Show THEN AND NOW HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF the examples of the past f fail ail in almost every instance to furnish lessons for the present consequently the outrages and wrongs that were perpetrated a century or more ago are repeated and often outdone by the almost immediate descendants of those who have resisted to the death the wrongs they have endured at the hands of their oppressors oppressors this is particularly applicable to the people of america whose garments are scarcely washed clean f from roin the bloodstains with which they were be spattered in the grand erand struggle e for f freedom and liberty A little over a century ago a DESPERATE CONFLICT took place between the colonists of america british subjects it is true and the imperial gove government of great britain resulting in the triumph of those principles ot of right which are god given and must sooner or later be awarded to all peoples previous to this however aud and extending through a long period of years the people through their representatives many times had sought for redress the mother country could not plead ignorance in regard to the true situation of the colonists and particularly in regard the conduct of tho officers appointed by te government to administer the laws and whose acts were not only tyrannical in the extreme but were becoming altogether unbearable despite this knowledge these officers 1 were not retained but rece received IV ed special recognition in many instances from the government because ot of their peculiar efficiency in carrying carry ing out the policy of the autocrats of of great britain for the idea of so weakly a child as the one dwelling in america ever thinking of resisting the strong arm of pow powerful erfil england its imperial parent never entered into the thoughts of the king nor the majority of the members of parliament when however that resistance assumed a tangible shape it was firmly believed that the presence of a few extra cropps and a little naval display would awe these colonies into abject submission and they resolved to make prominent examples of the leaders who had incited what they plea pleased sect to term this unwarranted rebellion 1 but every school boy knows the sequel how right finally triumphed over m might g ht and how this much abused child hi id compelled the mot mother herto to recognize in him the full grown man whose rights even the parent was bound to respect and allow him to govern himself for the gand grand question terminated in this N whether nether the colonists should govern themselves or er be ruled as dependencies enden cies cles the decision was rendered in favor of the former once a year at least by the return of the ever memorable fourth of july the story of colonial bondage together with the final independence obtained is rehearsed in the ears of millions million of of the sons and daughters of america as well as her foreign born subjects and orators vie with each other in pouring fourth their eloquent enuncio lions in honor of the men who dared to assert their rights under such discouraging circumstances and who led their sul supporters porters forth to victory and thus us as they thought secured to american citizens those inalienable rights designed by god that man should enjoy little did these noble patriots think that ere eleven decades should pass away that their children would so far forget their fealty to them and tile the cause they espoused as to become WORSE TYRANTS than those they had subdued and in order to accomplish their purpose that they would trample under foot those principles of f freedom which had cost so much precious blood to establish yet it is nevertheless a fact that here in utah and the adjoining territories deny it a as S th they e may and call the citizens of t these hee dependencies territories rebels because they dare to remonstrate against injustice they have outdone the tg english in their acts of oppression and are seeking to bring us into a greater bondage than that from which the colonists revolted and against which they rebelled SOME PRETEXT MUST BE FOU N D to justify these acts and the government of the united states have taken up the refrain from the lips of sectarian priests and political hucksters and echo back the one word polygamy as sufficient cause to justify them in tram trampling jiing under toot loot all constitutional principles trie the judge upon the bench feels justified in straining the law on purpose to entrap these so called offenders and the officers ofil cers of the court follow suit in unwarrantable insult to the accused tile the supreme court of the nation will dodge important issues that upon a fair interpretation of law must be favorable to this sorely oppressed people while the men who dare speak a word in our favor a are re branded as in league with us in wron wrong idding until very few acanthe can I 1 be founT found who dare plead our cause either priva privately tely or publicly we have become almost as unpopular as were the early christians our offense be no more than theirs which us as described BY PLINY the governor of pontus and bethinia Byth inia in his bis letter to trajan the roman koman emperor consisted in nothing but im MI a bad and expressive superstition I 1 have supposed that thal perhaps tb the e judges in the utah courts are trying to follow this mans example who in the same letter says 1 I have taken this course with all who have been brought before me and have been accused as christians I 1 have put the question to them whether they were christians upon their conf confessing essing to me that they were I 1 have repeated the question a second and a third time threatening also to punish them with witti death deatti such suca as still persisted I 1 ordered away to be punished for it was no doubt with me and whatever mi might tit be thy the nature of their opinion that contumacy and inflexible obstinacy ought to be punished but those who repeated after we me an invocation to the gods and with wine and frankincense made supplication to your image imae which for that purpose I 1 have caused to be brought and set before them together with the statues of the deities moreover they reviled ane name of christ none ot of which things as is said they who are really christians can by any means be compelled to do ane these e therefore I 1 thought proper to discharge yet anis same man tes te that he bad tiie evidence that they were not guilty of theft robbery or adultery or other wickedness now ot of what were atey guilty they believed in christ and worshipped wor shipped snipped him this was the very essence of their wrong and his testimony ony is that the true christians went to prison to torture and to death rather than deny their teiei r lord and master this governor whose jurisdiction extended over a vast tr tract act of asia minor in which were the cities citie sand and churches of ephesus Ephe sas smyrna Per gamos sardis philadelphia and others became alarmed at the multitude of accused persons who he says embraced every rank and both sexes and he winds up his epistle by suggesting that pardon be granted those who will repent if the presiding judge in utah as well as his associates are not counterparts of this very considerate governor where shall we look for any we have many times witnessed the spectacle in the salt lake federal court coart room of the judge raising the sword of damocles and suspending IT OVER HIS VICTIM del d clearing delcarpin carin 0 that unless he recanted and made promises for the future it should fall upon his unfortunate neck and we have thought at these times of the words of the valiant pitt before the house of commons when pleading for the colonists men so lost to every sense of virtue as tamely to give up their liberties would be fit for slaves 77 history sometimes repeats itself ina in a century or less while some histo history Is not repeated for many centuries but ut repeat itself it will sooner or latey later until the final triumph of right is brought to pass we are BATTLING FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM not for ourselves so much as for our posterity and we would be untrue to our trust were we to yield to obtain personal liberty meshall we shall live in our posterity eiter honored or condemned and god never rewarded a coward we propose to repeat in our lives the unswerving integrity of those who have sacrificed their all rather than yield honest convictions let it be remembered however we are NOT THE aggressors our religion plural marriage included was an established fact many many years before any law was passed against the practice and the law first made remained upon the statute book a dead letter for ten years and even then could hardly be revived by the passage of another law lav enacted for the same purpose and now look upon the spectacle fifty five millions of people arrayed against one hundred and fifty thousand the man of limited foresight sees naught but defeat for the minority against this overwhelming majority ta 1 while the man who puts his is trust in god sees victory pe perched relied upon the banner of religious freedom for there is a mighty host unseen by man who are are closely watching this unequal struggle and in the very nick of time when defeat seems imminent to this very small number will this interested host interfere in their behalf and secure them such a victory as will that which moses obtained tor for israel after he had said stand still and see the salva salvation ticia of god PROPHETIC |