Show rhe THE enolias ENO rids liDS POLYGAMY aa THIS tuis ilithe day was set indge ini ink the supreme court of the united states for the case of ceorge reynolds appealed from the supreme court of utah ifju it Js a case without precedent fon tor the first time in the court of last resort the polygamy question which has haa been agitated and discue discussed sed throughout the land comes cornea up for investigation ga tion ilon anade george reynolds an elder in the church of jesus christ of latter day saints writs was indicted by the I 1 grand jury of the third district court of this territory for marrying a second wife his hla first wife 61 being ng alive and 1 0 d in indio ylo yio lation of the antl anti polygamy act ol 01 congress of 1 1862 he wab was triad for bigamy in the third district court march larch 31 1875 was found guilty and sentenced the first marriage being proven by the testimony ef of his first rifea parents and the martlage mar flage ilage by the testimony of the second wife who was bubp conread and who answered the direct questions of the prosecution on appeal to the supreme court this trial was ws proven invalid june jule 19 1875 the indictment having been found by an hn illegal grand jury A second indictment followed anu and another ovial on decemver Dece moen moer 1875 at which the second cifes testimony noi not being obtained the thi evidence of two lawyers present at the first trial that they heard her make such and received against lat the defendant he was found guilty and sentenced to two years imprisonment at hard bard labor and a fine of the dase case case was appealed to the supreme court of the territory and the action ol 01 of the lower court being sustained july 1 1876 was carried up to the supreme court of the united stat stal states stales ej s as provided for jn in what is kno known wn as the I 1 I 1 poland bill the position taken by the defendant fen dant which is that of the thie mor mon people generally may be defined as follows flural marriage marri ake aie that thatis ls the uniting of two or more women jn wedlock to the earbe same came man by an ecclesiastical ceremony is a religious practice of the latter day saints commonly called mormons cormons Mor mons the authority for which is derl deri derived ved from a divine revelation ev elation given to the church joseph smith iti its acknowledged and appointed prophet eer teer and rey revelator elator the principles contained in that re are corroborated by the f sacred acred scriptures called the holy bible or the 01 and new testaments which are the ed authority for re religious lous ious and practice among all the christian denominations the constitution of our country that pa huss puss no law respecting an establishment of religion nor prohibiting the free exercise ex erciso there thereof 60 mormon plu pla ral marriage had been for many years practised practiced under an establishment lish ment pf af religion 21 when congress passed a law prohibiting it and providing penalties against JE that statute familiarly known as the anti polygamy act of 62 was aimed and directed against a cere mony well known by the legislators who enacted e the jaw law to be a part n of f t the be mormon religion therefore we W 0 claim that the thebie th baid said act of congress is unconstitutional and consequently void it must be understood that the statutes of utah tah territory are silent on this subject the marriage ceremony which unites a married man with a plural wife is Js esseiaz religious claiming no ee so cular acknowledgment nor lesal legal sanction or recognition the law of the land apart from the unconstitutional act referred to has nothing to do with it its validity edity depends upon an ecclesiastical sias ordinance ance anee based upon a I 1 revelation assuredly believed to be from god those who are affected by it are willing to accept it as such with all its responsibilities no force but the power of conscience ia is ebere exercised ased upon a any ny person 1 in 11 its practice no woman ia is thereby compelled to marry any man against her choice no man Is obliged to 0 o take any woman to wife in opposition to his own volition it does not infringe upon nor violate any human rights it is not a crime of itself and only appears as such by construction there ig Is a vast difference between mormon polygamy and that which is le ken generally braily brally denominated bigamy bid big arink the latter is the abandonment of a legal wife for an illegal union with another deception and fraud are its usual characteristics the wife la Is deserted and defrauded frau ded edthe the new companion entrapped and deluded into a fahe faleo relation it is for the protection of women against the wiles of unfaithful and untruthful men that laws in various countries have been enacted against bigamy amor morman plural marriage involves an addition to a mans family cespon re spon without any or defrauding of his bis first wife all parties to the transaction are believers in the sacredness of its obligation i it isa iba is a mutual arrangement it la Is recognized laed as right and p proper per pen by the gd body of bf the e people among whom they e live and nobody outside is injured ure b by ir lt the ceremony is herfor performed e aa are a religious ordinance only and alid the minister who performs it understands and sanctions the relationship of all the principals there is no parallel therefore between betwee rl common bigamy an and d mormon n po poly y OMY the subject hinges upon uon the question whether or nor marriage la is gan can an establishment of religion 11 if it it is then thel the controversy upon vergus versus marriage la to one for the theologians rather than the lawyers law yere and the regulation thereof for the churches jn stead of the legislatures and congresses gr esses that matrimony has big been considered a religious ordin ordinance ancle ancie for ages agea among he athens je jewa ws and Chris chrls christiana tian tiao s Is a fact no one will wili care to dispute d ite under the patriarchal ria nia ri and and mosaic dispensations it was a sacred rite the oldest ecclesiastical organization endom the roman catholic church calls marriage a sacrament nt it is its not considered valid unless i ad ministered by a priest the church ot En england glaud or episcopal church does not number it among the thedac aaa ments laments ra but still announces it as an ordinance of god in the marriage ceremony as contained in tho the prayer book used in all goun poun countries trie s where tho th episcopal is established the bri bride bridegroom gr oom are asked if they will live together after gods ordinance in jn the holy estate of matrimony 1 I 1 and when the priest pronounces them rn man a 11 and wife he bays says those who whom m god hath bath joined together let no man put asunder Thedles the dissenting enting ministers use a form similar in in spirit if differing in words I 1 it la in only ol 01 very recent marriage has been viewed at all in the light of a mere chiv fl contract no mention of it la 13 found lu n the constitution of odthe tbt united states for in the time that document was penned ined marriage was strictly a religious ordinance and aud the frain train eis eta ol 01 that glorious instrument of liberty were determined to permit no laws lawa which should bet set up an any v state religion reH Rion elon nr pro uro vector restrict me of religious falt salt faith falth hand and practice here ia an extract from the statutes passed TJ by i the general assembly of virgl virginia nia in 1662 no marriage shall be valid in law except such us is made by y a minister of the established church of england according to the laws of england this shows snows j how t marriage was yie Yle viewed wedin in that state and it is fl sample of the sentiments of other states on this important question the degrading of gods holy ordinance of matrimony to the level of a mere mero civil contract has opened the way for the loose divorce system of modern times it was the stepping stone into the mire of freo free love mid and it has haa lifted the floodgates flood gates of passion p assion and sin sia idill till the very foundations d of society are saturated and sapped bappe dand daud and the mists that have arisen have blinded the eyes of the mighty the case cate ol 01 reynolds involves a principle it ie not merely a question whether an individual has broken a valid law jaw or not but whether the entering wedge of state power over church doctrine and discipline shall be driven into our national oysten dr or religious liberty shall be maintained in tho the spirit of american institutions if congress may pass laws infringing 9 upon pou and forbidding one religious rito rite which interferes with no persona persons sons sona life liberty or property that body may enact statute after statute affecting nil all a state church or declare thern thera shall be no church and crush out the freedom of creed and action guaranteed to all in the constitution of our it la Is possible however that tho the great judicial power of the land may avoid the main point at issue and rule upon some of the technical questions that willbe presented in which case the defendant will doubtless receive his discharge for there are grave questions as to the legality of iome kome some bome portions of the proceedings against him er may ba be ilie ifie the result tha people of utah will watch the trial with intense interest while trustfully leave the issue in the hands of him who has baa dominion over men merit and nations and arid who will burely surely overrule all things for good to them who serve and ana obey him |