"Permit me here to refer to a remark made by our friend, Mr. Fuller, to you viz., 'that he had rendered me certain services in the city of New York, and that he had no doubt that when you had seen and known us as he had, that you would report as favorably as he had unflinchingly done.' Now those favors, to which Mr. Fuller refers, were simply telling a few plain matters of fact, that had come under his own observation during a short sojourn at Salt Lake. This, of course, I could duly appreciate, for I always admire a man who dare tell the truth. But, Captain, does it not strike you as humiliating to manhood and to the pride of all honorable American citizens, when among the thousands that have passed through and sojourned among us, and know as well as Mr. Fuller did, our true social and moral position, that perhaps only one in ten thousand dare state his honest convictions? and further, that Mr. Fuller with his knowledge of human nature, should look upon you as a _rare avis_, possessing the moral courage and integrity to declare the truth in opposition to the floods of falsehood that have deluged our nation? Surely we have fallen on unlucky times when honesty is avowed to be at so great a premium! "In regard to our religion, it is perhaps unnecessary to say much, yet whatever others' feelings may be about it, with us it is honestly a matter of conscience. This is a right guaranteed unto us by the Constitution of our country, yet it is on this ground, and this alone, that we have suffered a continued series of persecutions, and that this present crusade is set on foot against us. In regard to this people, I have traveled extensively in the United States, and through Europe, yet have never found so moral, chaste and virtuous a people, nor do I expect to find them. And if let alone, they are the most patriotic and appreciate more fully the blessing of religious, civil, and political freedom than any other portion of the United States. They have, however, discovered the difference between a blind submission to the caprices of political demagogues, and obedience to the Constitution, laws, and institutions of the United States; nor can they in the present instance be hood-winked by the cry of 'treason.' If it be treason to stand up for our Constitutional rights: if it be treason to resist the unconstitutional acts of a vitiated and corrupt administration, who by a mercenary armed force would seek to rob us of the rights of franchise, cut our throats to subserve their own party, and seek to force upon us their corrupt tools, and violently invade the rights of American citizens; if it be treason to maintain inviolate our homes, our firesides, our wives, and our honor, from the corrupting, and withering blight of a debauched soldiery; if it be treason to maintain inviolate the Constitution and institutions of the United States, when nearly all the states are seeking to trample them under their feet--then indeed are we guilty of treason.