--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Halls, William collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 9 number: 7 published: 1906-05 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'William Halls, "Tribute to Caesar," *Improvement Era* 9, no. 7 (May 1906): 515–519.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0907unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0907unse start_page: 515 end_page: 519 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1906-05) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0907unse publication_year: 1906 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1906, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Tribute to Caesar tribute to Caesar himself. He was just as careful to observe the law of Moses. He said, "think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I came not to destroy, but to fulfill." The Jews, who had but a dead form of religion, when Jesus upbraided them for their unbelief and apostasy, and 516 IMPROVEMENT ERA. called them to repentance, became very angry, and when they saw him going about preaching the gospel to the poor, healing the sick, and exercising a power which they as teachers did not possess, they were filled with jealousy, and sought every means to destroy him. They accused him of many crimes against the law -of Moses, and the tradition of the elders, but the charge on which they relied most for his destruction was disloyalty to Csesar. They charged him with being a seditious malefactor, saying, ''We saw this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Csesar." When Pilate would have released him, they cried, "If thou let this man go, thou art not Ceesar's friend." Thus,on this ^malicious charge of treason, supplernented by persistent clamor, they induced Pilate, against his own convictions, to deliver him to be crucified. There was no reason why Jesus should be disloyal to Csesar, as, under the Roman government, he had all the rights necessary to do what he came to do. He could have no motive for rebellion. This tendency among unbelievers to accuse the people of God v/ith treason did not originate in the days of Jesus. This same spirit was manifest in the days of the prophets. In the case of the Jews, as recorded in the book of Esther, though Mordecai, by his loyalty saved the life of King Ahasuerus, yet the wicked Haman was so persistent in his charges of disloyalty against the Jews, especially against Mordecai, that he got a decree passed and sealed with the king's seal, and the day set, to have all the Jews put to death. There are many instances of this kind on record, but perhaps the most remarkable exhibition of the malignity of this spirit is in the case of Daniel and his companions in Babylon. In reviewing the life and labors of the latter-day prophet, Joseph Smith, and the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we find the spirit that killed the prophets, crucified Jesus, and martyred the apostles, has followed them from the beginning till the present, using the same means as those used in former times. As with Jesus and the Former-day Saints, so with Joseph Smith and the Latter-day Saints, they have been TRIBUTE TO C^SAR. 517 very careful, while obeying the commandments of God, to observe the laws of the land. There was no law against an angel coming to Joseph Smith and delivering to him those ancient records; nor against translating them and bringing forth the Book of Mormon; there was no law against organizing a church and preaching the gospel and making converts; nor against those converts gathering together, purchasing land, and making settlement on the public domain. All the movements of the Saints, in making settlements in Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, Utah, and other states, have been strictly within the law; and if any members of the Church have at any time broken the laws of the land, it has been against the rules of the Church, and the teaching and example of their leaders. The Lord has never given a commandment through .Joseph Smith, nor any of the leaders to the Church, the keeping of which would require them to break the laws of the land;on the contrary, the Saints are commanded to keep the laws of the land. "Let no man break the laws of the land, for he that keepeth the laws of God hath no need to break the laws of the land."—Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 58, page 219. "We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law."—12th Article of Faith. "We believe that all men are bound to sustain the respective governments in which they reside."—Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 134, page 484. Notwithstanding the Saints have been true to these precepts, history.has repeated itself, in that they have been pursued by their enemies, evil reports circulated against them, resulting in the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and in driving the Saints from state to state, and finally from the United States. After the Saints were driven from Illinois, while still in the wilderness, struggling along under the most trying circumstances, their enemies knowing how people would be apt to feel in such conditions, having just been cast out of Illinois, and denied an asylum in any of the states of the Union, a requisition was made on them for a battalion of five hundred of their ablest men to assist in the war with Mexico. Their enemies doubtless believed that in such a condition they would be sure to refuse, which would i618 IMPROVFMENT ERA. prove the common charge of treason against them; and then they might with consistency clamor for their destruction by the strong arm of the federal government. But they were disappointed; the battalion was raised, m.any of the number being leading elders of the Church. They left their wives and children, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, in the most helpless plight imaginable, and performed a march, which, considering their conditions, and for the distance traveled and hardships- endured, is without a parallel. Here was a test that should have established the loyalty of the Saints for all time, but it was soon forgotten or misconstrued. Only ten years from this time, while the Saints in Utah were pursuing the even tenor of their way, supposing they were at peace with all men, behold the old charge of treason, rebellion against the government, was brought against them. The idea of a people in their condition, few in number, none rich, most of them comparatively poor, with no adequate means of defense, to rise in revolt against the general government! The thought is so preposterous, it seems no sane person-would believe it, yet President Buchanan, and his advisers, willing to believe anything, however rediculous, against the ' 'Mormons,'' without investigation or confirmation of the charge, equipped an army, sent it over the plains, and spent vast sums of the nation's money to put down a rebellion which never had the shadow of an existence. In the light of common sense, there is not any reason why the Saints should be disloyal to the Government; they all believe it is the best government on earth; that its founders were led and inspired to establish it and formulate its institutions. All the rights and privileges they enjoy, with the security of life and property, are guaranteed by the Government; their relations to it are identical with those of other citizens. Being members of a church does not change their obligations to it. All obligations to the Church are voluntary, while their obligations to the Government are mandatory. If a member of the Church pays tithes, it is a voluntary contribution; to pay taxes to the state is imperative. One joins the Church of his own volition; he can withdraw from it at will. He can neglect his duties without fear of punishment, any further than losing his membership. . But he is a TRIBUTE TO CJESAR. 519 component part of the state; if he neglects his duties, or breaks the law, his property may be seized; he may be deprived of his liberty, or of his life, if need be. A man may be a citizen of a state and not a member of any church, but he can not be a member of a church without also being a citizen of the state. Many good people seem to believe that religion is detrimental to the state, that it is a dangerous thing, and that a man who has a living, active faith in God, as a real being, exercising a providential care over the human family, and taking interest in the every-day affairs of men,—one who owns allegiance to God—is a menace to the state, and cannot be trusted. That if he is loyal to God, he must of necessity be disloyal to the state. And some even go so far as to say he ought to be disfranchised. But this theory of loyalty to God being inimical to the state is not sustained by historical fact. Joseph in Egypt, while true to the God of his fathers,was one of the most loyal citizens, and the most helpful citizen of the state, for, through his wisdom and foresight, the result of faith in God, millions were saved from death by starvation. The same may be said of Samuel, Elijah, and all the prophets of Israel, who, though the most pronounced in their loyalty to God, were true to the king, and not one was ever proved in act or word disloyal to the state. And today, the Latter-day Saints, notwithstanding the mistrust of their opponents, are among the most loyal citizens of the state. And, should the time come that the government and institutions of our country, through corruption, division and strife, are in danger, they will stand as a unit in defense of liberty and equal rights, ready to devote their all, and their lives if necessary, to maintain the integrity of the Union—not for expediency or policy, but because it is right and proper, and the only rational course to take. And after the clouds of error and the mists of prejudice have cleared away, and they are seen in their true character, the stone that the builders reject may become the head of the corner. Mancos, Colo.