"But there is a point at which silence is no longer a virtue. In my humble opinion, we have arrived at that point. Shall we—ought we—to be silent, when every right of citizenship, every vestige of civil and religious liberty, is at stake? When our husbands and sons, our fathers and brothers, are threatened with being either restrained in their obedience to the commands of God, or incarcerated, year after year, in the dreary confines of a prison, will it be thought presumptuous? Ladies, this subject as deeply interests us as them. In the kingdom of God, woman has no interests separate from those of man—all are mutual.
"Our enemies pretend that, in Utah, woman is held in a state of vassalage—that she does not act from choice, but by coercion—that we would even prefer life elsewhere, were it possible for us to make our escape. What nonsense! We all know that if we wished we could leave at any time—either to go singly, or to rise en masse, and there is no power here that could, or would wish to, prevent us.
"I will now ask this assemblage of intelligent ladies, do you know of any place on the face of the earth, where woman has more liberty, and where she enjoys such high and glorious privileges as she does here, as a latter-day saint? No! The very idea of woman here in a state of slavery is a burlesque on good common sense. The history of this people, with a very little reflection, would instruct outsiders on this point. It would show, at once, that the part which woman has acted in it, could never have been performed against her will. Amid the many distressing scenes through which we have passed, the privations and hardships consequent upon our expulsion from State to State, and our location in an isolated, barren wilderness, the women in this Church have performed and suffered what could never have been borne and accomplished by slaves.
"And now, after all that has transpired, can our opponents expect us to look on with silent indifference and see every vestige of that liberty for which many of our patriotic grandsires fought and bled, that they might bequeath to us, their children, the precious boon of national freedom, wrested from our grasp? They must be very dull in estimating the energy of female character, who can persuade themselves that women who for the sake of their religion left their homes, crossed the plains with handcarts, or as many had previously done, drove ox, mule and horse-teams from Nauvoo and from other points, when their husbands and sons went, at their country's call, to fight her battles in Mexico; yes, that very country which had refused us protection, and from which we were then struggling to make our escape—I say those who think that such women and the daughters of such women do not possess too much energy of character to remain passive and mute under existing circumstances, are 'reckoning without their host.' To suppose that we should not be aroused when our brethren are threatened with fines and imprisonment, for their faith in, and obedience to, the laws of God, is an insult to our womanly natures.
"Were we the stupid, degraded, heartbroken beings that we have been represented, silence might better become us; but as women of God, women filling high and responsible positions, performing sacred duties—women who stand not as dictators, but as counselors to their husbands, and who, in the purest, noblest sense of refined womanhood, are truly their helpmates—we not only speak because we have the right, but justice and humanity demand that we should.
"My sisters, let us, inasmuch as we are free to do all that love and duty prompt, be brave and unfaltering in sustaining our brethren. Woman's faith can accomplish wonders. Let us, like the devout and steadfast Miriam, assist our brothers in upholding the hands of Moses. Like the loving Josephine, whose firm and gentle influence both animated and soothed the heart of Napoleon, we will encourage and assist the servants of God in establishing righteousness; but unlike Josephine, never will political inducements, threats or persecutions, prevail on us to relinquish our matrimonial ties. They were performed by the authority of the holy priesthood, the efficiency of which extends into eternity.
"But to the law and to the testimony. Those obnoxious, fratricidal bills—I feel indignant at the thought that such documents should disgrace our national legislature. The same spirit prompted Herod to seek the life of Jesus—the same that drove our Pilgrim fathers to this continent, and the same that urged the English government to the system of unrepresented taxation, which resulted in the independence of the American colonies, is conspicuous in those bills. If such measures are persisted in they will produce similar results. They not only threaten extirpation to us, but they augur destruction to the government. The authors of those bills would tear the constitution to shreds; they are sapping the foundation of American freedom—they would obliterate every vestige of the dearest right of man—liberty of conscience—and reduce our once happy country to a state of anarchy.
"Our trust is in God. He who led Israel from the land of Egypt—who preserved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace—who rescued Daniel from the jaws of hungry lions, and who directed Brigham Young to these mountain vales, lives, and overrules the destinies of men and nations. He will make the wrath of man praise him; and his kingdom will move steadily forward, until wickedness shall be swept from the earth, and truth, love and righteousness reign triumphantly."
Next came a concise, powerful speech from Harriet Cook Young. She said:
"In rising to address this meeting, delicacy prompts me to explain the chief motives which have dictated our present action. We, the ladies of Salt Lake City, have assembled here to-day, not for the purpose of assuming any particular political power, nor to claim any special prerogative which may or may not belong to our sex; but to express our indignation at the unhallowed efforts of men, who, regardless of every principle of manhood, justice, and constitutional liberty, would force upon a religious community, by a direct issue, either the course of apostacy, or the bitter alternative of fire and sword. Surely the instinct of self-preservation, the love of liberty and happiness, and the right to worship God, are dear to our sex as well as to the other; and when these most sacred of all rights are thus wickedly assailed, it becomes absolutely our duty to defend them.