Page:History of Utah.djvu/428



David, and Solomon; polygamy is no curse. And that cannot be a sin which God commands; that can- not be a vice which has for its accomplishment only the highest and holiest purposes of the almighty; that cannot be against morality which is practised only by the righteous, and for the pure and eternal welfare of the human race.^^

^'For a time, in so far as possible, the practice of polygamy ia Illinois and Utah was kept secret by the missionaries in England and in Europe. Says Parley P. Pratt in Manchester, and in the Millennial Star of 1846, ' Such a doctrine is not held, known, or practised as a principle of the latter-day saints;' and John Taylor at the Boulogne discussion, in France, in July 1850, says, ' We are accused here of polygamy and actions the most indelicate, ob- scene, and disgusting, such as none but a corrupt heart could have conceived. These things are too outrageous to be believed.'

On the morning of Aug. 29, 1852, before a special conference in session at S. L. City, Orson Pratt preached on the subject of mannage, in which dis- course he stated, ' It is well known, however, to the congregation before me, that the latter-day saints have embraced the doctrine of a plurality of wivea as part of their religious faith.' In the evening, whilst the sacrament was being passed, Brigham addressed the audience, saying in the course of his re- marks, ' Though I hat doctrine [polygamy] has not been preached by the elders, this people have believed in it for many years. ' At the close of Brigham'a address, the revelation of July 12, 1843, was read by Elder Thomas Bullock. The proceedings of this conference were jDublished in full in an 8vo pamphlet of 48 pages, issued as an extra by the Deseret News, on Sept. 14, 1852, when the revelation first saw the light. It next appeared in the Millennial Star, and may now be found in the book of Doctrine and Covenants. Herewith I give the revelation entire.

Revelation given to Joseph Smith, at Nauvoo, July 12, 1843: ' Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also Moses, David, and Solo- mon, my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines: behold, and lo! I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as touching this matter; therefore, prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you; for all those ^vho have this law revealed unto them must obey the same; for behold! I re- veal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant, and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory; for all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appouited for that blessing, and the con- ditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundations of the world; and as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fulness of my gloiy; and he that leceiveth a fuhiess thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God. And verily I say unto you, that the conditions of tliis law are these: All covenants, con- tracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associa- tions, or expectations that are not made and entered into and sealed by the holy spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity, and that, too, most holy, by revelation and commandment, through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to hold this power (and I have appointed unto my servant Joseph to hold this power in the last days, and there is never but one on the earth at a time on whom this power and the keys of this priesthood are conferred), are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead: for all contracta