi be this we shall be crowded upon fro from time to time but nu no more I 1 apprehend than god in ills his w wisdom adom will permit and the very acts of tion and unfairness that will be directed against us will bring out and develop the elements of excellency that will make our statesmen and that will make maki them lovers and defenders of right and liberty until in the due time of of the lord there will grow up in those these mountains a race of people that will not only defend the constitution but defend the flag nag of the nation and at the same time be willing coextend to extend the principles of freedom t to all who desire to receive them it is a great mistake to imagine that the mormons cormons Mor mons are opposed to the government ern ment they are not opposed to the government there is not a feeling of secession about them and they do not propose to be forced on the other side of tho the fence by any al alliance ilance formed either in utah or outside of utah we expect to stand upon the platform laid broad and deep by the fathers we expect to defend our rights as american citizens and to do less than this would be unworthy a f free ree people before closing I 1 wish to bear my testimony in regard to the people in the world I 1 am perfectly satisfied there are thousands of good and hon hoa est esteen men and women in our nation who it if they knew our true status and understood der stood the tho facts as they are would defend our rights to the uttermost of their power ower liet fou flu they have been beer hedger hedged ant ont a 0 it ang reports in and iea iez belying atrz gref iz A our true character have been so widely circulated that they have been led to believe them but as we are becoming better known we may expect to find men and women with a high degree of moral cour age here and here there defending us and speaking favorably of us there is no such feeling exhibited in our nation towards us today to day as two vears ag ago go and even that hostile as it was did good the evil that the ministers and priests and politicians together sought to bring upon us was vas through the wisdom of ay god od overruled overrule ol for tor our good and so it will continue to be whatever the enemies of truth do for the purpose of crushing it will eventually be found to be the very means used to establish it we have confidence in the wisdom and power of god and are arc abundantly able to wait and labor labory to work on in the path marked out for us to walk in fully believing that in his own due time he will accomplish ills his marvelous work and a wonder I 1 and bring about those happy results foreshadowed shadowed fore in the promises made to ills his people both ancient ancien tand and modern amen |