And, in conclusion, allow me to say, that as sure as the sun shines and the works of our God are one eternal round, the day will come when the age now living will do you and yours justice. But, as with all true reformers, it will be after you have passed away. You and your co-laborers will then be recognized as the friends of man and protectors of women. You will be acknowledged as living martyrs for unpopular eternal truths affecting the amelioration and uplifting of all mankind—Christian and heathen. And you will take your place with Joseph, our head and front, with Brigham, and John, and John, and a noble company of brave men and true women, at the very vanguard of this the greatest of all dispensations, to continue the work of redemption under the direction, to continue the work of redemption under the direction of Jesus the Mediator, our presiding head, until all is finished.
ADDRESS BY ORION W. SNOW.
This day, kind friends, with pleasure here we meet,
To see, to hear, as we each other greet;
To talk, to sing, in this our social band,
With all the pleasures mutual hearts command.
And yet, though happiness will rule the hour,
One sober thought persistently will lower—
That this glad meeting possibly may be
The last on earth of all this family.But now we're gathered here from o'er the land,
To form this large and cheerful household band;
From many a different work and place we come—
Some from the city, some from country home,
Some from the school room, some from shop and store,
From many places I could mention o'er.
But some are absent; far away, they've gone
To distant climes, and nations not our own;
But to their friends their memory ever dear
Is just the same as though they all were here.Full many a pit and many a dang'rous snare
Are strewed within our pathway, here and there;
Where'er we go, whatever way we turn,
There is no royal road that we can learn,
But steadily we all must plod along—
Shun all the bad and make the better strong.
I wish the future of us all to be
As good and great as we can hope to see.If we but had the power to draw aside
The mystic veils that all the future hide,
And bring the noble deeds and lives to view,
The greatly good of friends and kindred too—
How long they fought, how firmly kept their place,
How fierce the storm, how toilsome was the race—
But it was run, they won the prize at last,
And all their sorrows were forever past.The fate of every living soul shall lie
In burning letters which they can't deny,
Wrote down by their own deeds, both good and bad,
The last to fear, the first to make us glad.
This is a maxim and a well tried fact,
Think twice—think thrice before you speak or act;
Let all our thoughts be firm and actions true;
What though in number they are but a few?This pleasant time we mutually enjoy,
This social happiness without alloy.
When we return unto our homes once more,
Resume the duties we performed before,
When weeks and months and years have rolled away,
In looking back on this re-union day,
We'll muse and wonder at the mighty changes
That have occurred within our family ranges,
And see the course we one and all pursue,
Which we desire may be both good and true.
ADDRESS BY ALPHONSO H. SNOW.
Father, and Members of the Family:
I regard this family re-union as important in many respects; not only have we come together for the purpose of eating and drinking, but that we may receive our patriarchal blessings, and that our hearts may be the more firmly united together. The occasion is not dissimilar to that of the Patriarch Jacob, when he assembled his family around him, saying, "Gather yourselves together that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days."
There has been considerable said about the young men of father's family, who have not, as yet, entered into matrimonial bliss; even at the table we were singled out, placed in a conspicuous position, and oft referred to as the "bachelors." Now, it is my candid opinion that the reason why we have not married before, is in consequence of our native modesty and bashfulness. [Laughter.] At one time I thought it a good plan should father intercede in behalf of his sons; but recalling to mind a circumstance that is reported to have occurred in the south, i. e., a certain young man, from timidity procured the assistance of his father to "pop the question" to his lady-love; when the old gentleman was so favorably impressed with the excellent qualities of the young lady, he proposed for himself, was accepted, and carried her off in triumph. [Laughter.] Especially have I looked upon this course of procedure with suspicion, since I heard a young lady of good judgment declare, emphatically, that she would rather, to-day, marry Brother Snow (my father), than any of his sons. [Laughter.]
I recently asked one of my older brothers why he had not increased his family, when he replied that the Scriptures say the time will come when seven women shall take hold of one man, and he thought, at least, that one-fourth of the blame rested with the fair sex in consequence of leap year, and considered it would not be amiss should we have seven, instead of one leap year out of the four. [Laughter.]
I am now looking upon the tenth generation of Snows since the arrival of our forefathers upon the shores of the New England States. They have ever held an honorable place and untarnished name among men; our grandsire was enlisted under Washington. The Snow family moved to Ohio in an early date—heard the Everlasting Gospel, embraced the same, and with the Youngs, Kimballs and Pratts, were worthy instruments in the hands of Providence in rolling on the Kingdom of God. While standing here and gazing upon this numerous posterity of our worthy sire, two pictures present themselves to my view; on the one side I behold a man who has fought bitterly against the truth; on the other hand I see a man whose whole matured life has been spent in furthering the work of truth. The first, a bereaved man mourning the loss of his only daughter, and, as was remarked yesterday, "man's wealth consists in the number of beings and things he loves, and the number of beings and things that love him," then this man is poor indeed. And when he dies, though he may have great pomp and pageantry at his funeral, still, speaking relative to his family and kindred ties, he will go down to his grave
"Unknelled, uncoffined and unknown."
This, the opponent of truth, is Mr. Edmunds.