Show THE LIBERAL COLLECTOR fator editor deseret leewe I 1 have been very much amused 4 the he sight eight afforded by the collector elect e hurrying kurr ying about town taking care at his character he has threatened several beveral with vengeance he has talked about suing the tee herald he barl pub dished an affidavit denying tabac he be fe gambler no person outside of h hi cronies cronie sp would have supposed tha he be bucked the tiger now and then the in lap he be had bad nut not made so much noise of denial but it all reminds me of my experience with him in 1889 As it has a bearing on my work I 1 ial utah I 1 desire to put it on record as bit of history that may be needed by and by 1 I I 1 came to utah on the second 0 of january 1889 1 I knew no person per 3 lal I 1 the territory and had never co corres breist boddell with any person in utah ail was so much surprised at what I 1 saw as compared with what I 1 expected to te see that I 1 concluded to remain sk a month soon after I 1 came B R IF U un n derwood came to the city to lec lecture aulm bad been intimately acquainted wil with him for a quarter of a century 1 I met him he introduced me to what waa known as the secular society yi U was a society of atheists and anilde infidel I 1 it was an exclusive institution and aa ad bitted people only by card among its members was the collector elect the society or leading members the thereof wanted to find a man who would J f locate in salt lake and give sundays su unda lectures they applied to mr und under wood and he recommended myself 1 I 1 was invited to lecture I 1 explained that I 1 could not give them atheism 4 they were sorry but liked inked my wor work well enough to engage me for a specified time at a stipulated price then they told me griat I 1 must say nothing to offend the churches because all that was not mormon w waa Li liberal heral they said however that lil irl wanted to je be PO popular pular I 1 must give the a h b I 1 my fourth lecture given when I 1 had been three mouths in salt bait lake was wan on the revival needed in utah in it I 1 spoke of the mormon people die their persecutions their devotion to what they believed to be their duty their perseverance I 1 said the world had not seen any such heroism for ft a thousand years and I 1 plead for t same faill fail play for them that gave to all other sects then I 1 spoke of utah liberalism as it opposed them theat I 1 pointed out the strange combination of elements that united to make the liberals of utah I 1 enumerated them thein from the catholic church down to the methodist and the people who delighted to congregate lit saloons spit tobacco J juice aice on hot stoves and tell stories stones at about t the mormons cormons Mor mons it was all said inba in a good natured and inoffensive way there were many people in the a audience di who applauded my statements statement heartily but they were not the people who employed me from that time the secular society knew me no more the men who had engaged to pay mo me had up to that time paid me 83 89 that was wasill ill I 1 got from them and they V yet owe me on as fair a bargain so aa ever was made the collector elect was one of the four men who employed me ii it was the intention of those men to up my fly meetings and force me to ive the city the collector elect not with owing me money began ko go write over the country to find some bihag that he might use against here bore he busied himself visit ang my friends in the city tod circulating rumors derogatory to my aty character he kept this up until X aad to send east and obtain a state t from friends denying his allega OB when I 1 read his affidavit in 9 tribune hii oune the other day I 1 could not ft think of the old adage of the tokens con coin ing home to roost and of other saying of the ancients that ibe mills millis of god grind slowly but they biec their just the same or words to that effect ato ta show abow you how much prejudice how little judgment those becu pi showed in condemning that lecture re I 1 will quote frond from a letter writ aeb to me next day by a lady who was in the tee audience she was a liberal and isso isao now boit she was bright fair fair minded I 1 mean aly b I 1 might lot let the first stand and nor to my own j judgment said eald mr ellie 1 attended your lecture osva evening and enjoyed it more than r f b cah tell you it was the expression rf perfect gerfe t moderation and justice com mined with ith perfect fearlessness t ton OLM very very glad bod you daft ace writing up this vexed ques iboa I 1 regretted as I 1 looked over your audience that so deemed aed capable of appreciating the wealth ith you so lavishly poured out to it seemed tome to me to be casting mrle be before foren I 1 need not quote r the lady evidently know knew the lar society portion of my better than I 1 did 1 that Tb at lecture was delivered in the federal court room on the evening of sunday march 31 1889 the treat abent I 1 received on account of it con me that my opinion of the liberal party was correct and from that time dates my 0 open P en and un ebing hostility to matah utah liberalism 1 have said that the men who em 0 byed me to give those lectures were th eite and infidels 1 they wf then and are now members of the i liberal party I 1 being outside of all ebu robee believed then as I 1 do now that AW the true is a man or wo in who is willing to extend to all the leehe be or she claims for themselves ua grea greatest tesi men of the world have been men of that character the men wk wae founded our government were amm of that character prominent g them was thomas paine the dodty ity of the men in this utah nd ml li party are fellows who swear adne the e mormon church says to all men accept the ibe gospel or reject it as you aie that is your freedom but in i resurrection you will have to be we will have nothing to say t that 21 2 1 the anti mormon robes a say gay believe as we do or be V 9 they not only send the md and infidel to hell in a future but they have murdered them by thousand lu in their mad haste to get into hell they have been ing for years to get control of our went and add have repeatedly sold when they do the atheist aad infidel must go here in utah A those churches churchell fl are in perfect control of this liberal party they cunningly drop out of sight eight their war against atheists and infidels and attack only he be Mor mons why because they would woud use the former to aid them in getting rid of the latter and that done they would then turn upon the atheists and infidels and drive or murder them also that and aad precisely that is the situation in utah today I 1 saw it at once and set about trying to show the people these secular society folks who are now running an atheistic christian church with a pastor while they owe me for honester ho neeter work than he be can do while he occupies his present position the absurdity of their fight against the mormons cormons Mor mons what I 1 got for my pains has been incessant lying and black guarding by a lot of people so mean and vicious that I 1 long ago came to the conclusion that the the little woman who heard beard the lecture referred to above and wrote the letter quoted from was perfectly correct when she said I 1 was casting pearls before swine I 1 write it down as an incontrovertible proposition that the utah man who votes with the utah liberal party is either an AD alleged christian or an ignoramus and he may easily be both no man who knows anything of thomas paine will ever vote with the utah liberal party if any ady admirer of paine thinks he can justify himself for voting with that party I 1 will give him opportunity to do so in public debate in leaving the subject I 1 only want to say that the collector elect is a man who hankers bankers after atheism and yet professes to love the principles that actuated paine paine scorned gamblers and hated bated liars paine was never for an hour an atheist god reached far into the future to get paine that he be might prepare the way for a free government on this continent paine was too great a man to be measured by any petty creed on earth he had a telephone connection himself with the soul of the universe he bad no use for any scheme lachele of salvation eal but he recognized the right of men and women to lo act in accordance with the dictates of conscience he was the first bret man he the infidel was the first man in this country to demand protection for all sects here are bi hie worde AS TO RELIGION I 1 HOLD IT TO BE THE SHE indispensable duty OP 01 government TO PROTECT ALL conscientious IOUS professors THEREOF AND f KNOW OF NO OTHER BUSINESS WHICH government HATH ATH TO DO THEREWITH read bead that 0 ye liberals of the utah pearl scorning party read bead that 0 ye bogus admirers of painel paine read that 0 ye who would drive out the mor mons in the misused name of liberty read it all of ye and then if ye are MEN ye will take my hand band and stand with me for fair play and equal rights unto all if not ye will return like the sow of holy writ to wallow in i n ahe abe mire of your liberal party politic 0 1 choose ye this day whether ye shall be men or CHARLES ELLIS |