| Show expressions FROM THE PEOPLE wlm TIM TIMES it was long lone ago predicted that there would camu a day of trial for the israel of G ad d not that trial Is limited to special periods and that all the interstices are divested of friction the life being so smoothly outlined that a test is never made the facts are that every day lifes discipline comes from petty things the mental and spiritual accretions of power are so sive that it is only during and in times of special crisis crus that men can truly discover whether progress Is bung I 1 ing made or not continual mist or d droppings eppings of rain will moisten even mhd desert the power of the sun and a new vegetation attest alone the thoroughness of the work the solitary grain ot of hand tand hand drawn by watery force irom from oceanic depths exhibits ex habits babits in aggregation gre gation a power which though passive is aa as striking kine kinc and andA SUggestive as the boarin roaring L of tile the gea sea TIMES OV OF TRIAL are inevitable for all fabrics of organization iza tion whether the division be material or immaterial to use a phrase nature artand art and providence agree on this method the inanimate yields always to time but hut every vi elding yielding of mental menial or spiritual stamina carries within Itsel itself after rafter purifying discipline the key to its own resurrection nor is it in improbable p that there are minds which r really ally aily need to pass through the hells bells of self understanding and self reproach in order that an assumed position may belmore highly estimated or more dearly cherished it would seem as if the world will always have its peters those who by revelation have know knowledge lede that jesus is the christ and FA yet afterward deny this and insist that they know not the man it is not unco bUCO uncommon for men to be so inflated and even to bo be in possession of testimony so substantial that they say aloud though all meix merl deny thee yet will not nut wa 1 and uns una SELF RELIANT SPIRIT is most often overthrown by an unexpected of circumstances varying from froin prior experience and the least looked firof for of alli trials none aie ale anc arc there so strong and well welt defended aa as to be impregnable nabie to assault mentally and s spiritually they may have their citadel of character ats its walls and towers and all exterior points and may be careful carefully lr gaurdet gaur ded ced and yet at the foundation there may be a settling or near a loophole an entrance may be discovered by the wind mortar may have been used in a buttress or bast bastion loa ioa at some unexpected point there is evidence of weakness and the ass assailants find that out men alen have have not a f ulness of self knowl knowledge edae they cannot prognosticate their course in an emergency and in humiliation the man who in his best mood would have said Is thy servant a 3 d dog 0 that he should do this thin thing r it d da in sue quentin quent in experience all an abhorrence hor bor rence of self because when I 1 would do good then evil is present with me 11 and the good that I 1 would I 1 do not bu but t the evil which I 1 would not that I 1 do not that this implies justification it suggests repentance of personal tendency and more tenacious faith in that spirit and power which helgeth hel peth our infirmities tile the PRESENT LOCAL CRISIS is te testing L iti ita 9 i in 1 many ways quite a few of the L latter 1 w r 1 day saints by virtue of special legislation they find flud their religious faith and consequent practise confronted by a law and courts denying the card cardinal inai inal doctrines of the national standards that is the tiie constitution and ultimatum of independence decisions already given in test cases are so subversive ol 01 all preconceived theories and ideas as to the extent of religious libarty that presumed offenders almost stand aghast they have looked for opposition they have expected anal buu but who would have supposed that trial would involve popular repudiation of much that has made america what it is who would have believed that political chicanery that judicial perversity that a pro prostituted prostitutes press and that religious fanaticism could be so oblivious to the genius ot of free institutions 1 and so si skeptical of their inherent vir vil virtue tue as to deem them liable to overthrow because a feeble people in a desert country have religious and social theories and souie some habits differing from the vast majority we might almost judge that all al modern theories of religious and social life had been settled aya by a congress of sages aud and adopted by universal ballot after analysis contrast comparison and conclusion so violent land virulent are the recognized forces of the land the press the pulpit the the executive and the masses itne ITHE THE N VOICE olce OICE OF THE PEOPLE which hicls is assumed to be the voice of god but need we wonder at the density of this ignorance at the inconsistency of this practice when even among the persecuted eluted mi minority there is quite a diversity of opinion as to the principles involved I 1 men who davs practiced a principle for a quarter of a century century should be posted if experience is of value whether their relation and connection with such pric principle ciple pio plo was always productive ot of personal enjoyment is not the query behind and underneath inexperience and som some failure there should be an intelligent recognition of the enduring as of the tran transient and it perchance erebanie ere hance bance the yoke was felt feit as heavy it should be known whether this was from f rout the burthen or from f rom the weakness of the shoulders 1 we need not wonder that there should be indecision among the uninitiated we need not expect testimony always from the unpractised unpracticed the doubtful doubty ull III or the indifferent nor is 0 criticism on action of the highest value when uttered by those who have never been tried in propria persona today to day much unfavorable comment upon the weak kneed and non valiant comes from this element of our community they know not why a mans moral courage oozes out when before the prosecution tiie the judge the pe penalty alty aud the pen and yet perchance perchance their own safety from present persecution is due to their non possession of the very element they detect in others it moral force and self seli sustaining power is expected of the man who has assumed THE TUE responsibility OF PRACTICE has be he also not a right to expect expect t the same characteristic from f rom the ope who claims to believe and yet falls fails to practice if prospective difficulty if unfavorable bl e surroundings if the presence of opposing interests pre prevent vent obedience why not hose chose bose parties exercise a char ity which they need in estimating tile the unwilling victims of courts and law let them at least wait until they have trodden the same path and if wi wo are to be judged if we must have criticism we shall receive it with better feelings from those who have drunk of the same cup and carried the same cross SELF biet alet yet after all there is no chastisement so intolerable as that which comes from self the consciousness of error the sense of forfeited bles bies blessing sill of privilege curtailed of responsibility ignored is to any man with witti even a little of the spirit of the gospel so blasting in its effects that none need wish to experience its force there may be discomfort in penalty sarri fice flee in consistency great risk and aid loss in heroism and bravery but these are trifles light as air to personal reproach to lost opportunity to f forfeited orf cited respect to the applause of opponents which only bileth like a serpent an and d st sti in ngeth eth like an adder all ail all ail these are the foes of peace pace to one oae who has been or desires to be a persistent latter day saint and to pass through such on experience is acknowledged know ed ec 1 by those who have tilled ailed to come to the rack as punishment t almost greater than they can bearl if such betrayal of personal experience and public hope should produce disaster as fatal as that which h came to judas none would be more c ertain certain th thin thiu 14 t the e sufferers of the righteousness of retribution AN OBSERVER |
