| Show MORMON MOTIVES the environment of a people their incentives to action and the object thy y are striving to accomplish geould be important factors in our estil laate of their characters the ast st WAY may be arrived at by an open judgment dament dg ment but no correct estimate can be formed of incentives and objects without thorough acquaint aock with those upon whom we aume me to sit in judgment TO 0 form approximately a correct idea aaa of a people we need to see them akom rom their own standpoint we ld for the time being see the y T they worship as they see geeb we should believe in the origin vw of man in the purposes of his present existence and in his future destiny as aa they believe we should open their sacred records and study their theology with their inspirations and understand the rules they have adopted to ta guide them in the varied relations of life failing to do this we should heed the admonition of the great teacher judge not that ye be not judged A comprehensive charity a feeling of kindness and good will a desire to see all that is good and a tardiness to condemn that which may at first have the appearance of evil should characterize our investigations lest we allow our prejudices to bias our judgment and thereby do a wrong that we cannot repair keeping in view these admonitions ions let us examine the character and some of the policies of the latter day saints in the light of facts of their history and of the teachings of their sacred records their god is a sanctified exalted being out of whom has been eliminated the baser passions of a once fallen condition created in his image men are his children to become like him they must follow the precepts he has given these are contained in the bible and other sacred records could they have a higher standard of excellence to stimulate them to the attainment of all that is good and great man was first a spiritual being intelligent active and progressive this spiritual education fitted him to bei be i 1 come a dual being spiritual and temporal through obedience to the laws of this dual existence a glor glorious ioui future awaits him like his father he will be clothed with majesty justice mercy and judg 1 ment Is not that a grand dea destiny tiDy Is there any other religion that stimulates man to aim so high their standard of ethics is the decalogue their theology is embraced in v the gospel of christ as contained in the new testament and as elucidated in the teachings of living prophets and apostles knowing that they are clothed with the imperfections and follies of humanity by these they strive to regulate their lives can mortals do more their church being organized on the primitive gospel plan they consider themselves entitled to be called saints no one has successfully questioned their right to the name their apostolic gospel of one lord one faith and one baptism as aa an embodiment of the principle of unity comes in direct antagonism to the christianity of the age can the right to enjoy the blessings of this unity be questioned can it be shaken by gospel weapons tho the sword of the spirit and and the sword of god they are accused of being licentious in principle and corrupt in practice were this true their cities villages and country residences would not swarm with bright healthy children day and sabbath schools would not be crowded to overflowing and increasing numbers would not constantly demand more room church statistics made up every three months and read in the local conferences would not establish the fact that one third of the mormon population of utah are under eight years of age many are accused of being ignorant the schoolhouse in every hamlet their higher institutions of learning and the returns of the last census prove the incorrectness ot of the charge an ignorant people living in antagonism to the laws of life and progress could not contend with a barren soil people a desert and turn it into an abode of civilization and refinement the saint in the broadest sense is cosmopolitan to be a lover of his kind is ie the very essence of his religion he is ie not only a citizen of his own cout country rj but of the world even this field is not broad enough for his comprehensive charity through the sacred ordinances of his religion he claims kinship with the dead and labors for the benefit of departed generations to him preaching the gospel is a labor of love a part of his earthly mission to perform this labor he leaves his family to take care of themselves with some needful assistance from his brethren in this labor he endures many hardships and often faces persecution and death at home he largely contributes means and labor to build magnify magnificent temples in which the dead past and the living present my may be bound together in a future life that will be glorious and eternal does any other religion develop a broader benevolence to soften the heart of man a purer charity to work out of him the selfishness of his fallen nature this earth reorganized organized re purified sanctified and thus fitted for man in an exalted condition is the anticipated abode of the latter day saint associating with those he loea lo aes the pure joys of his nature nature will be intensified with such a reward for faithfulness he is ready to face imprisonment confiscation and death prom from the sacred records of this people and the facts of their history let us elucidate the only policy that will redeem mankind from the curse of blood the afie ancient record of this continent now in the hands bands of this people has done much towards shaping their policies whatever others may think of this marvelous book of mormon to the modern saint it is an existing fact it is not only a chief edner corner stone of his theology but it moulds his personal character and shapes his general policies mormon was the name of the last leader of a numerous people called Nep hites who were destroyed in a terrible battle in central new york in A D they had inhabited the continent about years at one time numerous and powerful they constituted a vast empire it occupied a considerable portion of south america immediately sox south of the isthmus of darien and all that portion of north america south of the great lakes they were a highly civilized people they engraved on metal plates extensive records of their theology of their ware wan and policies of government mormon held the offices of high priest historian and military leader of his people he was evidently a man of noble sentiments unusual executive ability and intellectual culture prom from general records he engraved on plates of gold an abridged history of his people severely wounded in their final struggle for fer existence he be survived them on only ly a few days he eq enjoined joined upon his son moroni to make some addition to the record and then bury it in a hill called cumorah around which the Nep hites had terminated their national existence these labors were performed according to the record under a powerful divine inspiration that the record would be preserved in its place of deposit and come forth in after ages to instruct their descendants concerning their fathers they also had unwavering faith that then its resurrected policies would shape the final destiny of the people and of the continent which they inhabit the divine principles of the decalogue and of the new testament gospel are finely illustrated in its pages mee by historical facts and individual experiences and teaching to develop some of the leading policies of the saints as illustrated in this book is the object in now refer ing to it the orthodox saint does not question the divine origin of the book of mormon he would stake his existence on the fulfilment fulfillment of its prophetic declarations with a powerful faith born of this record he scans the future of his generations eions sand and beholds their destiny involved in that of the continent of which it is 18 in part a history he devotes to the record careful critical study he soon comprehends that it bears a similar relationship to the western hemisphere that the bible does to the eastern being a bible believer he bd finds nothing in this ancient record antagonistic to that belief still pondering on its contents he is forced to the conclusion cl that god revealed his will to a chosen israel on each continent on each continent this israel apos from the faith of their fathers and that before the culmination of the worlds destiny these branches of the house of israel must come back to the faith and to the lands of their fathers this book of mormon furnishes an example of the purest constitutional republic recorded in the worlds world a history in the account of its organization are elucidated the purest principles of liberty and the direct responsibility of each citizen of a republic for the character of the administration of the government under which he lives this ind individual responsibility where constitutional guarantees insure the citizen his free agency is the chief cornerstone corner stone of the mormon political creed the earth being filled with violence is given as the divine reason for its baptism by water the children of noah have not profited by the fite fate of the antediluvian fathers the worlds history is principally a record of aggression and bloodshed the creator promulgated the law to noah and through him to his pos he that eddeth sh mans blood by man man shall his blood be shed pa this law Is so sweeping in its character that it does not discriminate between races nations or individuals that the lords chosen israel might not be guilty of blood they 4 were commanded not to make war without his sanction the hebrew colonizers of america were not only tradition ed in this law but toola with them from jerusalem the record of the jews en graven on plates of brass from the first the Nep hites a part of the descendants orthis colony met mei aggression with a strictly defensive policy so thoroughly were they in it that in the prolonged struggle which terminated their national existence they broke it but once and that under very trying circumstances with revenge burning in their bosoms and against the 6 ex postulations of their leader mormon they assumed the offen offensive sivO and were defeated with terrible slaughter for this act for many years mormon refused to lead them finally deeply sorrowing for the miseries of his people and through IN their earnest solicitation he resumed command of their armies amiles the elucidation of this defens defensive iVO policy in the history of a great people for nearly a thousand years yeam must have powerfully impressed the prophet joseph smith this an and the predictions contained in tb tha history of the future of this COV con forced upon him the one great culminating fact of its destiny that no people would be firmly ew es upon this land who did not adopt and a nd live this policy ebat human blood must cease to on the soil boll which god has codo crated to that divine freedom whick A grants to man not hot merely the elege of ll but of gathering wound around him without aggression 0 from others the elements of happiness in fact the inspirations of the organizer of the mormon church forced upon him the conviction that it was the practice of this defensive peace policy which came down the ages through patriarchs and prophets that would preserve his people from the curse of blood guiltiness and fit them to be the instruments of divine power in regenerating the world the advantages of living this principle maybe may be epitomized as tOl follows lows there will be no to atone man selects the purest specimens of manhood for sacrifice peace leaves them atheme at home to develop progress and give stability ty to the state we cewill look for practical resu results its of this policy in the history of this peculiar people in missouri they were robbed of their property their houses were burned their women were subjected to licentious abuse their leaders were imprisoned and finally dually in the inclemency of winter the people were driven from the state under circumstances of extreme barbarity the record of these fiery trials shows but one instance of their attacking their enemies and thab was for the purpose of releasing same some of their elders from the hands of an infuriated mob some blood was shed on both sides aides in a state of extreme destitution they found shelter in the state of illinois with a wonderful power of recuperation pe begotten of a union of effort and a sublime faith in their god in six short years there arose from the ashes of the missouri per the beautiful city of nau 0 o containing about people and ald a magnificent temple in which to administer the higher ordina ordinances aces of their religion again with plundering public prejudice was worked up P against this people on account of religious differences again were they driven from their homes in the cold and storms of a northern winter sick and ex indigent were left with the view ew of sending teams at a more favorable faivor able season of the year to remove them to the camp of their people tt it was boded that with the departure of the body bodi of the people and their leaders the mob would manifest some mercy towards this shattered remnant but nothing seems more cruel than the spirit of religious intolerance in the september following the exo dug ws the mob came against them in force it was filling the cup cap of misery to overflowing this remnant broken but not conquered were driven to desperation they made a supreme effort to defend themselves blood was waa shed on both sides and they were driven to the west side of the mississippi river biver unsheltered and starving disease made sad havoc in their numbers the effort to defend themselves was human to have smothered their natural would have been a sublime sacrifice to the spirit and genius of their religion this is the only circumstance of this memorable persecution and exodus that could possibly be construed into a breach of the defensive peace policy of this people time will force the admiration of mankind for a people with the stern will with the confidence in themselves and in their god which enabled them to plunge a thousand miles into a desert there to force from a barren soil by almost superhuman efforts the needed bread to keep them from perishing to contend with myriads of destructive insects even for that morsel while eking out an existence with rawhide and wild roots it would seem that the great american people might have permitted them to work out their destiny in the desert desen unmolested after the organization of a territorial government with few exceptions corrupt men were sent by the general government to administer law in utah these men often led the country and the I 1 government into error with regard to the condition of the people As a result ten years after the pioneers entered great salt lake valley an army was on the march across the plains destined to regulate the mormons cormons Mor mons humiliation of the government followed this JU ill advised move the mormons cormons Mor mons were compelled to adopt measures for sw self defense that the government might learn of the terrible wrong it was about to inflict their battalions occupied the mountain denies defiles under strict orders to shed no blood unless obliged to do so in self defense in accordance with these orders means were found to check the advance of the army until the government could retrieve its error attacked by an enem enemy ly whose base of supplies was a thousand mi miles les in the rear with no better means of transportation than wagons history furnishes no other example of a people using such special efforts to save their on enemies as well as themselves thus we find the defensive policy of this people proven by the facts of their history are they accused of cowardice to face what they have repeatedly done with the supreme |
