| Show BY PRESENT reo rel Q 1 mm ratib paris bear lake delivered in county Coun tyl tym i idaho ia aho Sti sunday morning mornings august 19 1883 reported BY jonn JOHN IRVINE levine tho the spirit ot of god necessary for out failure of the tho measures our enemies have adopted against ag alast us che the object of tho the ed munds all such tuch laws are failures they aro aze founded upon falsehood and bring brint disappointment to their framers cha che the tha efforts ot of our out enemies troye prove the growth ot of this thia work necessary to pass trials God will always deliver his nis leopla and a knowledge ol of the work of god Is 1 being disseminated two influences at antwork work many of the tha doctrines taught by joseph smith now boo hao omIng popular ix IM rising to address you son this morning my brethren and sisters bisters I 1 trust we shail shull have the presence and assistance of at the spirit of god to lead our minds to those subjects that may be most appropriate to you and to your circumstances it la Is very desirable that we should have that spirit to be with us desirable both or the speaker and for tho the hearers heare that our meeting may be mutually mutually profitable our oan condition as aa a peo pie e Is ou buch such oh that wo cannot make the progress t hat that is designed by god for us ua unless w we have ills ilis spirit given unto us we are assailed from many ninny quarters we have BO 80 much to contend with that it requires the wisdom of god to direct ns no and it ft requires 9 his holy spirit constantly to be e with us ua to enable us to perform our part in this thia greit great work others may got along after their fashion without direct revelation from god but wo we cannot do so BO it would be impossible to build up this work and to guard ourselves against the attacks of our enemies and perform the labors that de devolve volvo upon noy uby us unless god should be wl with th us and man foest his power and make known his mind and his hia will unto us far we have been thus through all the difficulties that hava havo arisen through the tho nid aid which god has hs rendered we have been prepared for them and we wa have been extricated from them and so it will wili be from thia time forth it if we live as aa we wa should do and avail ourselves of the promises which ile he has made I 1 am always filled with amazement when whon I 1 contemplate the wonderful deliver ances which god hus hns wrought out for us to see bee segus begus us ss as we are today to day dwelling in pea peace ce xv tiati ibur free tree from molestation enjoying 9 chyi notwithstanding all th that a t bu b U has aone against us with a d de c t sign to tb and rne break brcak us up P Is to me marvu I 1 think that our whole ahola care career ar m t is marv marvellous marcellous ellous but if there be an any andins 1 sl inS n g connected with our present p pos posit lt forth more wonder th thana tha an nV other it is the fact that we are to bil rounded by such pes pea peaceful cebul cira our n stances et ances oar enemies havo felt serenely confident that the measures they had adopted against us would result la in the overthrow of this system called mormonism 11 in a conyer conver ration which I 1 had with senator benator edmunds of about two hours houra dur dura tion we went over this whole subject I 1 arguing from my standpoint and he from his and he seemed to be ba very confident that tho the bill which ho lio had which afterwards became laws law would be effective in accomplishing the tho de afred sired ond end it was wab as he told me to be one of a senies series of meas leasus udes looking to the final overthrow 01 ol our system it was supposed by him and by others that it if they could succeed in havin haviv having g a law enacted which would disfranchise men man who were living in plural marriage marring eJ and exclude them from omee office the effect would bo be such as to make them so BO unpopular that they would lose their influence and be ba degraded in the eyes ot of tha most moat of the mor lon con xann mon people it was waa anticipated that there were a groza grom many mor mons who wera beer seer Y opposed to tho the domina domination Uon of t tho he pol poi a as they were called and who evou would 13 breathe more freely if their power puter should be ba taken away from then therl and who would vote as they would woul say more independently i and ably unite with the apostates and nd the gen gentiles and by that nim menns means n a over overthrow overt turow throw arow tho the ezia exia existing ting rule nule in fri the territory now I 1 am aln satisfied bo be yond any doubt that it was antica 1 that by of these thesa elements tho the disaffected mormons cormons Mor mons the tho apostates and the gentil esthe the supremacy of thib this 0 9 WA fos jos of tw patt idu leu barly and of cour sethe influence would extend territory that by the combination of these ele ments the supremacy of the territory would be wrested from the control of those who had had it in thel their hands and that Mornion iem lem would be dealt a deadly blows blow and the beginning of the great work of destroying this organization would be ba effected now wow you can imagine how great the disappointment nad bad been at the re results aults it was wab plain to me and I 1 guess it was wab to most moat of our brethren who reflected upon this subject that the measure would be ineffectual I 1 took the liberty of telling the advocates of the edmunds bill so 80 but they did not be lieve what I 1 eaid hald they felt that they understood it better than id I 1 dlila id and today the mentho men who were in favor thatis that is in bait balt lakke lakee city of the enactment of laws are the men who are ane the tho bojt dissatisfied re aulta have hava bean beau achieved by its pasq pasi passage a ge illustrating most perfectly the theatt ott oft repeated statement oa ori our oar part parts that our oun enemies can do nothing against the work of god but bat that every thing they do will contribute to ka im advancement and success Wel lavo lave said bald this repeatedly reputedly the experience of 63 53 years yeara has prated proved to us that thib this la the universal result of mam mav ma concocted for the destruction or overthrow of this work god has haa stated it and has lias made promises concerning it and this lwis incident la Is but another ot of the perfect truth of the he promises of god con berning bia hia work instead of being today to day in bondage we are as free as al we ever have been instead of our enemies having control of our country we still retain control of it now what new measures will wiil be adopted reins remains to be boaen eean heau our oar enemies are tireless la in their efforts they will not give up this contest they will not vacate the nield field fields they will not consent to our living in peace but they will continue their i efforts they will continue their attacks upon us th there 6 re la is this advantage however that we always have we have always had it t in the past wo we shall have it doubtless doubt leab leas in the future that the lies iles that are told concerning us are bel bei believed loved by oui our enemies and accepting these them as true rua rue they frame their measures against us upon that basis and that being the fact they fall fail because they do not have a true conception cinc eme eption eplion of tho the actual condition ot of at al lairs taira hence it if there were no other cluse cause that of 0 itself Is buff bumm sufficient lelent to foil thein theia in their expectations they are deceived concerning us by the many falsehoods that are nrc told but as aa I 1 say they accept thesa theta BS as true and frame their measures upon them these misconception and the result Is always disappointment and it a always will be ba there is this that I 1 am thank thankful fill for connected connee ted with this whole affair there was a time when the efforts of those who were arnay array arrayed od against the work of god were confined to a limited circie circle or sphere in the ba ginning it was a neighborhood and gradually extended until towns towne township hipa 3 took the matter in hand band and from townships it extended to counties and from counties to states and we weyo ton toli as long ago as I 1 can recollect and it has been declared from the tile beginning that IG ic would be the casa that na as this work grew so BO op I 1 should grow against it enlarging r its to circle extending its in proportion pro portion to the work bf god unla we were told states would arny themselves against this work behave seen that fulfilled we came leres keres kere tere not because the united stata had taken steps against us ua but because illinois and missouri liis lifs souli had excelled us from their th air borders borde and we ouid rould secure no re dress for the wrongs that had liben inflicted upon us ue but we were told that atten aften a the united states itself should oppose the work of god gods and in a national nati capacity enact mea meu measures Eures against 11 hand and that then it would not be confined to that alone but that all the nations of the earth sooner or later would array themselves against the work of god lam lara thankful that there Is this testimony given unto us concerning the growth of this work it is no longer a county it is no longer a state stafe j but it assumes now national rut rat lonai fonal proportions the nation under the influence of bad men rne ine inena nf af unwise legislator legi stator under the pressure prem prea eure sure of which is brou brought drought glit ta bear from all quarters of tho land upon the con Uon congress gress of th tho the a united Sta sst tesla stes tesia in of vie vre a have now the edmunds law following the poland law and it following tho fao law of 1 1863 8 60 3 and probably to be ba followed by other meat ment areg of an edtia equally aljy character if the majority mojo rity in congress can be secured to pass such buch laws lawe godi god however will hold our enemies in check and will restrain them and will not bot sunner suffer them to go beyond certain I 1 mite BO 0 that thai t we shall not be overa overwhelmed h elm eim ed but that we othall have thea the strength t rang th n necessary edessa ry t to withstand the assaults that are made upon us no or shall ahall be made madd upon us it isa ibs is a wise dispensation of his providence that this should be the case because if it were not so eo with the power that Is arrayed against us we should be overwhelmed god however tempers these mattera matters according to our strength and ability to bear them or to withstand them and as we grow so BO grows growa the oppose tion aska as we gain strengths strength so BO the opposition tb position Altion to us ua rains gains strength ave a we gain experience and knowledge we become more capable and achieve a higher and we will con dinue todo to eo ea until zion will wiil be the head jast just an aa the prophets have predicted but it is that we should pass through this school of experience to test us to try us to give unto onto us the necess necessary ary aTy confidence deuncein in ourselves as well weli as in our godana god and indig ia asis unfailing promises promise s had we been called in the beginning to pea peb such ordeals as we have tf i lage iafe it in it if we could have hava endured the they god h had 14 d end endowed owed us ua with an ext exi binary amount of his power hit bit B it they have come upon u gradually we bave have met one difficulty after another one assault after another until we have gradually acquired confidence in our ability to withstand these assaults and to meat meet them as well as confidence in our god our oar faith hag has been increased and through the increase of tat tai falth faith th we have been enabled to overcome and thus thua it will bounto be unto the end there will be time as there have been beani when it I 1 t will seem a as though there Is ia no possible way of escape when it will seem beem as though everything every thing la is blocked up before us and as though we are about to ba swallowed tip or destroy destroyed ed and the faith of the peo poo plo will ha ba tested in this manners manner doubtless many times in the future as it han has been many times in the it seem beem darkest when the clouds will wiil eem tae taa most impenetrable when there thero will be not a ray to illume the pathway of the saints cf god then god will be bb near near to us to deliver UP ne and at the very darkest hour he will dispel the clouds and provide a way of escape that will excite our wonder cur admiration and our it was so list last year I 1 mean 1882 le before fore the passage of the ed munds jaw aw and afterwards it seemed as though the spirits of eyll evil had poured out of hell heil and they had come upon the earth and were operating against the work of go goj J in all my experience I 1 had never met a stranger feeling than prevailed it seemed as though the whole nation was aroused from the center to the extremities almost every church in the lands land every priest and every was up banded together and their influence combined i against the w work 0 rk ol of god t to 0 destroy it congress was being pushed forward by a power which the members could not resist and it seemed as though thero would be no stopping place plade short of our destruction truc tion I 1 expect you felt it here as the saints sinta falt it in utah and as I 1 felt it in washington the pipers as you will remember were full of threats aga against inist us it deemed as though a crisis bad arrived in our afra affairs irs it seemed a as though there was no way of escape escapa but bat god still reigned he be comforted the hearts of his servants and I 1 was waa filled with thanksgiving g to see bee seethe beethe the spirit which rested upon president taylor and the brethren at home when I 1 received their letters I 1 baw saw that notwithstanding the darkness dankness of the hour end the threats of our enemies th their el r h hearts carts M ere un undismayed di a and their confidence in god as unfaltering as ag ever god was with hib his people he had not for gotten his promises anu and it seemed as though by one blow or one move the whole of this opposition was dissipated si al it tell teli to tho ground the whole fabric of its it and like ilke a base leas vision of the night it melted away and the eun sunshine shine came out ot the bun sun as glorious as ever bhone khone down upon us ui and every cloud was wab removed apparently from t te the he hea hes vena above and our pathway was bright and clear without obstruction tiona and it has been so until the present ume will there ba times sain gain of this character yer undoubtedly it itic la necessary in thu the of cf our god coll coli concerning aming t this Is wo work k that this thia should bo be tho caga casa trl ill x 0 rde ade that tuut the falth faith of the utta play pay bo be tested and that they may baled to put their trust in god who alone can save us in such hours houn of ex and trial we need not expect that it will always al ways be in we need not expect that uhe ube heavens will always be free from clouds or that our oui pathway will never be obstructed or darkened on the contrary we shall have bave these theae things to contend with in order that we may by conten contending diug dluz with them in the faith and power of god obtain knowledge concerning his work and his in the meantime the knowledge of this work Is ia being disseminated with it however ho there goes forth a spirit of falsehood fals falb hood it would beem as though with the means of advertising yer ver vert laing we now have and with the opportunities that are presented to men to visit us a better under us would be reached men undoubtedly this Is ia the cige cage to u certain extent but my observation tells in me e that with the |
