*

JOSEPH SMITH,

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, DOCTRINES, CUSTOMS,
AND PROSPECTS OF

THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS.

PERSONAL OBSERVATION DURING A SIX MONTHS' RESIDENCE
AT GREAT SALT LAKE CITY.

BY BENJAMIN G.

LATE SECRETARY OF UTAH TERRITORY.

NEW YORK:

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
82 BEEKMAN STREET.

1854. -

I

X

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year, 1854, by

HARPER & BROTHERS,
In the Clerk s Office for the Southern District of New York.

lis

MILLARD FILLMORE,

LATE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

WITH GRATEFUL RECOLLECTIONS AND PROFOUND ESTEEM
IS THIS

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.

PREFACE.

IN the early part of the summer of 1852 I was so-
licited to discharge the duties of Secretary of the Ter-
ritory of Utah. A curiosity, long cherished, to visit a
portion of the world about which many marvelous ac-
counts had been given, induced me to accept the va-
cant post. The result has been a six months' residence
in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, embracing the
severe winter of 1852-3. Such a winter's residence
excludes the sojourner from the rest of the world as
effectually as is the luckless navigator hemmed in by
Arctic ice, and leaves little else to engross the atten-
tion aside from the strange and eccentric community
which has established itself in that isolated region.
The practical workings of Mormon institutions, when
freed from the outside pressure of " Gentile" prejudice
and hostility, has excited much curiosity, and is be-
coming a question of some political importance ; and
from gleaning facts for the gratification of numerous
correspondents, I have been induced to put them in a
form for the public eye. In the course of doing this, it
has been found difficult to illustrate the subject with-
out giving a more detailed previous history of the Mor-
mons than at first intended, and the result is the fol-
lowing work.

The aim has been to give a strictly impartial ac-
count of the Mormons as they have been and as they
are, without abstaining, however, from a free expres-

Vlll PREFACE.

sion of opinion, whenever the facts seemed to warrant
a fair conclusion. To insure correctness, they have
been allowed to speak for themselves whenever it has
been practicable, and consistent with the brevity of
the work. Aside from publications professedly Mor-
mon, much assistance has been derived from a book en-
titled " The Mormons," recently published in London.
The recent and excellent work of Lieutenant Gunni-
son, entitled " The History of the Mormons," might
seem to preclude the necessity of any further publica-
tion on the same subject, and it probably would have
prevented the present, had it come into my hands at
an earlier period. Yet I would fain believe that a
more full development of some of the most distinctive
features of Mormonism than fell under his observation,
with the rare opportunity which my position gave me
for -obtaining facts, will make it acceptable to the
public.

It may not be inappropriate in this place to say that
I was received at Salt Lake City and uniformly treat-
ed with friendly courtesy. It was my good fortune,
while there, to be domesticated as a boarder in the
family of Mrs. Farnham, who, though a Mormon, took
unwearied pains to promote the comforts of her " Gen-
tile" guests. Among those with whom I was thrown
into frequent communication, I hold in particular re-
membrance Judge Z. Snow, Mr. H. L. Hey wood, the
territorial marshal, Mr. William C. Staines, the libra-
rian, Dr. "Willard Richards, the postmaster, and his as-
sistant, Mr. Kane, Mr. A. Carrington, of the Legisla-
tive Assembly, and Mr. J. Grimshaw, who seemed to
take pleasure in rendering polite and kind attentions.

Ithaca, New York, April, 1854

CONTENTS,

CHAPTER I.

FROM MISSOURI TO UTAH Page 13

CHAPTER II.

TERRITORY OF UTAH.

The Great Basin : its geographical Features and Curiosities. — Great
Salt Lake. — Utah Lake. — Iron and Coal. — Agricultural Capacities
and Drawbacks. — Irrigation. — Alkaline Salts. — Scarcity of Tim-
ber.— Political Importance. — Business. — Mr. Livingston. — Great
Salt Lake City. — "Ensign Peak." — Cities. — Health. — Improve-
ments 29

CHAPTER III.

HISTORY OF MORMONISM.

Theories in regard to Origin of Indians. — Solomon Spaulding. — His
"Manuscript Found." — Sidney Rigdon. — Joseph Smith, Jr. — His
Parentage and early Habits. — Discovers some curious Antiquities.
— Golden Bible discovered and translated. — Characters submitted to
Professor Anthon. — His Letter 49

CHAPTER IV.

HISTORY CONTINUED.

Coincidence between Book of Mormon and " Manuscript Found." —
Witnesses, their Character. — Church organized at Fayette, N. Y. —
Removal to Kirtland, Ohio. — Zion located at Independence, Mo. —
Lands purchased in Jackson County, Mo. — Discords among the
Saints. — Quorum of Three. — Troubles with the Gentiles. — Mor-
mons expelled from Jackson County 66

A2

x CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.

HISTORY CONTINUED.

Mormons quit Clay and remove into Caldwell County. — Joseph's Jour-
neys into Missouri. — Sets up a Bank at Kirtland. — Leaves Kirtland
in the Night. — Troubles in Missouri. — " Danites." — Joseph arrested,
and Mormons agree to leave the State. — Murder at Hawn's Mill. —
Mormons remove to Illinois. — Evidence on the Trial of Joseph. —
His Imprisonment and Escape Page 81

CHAPTER VI.

HISTORY CONTINUED.

Nauvoo. — Revelation to build Temple and Tavern. — Nauvoo Legion.
— Letter- writers. — Joseph a candidate for the Presidency. — Letter to
Clay and Calhoun 97

CHAPTER VII.

HISTORY CONTINUED.

Apparent Prosperity. — Internal Difficulties. — Arrogance. — Joseph's
Licentiousness. — Polygamy. — Spiritual Wife-ism. — Troubles with
Higbee and Foster. — Attempt to arrest Joseph. — Joseph and Hyrum
surrender on Pledge of Safety. — Are murdered. — Character of Jo-
seph Smith Ill

CHAPTER VIII.

HISTORY CONTINUED.

Excitement at Nauvoo. — Struggle for the Succession. — Rigdon ex-
communicated.— Brigham Young elected. — Further Troubles with
the Gentiles. — The Saints resolve to quit the United States. — Ar-
rangements for that Purpose. — Nauvoo besieged, and Mormons
driven out. — Character of Mormon Community, and alleged Perse-
cutions 135

CHAPTER IX.

HISTORY CONTINUED.

Battalion for Mexican War. — Mormons arrive at Salt Lake. — Charac-
ter of the Mormon Exode. — " Crickets."— General Address to the

CONTENTS.

Saints. — " Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company," and " Public
Works." — State of Deseret. — Territory organized. — Ceremonies o£
breaking Ground for the Temple

CHAPTER X.

GOVERNMENT.

Priesthoods. — The President is Prophet and Seer : his Power. — Tith-
ing.— Individual cases. — Tithing-office 171

CHAPTER XL

GOVERNMENT.

Legislative Assembly. — Governor's Message, 1852. — Legislation pro-
ceeds from the Church. — No Freedom of the Ballot-box. — Crimes. — JLJ
Murder of Hatch. — Case of Goodyear. — Joe Bankhead. — Better
Treatment of Emigrants. — Thieving. — Different Classes of Mor-
mons 185

CHAPTER XII.

DOCTRINES.

Idea of " Last Day." — Inspiration of Mormon Apostles. — Doctrines as
contained in Book of "Doctrines and Covenants." — Faith the con-
trolling Principle. — Rebellion of Lucifer. — Great Efficacy of Bap-
tism.— Syllabus of Doctrines. — Damnation and Salvation 201

CHAPTER XIII.

DOCTRINES CONTINUED.

Doctrinal Sermons. — The Resurrection Saints to have Farms and be-
come Gods. — Pre-existence of Spirits. — Pantheism. — Propagation
of Gods. — Holy Spirit. — Angels. — Materialism 217

CHAPTER XIV.

DOCTRINES CONTINUED.

Early Notions on Marriage. — Introduction of Polygamy. — Existed at
first as a secret Institution. — Jesuitism of Missionaries on the Sub-
ject.— Polygamy an Element of Salvation. — The Gods are Polyg-
amists . . 233

xii CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XV.

Prevalence of Polygamy. — Its Effects on Population. — Arguments
in its Favor. — Its Effects on Morals. — Frightful Licentiousness. —
Its Influence on the first Wife. — Divisions and Hatred in Fami-
lies Page 246

CHAPTER XVI.

Book of Mormon. — Proofs of its modern Origin. — Its Style. — Argu-
ments in Favor of the System 264

CHAPTER XVII.

Efforts to make female Converts. — Mode of conducting public Wor-
ship.— Sermon by Parley P. Pratt. — Schools. — Deseret News. —
Doctor Richards. — Deseret Almanac, by W. W. Phelps. — Lan-
guage used in public Discourses 284

CHAPTER XVIII.

Social Intercourse. — Governor's Party. — Influence of Polygamy upon
Amusements. — Style of Building. — Amusing Scenes growing out
of Polygamy. — Superstition. — Endowment Robes. — Initiation Cer-
emonies.— The Curse. — The Patriarch and his Blessings. — Gift of
Tongues. — Notions on Slavery . '. 303

CHAPTER XIX.

Manner of making Converts. — Doctor Cox. — English Converts. — Con-
tinual Loss of Members. — Dissensions. — Gladdenism. — Apparent
Decline of Mormonism. — Decrease of Population. — Present Charac-
ter of its Missionaries. — Conclusion 318

APPENDIX 341

UTAH AND THE MORMONS,

CHAPTER I.

FROM MISSOURI TO UTAH.

OUR train started from Westport, Mo., on the 24th
of August, and reached Great Salt Lake City on the
26th of October, 1852, a distance of over eleven hund-
red miles. A few incidents of the travel, though over
so well-beaten a road, may not be uninteresting to the
reader.

A person intending to cross the Plains must expect
to suffer some inconveniences. In so long a journey,
the traveler will encounter the usual variations of the
weather : there will be sunshine and storms ; he will
be too hot, too cold, and too wet at times ; he will some-
times be unable to quench his thirst, except from a
stagnant pool ; and every warm evening he must look
for a fight with musquitoes, whose appetites are quite
as keen as his own. At first he will feel some anxiety
in regard to Indians, and keep his rifle and revolver in
proper shooting condition ; but this soon wears off, and
before the journey is half ended he becomes altogether
too careless in this respect. We had, one evening, an
Indian alarm, after being four weeks upon the road,
when one revolver proved to be the only fire-arm in

14

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

order in the camp ; the alarm, however, was occasioned
by a gang of famished wolves, trying to form an ac-
quaintance with our mules. With ordinary foresight
in reference to the requisite supply of food, a proper
selection of animals, and the time and mode of perform-
ing the journey, there need be but few hardships. It

CROSSING THE PLAINS.

is easy to fit up a carriage with conveniences for sleep-
ing, which some do, but the majority prefer to sleep on
the ground, even in stormy weather. An india-rubber
cloth spread upon the thick grass makes a dry and soft
bed ; at any rate, this kind of dormitory, curtained
with heaven's canopy, generally proves more friendly
to sleep than many a bed of down. The fatigue of
traveling wears off in a very short time, and there is
usually less weariness at the close of the day than is

UTAH AND THE MORMON S.

felt in traveling the same number of hours by rail-road.
In a well-regulated train, the pleasurable excitements
of the journey far outbalance all the inconveniences.
There is a kind of cutting loose from the business re-
lations and customs of civilized life, which gives new
freedom and elasticity to the mind. The traveler feels
that he has sufficient elbow-room ; he neither jostles
nor is jostled by any one ; he experiences all the buoy-
ancy of the boy when liberated from the restraints of
the school-room. His feelings and ideas expand in
view of the boundless plains spread before and around
him. There is a grandeur and sublimity in the vast
expanse of plains, skirted and intersected by rivers and
lofty mountains, which would kindle enthusiasm in the
bosom of the merest business drudge of the counting-
house who dreams only of prices and profits.

The evening camp, too, has its peculiar pleasures :
the rude preparation for, and exquisite relish of the
evening meal — the boisterous good humor of the com-
pany, with the usual concomitants of song and anec-
dote — and the almost invariable, and, withal, plaintive
serenade from a score or two of prairie wolves, produce
a wild and pleasurable excitement, which the voya-
geur is ever fond of calling to remembrance.

There is an abundance of wild game along nearly
the whole route : prairie chickens, ducks, hare, ante-
lope, &c., afford rare sport in the hunting, and furnish
food fit for an emperor. But the buffalo is the most
noted, useful, and interesting of all the wild game to
be found on the plains. We saw none until after we
left Fort Kearney, after which we met vast numbers
along the Valley of the Platte, and very few after leav-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

ing that river. At a distance they look like herds of
common cattle ; near at hand they are awkward, mis-
shapen monsters enough — all head and shoulders, and
very little of any thing else. They were very wild,
and invariably ran off, as we approached, with a clum-
sy, lumbering gait. We saw them under a great vari-
ety of circumstances. On one occasion, a herd of them
were crossing the Platte in single file (the way they
usually travel)/ and appeared in the distance like abut-
ments for a gigantic bridge or aqueduct about being
built. At another time we approached nearer than
usual to a drove of them before they perceived us, and,
as they lumbered off, they produced a stampede of our
whole train, and it was with much difficulty we stopped
and quieted our mules. At another time a herd of
some three thousand were feeding along the banks of
the river, and never discovered us until we were pass-
ing nearly opposite, when the monsters, in their fright,
scampered directly toward us, and actually ran be-
tween different portions of our train ; two of the teams,
less guarded than the rest, stampeded after them.
These incidents always furnished subjects for mirth
when we found no bones or wagons broken. Of course,
the poor brutes are slaughtered without mercy by In-
dians and emigrants. "We had a plentiful supply of
buffalo beef during four weeks of our journey. The
ravens and wolves that hover over and around every
passing train, are the scavengers which clean up all
that is left of the slain buffalo after man has helped
himself to the choicest portions. The antelope is a
very graceful animal, and bounds over the plains with
the fleetness of deer, which it very much resembles.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

17

"We saw many of them, but they do not collect in such
herds as the buffalo.

SCENE ON THE PLATTE.

The emigration over the Plains to Utah, California,
and Oregon, for the last few years, has been immense,
and, like the march of armies, each train has left sad
memorials of its passage. The wayside in very many
places is literally strewed with the bones of oxen and
mules, the broken fragments of wagons, and the cast-
off implements of agriculture. Sadder still, the road
is lined with graves — some small, showing that there
the mother has been compelled to deposit the remains
of her infant child, and others of sufficient length to
show that the strength of manhood has been brought
to the dust. Many of these graves had been rifled by
the wolves, and the bones scattered around in confu-

UTAH AJND THE MORMONS.

sion : these resurrectionists have no fear of penal en-
actments. Others were protected from these prairie
surgeons by logs and rocks (every thing West, from a
twenty ton boulder to a pebble, is a rock). In passing
these evidences of mortality, one can form some faint
conception of the utter feeling of desolation which must
overwhelm the poor wife, thus compelled to deposit
her husband in a lonely grave, far away from the as-
sistance and sympathy of friends.

" The Plains," so called, commence at the western
bounds of Missouri, and extend to the vicinity of the
Black Hills, a distance of about seven hundred miles.
These Plains consist mostly of rolling prairies, which
are crossed by numerous streams. Some of these
streams run through comparatively deep valleys, and
have rocky and precipitous banks. Again, the Plains
are intersected by numerous gulleys, or "pitch holes"
as they are familiarly called, varying from ten to fifty
feet, which contain small brooks in the spring and early
part of summer, but the most of them become dry later
in the season. These gulleys are troublesome to cross,
in proportion to their depth and the steepness of their
banks. On the other hand, many of them contain
springs of excellent water, and a scanty growth of tim-
ber, furnishing to the traveler wood and water, with-
out which he could not long prosecute his journey.
At some points the Plains are almost a perfect level,
without a tree or a shrub to relieve the eye — an ocean,
in which one seems to be out of sight of land.

"We reached the River Platte a few miles east of
Fort Kearney. This fort is commanded by Captain
"Wharton, a gentlemanly and highly intelligent officer.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

19

We were received and entertained by him and his ac-
complished lady not merely with generous hospitality,
but with as much warmth as though we had been near
relatives. At this point, and for a considerable dis-
tance west, the Platte runs through a valley from five
to eight miles, bounded by a low range of sand-hills.
The country becomes more and more interesting from
Fort Kearney westward. The sand-hills, as you pro-
gress up the stream, are more bold and irregular, until
they run into rugged and rocky ranges, worn and wash-
ed into sharp peaks and every variety of outline. One
of the most singular of these rocky elevations has been
called the "Court-house" from its fancied resemblance

COURT-HOUSE ROCK.

to a public building ; but it is a misnomer to give it
so common a name. It is a large mass of reddish
sandstone, rising abruptly from the plain in solitary
grandeur, and in the distance looks like an immense

20

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

temple, or castle, reared to some heathen divinity, or
by some feudal baron in ages gone by, but now in a
state of decay.

Some fifteen miles from the Court-house you see the
justly celebrated Chimney Rock, pointing its solitary
column to the sky, and from which you every moment

CHIMNEY KOCX.

expect to see issuing smoke or jets of steam from the
fancied furnace beneath. Of all the fantastic freaks
of Dame Nature in fashioning natural curiosities, this
is certainly the strangest. The chimney rises some
150 to 200 feet from the apex of pyramidal-shaped
rock, all reddish sandstone. But this curiosity has
been well described in many published journals, and I
will not, therefore, inflict another description upon the
reader. After leaving Chimney Rock, we came very
soon to Scott's Bluffs, which we left to the right, and

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 21

SCOTT'S BLUFFS.

passed up a valley lined on each side with similar cu-
riosities. Here was a castle with its turrets and bat-
tlements— there, an extensive fort, with parapets and
bastions — and yonder, huge, misshapen, beetling crags.
One formation excited especial interest. There was
first a gigantic perpendicular rock in the form of a cyl-
inder, which served as a foundation, on which arose a
smaller rock of the same form, and on that a third, still
smaller, but of the same form. It looked like the vast
mausoleum of some hero of a past race. The lover of
natural scenery feels amply paid for all the dangers, in-
conveniences, and petty annoyances of such a journey,
while viewing these curiosities, scattered, as it were,
broadcast, on a scale of such magnificent grandeur.

Near Fort Laramie the highlands commence ; the
country is broken up into hills and irregular promi-

22 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

nences, and the traveling becomes more laborious.
We left the Platte and reached the Sweetwater, a few
miles east of Independence Rock. This is an im-
mense, irregular pile of granite, about 120 feet high,
and from one and a half to two miles in circuit, full
of seams and fissures. I climbed to the top, and saw

STEEPLE ROCKS

a beautiful hare, which soon retreated into one of the
numerous cavities. The rock is literally covered with
the names of travelers ; at a rough guess, there must
be 35,000 to 40,000 ! This is an easy way of hand-
ing one's name down to posterity, and Thomas Noakes
stands quite as good a chance in this respect as the
celebrated John Doe. Let any one who is puzzled for
a name visit this rock.

The Valley of the Sweetwater furnished us a smooth,
level road until near the sources of the river. On the

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

23

north side are the Rattlesnake Hills, a range of bare
granite, varying from 500 to 1000 feet high, and of
precisely the same character as Independence Rock.
It is cracked and seamed at all points, and may well
be the resort of the rattlesnake for a thousand years to
come. For some days before we reached the South
Pass, the "Wind River Mountains, with their snowy
peaks glittering in the sunshine, appeared in view.
These constitute some of the loftiest portions of the
Rocky Mountains. The celebrated South Pass proved
to be somewhat different from my previous conceptions.
The word pass induced the belief that it partook of the

DEVIL'S GATE (South Pass).

character of a gorge between lofty mountains ; but it
is quite different from this. The country from the vi-
cinity of Fort Laramie to the summit is made up of

24 UTAH AND THE MORMON S.

ascending highlands ; the road is up and down, but
there is more of up than down. Some fifteen to twen-
ty miles from the summit, the highlands become more
bold and difficult of ascent, and the rocks by the way
side crop out in sharp, perpendicular points. As we
approach the summit, the surface becomes more even
and gently rolling, and the exact dividing point is pass-
ed before one is aware of it. The wind was high and
cold. Some twenty miles to the right was a ridge of
high hills, and further still, in the distance, were the
Wind River Mountains. On the left were irregular
highlands. There is something exciting in the idea
that one is passing over the topmost point of travel in
all North America, and near which, too, as from a radi-
ating centre, waters arise which flow into three mighty
rivers, the Mississippi, the Columbia, and the Colora-
do. Some ten to fifteen miles west of the summit the
descent is very obvious, and the air becomes milder.
On the Pacific side, the mountains above referred to
are magnificent beyond description ; they seemed, in
the bright sunshine, like immense masses of thunder-
clouds gathering for a storm.

From the South Pass to the Wasatch Mountains,
which bound the Great Basin on the east, the country
consists mostly of rolling plains, quite similar to tliose
over which we had passed. These mountains present
the most fatiguing and difficult portions of the entire
'journey. It was, with few exceptions, a succession of
steep ascents and descents, and narrow, rocky defiles ;
but the scenery was alternately beautiful and grand.
The Spanish word canon (pronounced canyon) is now
the familiar designation of the narrow passes through

PARLEY'S CANON.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

27

the mountains. One of these, called Echo Canon, is
twenty-five miles in length, terminates on the "Weber
River, and furnishes a nearly level road the whole dis-
tance. This canon is half a mile wide, is walled in by
precipitous ridges, and the rocks, in many places, are
worn into the same castellated forms so common in
the vicinity of Scott's Bluffs. In one place the rocks
were of a bright straw color, and the reflection pro-
duced a soft, yellow light. "We finally descended into
the Valley of Salt Lake, through Parley's Canon, a
dangerous pass, in places but a few rods wide, and
Walled in by rocks more than two thousand feet high.
In a military point of view, these passes might be de-
fended by a handful of resolute men against a host.

The whole route presents but few difficulties on ac-
count of the Indians. They are all inveterate thieves,

DIGGERS ON THE WATCH.

28 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

from the Shawiiees and Potawatomies, who are par-
tially civilized, to the most degraded Diggers ; and the
traveler must use a reasonable degree of vigilance for
the safety of his property. The Pawnees are the most
dreaded of any on the route ; they are fierce, active,
and disposed to be mischievous when they encounter
a small, unguarded party, and can safely gratify their
thirst for plunder.

The Indians generally are the most troublesome beg-
gars in the world, and will importune without ceasing,
unless repulsed with some degree of sternness. "While
encamped one day near Fort Laramie, a large, well-
formed Sioux, known by the name of " Old Smoke"
stationed himself within a foot of me while eating din-
ner, and fixed his gaze upon the food with the eager
expression of a hungry dog. At every mouthful he
would say " goot" "goot."- This was not very appe-
tizing, so I gave the old rat a plateful on condition
he would go away. He readily accepted the bribe,
and went to another mess, where he played the same
maneuver with success.

I must confess I have no very exalted opinion of the
whole race. Their broad features, wide mouths, low
forehead^, and black, snaky, venomous eyes, make up
a collection of disagreeables which they manage to
heighten by paint, filth, and outlandish ornaments.
Their most stylish dandies might well be taken for
escaped inmates of Bedlam. Our train passed two vil-
lages of Chyenes, in the vicinity of Fort Laramie —
that is, two collections of lodges, made up of lodge-
poles and buffalo robes or canvas. The whole concern
poured out, men, women, children, cats, dogs, and

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 29

horses, and surrounded us — some tricked out in all
their scarecrow finery, and others ragged almost to
nudity. They followed us, begging, hooting, scream-
ing, howling, and barking, for a mile. It might re-
mind one of Old Picket's denunciation, in which,
among other choice things, he hoped the soul of his
antagonist might be chased " by a tanner's dog around
the ragged ramparts of damnation."

It is no doubt the duty of philanthropists to continue
their efforts to elevate the condition of the children of
the forest and the plains ; yet the task looks well-nigh
hopeless. But few have improved under these benev-
olent teachings, and the balance seem destined to melt
away before the vigorous advances of civilized races.

CHAPTER II.

TERRITORY OF UTAH.

The Great Basin : its geographical Features and Curiosities. — Great
Salt Lake. — Utah Lake. — Iron and Coal. — Agricultural Capacities
and Drawbacks. — Irrigation. — Alkaline Salts. — Scarcity of Tim-
ber.— Political Importance. — Business. — Mr. Livingston. — Great
Salt Lake City. — " Ensign Peak." — Cities. — Health. — Improve-
ments.

THE Territory of Utah lies between latitude 37° and
42°, and is bounded on the west by the eastern base
of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, on the east by the
summit of the Rocky Mountains, and contains about
one hundred and eighty-eight thousand square miles.
This area embraces within its limits not only the Great
Basin, so called, but that portion of the valleys of

30

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

Green and Grand Rivers and their tributaries lying
between the Wasatch and Rocky Mountains. The
Great Basin constitutes a large, and decidedly the
most interesting portion of this territory ; and is, in
more aspects than one, the greatest physical wonder
of North America. Completely walled in by lofty
mountains, some of which are perpetually robed in

VIEW IN THE SIERRA NEVADA.

snow, its streams and rivers flow into its own bosom,
forming lakes of various dimensions, from which the
confluent waters escape only by evaporation, or disap-
pear in sandy deserts. That its entire surface has at
some period been covered by a vast inland sea, there
are many indications in the numerous water-marks
which exhibit their traces in the mountain sides. The
bench on the slope of which the Mormon capital is

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

built, is a shore-mark which, in the clear atmosphere,
may be traced by the eye south, along the base of the
mountains, a distance of over twenty miles.

The Great Basin has as yet been but partially ex-
plored. The Mormon settlements extend along the
base of the Wasatch Mountains, from the northern ex-
tremity of Great Salt Lake to near the southern bound-
ary of the territory, a distance of some three hundred
and fifty miles. The usual emigrant route to Califor-
nia from Great Salt Lake City is around the northern
extremity of the lake, and thence in a southwesterly
direction down the valley of the Humboldt, or Mary's
River, to Carson's Valley. The residue remains mostly
unexplored. The portions known present bold and
striking features, and great natural curiosities. It has
lofty mountain ranges, rising to the clouds, some of
which are perpetually capped with snow. The north-
ern rim of the basin lies much farther south than ap-
pears from Fremont's map, published in 1849. In
passing around Salt Lake on the route to California,
the traveler crosses streams which flow into the rivers
of Oregon, and does not pass the dividing summit until
he has journeyed some forty to fifty miles south of the
northern end of the lake. While toiling over these
rugged elevations, the lover of natural scenery enjoys
the grandeur of the prospect — a panorama of lofty
ranges and peaks, glittering in the light of the sun,
and extending in all directions as far as the eye can
reach. Often sharp pyramidal peaks, rising abruptly,
exhibit different kinds of rock, water- worn into turret-
ed, castellated, and fantastic forms. The rocks are
generally primitive, and the abundance of scoria gives

32

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

evidence of the fiery throes which the earth has under-
gone in heaving up these tremendous elevations.

There is probably no part of the earth where so rich
a field is presented for the researches of the naturalist.
The valley of the Great Salt Lake is particularly pro-
lific in natural curiosities. Springs, from the one hot
enough to boil an egg in a few minutes, to the one of
a temperature for a pleasant warm bath, occur every
few miles ; and these are generally impregnated with
sulphur in combination with alkaline salts. Some of

HOT SPRINGS NEAR SALT LAKE CITY.

these springs, throwing out generous volumes of water,
form ponds from one to three miles in circuit, in which
may be found, attracted by the genial temperature, tens
of thousands of water-fowl. Some of them are cha-
lybeate, and coat the rocks and earth over which they
flow with oxyd of iron.

Great Salt Lake is a very great curiosity. It is

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 33

about one hundred and thirty miles long, and from sev-
enty to eighty broad, and is, as near as may be, a vast
collection of brine. The water seems to be saturated
with salt to its utmost capacity of holding it in solu-
tion, indicating the neighborhood of great deposits of
mineral salt. Between Great Salt Lake City and Bear
River is a spring intensely salt, which pours out a vol-
ume of water equal to that at Spring Port, on the east
side of Cayuga Lake, which it very much resembles.
This is probably one of many others of a similar char-
acter which pour their contents into the lake. At par-
ticular points on the "beach, where the regular course
of the winds dashes up the waves, the salt collects in
such quantities as to be conveniently shoveled into
carts for domestic use. It is also procured by evapora-
tion, three pails of the water producing one of salt. A
person bathing may sit in the water, rising to his arm-
pits, as in a chair ; but let him beware of toppling over,
unless he wishes to encounter the risk of drowning
" heels over head." The water is perfectly limpid, and
has no living thing beneath its saline waves. It has
many islands with high mountain peaks, among the
largest of which is Antelope Island, situated so near
the eastern shore as to be accessible for grazing pur-
poses, for which it is extensively used.

Utah Lake, about forty miles south of Salt Lake,
with which it is connected by its outlet, the River Jor-
dan, is a handsome sheet of fresh water, some fifteen
miles long by ten broad, and abounds with the finest
salmon trout. In approaching it from the north, the
valley of the Jordan narrows, and in rounding a point
about seven miles from the lake, a grand spectacle
B2

34 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

suddenly bursts upon the view of the traveler. The
]ake presents itself in placid beauty below him, sur-
rounded, .and seemingly completely walled in, by lofty
mountains covered with snow ; and it is not until he
makes its circuit that he discovers a broad belt of lev-
el arable land between the lake and these mighty ele-
vations ; nor does he till then perceive the tremendous
gorges through which flow the Provo River, the Span-
ish Fork, and other streams. The canon of the Provo
is so deep and extended that a strong wind often pours
through as from the nozzle of a blacksmith's bellows,
which is felt for a distance of over two miles in pass-
ing its mouth.

The Great Basin is rich in minerals, among which
are iron and coal, found in Iron county, some two hund-
red and fifty miles south of Great Salt Lake City, in
such abundance as to provide an adequate supply for
the future wants of the population. Iron has hitherto
been supplied from the thousands of wrecked and
abandoned wagons which line the road nearly the
whole distance from Missouri to Oregon and Califor-
nia. Gold has only been discovered in Carson Valley,
near the line separating Utah from California, but
there are strong indications that it abounds in other
portions of the Territory.

In regard to agricultural capacity, waste undoubt-
edly predominates over fertility, except in river bot-
toms, or in localities favorable for artificial irrigation.
The Wasatch range contains a vast number of deep
and rugged gorges or canons, through each of which
tumbles a mountain stream, fed partly by springs,
but mostly by melting snows. Wherever one of these

UT API AND THE MORMONS. 35

streams rushes out upon the plains, the agriculturist
can turn it to use in bringing forth the fertility of the
land. Without this aid he would plow and plant in
vain, owing to the sandy nature of the soil and the
long summer droughts. All the products of the States
in the same latitude can in this mode be raised in great
perfection. The vegetables are large, and generally of
superior quality. Those portions of the basin not in
the immediate vicinity of rivers and streams will prob-
ably be found entirely unfit for cultivation.

The farmer in Utah is subject to some heavy draw-
backs. The necessity of irrigation imposes no trifling
addition to his labors ; water-ditches are to be cut over
and through his land, and great care is necessary in
their proper management. In some places where wa-
ter is not abundant, the neighbors use it alternately,
and spend the night as well as the day in distributing
the precious moisture over their fields.

Again, the temperature is subject to very sudden
changes. The lowest valley in this elevated region is
some four thousand feet above the level of the ocean,
and the surrounding mountains run up four to six
thousand feet higher, the tops of which are covered
with snow during a large portion of the year. Of
course, the shifting winds from these snowy points are
not only violent, but of an icy temperature, and the
consequences are early and late frosts, and often a
chilly atmosphere in the very midst of summer. The
winds blow frequently with great violence, bringing
up now and then terrible storms, accompanied with
thunder and lightning. It is said the wind is some-
times so high as to bring spray from the lake to the
city, a distance of twenty-two miles !

36 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

Another serious drawback is the abundance of al-
kaline salts, or saleratus, in the soil. This is a mark-
ed peculiarity throughout the whole territory, as far as
explored. Sometimes it shows itself in a white efflo-
rescence on the surface of the ground, covering whole
acres with the appearance of a heavy white frost or
slight fall of snow, and lumps are frequently picked up
for domestic use. Many of the streams are so strong-
ly impregnated with it as to make it dangerous for
cattle to drink from them. Between Salt Lake City
and the lake, numerous pools and small ponds of wa-
ter may be found of the color and nearly of the taste
of common ley, from the same cause. This property
in the soil is beneficial to the grasses, and makes the
extensive pasture ranges equal to the salt marshes on
the Atlantic coast for cattle. So abundant are these
salts, that the whole vegetable kingdom is more or less
affected by them; some, as potatoes, squashes, and
melons, are rendered sweeter and more palatable. The
common pie-plant loses almost entirely its acidity.
Wherever it is sufficiently abundant to effloresce upon
the surface, it totally destroys vegetation ; and I heard
of sundry fields of wheat being injured, and some to-
tally ruined, by its sudden appearance after the crop
was half grown. In some cases, a good crop will be
raised one season on a piece of land, and the next be
entirely destroyed from this cause ; and many of the
inhabitants believe that it can not be exhausted by re-
peated cultivation.

Sugar beets are raised in such size and quantity as
to suggest the idea that they could be made available
in the manufacture of sugar. Upon this suggestion,

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 37

a large quantity of machinery for the purpose was pur-
chased in Europe in 1852, and taken over the Plains
in the fall of that year. The whole expense exceeded
$100,000, and was contributed principally by Mor-
mons abroad, in connection with some having capital,
who had but recently gathered with the Saints, under
strong encouragements held out that it would be a
profitable investment. The machinery was put into
partial operation in the winter and spring of 1853, and,
owing partly to want of skill in the workmen, but
mostly to the fact that the beet was found to be strong-
ly impregnated with alkaline salts, the article manu-
factured so far has been miserably poor, and the con-
cern is likely to prove an unfortunate failure.

Another drawback arises from the great scarcity of
timber. The Valley of Salt Lake is nearly as bare of
trees as though it had been blasted by the breath of a
volcano. A few of the mountain streams are skirted
with a scanty growth of cotton- wood and aspen ; some
of the canons have a small quantity of maple ; and the
mountain sides are sparsely supplied with stunted ce-
dar and pine. "Wood for fuel in the city can only be
obtained by a cartage of about fifteen miles, from
places of difficult access, and the price ranges from ten
to fifteen dollars per cord. Timber for fencing, build-
ing, and mechanical purposes, is equally difficult to be
obtained, and bears a corresponding price. The evil,
too, is increasing ; the supply is becoming more and
more scanty, and in comparatively a few years, unless
the coal can be brought into general use, the expenses
of living, from this cause alone, must be greatly en-
hanced. The Mormons are looking forward to the pe-

38 UTAIIANDTHEMORMONS.

riod when a rail-road, constructed from the iron found
in Iron county, will be the means of distributing the
coal found in the same region. Some efforts have been
made by way of encouraging the manufacture of iron,
and the excavation of the coal-beds, but they are fee-
ble and tardy. The Saints are at present too much
engaged in building the Temple to devote their whole
energies to the development of the resources of the Ter-
ritory. They have a very convenient place of worship ;
and it might seem that the Temple, which, from the
plan of its construction, promises to cost a round mill-
ion, might be postponed to the growing necessity for a
permanent supply of fuel. But it is to be noted that
one item of their creed is, that their friends who have
died out of the pale of the Church may be baptized by
proxy, and thus saved from Purgatory ; and that this
baptism can not effectually be performed except in the
Temple. It is hard to have friends in infernal durance,
but most people would let them roast a little longer,
rather than run the risk of freezing themselves. Those
who put faith in this absurdity are, of course, under
the strongest possible impulse to go on with the struc-
ture ; and those who do not believe in it, believe, nev-
ertheless, that the Temple will form a nucleus around
which the Saints can be gathered without danger of
'dispersion.

In a political point of view, the settlement of this
isolated region has been, and will continue to be, of
great importance, as the half-way house between the
eastern and western portions of the continent. The
emigrant, on his tedious journey to Oregon or Califor-
nia, becomes weary and dispirited when he reaches

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 39

this point — his cattle worn down, his wagon broken,
and his provisions exhausted. Here he can recruit,
and lay in new supplies ; and it seems as if Providence
had overruled the Mormon fanaticism to the perform-
ance of uses in this respect, little dreamed of by the
fugitive Saints when they made it their abiding-place.
The benefits derived from this source have very much
promoted the prosperity of the Mormons, by making a
market for their surplus grain, and furnishing them
with supplies otherwise difficult for them to obtain.
In 1850, the emigrants were very numerous, and their
wagons, cattle, tools, farming utensils, and household
furniture, which were got along to this point, were
sold to the inhabitants at the lowest rates in exchange
for pack-animals and provisions. Many emigrants, too,
every year, become utterly destitute at this point, and
are compelled to labor for the means of further prose-
cuting their journey. Hundreds remain all winter,
and work for a bare living ; and a large number of
the indications of industry and enterprise, in the form
of buildings, fences, water-ditches, and other improve-
ments, for which the Mormons have received credit,
owe their existence to the toil of these temporary so-
journers.

The legitimate business of the country is grazing.
It is an inland region, pent up between lofty mount-
ains, and is, and always must be, without commercial
facilities. Its rivers are scarcely navigable to any ex-
tent, and its lakes can never connect points of sufficient
importance to make them available in this respect;
but there are thousands of acres which produce, in
great abundance, nutritious grasses, upon which cat-

40 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

tie, horses, and mules can subsist and thrive the year
round. The worn-down animals of emigrants are pur-
chased at low rates, and, after being recruited upon
these extensive ranges, are driven to a sure and profit-
able market in California, where enormous profits are
usually realized. Some of the finest breeds can now
be found in Utah ; and this business is beginning to be
appreciated as the most lucrative in which the inhab-
itants can be engaged.

The shrewd merchant lays in at St. Louis a stock of
goods adapted to the wants of the people of the Basin,
fits up a train of wagons, to be drawn by oxen or mules,
and wends his way to the Mormon capital. At Salt
Lake, in exchange for goods at handsome profits, he
collects a drove of cattle, horses, and mules for Califor-
nia. Hundreds of able-bodied men, wishing to seek
their fortunes in the great El Dorado, can be had for
the mere victualing, to assist in conducting such a
train ; and the entire expenses of the adventure sink
into insignificance in comparison to the heavy profits
realized in the great western market. Mr. Livingston,
of the firm of Livingston and Kinkead, may be men-
tioned as a pioneer in these bold enterprises. He es-
tablished himself at Salt Lake City in 1849, in an ad-
venture of this description, which seemed doubly haz-
ardous to his friends, from the remoteness of the region
and the character of the inhabitants. It was an ex-
periment, but he plunged boldly into it ; and by liberal
dealing, strict mercantile honor, great firmness, and
far-reaching sagacity, has, though anti-Mormon so far
as religious views are concerned, gained a healthy in-
fluence with the population, and established this kind

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

of business upon its proper basis. His numerous ad-
ventures by " flood and field" make him an interesting
companion; and many, compelled to a winter's resi-
dence in that out-of-the-way part of the earth, have
been laid under deep obligations for his numerous kind-
nesses.

If the design of the Mormon rulers in selecting the
Great Basin as the seat of their power was to isolate
their people from the rest of the world, they certainly
made a happy choice. The Mormon capital is unap-
proachable from any civilized point except by a tedious
journey of from eight hundred to one thousand miles.
In a severe winter it is entirely inaccessible : the mount-
ain passes then lay in so bountiful a supply of snow
as to set human perseverance at defiance ; and the
luckless sojourner, who has been accustomed to his
daily paper, must content himself with speculations as
to events transpiring in the outside world for three or
four months. This isolation has its conveniences and
inconveniences ; it protects the Saints from G-entile in-
fluence or persecution, and enables the leaders to carry
out, without let. or hinderance, the most singular exper-
iments upon human superstition and credulity which
have been witnessed since the Dark Ages. But the
expenses of living are great : every thing which can
not be raised from the soil, and which the customs of
civilized life have rendered necessary to eat, drink, and
wear, cost at least four times as much as in the States,
owing to the great land transportation.

Great Salt Lake City presents a very singular ap-
pearance to the eye of a stranger. It is built of adobe
or sun-dried bricks, and is of a uniform lead color, with

42 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

the single exception of the house of Brigham Young,
the prophet and seer, which is white, and standing on
the most prominent point in the city, may "be seen at
a great distance. The streets are eight rods wide, and
cross each other at right angles. Each block contains
ten acres, and is divided into eight lots of an acre and
a quarter to a lot. Of course, the city, which contains
a population of about eight thousand, is scattered over
a very large area. It is built partly on the slope of the
lowest mountain bench, at a point where the Wasatch
range turns to the north after running six or seven
miles westerly, and is twenty-two miles east from the
lake. A mountain stream called, " City Creek," orig-
inally ran through the centre of the town, but by nu-
merous ditches its water is distributed through almost
every street, according to the inclination of the land.
The buildings are very ordinary in their style of con-
struction, generally of one story, and are, many of them,

MORMON HAREM.

mere huts. It is not uncommon to see a long, low
building, with from two to half a dozen entrances,

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

43

which is a sure indication that the owner is the hus-
band of sundry wives, after the fashion of the prophet
Joseph. There are a few dwellings of a larger class
and fair appearance, among which are those of Brigham
Young, already mentioned, Heber C. Kimball, Parley
P. Platt, Ezra T. Benson, and other dignitaries of the
Mormon hierarchy.

The public buildings are few — the Council House,
where the Legislative Assembly and courts are held ;
the Tithing-office, where tithes are received, in a room

TITHING-OFFICE.

of which is the Post-office ; the Social Hall, where
theatrical performances are had, and in which the
Saints are accommodated with conveniences for danc-
ing and social parties ; and the Tabernacle, a long, low
building on Temple Block, the Mormon place of wor-

44 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

ship, very large on the ground, and capable of seating
an audience of three thousand.

Temple Block contains the usual complement of
eight acres, and, besides the Tabernacle, has a range of
work-shops belonging to the Church, in which various
mechanical employments are carried on. A wall is
being built around the whole block, and excavations
were commenced in the spring of 1853 for the erection
of a temple which is to be the future glory and pride
of all Mormondom. It is designed to be two hundred
and twenty feet long by one hundred and fifty wide,
with walls six feet thick. The excavation in the centre
for a baptismal font is twenty feet deep. This grand
structure is building, as all credulous Mormons believe,
after a plan revealed to the prophet Brigham from
heaven, and is to consist of three parts, corresponding
to the sun, moon, and stars, which are the three glo-
ries or degrees of salvation in store for all true Latter-
day Saints.

North of the city is a singular conical-shaped point
called " Ensign Peak," which may be reached by a fa-
tiguing walk of about two miles. This prominence
must be about four thousand feet above the plain, and
commands a magnificent prospect. The city lies be-
neath as on a map : the Jordan may be traced, like a
small silver thread, winding its way through the valley
until lost in the lake ; the latter is seen to stretch away
in the distance between the islands which rise from its
bosom ; beyond may be seen a snowy range, which the
traveler must surmount in his journey to California ;
and in a southern direction, mountains are beheld to
rise above mountains far beyond Utah Lake, clothed

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

45

in their everlasting mantle of white, the whole leav-
ing upon the mind of the beholder an impress of gran-
deur which language utterly fails to describe.

ISLANDS IN SALT LAKE.

The Mormons make a formidable display of cities
upon paper. Great Salt Lake City contains about
8000 inhabitants, Provo some 1400, and Springville
about 700. Aside from these, their cities are greatly
more distinguished for the oddity of their names than
the number of their citizens— -such as Lehi, Manti,
Nephi, &c. — names which belonged to various wor-
thies who figured in the history of by-gone things
supposed to have been exhumed by the prophet Joseph.
Another oddity is, that these cities are accommodated
with the very longest acts of incorporation, embracing
all the municipal machinery of mayor, aldermen, police
justices, provisions regulating hacks, lighting streets,
sewerage, and other things too numerous to mention

46 UTAH AND THE MORMON S.

— something like the rustic grandson incased in the
long-tailed coat of his ancestor, greatly too large for his
dimensions. The city of Lehi, on Utah Lake, which
I was enabled to visit, is a fair sample of the rest ;
some twenty wretched mud huts, scattered over an
area of two or three miles, with a population not ex-
ceeding one hundred, made up the whole affair. Why
the Saints take so much pains to make cities upon pa-
per, unless by way of "handbill" to convey exaggerated
notions abroad of their progress and prosperity, it is
very difficult to perceive. The entire population of
the Territory in the spring of 1853 could not have va-
ried much from twenty-five thousand ; Orson Pratt, in
" The Seer," states it at from " thirty to thirty-five
thousand."

From its great elevation, and pure and bracing at-
mosphere, any one, reasoning from natural causes,
would expect to find the Valley of Salt Lake one of
the healthiest regions in the world. The very reverse,
however, seems to be the case. Sickness is very com-
mon, and mortality great. The report of the Super-
intendent of the Census for December, 1850 (p. 140),
exhibits Utah the very lowest in the list of compar-
ative health of all the states and territories except
Louisiana. That such a result can not be owing to
the privation and suffering incident to new settlements
by emigration, is evident from the fact, that while one
death occurred in 47^ in the population of Utah for
the year ending June 1, 1850, only one in 232^ oc-
curred in Oregon. Whether it is the fault of the cli-
mate and the qualities of the soil, or of the peculiar
customs and habits of the people, remains to be tested

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 47

by further observation. All these causes may have
their agency in the result.

The alkaline properties of the soil are, with good
reason, supposed to promote erysipelas and scrofulous
diseases. The gross sensualities originating in poly-
gamy, coupled with parental neglect of offspring, occa-
sion great mortality among children. To these may
be added intemperance in drinking, very generally dif-
fused, and which finds its gratification in a miserable
article of whisky and beer, manufactured in great
quantities.

"When we regard the extended settlements made,
the lands brought under cultivation, and the cities
built within a brief period in this heretofore desolate
region, it seems to us next to miraculous, and we are
very much inclined to look upon the Mormons as an
uncommonly industrious and enterprising race of men.
Much, however, is due to emigrant labor, already al-
luded to, and much more to the effect of contrast.
After passing over the Plains, and for weary days and
weeks meeting with no human habitations but Indian
lodges, Canadian-French trading-posts, and two mili-
tary stations, the traveler is greatly delighted when he
descends into the valley through one of the tremendous
mountain gorges, enters a regularly-built city, and
finds the necessaries and many of the luxuries of civ-
ilized life. All is for a time coleur de rose, and his
descriptions are apt to be tinged with a similar hue.
The mere surface of society is found to be similar to
that of many other recently-established communities,
and it needs a residence of more than a few days or
weeks to lift the curtain and view things as they are.

48 UTAH AND THE MORMON-S.

Without detracting in the least from the commend-
able enterprise of the Saints, it may reasonably be said
that any other body of American farmers, mechanics,
artisans, and laborers, of equal numbers, would have
effected more, because the means expended in the erec-
tion of the temple, and in the support of a numerous
priesthood with their harems, would be turned in a
more useful direction. Much of the marvel lies in two
facts : first, the entire community have been transfer-
red there nearly at once, without waiting for the te-
dious process of a gradual settlement; and, second,
all their energies, stimulated by religious enthusiasm,
have been measurably directed by a single will. The
real miracle consists in so large a body of men and
women, in a civilized land, and in the nineteenth cen-
tury, being brought under, governed, and controlled by
such gross religious imposture. As the Great Basin
is the greatest physical, so its inhabitants may be said
to be the greatest moral, curiosity of the New "World.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 49

CHAPTER III.

HISTORY OF MORMONISM.

Theories in regard to Origin of Indians. — Solomon Spaulding. — His
"Manuscript Found." — Sidney Rigdon. — Joseph Smith, Jr. — His
Parentage and early Habits. — Discovers some curious Antiquities.
— Golden Bible discovered and translated. — Characters submitted to
Professor Anthon. — His Letter.

THE antiquities of the Old "World — its pyramids,
ruined cities, dilapidated baronial castles, broken shafts
and columns — are, with few exceptions, of well-known
historical periods. They serve to illustrate the various
phases, from barbarism to civilization, through which
mankind from distant eras have passed ; and there is
enough of obscurity and myth in their history to ren-
der their study interesting to the antiquary.

The case is entirely different with the New World.
Its history, anterior to the discovery of Columbus, is
involved in a mystery more impenetrable than the past
physical changes of the globe. The latter are meas-
urably illustrated by the various formations which
compose the earth's crust, and the fossil remains which
lie imbedded in its strata, while the former is lost in
the confused, absurd, and contradictory traditions of
its barbarous native population. There are the re-
mains of ruined cities in the neighborhood of the Isth-
mus of Panama ; but, if we are to credit the earlier
discoverers of America, these cities are comparatively
of modern origin. There are also hieroglyphics, glyphs,

C

50 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

mounds, obscure traces of fortifications, &c., all exhib-
iting the existence of a people but little in advance of
the barbarous and semi-barbarous tribes and nations
found by the original discoverers. Where these peo-
ple came from — how many states and nations had ex-
isted among them— -through what changes, revolution-
ary or otherwise, they had passed, are things involved
in obscurity, to penetrate which the ingenuity and im-
agination of many persons have been exercised from
the time of Columbus to the present. A favorite the-
ory, in support of which much learning and acuteness
have been manifested, has been to people the North
American Continent from the wandering tribes of Is-
rael.

In or about the year 1809, a man by the name of
Solomon Spaulding, a graduate of Dartmouth College,
removed from Cherry Yalley, in the State of New York,
to New Salem (Conneaught), Ashtabula county, Ohio.
At one period of his life he was a clergyman, but seems
to have laid aside that profession for secular business,
in which he failed, and his bankruptcy was the imme-
diate motive of his removal to Ohio.

New Salem, or Conneaught, as it is sometimes call-
ed, is rich in American antiquities — mounds, fortifica-
tions, and sundry relics of a past race, in which Spauld-
ing, who was a man of learning and imagination, took
an unusual interest. He adopted the theory which
peoples America from the Israelites, and readily con-
ceived and carried out the idea of writing a fictitious
history of this ancient race, influenced partly by his
literary tastes, and partly by the hope of making mon-
ey by the sale of the book. His work was styled tho

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

"Manuscript Found" and purported to be the trans-
lation of an ancient manuscript found by him ; and to
make the story as consistent as possible, he endeavor-
ed to imitate the style of the Scriptures, in which he
was aided by his previous biblical studies. He de-
scribes the departure of a family of Jews — the father,
Lehi, and four sons, Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi,
with their wives — from Jerusalem into the wilderness,
in the reign of Zedekiah, and, after various wander-
ings, their voyage to the Western Continent, under the
leadership of Nephi, one of the brothers. On their
journey and voyage they became distracted by dissen-
sions, which in America resulted in their division into
hostile tribes, which branched out and populated the
country, built up large cities, engaged in fierce wars,
and underwent various changes and revolutions. La-
man appears to have been the focus of disaffection in
this imaginary family, and his descendants became a
very powerful nation or tribe, under the name of La-
manites, engaging frequently in wars, and destroying
the country and cities of the more peaceable Nephites.
The frequency of these wars eventually broke up and
destroyed the regular avocations of peace ; the people
became barbarized, and split up into predatory bands,
plundering and murdering each other, until, in fine,
they degenerated into the vagabond Indians of the
American Continent. Besides the names already men-
tioned, the names of Mormon, Moroni, Mosiah, Hela-
man, and others, frequently occur in the book, and rep-
resent the heroes, prophets, and great men who figured
in this drama. As Spaulding progressed with his work,
he was in the habit of amusing himself and sundry of

52 UTAH AND THE. MORMONS.

his neighbors by reading to them his manuscript, and
availed himself of their observations in making emen-
dations and additions. He labored upon it for about
three years, at the end of which, in 1812, he removed
to Pittsburg, Pa., where he became intimate with a
printer by the name of Patterson, in whose hands he
placed the manuscript, with the design of having it pub-
lished, and with him it remained a number of years.

Sidney Rigdon, a man of some versatility — a kind
of religious Ishmaelite — sometimes a Campbellite
preacher, and sometimes a printer, and at all times
fond of technical disputations in theology — was at this
time in the employment of Patterson, and became so
much interested in the "Manuscript Found" as to
copy it, " as he himself has frequently stated."

No satisfactory contract appears to have been made
for the printing ; at least, it was delayed, for some rea-
son or other, until Spaulding found it necessary to re-
move from Pittsburg to Amity, in "Washington county,
New York, where he died in 1816. What subsequent-
ly became of the original manuscript does not very dis-
tinctly appear, owing to the death of Spaulding, and
also that of Patterson in 1826. According to a state-
ment of Mrs. Spaulding, made in 1839, it was taken
from Pittsburg by her husband, and after his death re-
mained in her hands, with other of his papers, in a
trunk. She subsequently remarried, and this trunk,
with the manuscript, was left in Otsego county ; but
on search being made, in or about the year 1839, by
some persons interested in exposing the pretensions of
Joseph Smith, Jr., then attracting some attention, the
important document was not to be found.

UTAH AND THE MORMON S. 53

In tho year 1815, the father of Joseph Smith, Jr.,
removed with his family of boys from the county of
Windsor, Vermont, to Palmyra, New York, from which
he subsequently removed to Manchester, in the county
of Ontario, remaining in both places about eleven years.
He was a laboring man, and professed to be a farmer,
but he manufactured and peddled baskets and wooden
bowls, and, withal, his employments appear to have
been of a miscellaneous character, not very consistent
with regular industry. The members of the family
were held in light estimation by their neighbors, some
of whom subsequently described them as " notorious
for breach of contracts and the repudiation of their
honest debts."

Joseph, Jr., was ten years old when the family first
settled in Palmyra, and, as represented by those hostile
to his subsequent pretensions, he grew up among bad
associates, totally averse to any thing in the shape of
regular industry, and a ready adept in the art of " liv-
ing by one's wits." His physiognomy indicated sen-
suality and cunning, in which latter trait his mind was
unusually versatile. He affected great mystery in his
movements ; pretended to the gift of discovering hid-
den treasures, and the possession of seer-stones by
which they could be found ; traveled about the coun-
try, appearing and disappearing in a mysterious man-
ner ; possessed a plausible and wordy jargon, by which
many minds are easily captivated; and, in various
ways, cheated and robbed sundry simpletons, who were
persuaded to credit his pretensions. Nor did he con-
fine his attention to any single branch of the business
of deception, but allowed himself to be drawn into the

54 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

vortex of a pseudo-religious revival, and became quito
as wordy in the vocabulary of hypocritical cant.

On the other hand, his subsequent fdlowers allege,
that, though of very humble origin, and of extremely
limited education, he was of retired habits, and reli-
giously disposed ; that, as early as fifteen years of age,
" he began seriously to reflect upon the necessity of
being prepared for a future state of existence, spend-
ing much of his time in prayer and other acts of devo-
tion." They do not deny that he may, in common
parlance, have been a " money '-digger ;" but claim
that, whatever had been the character of his occupa-
tions, or the method of their performance, he was af-
terward rendered pure by the forgiveness of his sins.
Which is the true and which the false construction of
the early character of this remarkable man, depends,
of course, upon the evidence furnished by his subse-
quent career.

During Smith's searching operations for the discov-
ery of hidden treasures, it is more than probable that
he exhumed one or more of those curious glyphs
which now figure so largely in the list of American
antiquities. These consist of metallic plates, covered
with hierog]yphical characters. Professor Hafinesque,
in his Asiatic Journal for 1832, describes similar plates
found by him in Mexico as being " written from top
to bottom, like the Chinese, or from side to side indif-
ferently, like the Egyptian and the Demotic Libyan."
A number of these remains were found in 1843, near
Kinderhook, Pike county, Illinois, and described as " six
plates of brass of a bell shape, each having a hole near
the small end, and a ring through all, and clasped with

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 55

two clasps. The ring and clasps appeared to be iron,
very much oxydated. The plates first appeared to be
copper, and had the appearance of being covered with
characters. A subsequent cleansing by sulphuric acid
brought out the characters distinctly." It seems to bo
strongly confirmed that Smith discovered one of these
singular specimens of American antiquity, in the fact
that, soon after the alleged discovery of the golden Bi-
ble, lie sent Martin Harris to Professor Anthon with
characters which, according to the professor's descrip-
tion, are identical with those which appear upon
them.

In the course of his wanderings, Smith met with,
and formed the acquaintance of, Sidney Rigdon. Ac-
cording to that view of the case which proceeds upon
the hypothesis that he was an impostor, it would not
be unreasonable to believe that these two men togeth-
er conceived the idea of starting a system of religious
imposture upon a scale commensurate with the popu-
lar credulity. Conjointly they possessed, in mercantile
phrase, the requisite capital for such an adventure.
Smith had cunning, plausible volubility, seer stones,
mysterious antiquities, and, withal, the prestige of suc-
cess ; Sidney was versed in the " lights and shadows"
of religious verbiage, had some literary pretensions,
was a printer, and, above all, had a copy of Spaulding's
book. Which started the bright idea of the Golden Bi-
ble is not known, though in all likelihood the credit is
due to Smith, as he ever after maintained the ascenden-
cy in the new hierarchy. After the plan had assumed
a definite form and shape in the minds of the origina-
tors, it was easy for Joseph, in his perambulations, to

56 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

trace out and secure the original manuscript of Spaul-
ding, to guard the intended scheme from exposure, and
the lapse of time and death of many of the parties
seemed to make it safe to dispense with any alteration
of names in the new Bible. To Smith was reserved
the honor of making the first open demonstration, be-
cause success in deception had rendered him bold and
skillful. Sidney was not to come in until some time
afterward, and then ostensibly as a convert to the new
religion ; this would give time to see what kind of an
earthquake the mixture of iron filings and sulphur
was likely to produce, and his conversion would help
to increase the commotion. Accordingly, we find him
striking his colors to the first broadside of Parley P.
Pratt, one of the earliest Mormon preachers. All things
being in readiness, Smith, in due season, emerged from
the chrysalis of a money-digger to the butterfly of a
prophet and herald of a new dispensation. A portion
of mankind have been looking for the last days for the
past eighteen hundred years, and at the period in ques-
tion were ready to run into Millerism or any other
ism whereby their notions could be accommodated in
this respect. A prophet, therefore, who could super-
add to the discovery of a golden Bible a proclamation
of the speedy destruction of all mundane things, a
power of attorney for the restoration of an authorized
priesthood and the gathering of the Saints, and make
a formidable display of miraculous powers, was the
most acceptable gift which could be made to popular
superstition. Here, then, would seem to have been
combined the elements of an imposture which has
since branched out and gathered strength, until it has

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 57

become the most noted instance in modern times of
the development and growth of religious fanaticism.

But those who regard the new system with more
favor take n very different view of the case. In the
light in which they regard it, Joseph Smith, Jr., in or
about the year 1820, had a kind of preparatory vision,
while he was in a retired place engaged in prayer > in
which two glorious personages appeared to him, and
informed him that his sins were forgiven him, and
"that all the religious denominations were believing
in incorrect doctrines, and consequently that none of
them was acknowledged of God as his Church and
kingdom;" and he " received a promise that the true
doctrine and the fullness of the Gospel should at some
future time be revealed to him." After this he fell
away somewhat, but repented, and on the 22d of Sep-
tember, 1823, had another vision, in which an angel
appeared, and announced to him that he was to be the
chosen instrument of introducing a new dispensation ;
that the American Indians were a remnant of the
Israelites, who, after emigrating to this country, had
their prophets and inspired writings; that such of
these writings as had not been destroyed were safely
deposited in a certain place ; that they contained rev-
elations in regard to the last days ; and that, if he re-
mained faithful, he would be the chosen instrument to
translate them.

The next day " the angel again appeared, and having
been informed by the previous visions of the night con-
cerning the place where these records were deposited,
he was instructed to go immediately and view them."
Accordingly, the new-born prophet repaired to a hill
C2

58 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

about four miles from Palmyra, on the west side of
which he dug down and found a stone box, so firmly
cemented that the moisture could not enter. In this
box the records were found deposited. On being ex-
posed to view, the angel, of course, appeared, and there
was a wonderful display of celestial pyrotechnics, and
the prophet was permitted to see that the devil, " sur-
rounded by his innumerable train of associates," was
also present. Strange to say, however, Joseph was not
yet permitted to have the plates, and it was not until
the 22d of September, 1827, and after a great deal of
negotiation between him and the angel, that they were
placed in his possession. The following is a descrip-
tion of these important documents, by Orson Pratt, one
of the Mormon champions.

" These records were engraved on plates which had
the appearance of gold. Each plate was not far from
seven by eight inches in width and length, being not
quite as thick as common tin. They were filled on
both sides with engravings in Egyptian characters, and
bound together in a volume as the leaves of a book, and
fastened at one edge with three rings running through
the whole. This volume was something near six
inches in thickness, a part of which was sealed. The
characters or letters upon the unsealed part were small
and beautifully engraved. The whole book exhibited
many marks of antiquity in its construction, as well
as much skill in the art of engraving. With the rec-
ords was found i a curious instrument, called by the
ancients the Urim and Thummim, which- 'consisted of
two transparent stones, clear as crystal, -set in the two
rims of a bow. This was in use in ancient times by

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 59

persons called seers. It was an instrument, by the use
of which they received revelation of things distant, or
of things past or future.' "

The incredulous reader will be very apt to perceive
how completely the ideas in this description are sug-
gested by the ancient glyphs before alluded to ; he will
also recognize Joseph's " seer stones" in the " Urim and
Thummim" here mentioned. A comparison of dates,
too, will be very natural in this connection. " The
Manuscript Found" fell into the hands of Rigdon some-
where between 1812 and 1816, in which latter year
Spaulding died. Between this and 1827 there was
ample time, not only to trace out and gain possession
of the original manuscript, but to add the religious
matter found in the Book of Mormon, which, with the
exception of numerous extracts from the Bible, is in
substance and form entirely beneath criticism as a lit-
erary performance. Patterson died in 1826, and the
new Bible could in the following year be drawn from
its hiding-place without risk of exposure from him.

Smith boldly exhibited not only the external form of
a golden Bible, which, however, no unsanctined hands
were permitted to touch, but also a neatly-polished
marble box, in a hole in the ground, which was either
prepared by the prophet Moroni some fifteen hundred
years ago, or by Joseph Smith, Jr., and one or two
others, at a more modern period. It is a fact, that for
about three years Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and a man
by the name of M 'Knight, .were almost continually
absent together from their homes, especially at night,
and the neighbors were uncharitable enough to charge
them with gambling and counterfeiting during tfyese

(30 UTAH AND THE MORMON S.

stealthy interviews, until the Book of Mormon was dis-
covered, and then these people accused them of being
engaged in polishing and preparing the stone box, and
manufacturing all that was ever seen of the golden
Bible. According to Smith, however, he was, during
this period, engaged in lonely vigils and prayerful com-
munion with heaven, in preparation for the holy office
to which he was about to be summoned.

This wonderful discovery soon raised a popular com-
motion— but let Orson Pratt describe for himself:

" Soon the news of his discoveries spread abroad
throughout all those parts. False reports, misrepre-
sentations, and base slanders, flew as if upon the wings
of the wind in every direction. The house was fre-
quently beset by mobs and evil designing persons.
Several times he was shot at and very narrowly es-
caped. Every device was used to get the plates away
from him. And being continually in danger of his life
from a gang of abandoned wretches, he at length con-
cluded to leave the place and go to Pennsylvania ; and,
accordingly, packed up his goods, putting the plates
into a barrel of beans, and proceeded upon his journey.
He had not gone far before he was overtaken by an
officer with a search-warrant, who flattered himself
with the idea that he should surely obtain the plates ;
after searching very diligently, he was sadly disappoint-
ed at not finding them. Mr. Smith then drove on, but
before he got to his journey's end he was again over-
taken by an officer on the same business, and after
ransacking the wagon very carefully, he went his way
as much chagrined as the first at not being able to dis-
cover the object of his research. Without any further

UTAH AND THE MORMON S. (3|

molestation, he pursued his journey until he came into
the northern part of Pennsylvania, near the Susque-
hanna River, in which part his father-in-law resided."

Sidney Rigdon, it will also he recollected, resided in
the State of Pennsylvania.

Joseph being thus quietly housed, and, thanks to the
beans, the plates safe in his hands, he proceeded to the
work of translation ; but', being a poor penman, ho
soon provided himself with a scribe in the person of
Oliver Cowdry, who subsequently became one of the
witnesses to the verity of the book. He stationed him-
self behind a screen, with the " Urim and Thummim"
in his hat, and read off sentence after sentence, which
Cowdry wrote down as an amanuensis. This process
occupied a number of years. During the work of trans-
lation, and on the 15th of May, 1829, John the Baptist
appeared and laid hands on Smith and Cowdry, ordain-
ing them into the Aaronic priesthood, and commanded
them to baptize each other, which they accordingly did ;
at the same time, he informed them that he was sent
by Peter, James, and John, who held the keys of the
Melchisedek priesthood, which was to be conferred in
due time ; Smith to be first, and Cowdry second elder.

The thing began now to assume more form and
shape. The family of the prophet's father were speed-
ily converted ; and, out of this family circle, a man of
some property, by the name of Martin Harris, who had
been a Quaker, Methodist, Baptist, and finally Presby-
terian, was so much captivated with the scheme, that
he advanced some money to aid in the publication of
the book. Harris had a strong desire to see the won-
derful plates. The prophet, however, put him off, on

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

the ground that he was not holy enough, but gave him
the transcript of some of the characters on a piece of
paper, which this admiring disciple submitted to the
inspection of Professor Anthon, of New York. The
professor's letter to a Mr. Howe, who subsequently
wrote him on the subject, contains so life-like a de-
scription of the modus operandi of the new prophet,
that it is here given entire.

"New York, February 17th, 1834.

" DEAR SIR, — I received your letter of the 9th, and
lose no time in making a reply. The whole story
about my pronouncing the Mormon inscription to be
' reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics' is perfectly false.
Some years ago, a plain, apparently simple-hearted
farmer called on me with a note from Dr. Mitchill, of
our city, now dead, requesting me to decipher, if pos-
sible, the paper which the farmer would hand me.
Upon examining the paper in question, I soon came to
. the conclusion that it was all a trick — perhaps a hoax.
When I asked the person who brought it how he ob-
tained the writing, he gave me the following account :
A l gold book,' consisting of a number of plates fasten-
ed together by wires of the same material, had been
dug up in the northern part of the State of New York,
and along with it an enormous pair of ' spectacles !'
These spectacles were so large, that, if any person at-
tempted to look through them, his two eyes would look
through one glass only, the spectacles in question be-
ing altogether too large for the human face. < Who-
ever,' he said, ' examined the plates through the glass-
es, was enabled not only to read them, but fully to un-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 53

derstand their meaning.' All this knowledge, how-
ever, was confined to a young man, who had the trunk
containing the took and spectacles in his sole posses-
sion. This young man was placed behind a curtain,
in a garret in a farm-house, and being thus concealed
from view, he put on the spectacles occasionally, or,
rather, looked through one of the glasses, deciphered
the character in the book, and having committed some
of them to paper, handed copies from behind the cur-
tain to those who stood outside. Not a word was said
about their being deciphered by the ' gift of God.' Ev-
ery thing in this way was effected by the large pair of
spectacles. The farmer added, that he had been re-
quested to contribute a sum of money toward the pub-
lication of the ' Golden Book,' the contents of which
would, as he was told, produce an entire change in the
world, and save it from ruin. So urgent had been
these solicitations, that he intended selling his farm,
and giving the amount to those who wished to publish
the plates. As a last precautionary step, he had re-
solved to come to New York, and obtain the opinion
of the learned about the meaning of the paper which
he had brought with him, and which had been given
him as part of the contents of the book, although no
translation had at that time been made by the young
man with the spectacles. On hearing this odd story,
I changed my opinion about the paper, and instead of
viewing it any longer as a hoax, I began to regard it
as part of a scheme to cheat the farmer of his money,
and I communicated my suspicions to him, warning
him to beware of rogues. He requested an opinion
from me in writing, which, of course, I declined to

64 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

give, and he then took his leave, taking his paper with
him.

" This paper in question was, in fact, a singular
scroll. It consisted of all kinds of singular characters,
disposed in columns, and had evidently been prepared
by some person who had before him at the time a book
containing various alphabets, Greek and Hebrew let-
ters, crosses, and flourishes ; Roman letters inverted,
or placed sideways, were arranged and placed in per-
pendicular columns; and the whole ended in a rude
delineation of a circle, divided into various compart-
ments, arched with various strange marks, and evi-
dently copied after the Mexican calendar, given by
Humboldt, but copied in such a way as not to betray
the source whence it was derived. I am thus partic-
ular as to the contents of the paper, inasmuch as I
have frequently conversed with my friends on the sub-
ject since the Mormon excitement began, and well re-
member that the paper contained any thing else but
' Egyptian hieroglyphics.'

" Some time after, the farmer paid me a second visit.
He brought with him the ' gold book' in print, and of-
fered it to me for sale. I declined purchasing. He
then asked permission to leave the book with me for ex-
amination. I declined receiving it, although his man-
ner was strangely urgent. I adverted once more to
the roguery which, in my opinion, had been practiced
upon him, and asked him what had become of the
gold plates. He informed me that they were in a
trunk with the spectacles. I advised him to go to a
magistrate, and have the trunk examined. He said
6 the curse of God' would come upon him if he did.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 55

On my pressing him, however, to go to a magistrate,
he told me he would open the trunk if I would take
< the curse of Grod' upon myself. I replied I would do
so with the greatest willingness, and would incur ev-
ery risk of that nature, provided I could only extricate
him from the grasp of the rogues. He then left me.
I have given you a full statement of all that I know
respecting the origin of Mormonism, and must beg you,
as a personal favor, to publish this letter immediately,
should you find my name mentioned again by these
wretched fanatics. Yours respectfully,

" CHARLES ANTHON."

Much of the marvel attached to the idea that an
illiterate young man could fluently dictate in connect-
ed series a voluminous work, is of course removed when
we regard him as reading from Spaulding's manuscript,
but to those not in the secret it was sufficiently mirac-
ulous, and made a deep impression. This seeming
prodigy has been used as one of the strongest proofs
of the divinity of his mission. In the usual sense of
the term, Smith was an uneducated man. His book-
knowledge was very limited. He often said, in sub-
stance, " How could I, as an illiterate impostor, hope
to impose upon the intelligence of the nineteenth cen-
tury ?" and all persons of learning and refinement,
who live in an upper world of their own, and in igno-
rance of the under-currents of ignorance and super-
stition coursing beneath them, wrere astonished at the
prodigy. But in this he exhibited his almost intuitive
knowledge of the weak traits of humanity, in which,
in fact, he had more available learning than all the

56 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

closet men put together. His own autobiography
shows him well studied at an early period in the nice
shades and differences of modern sectarian creeds, and
subsequent developments proved him well read in the
history of Mohammed and other religious impostors.
He would undoubtedly have excelled in such other
pursuits as were suited to his disposition and tastes.
As a gambler, he would have exhibited unrivaled
dexterity ; as a trader, he would have been a skillful
sharper ; as a military man, a master of strategy ; as
a politician, an adroit whipper-in ; and as a policeman
(without a single lesson * from " Old Hays"}, a first-
rate iiabber of thieves and discoverer of stolen goods.

CHAPTER IV.

HISTORY CONTINUED.

Coincidence between Book of Mormon and " Manuscript Found." —
Witnesses, their Character. — Church organized at Fayette, N. Y. —
Removal to Kirtland, Ohio. — Zion located at Independence, Mo. —
Lands purchased in Jackson County, Mo. — Discords among the
Saints. — Quorum of Three. — Troubles with the Gentiles. — Mor-
mons expelled from Jackson County.

IN 1830, the Book of Mormon made its appearance.
The following is a brief description of it by Parley P.
Pratt, one of the Mormon apostles :

" The Book of Mormon contains the history of the
ancient inhabitants of America, who were a branch of
the house of Israel, of the tribe of Joseph, of whom the
Indians are still a remnant ; but the principal nation
of them having fallen in battle in the fourth or fifth

UTAH AND THE MORMON S. 57

century, one of their prophets, whose name was Mor-
mon, saw fit to make an abridgment of their history,
their prophecies, and their doctrines, which he engraved
on plates, and afterward being slain, the records fell
into the hands of his son Moroni, who, being hunted by
his enemies, was directed to deposit the records safely
in the earth, with a promise from God that it should
be preserved, and should be brought to light in the lat-
ter days by means of a Gentile nation who should pos-
sess the land. The deposit was made about the year
420, on a hill then called Cumora, now in Ontario
county, where it was preserved in safety until it was
brought to light by no less than the ministry of angels,
and translated by inspiration ; and the Great Jeho-
vah bore record of the same to chosen witnesses, who
declare it to the world"

The occurrence of the same leading events and
names in the " Manuscript Found" and the Book of
Mormon, which fact is proved by a perfect cloud of
witnesses living in and about New Salem, Ohio, estab-
lishes to the satisfaction of the anti-Mormon the iden-
tity of the two works beyond all possible question,
whatever of confusion or contradiction there may be in
regard to the ultimate destination of Spaulding's book.
In the death of the principal personages, it is easy to
conftlse dates and circumstances ; but such a series of
coincidences could not by possibility have happened
by chance, and seems to demonstrate either that Spaul-
ding took a peep into the stone box at Cumora, or that
Joseph got possession of his manuscript.

The prophet was a bold innovator. In defiance of
the maxim that truth is open and aboveboard, and

U T A II A N D T II E M O R M O N S.

that roguery requires mystery and concealment, he
strenuously guarded the sacred plates from the gaze
of profane curiosity. It was accordingly revealed to
him that they were not to be exhibited to any, except
the witnesses chosen by the Lord for that purpose ; and
it seems that after the translation and witnessing, the
angel who had negotiated the whole business on the
part of the supernal powers took them in charge. In
the first place, three witnesses were obtained — Oliver
Cowdry, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris, who cer-
tify to having seen the plates, and to their having been
" translated by the gift and power of God" — and they
declare, " with words of soberness, that an angel of God
came down from heaven, and brought and laid before
our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the
engraving thereon."

Afterward eight more witnesses were procured, who
signed a short certificate in terms much more general
than the first — John Whitmer, Christian Whitmer, Ja-
cob Whitmer, Peter Whitmer, Jr., Hiram Page, Joseph
Smith, Scnr., Hyrum Smith, and Samuel H. Smith.
Who were these witnesses upon whose testimony de-
pends the authenticity of a new Bible, and the verity
of a new religious dispensation ? Three of them are
the father and two brothers of the prophet, and five are
made up of a family of Whitmers ; and Hiram Page
was a brother-in-law of the Whitmers. If we are to
credit the affidavits made by sundry of the neighbors,
their characters are all very much below par, accord-
ing to the Gentile standard. But it will perhaps be
more satisfactory to adduce Mormon testimony on the
subject.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 59

Harris, who, it will be recollected, exhibited a speci-
men of the mysterious characters to Professor Anthon,
subsequently lost the bulk of his property in the Mor-
mon adventure, and fell into utter disgrace with the
prophet himself, who spoke of him in the following dis-
paraging terms in the "Elder's Journal:" " There are
negroes who wear white skins as well as black ones.
Grrames Parrish and others, ivho acted as lackeys, such
as Martin Harris , &c., but they are so far beneath
contempt that a notice of them would be too great a
sacrifice for a gentleman to make"

From a statement of Sidney Rigdon, while the Saints
were at Independence in 1838, it appears that Oliver
Cowdry and David Whitmer were connected with a
gang of " counterfeiters, thieves, liars, and blacklegs
of the deepest dye, to deceive, cheat, and defraud the
Saints" But this is not all ; Hyrum Smith, in 1839,
wrote an account of his sufferings while in confine-
ment in Missouri, in which he speaks in the following
terms of Oliver Cowdry : " Those with whom I had
been acquainted from my youth, and who had ever
pretended the greatest friendship toward me, came to
my house while I was in prison, and ransacked and
carried off many of my valuables : this they did under
the cloak of friendship. Among those who treated me
thus, I can not help making mention of Lyman Cow-
dry, who, in connection with his brother, Oliver Cow-
dry, took from me a great many things ; and, to cap
the climax of his iniquity, compelled my aged father,
by threatening to bring a mob upon him, to deed over
to him, or to his brother Oliver, about one hundred
and sixty acres of land, to pay a note which I had

70 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

given to Oliver for one hundred and sixty-five dollars."
This note he pronounced a forgery. Oliver Cowdry
was afterward arraigned before the Church, and found
guilty of sundry charges, among which were,

2d. " For seeking to destroy the character of Joseph
Smith, Jr., by falsely insinuating that he was guilty
of adultery," &c.

8th. " For disgracing the Church by being connect-
ed in the bogus business, as common report says."

Oliver and Martin were expelled or seceded, but
afterward received again into the bosom of the Church,
possessing too many of the qualifications of good mem-
bership to be long absent from the Latter-day sanctu-
ary. The true believers greatly wondered that the
Mormon divinity should have made such a mistake in
the character of his chosen witnesses, but were suffi-
ciently reassured when instructed that it was a trial
of their faith.

On the 1st of June, 1830, the prophet organized his
Church at Fayette, in the county of Ontario, consist-
ing of thirty members. But this was found to be an
unfavorable locality : these embryo saints were held in
light repute in that region ; and, in the course of the
same year, Joseph removed to, and established his head-
quarters at Kirtland, Ohio ; not exactly as the future
capital of his new religious empire, but as one of the
stakes of Zion yet to be located. Here the furnace of
this new fanaticism got into full and powerful blast.
Superadded to the power of translating the Book of
Mormon in particular, and all mysterious hieroglyph-
ics in general, through a mammoth pair of spectacles,
Joseph received the gift of prophecy and revelation :

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

he became not only the translator of these ancient rec-
ords, but the prophet, seer, and revelator of the cur-
rent era. These extraordinary gifts he exercised with-
out stint or measure. The fount of revelation poured
forth through this chosen aqueduct a seemingly un-
ceasing and never-ending flood : the shrines of ancient
heathendom were altogether cast into the shade by
this modern oracle, which obediently responded at all
times and on all occasions, to meet the exigencies and
gratify the desires of Joseph and his coadjutors. All
the movements of the Church and its members, wheth-
er of a secular or religious character, were regulat-
ed by these celestial responses. Any one curious in
the lights, shadows, branchings, and ramifications of
pseudo-religious commotions, can be gratified by read-
ing the book of " Doctrines and Covenants" where
the most important of these Sibylline leaves are col-
lated for the edification and guidance of the Latter-
day Saints. Missionaries were sent forth by revela-
tion, and entered upon their work with zeal, perform-
ing miracles, speaking with unknown tongues, healing
the sick, &c. The thing was new, mysterious, and
marvelous ; its pretensions were great ; its advocates
bold and plausible ; where there was so much smoke,
it was readily believed there must be some fire ; the
last days were believed to be at hand, and multitudes
rushed into the new Zion.

Such an aggregation of combustible materials pro-
duced a corresponding conflagration, and all accounts
agree that the wildest vagaries of modern revivalism
were manifested to such a degree, that Joseph was
compelled to attach a safety-valve to the boiler, lest

72 UTAHAND THE MORMONS.

the concern should explode. He moderated the zeal
of the over-zealous, rebuked the too lofty pretensions of
some who were disposed to " see visions and dream
dreams" on their own hook, and established the very
important principle that he alone was the only reliable
medium of revelation. Like a prudent general, too,
he made seasonable provision for his own safety. As
early as July, 1830, a revelation on this point ran in
the following strain :

" Magnify thine office ; and after thou hast sowed
thy fields and secured them, go speedily unto the
Church which is in Colesville, Fayetteville, and Man-
chester, and they shall support thee"

In February, 1831, the oracle was still more ex-
plicit : " And again, it is meet that my servant Joseph
Smith, Jr., should have a house built, in which to live
and translate." " If ye desire the mysteries of my
kingdom, provide for him food and raiment, and
whatsoever thing he needeth"

Kirtland was never intended to be the metropolis of
Mormonism ; it was selected as a temporary abiding-
place, to make money in reference to a removal further
west. Oliver Cowdry was sent forward as a mission-
ary to the Lamanites, and to explore a place for the
future Zion. On his return, he gave so flattering an
account of the western borders of Missouri, that Joseph
resolved to go himself. Accordingly, he and Sidney
Eigdon, in obedience to a revelation (June, 1831), re-
paired to Jackson county, Missouri, and fixed on the
spot where Independence now stands as the site of the
great Mormon temple, and the gathering-place of the
Latter-day Saints.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

73

SMITH PREACHING IN THE WILDERNESS. ^

Every thing appeared so sunny in this delightful re-
gion, on the borders of civilized and savage life, where
the Lamanites and the Gentiles could be within con-
venient range of the Mormon batteries, that Joseph
was tempted to obtain a revelation, in which matters
were more clearly defined than is usual in prophetic
annunciations. The following is the heavenly response
on this occasion (July, 1831) :

D

74 U T A H A N D T H K M O R M O N S.

" Hearken, 0 ye elders of my Church, saith the
Lord your Grod, who have assembled yourselves to-
gether, according to my commandments, in this land
which is the land of Missouri, which is the land which
I have appointed and consecrated for the gathering of
the Saints. Wherefore this is the land of promise, and
the place for the city of Zion. Behold, the place which
is now called Independence is the centre place, and the
spot for the Temple is lying westward, upon a lot which
is not far from the Court-house : wherefore it is wis-
dom that the land should be purchased by the Saints ;
and also my tract lying westward, even unto the line
running between Jew and Gentile ; and also my tract
bordering by the prairies, inasmuch as my disciples are
enabled to buy lands. Behold, this is wisdom, that
they may obtain it for an everlasting inheritance."

By the Jew is here understood the Lamanite or In-
dian. The site of Zion having been thus duly fixed,
the enginery of revelation was also put in motion to
raise the means. - From a number we select the fol-
lowing :

" He that sendeth up treasures unto the land of Zion
shall receive an inheritance in this world, and his
works shall follow him ; and also reward in the world
to come." " Let all the moneys that can be spared, it
mattereth not whether it be little or much, be sent up
unto the land of Zion, unto them whom I have appoint-
ed to receive." (August, 1831.)

The following looks very much like " letter s-of-
marque" against the Gentiles :

" Behold, it is said in my laws, or forbidden, to get
in debt to thine enemies ; but behold, it is not said at

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 75

any time that the Lord should not take, when he
please, and pay as seemeth to him good ; wherefore,
as ye are agents, and are on the Lord's errand ; and
whatever ye do according to the will of the Lord is
the Lord's business, and he has sent you to provide
for his Saints in these last days, that they may ob-
tain an inheritance in the land of Zion"

There is no disputing a logical sequence upon the
premises here assumed. If the Saints were really upon
the Lord's business, and that business really required
a foray upon the flocks and herds of the Gentiles, it
would seem to be a fair conclusion that the Lord
should settle the bills when he pleased.

In obedience to these celestial mandates, the means
were obtained, and a large tract of land purchased in
Jackson county, Missouri. Arrangements were speed-
ily made for the establishment of a store, a printing-
press, and the usual mechanical operations necessary
for the convenience of a town. William "W. Phelps, a
broken-down political hack in the State of New York,
was placed at the head of the paper. The Saints flock-
ed in, and a town sprang up as by magic. Joseph re-
turned to Kirtland, where he proposed to remain five
years, to make money for ulterior purposes.

During this period of separation the elements of dis-
cord began to appear. Rigdon was a discontented spir-
it. He knew that he had furnished an equal share of
the capital in starting the adventure, and became ex-
ceedingly restive in being compelled, by the superior
tactics of his co-partner, to occupy a subordinate posi-
tion. Phelps, too, was an uneasy genius, and, like the
frog in the fable, was determined to swell himself into

76 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

importance. He had a ready skill in the dialect of
lampoons and half-way libels common to a class of ed-
itors at that period ; knew something of the weak
points of human nature, and could tease it as effectu-
ally as the horse is tormented by a hungry swarm of
flies. These and other kindred spirits began to ques-
tion the legitimacy of the powers assumed by the
prophet over the Church, and accused him, " in rather
an indirect way, of seeking after monarchical power
and authority." They began in whispers and covert
insinuations, but finally broke out into open accusa-
tions, and boldly opened a correspondence with him on
the subject. The prophet could not have been more
annoyed had a chestnut burr been securely fastened to
a sensitive part of his body. He would willingly have
put down this rebellion by hurling the thunderbolts of
revelation at the heads of the audacious traitors ; but
he was absent. from the seat of discontent, and did not
know how extensive or deeply rooted it might be. His
position was exceedingly embarrassing, and he mani-
fested a curious mixture of grief and indignation. In
answer to one of Phelps's letters, he writes (January
llth, 1833), " Our hearts are greatly grieved at the
spirit which is breathed both in your letter and that of
Brother G*5*****^ — the very spirit which is wasting
Zion like a pestilence ; and if it is not detected and
driven from you, it will ripen Zion for the threatened
judgments of God." " Let me say to you, seek to pu-
rify yourselves, and also all the inhabitants of Zion,
lest the Lord's anger be kindled to fierceness."

In addition to these threats of divine vengeance, he
caused a conference of high-priests to be held, and a

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 77

general epistle to be written, rebuking the rebellious
spirit of the Mormon camp. In this epistle, signed by
Orson Hyde and Hyrum Smith, " Brother Phelps' let-
ter" is spoken of as betraying " a lightness of spirit
that ill becomes a man placed in the important and re-
sponsible station that he is placed in." He is signifi-
cantly reminded, " If you have fat beef and potatoes,
eat them in singleness of heart, and not boast your-
selves in these things;" and the malcontents are warn-
ed that " Brother Joseph will not settle in Zion until
she repent and purify herself, and abide by the new
covenant, and remember the commandments that have
been given her, to do them as well as to say them."
The prophet, however, soon found that the rebellion
was too serious to be put down by these " paper pellets
of the brain," and he was eventually compelled, in com-
promise of the difficulty, to associate two others with
him in the presidency of the Church. The oracle in
this emergency runs in this wise : " And again, verily,
I say unto you, thy brethren, Sidney Rigdon and Fred-
erick G-. Williams, their sins are forgiven them also,
and they are accounted as equal with thee in holding
the keys of this last kingdom" (March, 1833). Here
we have the quorum of three, which has now become
the most important department in the government of
the Church.

In the mean time, the Saints went on gathering at
Independence until they numbered about twelve hund-
red. " The Evening and Morning Star," under the
management of Phelps, was established in 1832, and
opened its batteries upon the Gentile world. Every
thing seemed to go on swimmingly. The Saints, en-

78 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

couraged by increasing numbers and the indications
of prosperity, became arrogant and overbearing, and
talked of ultimately possessing the whole land. They
soon, too, acquired a doubtful reputation for licentious-
ness, stealing, and fraudulent practices under various
forms. To cap the climax, the " Star" published some
incendiary articles in regard to the colored population,
which aroused the jealousy of the slaveholders for the
safety of the peculiar institution. The people became
uncontrollably excited, and held a meeting at Inde-
pendence, July 20, 1833, in which they resolved on the
expulsion of the Mormons. They required that the
office of the Star should be closed, and that the Saints
should pledge themselves to remove ; in which case
they were to be " allowed to remain a reasonable time,
to sell their property and close their business without
any material sacrifice." The Saints wished for time
to consult with their brethren in Ohio, but this being
regarded by the angry multitude as an evasion, they
again assembled, after a few hours' delay, leveled the
printing-office to the ground, and tarred and feathered
two of the principal Saints.

On the 23d of July, three days after, the mob again
assembled, Avell armed, and the Mormons, becoming
alarmed for their safety, agreed to remove from the
county in a reasonable time. An agreement to this
effect was drawn up and signed, by which one half
were to remove by the first of January, and the rest by
the first of April following, in consideration of which
the people agreed that no further violence should be
offered. Had these terms been complied with, prob-
ably no further violence would have occurred in Jack-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

79

SMITH TARRED AND FEATHERED.

son county. The prophet was at this time at Kirtland,
and to him some of the brethren resorted in this emer-
gency, and under his direction made an appeal to Gov-
ernor Dunklin. The Governor, in answer, admitted
that they had been illegally treated, and advised them
to appeal to the courts for redress. In consequence of
this, they commenced a number of suits against sun-
dry of the mob, and resolved to remain. Of course,
this led to further violence, and finally to something
like a regular skirmish, in which two of the Missouri-
ans were killed. Blood being fairly spilled, there seem-

80 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

ed every prospect of a civil war, when the main body
of the Mormons, hastily and in much confusion, aban-
doned their homes, and fled into Clay county, on the
other side of the Missouri. This took place in Novem-
ber, 1833 : women and children were exposed to the
inclemency of the weather, and there was much suf-
fering and some loss of property. They were, however,
received with great kindness by the people of Clay
county, and the prophet managed to take off the rough
edge of these reverses by a revelation that they were
in consequence of the " contentions, and envyings, and
strifes, and lustful and covetous desires" among the
Saints, whereby they had " polluted their inheritances ;"
and they are comforted with the assurance that " Zion
shall not be moved out of her place, notwithstanding
her children are scattered ; they that remain and are
pure in heart shall return and come to their inherit-
ances, they and their children, with songs of everlast-
ing joy, to build up the waste places of Zion. And,
behold, there is none other place appointed than that
which I have appointed for the work of the gathering
of my Saints, until the day cometh when there is found
no more room for them, and then I have other places
which I will appoint unto them ; and they shall be
called stakes for the curtains, or the strength of Zion"
(August, 1833). He also reveals to them that they
were to appeal to the judiciary, and, if that was in vain,
then to the Governor, and, if that was unsuccessful,
then to the President of the United States, and if the
appeal was still unheeded, "then the Lord God him-
self would arise, and come forth out of his hiding-
place, and in his fury vex the nation !"

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. gl

These appeals were all subsequently made without
success ; but, unfortunately for the prediction, the Lord
does not seem to come forth from his " hiding-place ;"
and, although Missouri was to be overflowing with
Saints before the " stakes for the curtains" were ap-
pointed, yet they have been compelled to appoint these
" stakes" without returning to Independence at all.
The truth is, these revelations in regard to the seat of
Zion were a little too definite. The prophet, in due
time, discovered that he led the Mormon deity into a
mistake, and did all he could to explain the failure.
It was difficult, however, in the face of such predic-
tions, to change the venue, and the notion is therefore
still prevalent among a portion of the Saints that they
are to return in triumph to Missouri and drive out the
G-entiles.

CHAPTER V.

HISTORY CONTINUED.

Mormons quit Clay and remove into Caldwell County. — Joseph's Jour-
neys into Missouri. — Sets up a Bank at Kirtland. — Leaves Kirtland
in the Night. — Troubles in Missouri.—" Danites." — Joseph arrested,
and Mormons agree to leave the State. — Murder at Hawn's Mill. —
Mormons remove to Illinois. — Evidence on the Trial of Joseph. —
His Imprisonment and Escape.

THE Mormons went into Clay county as a tempo-
rary refuge from the popular storm then raging against
them, and until they could return to Zion or obtain
some other abiding-place. Under the encouraging pre-
dictions of the prophet, they confidently expected soon
D2

82 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

to be restored in triumph to their chosen metropolis.
But delays ensued. The people of Jackson county,
determined to be forever rid of the nuisance which they
had thus summarily abated, pertinaciously refused all
terms of accommodation based upon the idea that the
Saints were to return among them.

In the mean time, persecution seems to have given
them exactly the kind of aid needed for a rapid accu-
mulation of numbers. New converts flocked in, and
spread from Clay into Caldwell and Davies counties,
and this portion of Missouri bid fair to become com-
pletely Mormonized. The people of Clay county be-
came seriously alarmed. They found in their midst
an ignorant, clannish population, combined together
by religious fanaticism, arrogant and overbearing in
their pretensions, and completely under the control of a
single will. Their numbers were rapidly increasing ;
they were purchasing lands ; and there was every ap-
pearance that they intended to remain. They were
non-slaveholders, and excited the fears of the people in
regard to their slaves ; they proclaimed that the In-
dians were a remnant of the Israelites, and were mak-
ing strenuous efforts to convert them to the new faith ;
and the tomahawk and scalping-knife became, in popu-
lar imagination, fearful additions to the destructive ele-
ments which seemed to be combining for evil in their
midst. A meeting of the citizens was held at Liberty
on the 29th of June, 1836, in which these matters were
taken into consideration. The Mormons were remind-
ed of the circumstances under which they were re-
ceived, and requested to leave, time being given them
to harvest their crops and dispose of their property.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. Q3

Fortunately for all concerned, the Saints admitted the
conditions under which they were received by the cit-
izens, and agreed to leave on the terms proposed, de-
nying strenuously that they had ever tampered with
the slaves, or had any idea of exciting an Indian war.

The Mormons, being thus compelled to leave Clay
county, settled principally in Caldwell county, found-
ing the city of Far West, and other smaller places.
The popular storm, however, which had never fully
abated, gathered new strength, and ultimately drove
them from the state.

The prophet, who had kept himself out of the way
of danger during the warfare in Jackson county, and
had made a missionary excursion into Canada, seeking
for new converts, projected a journey into Missouri
soon after the Saints had got safely settled in Clay
county. Many had grown weak in the faith, and be-
come discouraged by reason of the troubles at Inde-
pendence. This journey was therefore intended to
build up the breaches in the walls of Zion by a fresh
display of revelations, and other signs and wonders.
He journeyed partly in disguise, to avoid the anticipat-
ed hostility of the wicked Gentiles, and was attended
by a body-guard of about one hundred young men, se-
cretly armed. This was in May, 1834. After passing
the Illinois River, they came to some of those mounds
so common in the Western States. One of these was
opened, and the bones of a dead Indian exposed to
view, with an arrow between his ribs. Joseph was in-
stantly favored with a vision, and declared the remains
to be the skeleton of one of the ancient Lamanites by
the name of Zelph, who had been killed in a battle

§4 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

DISCOVERY OF THE LAMAiNlTE SKELETON.

with the Nephites. The journey occupied some time.
On reaching the first settlement of the brethren, they
were joined by Brother Hyrurn Smith, with about one
hundred armed men ; and with this re-enforcement he
visited the Saints, gave forth some consoling and reas-
suring revelations, worked some miracles, and, after re-
ducing things to proper order, returned to Kirtland in
July.

The principal object of the prophet's residence at
Kirtland, as avowed by himself, was to make money,

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. §5

for the purpose of facilitating which he set up a bank,
in connection with a mill and store ; and in this way
he carried on business operations for a few years. But
financial and commercial enterprises were altogether
beyond his depth ; his forte lay in another direction ;
the universal panacea of revelation could not ward off
the blow ; the celestial councils got into a decided fog ;
to make a long story short, the whole concern exploded
in 1837. He had great difficulty in preventing the
whole Mormon scheme from exploding with the bank.
The sufferers grumbled. One Elder Boynton contu-
maciously complained that " he understood the bank
was instituted by the will of God, and he had been
told that it should never fail, let men do what they
would." But Joseph adroitly threw the blame on the
managers, claiming that a blessing had been promised
only on the condition of its being conducted on proper
principles. The following, from his autobiography,
shows the straits to which he was reduced at this crit-
ical period :

" At this time the spirit of speculation in lands, and
property of all kinds, which was so prevalent through-
out the whole nation, was taking deep root in the
Church ; as the fruits of this spirit, evil surmisings,
fault-finding, disunion, dissension, and apostacy follow-
ed in quick succession, and it seemed as though all the
powers of earth and hell were combining their influ-
ence in an especial manner to overthrow the Church
at once, and make a final end. Other banking insti-
tutions refused the ' Kirtland Safety Society's' notes.
The enemy abroad and apostates in our midst united
in their schemes ; flour and provisions were turned to-

85 U T A II A N D T II E M O R M O N S.

ward other markets ; and many became disaffected to-
ward me, as though I were the sole cause of those
very evils I was most strenuously striving against, and
which were actually brought upon us by the brethren
not giving heed to my counsel.

" No quorum in the Church was entirely exempt from
the influence of those false spirits who were striving
against me for the mastery ; even some of the Twelve
were so far lost to their high and responsible calling
as to begin to take sides, secretly, with the enemy."

In addition to these troubles, the outside barbarians
in and around Kirtland, who fancied themselves swin-
dled by these banking operations, became excited, and
procured legal process for the arrest of the prophet and
Elder Eigdon. In the profane and vulgar language
of the day, Joseph and his coadjutor " run away" in
the night of January 12th, 1838. It is curious to see
how differently the same thing is viewed by different
minds. The following is the aspect of the case when
viewed through Mormon spectacles :

"A new year dawned upon the Church in Kirtland
in all the bitterness of the spirit of apostate mobocracy,
which continued to rage, and grow hotter and hotter,
until Elder Rigdon and myself were obliged to flee
from its deadly influence, as did the apostles and
prophets of old, and as Jesus said, { When they perse-
cute you in one city, flee to another ;' and on the even-
ing of the 12th of January, about ten o'clock, we left
Kirtland, on horseback, to escape mob violence, which
was about to burst upon us, under the color of legal
process to cover their hellish designs, and save them-
selves from the just judgment of the law."

U T A H A N D T H E M O R M O N S. §7

The people were thoroughly exasperated, and Joseph
and his prime minister had to run for it :

"The weather was extremely cold, and we were
obliged to secrete ourselves in our wagons sometimes,
to elude the grasp of our pursuers, who continued their
race more than two hundred miles from Kirtland,
armed with pistols, &c., seeking our lives."

Once fairly beyond the risk of seizure by the perse-
cuting Kirtlanders, the fugitive prophet took the mat-
ter more leisurely, and, after journeying about four
weeks, arrived at Far "West, which at this period must
be regarded as the "Latter-day" metropolis. His
presence here had become a necessity. The affairs
of Zion, though prospering in point of numerical acces-
sion, were any thing but promising, and another col-
lision with the Gentiles was evidently approaching.

Ever since their expulsion from Independence, the
Mormons had made the most persevering efforts to re-
turn, and among the means contemplated was a re-
sort to arms, in case milder means did not succeed.
They had applied to the Governor for a military force
to restore them to their lost Eden, and also for permis-
sion to organize companies among themselves, to be
armed by the state. The Governor manifested his
willingness to reinstate them in their former posses-
sions, so far as lay in his power ; but, as it was mani-
festly impossible to keep a standing army at Independ-
ence, there was no guarantee that the same troubles
would not be renewed ; and he advised them to con-
tinue their reliance on the courts for redress. The
people of Jackson, however, were fully determined that
none of the Saints should from henceforth settle in

88 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

their midst; and, to put the question at rest, they
made a more than equitable proposition to purchase
the lands and improvements of the Mormons, at a price
to be fixed by three disinterested arbitrators, with one
hundred per cent, in addition. Strange to say, this
extremely favorable proposition was rejected. Zion
had been distinctly located at Independence by a rev-
elation, and the prophet could not bear to have the pre-
diction falsified ; and accordingly, under date of De-
cember 5th, 1833, from Kirtland, he had written :
" You will recollect that the Lord has said that Zion
should not be removed out of her place ; therefore the
land should not be sold, but be held by the Saints, un-
til the Lord, in his wisdom, opens a way for your re-
turn."

They not only refused to sell their property at double
its value, in obedience to the prophet's injunctions, but
instituted civil and criminal proceedings against those
who had been most active in ejecting them from their
possessions.

In the mean time, precisely the same causes which
made the Saints fugitives from Independence, were
arousing against them the popular indignation in C aid-
well and Davies counties. As numbers and prosperity
gathered around them, they became arrogant, and soon
acquired, whether founded or unfounded, their former
reputation for licentiousness, thieving, and other kin-
dred practices. Matters went on from bad to worse ; one
scene of violence led to another a little more flagrant —
buildings were burned, and blood was shed ; the exec-
utive of the state interfered and called out the militia,
and something very much resembling civil war began

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. §9

to rage in this unlucky portion of the state. Which
party, the Mormon or anti-Mormon, committed the first
act of open violence, is not very clear, though the weight
of evidence in this respect is against the Saints. At
all events, it is quite evident that Joseph at this period
had made up his mind to resist the laws, and, if possi-
ble, play the part of Mohammed. To further these ob-
jects, he had organized a formidable band of ruffians,
as the nucleus of a disciplined military force, but whose
present business it was to inflict vengeance upon apos-
tates and obnoxious Gentiles, and, in fact, like, the ex-
ecutioners of the German Vehme, to commit any crime,
however horrible, in obedience to the mandates of tho
prophet. These were the "Danites" or "Brothers of
Gideon" But " the pear was not yet ripe."

The Governor acted with vigor. A strong military
force was organized and placed under the command of
General J. B. Clark, who, by a rapid march, surround-
ed Far West, and made Joseph and Hyrum Smith, with
some forty others, prisoners, and virtually ended the
struggle without a battle. The Mormons, panic-struck,
delivered up their arms, and entered into a treaty by
which they agreed to leave the state. During this pe-
riod of commotion, some lamentable scenes occurred,
exhibiting the revengeful bitterness of the popular
mind, among which was the murder of sixteen Mor-
mons, including two boys, at Hawn's Mill, by a law-
less band of armed men. The Saints charged this das-
tardly violence upon those in command ; and, unfortu-
nately, the phraseology of General Clark's instructions,
and of his subsequent address to the Mormons, furnish-
es some plausibility to the accusation.

90 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

In a dispatch from the general to the Governor, dated
November 10th, 1838, he says : " There is no crime,
from treason down to petit larceny, but these people,
or a majority of them, have been guilty of — all, too,
under the counsel of Joseph Smith, Jr., the prophet.
They have committed treason, murder, arson, bur-
glary, robbery, larceny, and perjury. They have so-
cieties formed under the most binding covenants in
form, and the most horrid oaths, to circumvent the
laws and put them at defiance ; and to plunder, and
burn, and murder, and divide the spoils for the use of
the Church."

It was in answer to this that the Governor wrote to
General Clark, that " the ringleaders of this rebell-
ion should be made an example of; and, if it should
become necessary to the public peace, the Mormons
should be exterminated or expelled from the state"

This was extremely unguarded, and seems to have
been too literally construed. In an address of General
Clark to the Mormons, we find the following :

" Another thing yet remains for you to comply with
— that is, that you leave the state forthwith ; and,
whatever your feelings concerning this affair, whatever
your innocence, it is nothing to me. General Lucas,
who is equal in authority with me, has made this treaty
with you. I am determined to see it executed. The
orders of the Governor to me were, that you should be
exterminated, and not allowed to continue in the state ;
and had your leader not been given up, and the treaty
complied with, before this you and your families would
have been destroyed, and your houses in ashes." " I
did not say that you should go now ; but you must not

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

think of staying here another season, or of putting in
crops, for the moment you do, the citizens will be upon
you. I am determined to see the Governor's message
fulfilled, but shall not come upon you immediately ;
do not think that I shall act as I have done any more ;
but if I come again, because the treaty which you
have made here shall be broken, you need not expect
any mercy, but extermination."

Making all due allowance for the exasperated state
of the public mind, these threats of " extermination"
sound a little too savage in Anglo-Saxon ears. They
were undoubtedly intended to intimidate the Mormons
into a compliance with the stipulations of the treaty
which they had made. Bat they were impolitic, be-
cause they gave plausibility to the idea that the Saints
were the victims of a cruel and unrelenting religious
persecution, and furnished them with one of the surest
means of future success. The prophet was not slow
in using the weapons thus placed in his hands ; the cry
of persecution was rung in all its changes through
Christendom ; his followers were compared to the early
Christian martyrs, suffering under the tortures inflict-
ed by the enemies of the Church ; and converts rapidly
gathered around the new Zion.

By the treaty above referred to, the Mormons were
required to quit the state, and five commissioners were
appointed to sell their property, pay their debts, and
aid them in removing. Many families being destitute,
and without the means of removing, the state appro-
priated two thousand dollars for their relief; the citi-
zens of the adjacent counties also contributed in money
and goods to the. same object.

92

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

Once more fugitives and wanderers, the Saints cross-
ed the Mississippi and found refuge in the neighboring
State of Illinois. The prophet and his fellow-prisoners
were arraigned for treason against the state, and on a

CROSSING THE MISSISSIPPI.

preliminary examination of the case before Judge King,
some startling facts were disclosed in regard to the de-
signs of the Mormon chief, the dangerous fanaticism
of his followers, and the atrocities which had been
sanctioned by him.

It appears by the testimony of Samuel Avard that
the first object of the Danite band was " to drive from
the county of Caldwell all those who dissented from
the Mormon Church, in which they succeeded admi-
rably, to the satisfaction of those concerned." " The
prophet, Joseph Smith, Jr., together with his two coun-

UTAH AND T PI E MORMONS. 93

selors (Hyrum Smith and Sidney Rigdon), were con-
sidered the supreme head of the Church ; and the Dan-
ite band felt themselves as much bound to obey them
as to obey the supreme Grod."

John Cowill, another Mormon, swore : " This Mor-
mon Church has been represented as being the little
stone spoken of by Daniel, which should roll on, and
crush all opposition to it, and ultimately should be es-
tablished as a temporal as well as a spiritual king-
dom. These things were to be carried on through the
instrumentality of the Danite band, as far as force was
necessary, they being organized into bands of tens, fif-
ties, &c., ready for war." " I think the original object
of the Danite band was to operate on the dissenters ;
but afterward it grew into a system to carry out the
designs of the presidency, and, if it was necessary, to
use physical force to uphold the kingdom of God."

John Cleminson (Mormon) swore : " Some time in
June I attended two or three Danite meetings, and it
was there taught as a part of the duty of the band that
they should support the presidency, right or wrong ;
that whatever they said was to be obeyed, and who-
ever opposed the presidency in what they said or de-
sired done, should be expelled the county, or have their
lives taken."

William W. Phelps, then a Mormon dissenter, but
now again a member in good standing, and member
of the Utah Legislative Assembly, swore : " It was ob-
served in the meeting, that if any person spoke against
the presidency, they would hand him over to the hands
of the < Brothers of Gideon: " " The object of the
meeting seemed to be to make persons confess and re-

94 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

pent of their sins to God and the presidency, and ar-
raign them for giving a false account of their money
and effects they had on hand ; and they said, whenever
they found one guilty of these things, they were to be
handed over to the < Brothers of Gideon.' " " There
was a short speech made by Joseph Smith, Jr., about
carrying on the war, in which he said it was necessary
to take spoils to live on. This was in reference to the
dissenters, as well as to the people of Davies, where
they were going." "Wight asked Smith, Jr., twice,
if it had come to the point now to resist the laws.
Smith replied, the time had come when he should re-
sist all law"

A great deal of testimony was taken, disclosing a
fearful catalogue of stealing, robbery, burning, &c., by
the Mormons, with the sanction of their prophet.

Among the affidavits on which the prosecution \vas
founded is one made by Thomas B. Marsh, a seceder,
in which it is stated, " They have among them a com-
pany, consisting of all that are considered true Mor-
mons, called the Danites, who have taken an oath to
support the heads of the Church in all things that they
say or do, whether right or wrong." " In a conversa-
tion between Dr. Avard and other Mormons, said Avard
proposed to start a pestilence among the Gentiles, as
he called them, by poisoning their cows, fruit, &c., and
saying it was the work of the Lord ; and said Avard
advocated lying, for the support of their religion, and
said it was no harm to lie for the Lord. The plan of
said Smith, the prophet, is to take this state ; and he
professes to his people to intend taking the United
States, and ultimately the whole world. The prophet

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 95

inculcated the notion, and it is believed by every true
Mormon, that Smith's prophecies are superior to the
laws of the land. I have heard the prophet say that
he would yet tread down his enemies and walk on
their dead bodies ; that, if he was not let alone, he
would be a second Mohammed to this generation, and
that he would make it one gore of blood from the
Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean ; that, like
Mohammed, whose motto, in treating for peace, was
6 the Alcoran or the sword,' so should it be eventually
with us, 'Joseph Smith or the sword? These last
statements were made during the last summer. The
number of armed men at Adam-on-Diahman was be-
tween three and four hundred."

These statements of Marsh were endorsed by Orson
Hyde, then a seceder, but now one of the twelve apos-
tles, member of the Legislative Assembly of Utah, &c.,
in the following terms :

" The most of the statements in the foregoing dis-
closures of T. R. Marsh I know to be true ; the re-
mainder I believe to be true. ORSON HYDE.

" Richmond, Oct. 24, 1838.
" Sworn to and subscribed before me, the day and year above written,

" HENRY JACOBS, J. P."

All the testimony taken on the examination was sub-
sequently communicated to the Missouri Legislature in
1840, by Governor Boggs, among the documents ac-
companying his message, and published. In his mes-
sage he thus speaks of the Mormons :

" These people had violated the laws of the land by

96 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

open force and avowed resistance to them ; they had
undertaken, without the aid of the civil authority, to
redress their real or fancied grievances ; they had in-
stituted among themselves a government of their own,
independent and in opposition to the government of
this state, that had, at an inclement season of the year,
driven the inhabitants of an entire county from their
homes, ravaged their crops, and destroyed their dwell-
ings. Under these circumstances, it became the im-
perious duty of the executive to interfere, and exercise
the powers with which he was invested to protect the
lives and property of our citizens, to restore order and
tranquillity to the county, and maintain the supremacy
of the laws."

This accumulation of evidence furnishes abundant
proof that the prophet had, at this early period, infused
into his followers a fanatical belief in his pretensions,
and the most extravagant notions of their future great-
ness. In all likelihood, the unexpected success of the
scheme induced Smith to believe that he could play the
part of the Arabian impostor ; and he might have done
so had he possessed equal resources, and found a field
of popular ignorance and delusion sufficiently extensive
for his operations.

He was thrown into prison, where he remained until
the spring of 1839, when he managed to make his es-
cape and join his followers-in Illinois.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

97

CHAPTER VI.

HISTORY CONTINUED.

Nauvoo. — Revelation to build Temple and Tavern. — Nauvoo Legion.
— Letter-writers. — Joseph a candidate for the Presidency. — Letter to
Clay and Calhoun.

THE Illinoisans received the Saints with an extra-
ordinary degree of favor, and under the unceasing cry
of persecution, converts, old and new, flocked in from
all quarters. They established themselves in a bend
of the Mississippi, in the county of Hancock, where the
village of Commerce had been laid out by its propri-
etor, the name of which they afterward changed to
Nauvoo. Nauvoo was one of the names of one of the
numerous petty chiefs in British India. About a year
after their involuntary exode from Missouri, something
like fifteen thousand Saints were supposed to be settled
in and around the new city. To give an impetus to
the gathering, Joseph, after an unusual interval, again
mounted the tripod, and put forth an elaborate revela-
tion (January, 1841), in which, among other things,
Nauvoo was duly appointed one of the stakes, and a
temple ordered to be built ; to which end, the Saints
far and near were commanded to come with their gold,
silver, precious stones, and other materiel, of which a
goodly enumeration was made.

One of the most powerful levers which he had in-
vented for moving his disciples in temple building was
the doctrine of baptism for the dead — that is, that the
E

98

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

MORMON BAPTISM.

living could be baptized for, and thus save their dead
friends — which baptism must be performed in the tem-
ple ; no other place would give it the requisite efficacy.
The Mormon divinity, however, was becoming im-
patient at the various delays in constructing a res-
idence for him on this mundane sphere, and, to stim-
ulate and encourage his followers, he concluded to
revise this doctrine, to suit the emergencies of the pe-
riod, in the following terms :

" But I command you all, ye my saints, to build a
house unto me ; and I grant unto you a sufficient time
'to build a house unto me, and during this time your

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 99

baptisrns shall be acceptable unto me. But behold, at
the end of this appointment, your baptisms shall not be
acceptable unto me ; and if you do not these things at
the end of the appointment, ye shall be rejected as a
Church with your dead, saith the Lord your God. For
verily I say unto you, that after you have had suffi-
cient time to build a house to me, wherein the or-
dinance of baptizing for the dead belongeth, and for
which the same was instituted from before the foun-
dation of the world, your baptisms for your dead can
not be acceptable unto me ; for therein are the keys of
the holy priesthood, ordained, that you may receive
honor and glory."

It was quite as essential that the Mormon prophet
should be provided for as the Mormon Deity. Accord-
ingly, this same revelation provides for the erection of
a tavern, in which Joseph was to have his head-quar-
ters.

" Therefore let my servant Joseph, and his seed after
him, have place in that house from generation to gen-
eration, forever and ever, saith the Lord ; and let the
name of that house be called the Nauvoo House ; and
let it be a delightful habitation for man, and a resting-
place for the weary traveler," &c.

This change in the character of the prophet's resi-
dence is significant of his growing habits of intemper-
ance and licentiousness — it was only two years subse-
quent that his revelation in favor of polygamy was con-
cocted— and a tavern, with its bar, and multiplicity of
rooms, closets, and passages, would seem to be a fit and
characteristic residence for the chief of Mormondon at
this period. But alas for the prediction ! In a few

100 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

years from this time, the prophet slept in a bloody
grave, and his family and followers were driven from
the place which he and his seed, from generation to
generation, were to occupy "forever and ever"

Under the influence of fanaticism, fiercely stimula-
ted "by persecution, the gathering Saints were active in
all departments of industry, and soon became a thriv-
ing community. Buildings were erected, farms culti-
vated, the tavern was built, the temple progressed
apace, and Nauvoo rapidly increased. The free peo-
ple of Illinois, indignant that so peaceable, industrious,
and virtuous a community should have been perse-
cuted and driven into exile by the slaveholders of
Missouri, extended to them a friendly and fostering
hand. Nauvoo received from the Legislature a charter
with extraordinary privileges, among which was the
power to organize a military force, armed by the state,
and under the command of the prophet as lieutenant-
general. A formidable band, amounting, ultimately,
to 4000 men, called the Nauvoo Legion, was organized,
armed, and drilled, ready for any emergency, however
desperate, to which the ambition or necessities of their
leader might give rise.

Reviews were held from time to time, and flags pre-
sented, and Joseph appeared on all those occasions
with a splendid staff, in all the pomp and circumstance
of a full-blown military commander. The singular
spectacle was presented of an independent military
power growing and perfecting itself within the state,
and rendered fierce and dangerous by religious fanati-
cism, and the recollections of persecutions suffered.
This legion is described by an officer of the U. S.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 1Q3

army, in September, 1842, as approximating, in regard
to appointments and discipline, " very closely to our
regular forces." The Mormons at this time, in the
United States and Great Britain, were supposed to
number about one hundred and fifty thousand, and
were on the increase ; and this standing army was
capable of an indefinite increase. "Why was the mili-
tary organization necessary ? The idea of playing tho
part of Mohammed, and marching back in triumph to
the Mecca of the Saints in Jackson county, which had
already floated through the brain of the prophet, had
probably never been abandoned. Joseph, as the mouth-
piece of the Mormon Deity, had predicted, that unless
justice were speedily done to his persecuted followers,
" the Lord God himself would arise and come forth
out of his hiding-place, and in his fury vex the nation ;"
and the idea of being the executioner of the celestial
vengeance may furnish a reason for the organization
of so formidable a band. But, fortunately, he was too
much engaged in pandering to his animal propensities
to be capable of using efficiently the means of mis-
chief within his grasp. To organize and conduct a
violent and treasonable revolution in this country re-
quires a larger reach of intellect, greater self-denial,
and more determined energy than belonged to the
Mormon chief.

Joseph was a skillful tactician. Among the ways
and means by which he and his community became
favorably known to the world was that of newspaper
correspondence, which forms so large a portion of the
journals of the day. Strangers would suddenly ap-
pear at Nauvoo, and the columns of the widely-circu-

104 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

lated New York dailies were often garnished with
glowing accounts of the prosperity of the city, the
fascinations of the society, and, above all, the extraor-
dinary character of the prophet and his nobility. One,
a correspondent of the New York Herald, tells us that

" Joseph Smith, the President of the Church, proph-
et, seer, and revelator, is thirty-six years of age, six feet
high in his pumps, weighing two hundred and twelve
pounds. He is a man of the highest talent , and great
independence of character, firm in his integrity, and
devoted to his religion ; in a word, he is a per se, as
President Tyler would say. As a speaker, he is bold,
powerful, and convincing, possessing both the suaviter
in modo and the fortiter in re ; as a leader, wise and
prudent, yet fearless ; as a military commander, brave
and determined; as a citizen, worthy, affable, and
kind — bland in his manners, and of noble bearing."

Hyrum Smith and other lions in the Nauvoo mena-
gerie are described in equally flattering terms.

Another says : " Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet,
is a singular character ; he lives at the ' Nauvoo Man-
sion House,' which is, I understand, intended to become
a home for the stranger and traveler. The prophet is
a kind, cheerful, sociable companion ; and as I saw the
prophet and his brother Hyrum conversing together
one day, I thought I beheld two of the greatest men
of the nineteenth century."

These were the palmy days of Mormondom. Mis-
sionaries had been sent into all accessible parts of the
world, and their zealous efforts were drawing multi-
tudes of credulous people within the Latter-day vor-
tex. Joseph seemed to be in the full tide of prosper-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

ity, and in a fair way of realizing all his predictions.
He was prophet and seer, commander-in-chief, mayor,
and tavern-keeper within his dominions, and as abso-
lute in these several capacities as the Grand Lama of
Thibet. He became also a politician, and on the 15th
of February, 1844, was duly put forth as a candidate
for the presidency by the Times and Seasons, accom-
panied with a few columns of editorial, in which he
was highly lauded for his great qualities. To give
eclat to this movement, he published a long address,
written in a dashing, devil-may-care style, containing
some shrewd suggestions, and curiously illustrating
the character of the man, in making cunning appeals
to the class of minds which he had gathered around
him. At this period, he was ambitious of being con-
sidered as a learned man, and the document is queeiiy
interlarded with scraps of almost all the known and
unknown languages, dead and living. He goes onto
extol the patriotism of the early presidents down to,
and including, the administration of General Jackson,
quoting from their inaugurals and messages, and com-
mending their policy. General Jackson's administra-
tion he regards as the " acme of American glory, lib-
erty, and prosperity ;" but the advent of Mr. Van Bu-
ren changes the scene :

" At the age, then, of sixty years, our blooming re-
public began to decline under the withering touch of
Martin Van Buren. Disappointed ambition, thirst for
power, pride, corruption, party-spirit, faction, patron-
age, perquisites, fame, tangling alliances, priestcraft,
and spiritual wickedness in high places, struck hands,
and reveled in midnight splendor. Trouble, vexation,

E 2

106 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

perplexity, and contention, mingled with hope, fear, and
murmuring, rumbled through the union, and agitated
the whole nation as would an earthquake at the cen-
tre of the earth the world, heaving the sea beyond its
bounds, and shaking the everlasting hills."

He is particularly severe on Mr. Van Buren's opin-
ion in reference to the abolition of slavery in the Dis-
trict of Columbia :

" Poor little Matty made his rhapsodical sweep with
the fact before his eyes that the State of New York,
his native state, had abolished slavery without a strug-
gle or a groan. Great God ! how independent ! From
henceforth slavery is tolerated where it exists, Consti-
tution or no Constitution, people or no people, right or
wrong — ^vox MattiJ 'vox diaboW — 'the voice of
Matty,' * the voice of the devil ;' and, peradventure, his
great £ sub-treasury' scheme was a piece of the same
mind ; but the man and his measures have such a
striking resemblance to the anecdote of the "Welshman
and his cart-tongue, that, when the Constitution was
so long that it allowed slavery at the Capitol of a free
people, it could not be cut off; but when it was so short
that it needed a sub-treasury to save the funds of the
nation, it could be spliced. Oh, granny, what a long
tail our puss has got ! As a Greek might say, hyste-
ronproteron, the cart before the horse ; but his mighty
whisk through the great national fire for. the presiden-
tial chestnuts burned the locks of his glory with the
blaze of his folly!"

General Harrison appeared " as a star among the
storm-clouds for better weather," but was soon taken
away ; and " subsequent events, all things considered —

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

Van Buren's downfall, Harrison's exit, and Tyler's self-
sufficient turn to the whole — go to show, as a Chaldean
might exclaim, Beram etai elauh beshmayaugh gau-
hah rauzeen — Certainly there is a God in heaven to
reveal secrets.

" No honest man can doubt for a moment but the
glory of American liberty is on the wane, and that ca-
lamity and confusion will sooner or later destroy the
peace of the people."

He winds up characteristically with a long list of
what he would do if placed in the presidential chair.

In the November previous, Joseph had written to
Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, in anticipation that
they would be candidates for the presidency, to ascer-
tain what would be their rule of action in relation to
the alleged wrongs which the Saints had sustained in
Missouri. He received answers from both these dis-
tinguished men. Mr. Clay, in general terms, sympa-
thized with the sufferings which they had sustained
under injustice, but declined giving any pledges or
promises ; and Mr. Calhoun reiterated that which he
had already stated in an interview with the Mormon
chief at Washington, to the effect that the case did not
come within the jurisdiction of the federal govern-
ment. The prophet replied to both ; and a few ex-
tracts from his letter to Mr. Clay, written May 15th,
1844, will exhibit his aptitude for wordy vituperation :

" In your answer to my questions last fall, that pe-
culiar tact of modern politicians, declaring, ' if you
ever enter into that high office, you must go into it
free and unfettered, with no guarantee but such as
are to be drawn from your whole life, character, and

108 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

conduct] so much resembles a lottery- vender's sign,
with the goddess of good luck sitting on the car of for-
tune astraddle of the horn of plenty, and driving the
merry steeds of beatitude without rein or bridle, that
I can not help exclaiming, 0 frail man ! what have
you done that will exalt you ?"

" Crape the heavens with wreeds of woe, gird the
earth with sackcloth, and let hell mutter one melody
in commemoration of fallen splendor ! for the glory of
America has departed, and God will set a flaming
sword to guard the tree of liberty, while such mint-
tithing Herods as Van Buren, Boggs, Benton, Calhoun,
and Clay are thrust out of the realms of virtue as fit
subjects for the kingdom of fallen greatness."

" Why, sir, the condition of the whole earth is la-
mentable. Texas dreads the teeth and toe-nails of
Mexico ; Oregon has the rheumatism, brought on by
a horrid exposure to the heat and cold of British and
American trappers ; Canada has caught a bad cold
from extreme fatigue in the patriot war ; South Amer-
ica has the headache, caused by bumps against the
beams of Catholicity and Spanish sovereignty ; Spain
has the gripes from age and inquisition ; France trem-
bles and wastes under the effects of contagious dis-
eases ; England groans with the gout, and wiggles
with wine ; Italy and the German States are pale with
the consumption ; Prussia, Poland, and the little con-
tiguous dynasties, duchies, and domains, have the
mumps so severely, that ' the whole head is sick, and
the whole heart is faint ;' Russia has the cramp by
lineage ; Turkey has the numb palsy ; Africa, from
the curse of God, has lost the use of her limbs ; China

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 1Q9

is ruined by the Queen's evil, and the rest of Asia fear-
fully exposed to the small-pox the natural way from
British peddlers ; the Islands of the Sea are almost dead
with the scurvy ; the Indians are blind and lame ; and
the United States, which ought to be the good physi-
cian, with ' balm from Gilead' and an < asylum for the
oppressed? has boosted, and is boosting up into the
council-chamber of the government a clique of polit-
ical gamblers, to play for the old clothes and old shoes
of a sick world, and ' no pledge, no promise to any
particular portion of the people* that the rightful
heirs will ever receive a cent of their fathers' legacy !
Away with such self-important, self-aggrandizing, and
self-willed demagogues ! their friendship is colder than
polar ice, and their professions meaner than the dam-
nation of hell."

These letters, published far and wide, served their
intended purpose of increasing the notoriety which he
already enjoyed.

The query very naturally arises, Had this notorious
individual any idea that he could be elected to the
presidency ? Probably not at the then impending cam-
paign. But the frog in the fable, which was ambitious
of the size of the ox, acted in good faith in trying to
magnify his dimensions ; and why doubt the bona
fides of Joseph Smith ? The unceasing tide of Mor-
mon emigration had borne him upon its flood to a
height of power and grandeur little dreamed of by him
at the outset of his career, and he began to fancy him-
self to be at least in possession of the balance of polit-
ical power. He had a firm faith in the unbounded
credulity of mankind ; and having already succeeded

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

far beyond his most sanguine expectations, he became
confident of success in any thing he might undertake.
In his letter to General Bennett, he says, " I combat
the errors of ages ; I meet the violence of mobs ; I cope
with illegal proceedings from executive authority; I
cut the Grordian knot of powers, and I solve the math-
ematical problems of universities, with truth, diamond
truth, and God is my right-hand man" But, what-
ever may have been his own hopes or expectations,
there are those among his followers in Utah who firm-
ly believe he would have been elected in 1844 had not
his career been cut short by an untimely death. It
certainly affords matter for curious speculation, in re-
gard to the state of society at Washington, with Jo-
seph at the head of the nation, and the fashionable hos-
pitalities of the White House in the keeping of his for-
ty wives ; to say nothing of his cabinet, composed of
Elders Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, &c., with
their respective harems. This, to use one of the proph-
et's pedantic phrases, would have been a pretty fair in-
stance of the prevalence of the " vox diaboli"

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

CHAPTER VII.

HISTORY CONTINUED.

Apparent Prosperity. — Internal Difficulties. — Arrogance. — Joseph's
Licentiousness. — Polygamy. — Spiritual Wife-ism. — Troubles with
Higbee and Foster. — Attempt to arrest Joseph. — Joseph and Hyrum
surrender on Pledge of Safety. — Are murdered. — Character of Jo-
seph Smith.

THE Mormon community at this period presented
a spectacle of much apparent prosperity: increasing
numbers, great industry among the masses, an efficient
military organization, the protection and favor of a
powerful state, and its chief one of the candidates for
the presidency. "Why could it not continue ? Because
it contained within itself the seeds of its own destruc-
tion. It was a strange combination of incongruous
materials ; a festering mass of arrogance, discontent,
hypocrisy, chicanery, licentiousness, and crime; and
was surely destined to internal commotion, collision
with the laws of the land, and ultimate dispersion.

Large numbers, attracted by the novelty and out-
side appearances, like insects gathering into the open
mouth of the alligator, to be drawn into the reptile's
maw, were hopelessly ruined ; and these were discon-
tented. The fanatical portion were arrogant, and, in
their estimation, the rights of the Gentiles were of the
smallest weight in the balance against the superior
privileges of the Saints. These feelings were necessa-
rily fostered and brought into terrible activity by the

H2 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

whole tenor of Mormon teaching. Both the press and
the pulpit were rife with the dismal condition of the
Gentile world ; calamities by " flood and field," earth-
quakes, fires, popular commotions, rumors and pros-
pects of war, which were regarded as the sure fore-
bodings of its speedy destruction. The Saints, how-
ever, like the followers of the camp on the eve of battle,
were to come in and enjoy the spoils.

"It is a day of strange appearances. Every thing
indicates something more than meets the eye. Every
nation is opening events which astonish mankind:
even the heart of man begins to melt at the prospect
before it. The unquenchable thirst for news ; the con-
tinuity of emigration ; the wars and rumors of wars,
with many other signs of the distress of nations from
the Old World — as it is called across the ocean — whis-
pers so loud to the understanding, that he that runs
may read the label on the eastern sky. The end is
nigh"— 'Times and Seasons, p. 642.

The following is from a discourse delivered by Hy-
rum Smith at the April Conference, 1844.

" The reason why I feel so good is because I have
a big soul ; we have gathered out all the big souls from
the ends of the earth ; the Gospel picks out all the big
souls out of all creation ; and we will get all the big
souls out of all the nations, and we shall have the
largest city in the world; God Almighty has made
men's souls according to the society which he lives in,
with very few exceptions, and when men come to live
with the Mormons, their souls siuell as if they were
going to stride the planets." — P. 597.

Sidney Blgdon, at the same Conference, was par-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

ticularly spicy on the outside barbarians : "I want
devils to gratify themselves, and if howling, yelling,
yelping will do you any good, do it till you are all
damned. If calling us devils, &c., will do you any
good, let us have the whole of it, and you can then go
your way to hell without a grunt."

Elder Kimball, on a subsequent occasion, was pe-
culiarly felicitous : " They will be glad to black our
boots and lick the dust that is under our feet, and this
is nothing to what will come to pass ; I might stand
here all day and tell you things of the future, and you
would not believe the half of it."

In fine, the Gentiles were decidedly a scurvy race,
condemned to speedy destruction, and of no more ac-
count than the felon who already feels the tightening
squeeze of the halter. Under such circumstances, was
it very strange for the true believer occasionally to an-
ticipate events, and make free with Gentile goods a
little before the day of final execution ? Accordingly,
we are regaled with the same old complaints against
the Saints, for nearly all the crimes in the calendar,
which had previously been made against them in Mis-
souri, and, unfortunately, the criminal records of Han-
cock county bear strong evidence of their truth.

But the most fruitful element of internal commo-
tion, and that which more immediately led to the proph-
et's death, was the introduction of polygamy as one of
the numerous privileges of the Saints. This extraor-
dinary addition to the curious collection of Mormon
doctrines and practices grew legitimately out of the
character of Joseph himself, which was a combination
of cunning and sensuality. The latter quality, indeed,

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

seems eventually to have become the absorbing and
governing passion of his soul, which respected neither
the ties of kindred nor friendship ; nor do his followers
take much pains to conceal this feature of his charac-
ter. A devout Mormon at Salt Lake informed me
that Joseph's wife adopted five orphan girls, brought
them up with great care, and became much attached
to them ; and that two of them, as they grew up to
womanhood at Nauvoo, became the victims of his im-
proper solicitations, and were turned away by the in-
dignant wife. His unfortunate proclivity in this di-
rection is spoken of as a failing which was intended as
a trial of their faith, rather than as a vice to be con-
demned. It is a remarkable fact, that he was in the
habit of having revelations accusing himself of falling
away, and threatening punishment, which were suc-
ceeded by other revelations that he had repented and
was forgiven ; and in this the pious Saint sees strong
confirmation of the truth of his pretensions, reasoning
that such denunciatory oracles would not have been
invented by himself. The prophet's habits did not
mend with increasing years and prosperity ; and these
threatening and whitewashing revelations, to satisfy
the scruples of the over-prudish, became irksome. The
celestial powers were again invoked, and on the 12th
of July, 1843, responded by granting to, and rather en-
joining upon, the Saints the practice of polygamy.

The prophet was aware that he was entering upon
a ticklish experiment even with his own disciples, to
say nothing of the Gentiles ; and he prefaced its recep-
tion by pretending to be in great trouble. He told
some of his most influential followers that if they knew

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

what a hard and unpalatable revelation he had had,
they would drive him from the city. The heavenly
powers, however, were not to be trifled with, and a day
was appointed when the important mandate was to be
submitted to a convocation of the authorities of the
Church. The time arrived; the priests and elders
convened ; but Joseph, in virtuous desperation, con-
cluded rather to flee the city than be the medium of
communicating a matter so repugnant to his mind.
He mounted his horse and galloped from the town,
but was met by an angel with a drawn sword, and
threatened with instant destruction unless he imme-
diately returned and fulfilled his mission. He return-
ed, accordingly, in submissive despair, and made the
important communication to the assembled notables.
Such is substantially the account of the matter given
by simple-minded believers at Salt Lake.

A revelation promulgated with such awful sanc-
tions could not but make a deep impression upon cred-
ulous and superstitious minds. A copy is given, by
way of appendix, from the "Deseret News Extra" of
September 14, 1852. From its commencement, it
would appear that the prophet, in the first instance,
inquired how Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David,
and Solomon were justified in having "many wives
and concubines ;" and that the Mormon divinity takes
the interrogatory as a sort of text, and branches out
into a new set of definitions in regard to adultery, and
establishes a new order in the Church, prefacing the
whole with dire threats of damnation against all who
should refuse to obey. "Whether the main subject
would ever have been entertained by the heavenly

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

councils, had it not been first broached by Joseph, must
probably forever remain a mystery. Perhaps, in ac-
cordance with the laws which regulate such deities,
the priest must first mount the tripod, and propound a
query before the oracle can speak. The same simple-
minded believers to whom allusion has been made have
expressed to me their deep regret that the prophet
should ever have questioned the Lord on the subject.

The cream of this long revelation will be found in
the last paragraph but one, and is as follows :

" And again, as pertaining to the law of the priest-
hood : if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to
espouse another, and the first give her consent; and
if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and
have vowed to no other man, then he is justified ; he
can not commit adultery, for they are given unto him ;
for he can not commit adultery with that that belong-
eth unto him, and to none else ; and if he have ten
virgins given unto him by this law, he can not commit
adultery ; for they belong to him, and they are given
unto him — therefore he is justified. But if one or ei-
ther of the ten virgins, after she is espoused, shall be
with another man, she has committed adultery, and
shall be destroyed ; for they are given unto him to
multiply and replenish the earth, according to my com-
mandment, and to fulfill the promise which was given
by my Father before the foundation of the world ; and
for their exaltation in the eternal worlds that they may
bear the souls of men ; for herein is the work of my
Father continued that he may be glorified."

By the next paragraph due provision is made in case
the first wife should prove contumacious, and not give
her consent :

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

" Therefore it shall be lawful in one, if she receive
not this law., for him to receive all things, whatsoever
I the Lord his God will give unto him, because she
did not believe and administer unto him according to
my word ; and then she becomes the transgressor, and
he is exempt from the law of Sarah, who administered
unto Abraham according to the law when I command-
ed Abraham to take Hagar to wife."

The oracle is careful to provide for future changes
of policy in the celestial councils on this subject : " And
now, as pertaining to this law, verily, verily, I say unto
you, I will reveal more unto you hereafter ; therefore
let this suffice for the present."

This revelation, of course, legalized Joseph's numer-
ous left-hand marriages already contracted, and gave
a general license for future matrimonial engagements.
It was not generally made known among the Saints at
the time, but seems to have been kept as a choice tit-
bit for the prophet, and those of his followers who were
judged to be prepared for so important a development
of Mormonism. The Gentiles, of course, were to be
kept in ignorance of the true state of the affair. The
prophet was diligent in persuading his most confiden-
tial friends to become polygamists. Some were ready
for the sacrifice. Brigham Young was the first, and
Heber C. Kimball the second who followed his exam-
ple. But others needed urging, and some utterly re-
fused, among the latter of whom was Hyrum Smith,
who is said to have remained a faithful and devoted
husband to his first and only wife.

In the mean time, it became essential to prepare the
Saints generally, and after them the Gentiles, for the

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

reception of the new revelation. This was the origin
of what has been called the spiritual wife, doctrine —
a species of Platonism which has not been very clear-
ly defined, but by virtue of which a Saint might be
favored with a vivid internal impression, or dictate,
that a certain woman (not his wife) was his spiritual
wife, and, if assented to, the relationship brought with
it privileges and obligations not necessary now to de-
tail. This doctrine was evidently put forth as a feel-
er, to try the temper of the uninitiated on this delicate
subject, and prepare the way for the open recognition
of polygamy. But human propensities are not always
easily controlled, even under the severe restraints of
law, and the privileged Saints were soon found poach-
ing on each other's warrens. Every one whose incli-
nations led him in that direction had the necessary im-
pressions and visions, and they very soon began to
stand sadly in each other's way. A man could have
half a dozen spiritual wives, but it was found incon-
venient to allow a woman to have the same number
of spiritual husbands. Collisions growing out of this
kind of license became bitter animosities ;• and, accord-
ingly, we find them at this period accusing one anoth-
er of the most scandalous practices.

Joseph was compelled to change his tack. In order
to purge the Church, in public estimation, from scan-
dals, becoming of too widespread notoriety, he cut off
and gave over to the bufferings of Satan, under the
charge of seduction and adultery, various scapegoats
who had been encouraged to preach the spiritual wife
doctrine, and a regular system of denial that any such
practices existed was adopted. This, however, was

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

dangerous business. Among others, one Francis M.
Higbee entered with zest into spiritual wife-ism, and,
as he proved somewhat intractable, was cut off from
the Church. Higbee, in revenge, prosecuted Joseph
Smith, Sen., for slander, and had him arrested under a
capias. The defendant sued out a habeas corpus (May
6th, 1844) before the Municipal Court of Nauvoo, and,
in support of this proceeding, the prophet and others
were sworn as witnesses, disclosing an inconceivably
corrupt state of morals in that city, in which the names
of R. D. Foster, John C. Bennett, and others appear as
active agents. The deposition of one Eaton throws
some light on the spiritual wife machinery :

" Soon after I went in, the said Higbee commenced
talking about the spiritual wife system. He said he
had no doubt but some of the elders had ten or twelve
apiece. He said they married them, whether the fe-
males were willing or not ; and they did it by record-
ing the marriage in a large book, which book was
sealed up after the record was made, and was not to
be opened for a long time, probably not until many of
the husbands of those who were .thus married were
dead. They would then open the book and break the
seals in the presence 'of those females, and when they
saw their names recorded in that book, they would
believe that the doctrine was true, and they must sub-
mit. He said this book was kept at Mr. Hyrum
Smith's."

The patriarch Smith was of course liberated ; but
the trouble did not end here. The Mormon chief was
in the unfortunate predicament of the conjuror who is
unable to get rid of the fiend raised by his own incan-

120 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

tations. The trial of the Higbee matter disclosed some
attempts on the part of the prophet to seduce the wife
of Doctor Foster. The latter believed, or professed to
believe, this and other scandalous stories in relation to
his late spiritual chief, and, in connection with one
Law, established a paper called the Expositor in Nau-
voo, in which he published a batch of affidavits tending
to prove the truth of these stories. Joseph was too ab-
solute in his own dominions quietly to submit to so gross
an insult. As mayor of Nauvoo, he assembled the city
authorities, and caused this audacious press to be pro-
nounced a nuisance, and ordered to be abated ; and, in
obedience to the mandate, the marshal, with a posse,
leveled the establishment to the ground. Foster and
his coadjutors fled, and, in revenge for these summary
injuries, procured a warrant for the arrest of Joseph
and Hyrum Smith and some others. The prophet re-
fused to acknowledge the validity of this Gentile doc-
ument, and the officer who had it in charge was un-
ceremoniously expelled from the city. The militia of
the county were thereupon ordered out to support the
officer in the execution of his process, and the Mor-
mons in Nauvoo and its vicinity prepared to defend the
prophet. The excitement rapidly spread, the militia
of the adjacent counties were ordered out, the Govern-
or repaired to the scene of disturbance, and, as in Mis-
souri, there was every prospect of civil war.

Here again was a collision between Mormonism and
the laws of the land ; one or the other must yield.

In this emergency, on the 21st of June, 1844, the
Governor proposed to the Smiths that they should sur-
render themselves as prisoners under the warrant, upon

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

his pledge for their safety from personal violence ; and,
to satisfy the people that the Mormons were peacea-
bly disposed, he further proposed that the Nauvoo Le-
gion should surrender its arms, and be placed under
the command of a Gentile officer. After an anxious
consultation, the prophet concluded to comply with
these terms, and on the 24th, with his brother Hyrum,
started for Carthage, the capital of Hancock county.
On their way they were met by Captain Dunn, with a
company of sixty men, having an order for the sur-
render of the state arms at Nauvoo. After a parley,
it was agreed that the prophet should return to the
city to see the order executed, and then repair to Car-
thage under the protection of Captain Dunn's company.
This was done. On the evening of the 24th, Captain
Dunn arrived at Carthage with his prisoners ; on the
25th they surrendered themselves to the constable, and,
at the same time, were arrested on a charge of treason.
In the afternoon of the same day they were brought
before the magistrate for examination ; but the popular
excitement had become fearfully intense, and the pris-
oners, under the advice of their counsel, gave bail for
their appearance at the ensuing Oyer and Terminer to
answer for the riot. When this part of the business
was completed, it was late, and the justice adjourned
his court, nothing being said about the more serious of-
fense. Upon this the constable produced a mittimus
on the charge of treason, and lodged his prisoners in
jail, they protesting, and claiming that the examina-
tion for that charge should go on immediately. A
guard was placed about the jail by the Governor for
their protection, and on the morning of the 26th he

F

122 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

visited them, and " again pledged himself for their per-
sonal safety, and said if the troops went to Nauvoo, as
was then contemplated, they should go along to insure
their protection." The examination of the prisoners
was postponed, first to the 27th, which was subse-
quently changed to the 29th.

The Governor, instead of marching the troops to
Nauvoo on the 27th, changed his mind on ascertaining
that nothing less than the destruction of that place
would satisfy a portion of them, and disbanded the
whole force except three companies, two of which were
reserved to guard the jail, and with the other he pro-
ceeded to the city. One of the counsel for the pris-
oners, by the name of Reid, states that the Carthage
Grays, whose conduct had exhibited the most hostility
to the prisoners, were among the troops left to guard
them ; and that only eight of them were stationed at
the prison, the rest being in camp about one fourth of
a mile off.

About six o'clock on the evening of the 27th, the
guard at the jail were overpowered by an armed party
of some 200 men, disguised by paint, who forced the
prison, and assassinated the two Smiths, and despe-
rately wounded John Taylor. The following is an ac-
count of the murder, as given by Willard Richards,
who was an inmate of the prison at the time :

" TWO MINUTES IN JAIL.

" Possibly the following events occupied near three
minutes, but I think only about two, and have penned
them for the gratification of many friends.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

" Carthage, June 27th, 1844.

" A shower of musket balls were thrown up the stair-
way against the door of the prison in the second story,
followed by many rapid footsteps, while G-enerals Jo-
seph and Hyrum Smith, Mr. Taylor, and myself, who
were in the front chamber, closed the door of our room
against the entry at the head of the stairs, and placed
ourselves against it, there being no lock on the door,
and no keteh that was useable. The door is a com-
mon panel, and, as soon as we heard the feet at the
stairs head, a ball was sent through the door, which
passed between us, and showed that our enemies were
desperadoes, and we must change our position. Gen-
eral Joseph Smith, Mr. Taylor, and myself sprang back
to the front part of the room, and General Hyrum
Smith retreated two thirds across the chamber, direct-
ly in front of and facing the door. A ball was sent
through the door, which hit Hyrum on the side of his
nose, when he fell backward, extended at length, with-
out moving his feet. From the holes in his vest (the
day was warm, and no one had their coats on but my-
self), pantaloons, drawers, and shirt, it appears evi-
dent that a ball must have been thrown from without,
through the window, which entered his back on the
right side, and, passing through, lodged against his
watch, which was in his right vest-pocket, completely
pulverizing the crystal and face, tearing off the hands,
and mashing the whole body of the watch, at the same
instant the ball from the door entered his nose. As he
struck the floor, he exclaimed emphatically, ' Tm a
dead man /' Joseph looked toward him, and respond-
ed, * Oh dear ! Brother Hyrum /' and opening the door

124 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

two or three inches with his left hand, discharged one
barrel of a six-shooter (pistol) at random in the entry,
from whence a ball grazed Hy rum's breast, and, enter-
ing his throat, passed into his head, while other mus-
kets were aimed at him, and some balls hit him. Jo-
seph continued snapping his revolver round the casing
of the door into the space as before — three barrels of
which missed fire — while Mr. Taylor, with a walking-
stick, stood by his side, and knocked down the bayo-
nets and muskets which were constantly discharging
through the doorway, while I stood by him, ready to
lend any assistance, with another stick, but could not
come within striking distance without going directly
before the muzzle of the guns. When the revolver
failed, we had no more fire-arms, and, expecting an
immediate rush of the mob, and the doorway full of
muskets — half way in the room, and no hope but in-
stant death from within — Mr. Taylor rushed to the win-
dow, which is some fifteen or twenty feet from the
ground. When his body was nearly on a balance, a
ball from the door within entered his leg, and a ball
from without struck his watch, a patent lever, in his
vest pocket, near the left breast, and smashed it in ' pi,'
leaving the hands standing at 5 o'clock, 16 minutes,
and 26 seconds ; the force of which ball threw him
back on the floor, and he rolled under the bed which
stood by his side, where he lay motionless, the mob
from the door continuing to fire upon him, cutting
away a piece of flesh from his left hip as large as a
man's hand, and were hindered only by my knocking
down their muzzles with a stick ; while they contin-
ued to reach their guns into the room, probably left-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 125

handed, and aimed their discharge so far around as al-
most to reach us in the corner of the room to where
we retreated and dodged, and then I recommenced the
attack with my stick again. Joseph attempted, as the
last resort, to leap the same window from whence Mr.
Taylor fell, when two tails pierced him from the door,
and one entered his right breast from without, and he
fell outward, exclaiming, £ O Lord my God /' . As his
feet went out of the window my head went in, the balls
whistling all around. He fell on his left side, a dead
man. At this instant the cry was raised, ' He's leap-
ed the window /' and the mob on the stairs and in the
entry ran out. I withdrew from the window, think-
ing it of no use to leap out on a hundred bayonets,
then around General Smith's body. Not satisfied with
this, I again reached my head out of the window, and
watched some seconds to see if there were any signs
of life, regardless of my own, determined to see the
end of him I loved. Being fully satisfied that he was
dead — with a hundred men near the body, and more
coming round the corner of the jail-— and expecting a
return to our room, I rushed toward the prison door
at the head of the stairs, and through the entry from
whence the firing had proceeded, to learn if the doors
into the prison were open. When near the entry, Mr.
Taylor called out, ' Take me.' I pressed my way till
I found all doors unbarred ; returning instantly, caught
Mr. Taylor under my arm, and rushed by the stairs
into the dungeon, or inner prison, stretched him on the
floor, and covered him with a bed in such a manner as
not likely to be perceived, expecting an immediate re-
turn of the mob. I said to Mr. Taylor, < This is a hard

126 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

case to lay you on the floor, but, if your wounds are
not fatal, I want you to live to tell the story.' I ex-
pected to be shot the next moment, and stood before

the door awaiting the onset.

" WILLARD RICHARDS."

This terrible murder produced the wildest fears that
the Mormons would rush in a body from their capital
to revenge it, and the citizens of Carthage began to
flee, from their houses. To prevent any such outbreak,
a messenger was dispatched to Nauvoo with the fol-
lowing letter from three leading Mormons :

"TO MRS. EMMA SMITH AND MAJ. GEN. DUNHAM, &C. :

" The Governor has just arrived; says all things
shall be inquired into, and all right measures taken.

" I say to all the citizens of Nauvoo, my brethren,
be still, and know that God reigns. Don't rush out
of the city— don't rush to Carthage ; stay at home,
and be prepared for an attack from Missouri mobbers.
The Governor will render every assistance possible —
has sent out orders for troops. Joseph and Hyrum are
dead, but not by the Carthage people. The guards
were true, as I believe.

" We will prepare to move the bodies as soon as
possible.

" The people of the county are greatly excited, and
fear the Mormons will come out and take vengeance.
I have pledged my word the Mormons will stay at
home as soon as they can be informed, and no violence
will be on their part ; and say to my brethren in Nau-
voo, in the name of the Lord, be still — be patient.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 127

Only let such friends as choose come here to see the
bodies. Mr. Taylor's wounds are dressed, and not se-
rious. I am sound. WILLARD RICHARDS,

JOHN TAYLOR,
SAMUEL H. SMITH."

The Governor at the same time, fearing some dem-
onstration against the Mormons, sent them directions
to defend themselves, if necessary, until protection could
be furnished. So brutal a murder, committed in the
face of such solemnly-repeated pledges of safety, de-
manded from the G-overnor some explanation. All
that he could probably give appears in the following,
from a statement published by him :

" I desire to make a brief but true statement of the
recent disgraceful affair at Carthage, in regard to the
Smiths, so far as circumstances have come to my
knowledge. The Smiths, Joseph and Hyrum, have
been assassinated in jail; by whom it is not known,
but will be ascertained. I pledged myself for their
safety ; and upon the assurance of that pledge, they
surrendered as prisoners. The Mormons surrendered
the public arms in their possession, and the Nauvoo
Legion submitted to the command of Captain Single-
ton, of Brown county, deputed for that purpose by me.
All these things were required to satisfy the old citizens
of Hancock that the Mormons were peaceably disposed,
and to allay jealousy and excitement in their minds.
It appears, however, that the compliance of the Mor-
mons with every requisition made upon them failed
of that purpose. The pledge of security to the Smiths

128 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

was not given upon my individual responsibility. Be-
fore I gave it, I obtained a pledge of honor, by a unan-
imous vote from the officers and men under my com-
mand, to sustain me in performing it. If the assas-
sination of the Smiths was committed by any portion
of these, they have added treachery to murder, and
have done all they could to disgrace the state and sully
the public honor.

" On the morning of the day the deed was committed,
we had proposed to march the army under my com-
mand into Nauvoo. I had, however, discovered, on
the evening before, that nothing but utter destruction
of the city would satisfy a portion of the troops ; and
that, if we marched into the city, pretexts would not
be wanting for commencing hostilities. The Mormons
had done every thing required, or which ought to have
been required of them. Offensive operations on our
part would have been as unjust and disgraceful, as
they would have been impolitic, in the present critical
season of the year, the harvest and the crops. For
these reasons, I decided in a council of officers to dis-
band the army, except three companies, two of which
were reserved as a guard for the jail. With the other
company I marched into Nauvoo, to address the in-
habitants there, and tell them what they might expect
in case they designedly or imprudently provoked a war.
I performed this duty, as I think, plainly and emphat-
ically, and then set out to return to Carthage. "When
I had marched about three miles, a messenger inform-
ed me of the occurrences at Carthage. I hastened on
to that place. The guard, it is said, did their duty,
but were overpowered."

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

Fortunately, owing to the precautions taken, no fur-
ther disturbances took place connected with the arrest
and assassination of the Smiths. Their bodies were
removed to Nauvoo, and buried amid solemn and im-
posing ceremonies ; and the grave which closed over
them, under such appalling circumstances, has effectu-
ally concealed from the Mormon's vision the faults and
vices of his prophet. In his estimation Joseph died a
martyr's death, and sealed the truth of his great pre-
tensions by his blood.

"He was," says the Times and Seasons, p. 584,
" one of the best men that ever lived on the earth. The
work he has thus far performed toward establishing
pure religion and preparing the way for the great gath-
ering of Israel, in the short space of twenty years since
the time when the angel of the Lord made known his
mission, and gave him power to move the cause of
Zion, exceeds any thing of the kind on record. "With-
out learning, without means, and without experience,
he has met a learned world, a rich century, a hard-
hearted, wicked, and adulterous generation, with truth
that could not be resisted, facts that could not be dis-
proved, revelations whose spirit had so much Grod in
them that the servants of the Lord could not be gain-
say ed or resisted, but, like the rays of light from the
sun, they have tinged every thing they lit upon with
a lustre and livery which has animated, quickened,
and adorned.

" The pages of General Smith's history, though his
enemies never ceased to persecute him and hunt for
offenses against him, are as unsullied as virgin snow.
On about fifty prosecutions for supposed criminal of-

F2

130 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

fenses, he came out of the legal fire, heated, like Neb-
uchadnezzar's furnace, seven times hotter than it was
wont to be, without the smell of fire, or a thread of
his garments scorched. His foes of the world and en-
emies of his own household, who have sought occa-
sions against him, in order secretly to deprive him of
his life, because his goodness, greatness, and glory ex-
ceeded theirs, have a poor excuse to offer the world for
shedding his innocent blood, and no apology to make
to the Judge of all the earth at the day of judgment.
They have murdered him because they feared his right-
eousness."

It is the duty, however, of impartial truth to strip
this singular being of his bloody cerements, and view
him as he was. That he possessed some extraordinary
traits of character, would seem to be established by the
degree of success attending the strange hierarchy orig-
inated by him. In 1827, he announced the discovery
of the Golden Book, when only twenty -two years of
age ; and at the time of his death in 1844, his followers
must have numbered over one hundred thousand. To
operate on so many minds, even though upon a low
plane and easily affected by the marvelous, bring them
under a distinct organization, and sway them at will,
in the very midst of hostile influences, prove that he
had some mental powers, which we are compelled to
respect, however much we may condemn the motives
by which he was influenced.

The remarkable tenacity of purpose which he exhib-
ited under discouraging circumstances, and the appar-
ent sincerity of his professions, have been suggested as
evidence that he was really a religious enthusiast, who

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

became the victim of his own delusions. But it must
be recollected that he had every thing to lose, and but
little to gain, by an abandonment of his imposture.
His character had become bad in public estimation ;
and he could go back into society, and settle down into
some useful employment, no easier than the state's
prison convict, whom every one shuns as he would a
pestilence. He had fixed the mark of Cain upon his
own forehead, and could have no future fellowship with
his kind, except as an impostor. This is sufficient to
account for the desperation of his efforts— it was with
him a struggle of life and death. Such, in fact, is the
history of all grades of cheats and impostors. "What is
the career of the counterfeiter but one of peril and
punishment — a series of narrow escapes and durance ?
Look at him through life : he suffers every thing ; runs
the gauntlet of human contumely and prisons ; and
yet with what tenacity will he adhere to his hazard-
ous employment. No one ever thought, however, of
suggesting that such men really believed they were
performing good uses to society. Why should the re-
ligious impostor be judged by any other rule ? Wheth-
er he practices upon the credulity of mankind as a pre-
tended prophet, or robs them by debasing the curren-
cy, makes no great practical difference, except that the
former causes the greater mischief. Both have a sim-
ilar object in view ; they only pursue different roads to
the same destination, and are to be judged by the same
standard of right.

He was no religious enthusiast who began in fraud
and ended in sincerity. He lacked every element of
the character. Self-convicted enthusiasts have been

132 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

ascetics, subjecting themselves to lonely vigils, self-
torture, and rigid mortifications of the flesh. The Mor-
mon prophet, however, inculcated and practiced self-
indulgence. His epicurean traits marked his whole
career. He was the jolly landlord — the bon-vivant
boon companion — the fair-weather militia general, car-
acoling in gay plumage at the head of his staff on the
parade-ground — the man of many wives or concubines
— the heated partisan, entering the lists for office, and
belaboring his antagonists in the style of the bar-room
politician. What room was there in the mind of such
a man for sincere enthusiasm ?

He possessed a mind extremely fertile in taking ad-
vantage of circumstances as they occur. In a com-
munity imbued with popular superstitions and enthu-
siastic fancies, it is not a hard task to explain away
or soften down apparent inconsistencies or untowrard
events. He was, however, an adept at this business ;
and not only always ready with a plausible reason for
the non-fulfillment of a prophecy or failure of a miracle,
but wonderfully skillful in turning them to account.
To great cunning he added apparent enthusiasm ; and
as he dealt with the weakness instead of the strength
of human nature, his success more than realized his
anticipations.

Joseph Smith possessed great popularity of manners,
and extraordinary powers of impressing the popular
credulity with faith in the sincerity of his pretensions.
In those lay the principal secret of his success. Not-
withstanding his numerous vices — which, indeed, may
be said to form the subsoil from which all his mental
fertility received its nourishment — his name is vene-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 133

rated, and his words are law, among his followers.
An incident, illustrative of his popularity, is related of
him while at Nauvoo. Passing along the streets, he
found a number of men engaged at pitching quoits.
He pulled off his coat, and entered with zest into the
amusement. After the game was finished, he said,
" Come, boys, we've had our fun, now let us go and

cut a load of wood for Widow B ." No quicker

said than done — the wood-pile was soon ready for the
stove.

He did not possess a high order of talent. He lack-
ed in sagacity and comprehensiveness — traits not com-
monly found united with sensuality and cunning such
as his. He could raise the whirlwind, but could not
direct the storm. A better balanced mind would have
avoided the troubles at Independence and at Nauvoo ;
perhaps, too, a better balanced mind would not have
engaged at all in the business of imposture. His cun-
ning, indeed, was on a low plane ; it fell far below sa-
gacity, and could only operate on the weakest points
of humanity. This furnishes some explanation of the
extraordinary degree of credulity and patient submis-
sion manifested by the mass of his followers. They
were the only materials with which he could work—
the only minds on which he could impose. This was
the extent of his reach, and he could no more go be-
yond it than the common blacksmith could fashion a
Yenus de Medici or Greek Slave. His capacity was
not even equal to cementing together, in regular form,
the materials which he collected together ; and the
imposture would speedily have become a bygone event,
had he not been aided by men of more sagacity, though

134 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

quite as little troubled with conscientious misgivings
as himself.

Joseph Smith was no martyr. There was, in his
case, no passive and resigned submission to the bigotry
of the religious persecutor, which has ever distinguish-
ed the martyr suffering in defense of his faith. If a
martyr, he must have been the first who died with
arms in his hands, fighting with his foes. His death
was not at the hands of Grentile persecutors, but at
those of his own quondam followers — the Higbees, the
Fosters, the Laws, and others — in revenge for the nu-
merous wrongs which they charged to his account.
The husband whose wife had been dishonored — the
brother whose sister had been seduced — the farmer
whose horse had been stolen, or building burned — re-
venged themselves upon the prophet's head, in that
hour of retribution, for the injuries which they believed
had been inflicted upon them through his agency. His
death, nevertheless, was a political mistake, and ought
to have been prevented, without reference to pledges
given for his safety. He ought, in the regular admin-
istration of justice, to have found his way to the peni-
tentiary. Joseph, in the dress of a convict, making
shoes or cutting stone, in the service of the state, would
have been stripped of the lion's hide, and his followers,
in gazing at the disgraced impostor through the bars
of a prison, would have become disgusted with the
idol of their worship.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 135

CHAPTER VIII.

HISTORY CONTINUED.

Excitement at Nauvoo. — Struggle for the Succession. — Rigdon ex-
communicated.— Brigham Young elected. — Further Troubles with
the Gentiles. — The Saints resolve to quit the United States. — Ar-
rangements for that Purpose. — Nauvoo besieged, and Mormons
driven out. — Character of Mormon Community, and alleged Perse-
cutions.

THE news of the violent death of the prophet pro-
duced the wildest state of grief, apprehension, and in-
dignation among the Saints at Nauvoo. Some were
exasperated, others terror-stricken, and there was im-
minent danger of total disorganization. The members
of the " Nauvoo Legion" were for avenging the out-
rage by the strong hand, which, had it been attempt-
ed in the then excited state of the public mind, would
have led to their entire destruction. The Mormon
leaders — of whom one of the most influential was Brig-
ham Young, president of the twelve apostles — exerted
themselves successfully to quiet the exasperation of
some and the feal's of others. Under their advice and
management, the wise resolution was adopted to re-
main peaceable, and trust to the laws for redress. The
effect of this movement was- immediate. Not only
Were the Saints in Illinois brought into a state of or-
der and quiet, but two addresses sent forth to those
abroad, one of which was signed by Brigham Young,
as president of the twelve, dated August 15th, 1844,

136 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

and both of which manifested much tact and ability,
and were well calculated to produce the intended effect.

Order being restored, the next step was to provide
a head for the decapitated Church. Young was, of
course, a prominent candidate ; but the ambitious spir-
it of Sidney Rigdon was now aroused into activity to
reach that position in the hierarchy to which he be-
lieved himself entitled, and it soon became evident that
the succession was to be contested. In this game
Brigham proved himself the better politician. A meet-
ing of the Saints was held, in which it was determined,
for the present, that the twelve " held the keys of the
priesthood, and the authority to set in order and regu-
late the Church in all the world." This, in effect,
gave Young the control of the Church organization, an
important advantage in all political maneuvers.

Sidney, in the mean time, made a bold push for the
vacant seat. He got up a revelation, constituting him-
self the prophet, seer, and revelator of the Church, and
giving much new light in regard to its future organi-
zation and government, under which he proceeded to
ordain " men to be prophets, priests, and kings." But
he miscalculated his power. He was immediately
brought to trial ; and although Joseph had pronounced
upon his head one of the choicest of his prophetic bless-
ings, yet a new light now broke into the minds of his
judges ; his revelations were pronounced to be "from
the devil ;" his name was loaded with vituperative ep-
ithets ; and, finally, he was cut off from the Church,
and " delivered over to the buffe tings of Satan in the
name of the Lord, and all the people said Amen."

Sidney Rigdon being thus fairly out of the way,

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

Brigham Young succeeded to the presidency of the
Church, without further opposition, on the 7th of Oc-
tober, 1844 ; and, under his vigorous management, the
internal affairs of the Mormons settled down into a
state of comparative quiet. The Saints were urged to
furnish the necessary means for the completion of the
Temple ; the work rapidly progressed, and there seem-
ed to he a prospect of returning prosperity. Says the
Times and Seasons of December 15th, 1844 : " The
Temple has progressed with greater rapidity since the
death of Joseph Smith than ever it has done before,
and things in this city never looked more prosperous."

Nauvoo, at this period, contained a population of
14,000, nine tenths of whom were Mormons ( Times
and Seasons ', p. 759). The following is a description
of the Temple, from the same paper :

" The Temple is erected from white limestone,
wrought in a superior style ; is 128 by 88 feet square ;
near 60 feet high ; two stories in the clear, and two
half stories in the recesses over the arches ; four tiers
of windows — two Gothic, and two round. The two
great stories will each have two pulpits, one at each
end, to accommodate the Melchisedek and Aaronic
priesthoods, graded into four rising seats : the first for
the president of the elders and his two counselors ;
the second for the president of the high priesthood and
his two counselors ; the third for the Melchisedek pres-
ident and his two counselors ; and the fourth for the
president over the whole Church (the first president)
and his two counselors. This highest seat is where
the scribes and Pharisees used to crowd in ' to Moses'
seat.' The Aaronic pulpit at the other end the same.

138

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

AT NAUVOO.

" The fount in the basement story is for the baptism
of the living, for health, for remission of sin, and for
the salvation of the dead, as was the case in Solomon's
Temple, and all temples that God commands to be
built. You know I am no Gentile, and, of course, do
not believe that a monastery, cathedral, chapel, or
meeting-house erected by the notions and calculations
of men, has any more sanction from God than any
common house in Babylon.

" The steeple of our Temple will be high enough to
answer for a tower — between 100 and 200 feet high.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

But I have said enough about the Temple ; when fin-
ished, it will show more wealth, more art, more sci-
ence, more revelation, more splendor, and more Grod,
than all the rest of the world, and that will make it a
Mormon temple—4 God and liberty' — patterned some-
what after the order of our forefathers, which were af-
ter the order of eternity."

But, though the Saints could be brought into a state
of comparative quiet in obedience to the advice of their
rulers, yet it was quite another thing to control the
popular feeling in Illinois. After the death of the
prophet, there was a short calm, but it was only a lull
in the tempest. It was extensively believed that the
Mormons had not only resisted the regular administra-
tion of the laws, but that they had made their capital
city a vast depository for stolen goods, and that within
its walls they were guilty of almost every conceivable
outrage upon the institutions and decencies of civilized
life.

The Mormons endeavored to purge themselves from
these charges by holding meetings, and passing pre-
ambles and resolutions, avowing their innocence, and
expressing their determination to enforce the laws.
These measures, however, only produced a temporary
cessation of hostilities, and were succeeded by mobs,
riots, and other scenes of violence, more or less public
or private, until it became quite manifest that Saint
and Gentile could not live much longer in peaceable
contiguity. Matters were approaching a crisis. A con-
vention of delegates from the surrounding counties was
held, in which it was resolved to expel the Mormons
from the state — peaceably, if they could ; forcibly, if

140 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

they must ; and it became the all-absorbing question
with the presidency of the Church, whether to oppose
the popular fury, temporize until it should abate, or
yield to circumstances and quit the state. Young had
sagacity enough to see that the constitution of the
Church over which he presided was such that it could
never peaceably sustain itself in the States, and that it
would be in vain to indulge the Mohammedan dream
of conquest which once floated through the brain of
the prophet Joseph. He accordingly made diligent
efforts to prepare the minds of the Saints for removal
beyond the bounds and out of the jurisdiction of the
United States.

This was no difficult task. The Mormons had be-
come in some degree a nomadic race ; they had broken
the ties of kindred and home to gather around their
fancied Zion ; many of them had left one part of Mis-
souri for another, and then had removed to Nauvoo ;
some had wandered from beyond the broad Atlantic,
and could not, within a few years, form very strong
local attachments. Superadded to all this was an in-
tense hatred to the United States, some of whose citi-
zens had inflicted upon them the sufferings, losses, and
persecutions of which they complained, and whose gov-
ernment had failed to afford them redress. So intense
was this feeling, that they looked exultingly forward
to the fulfillment of prophecy, which remorselessly con-
signed the country to one vast and common ruin, under
the visitations of earthquakes, fires, famine, pestilence,
and civil wars, from the offended majesty of heaven.
There was only one tie difficult to be severed — the
Temple. It was a proud monument of architectural

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

grandeur and beauty, reared, beautified, and finally
completed by the toil and contributions of all the Saints,
in which all had a property— in which all were to pay
their devotions, baptize for their dead, and perform the
secret ceremonies by which they are initiated into the
different degrees and orders of their faith. But the
mass were, notwithstanding, ready to go, at the advice
or dictation of their rulers. A conference was held in
the Temple on the 6th of October, at which the matter
was debated and resolved upon, and an epistle was put
forth by Brigham Young to the Saints throughout the
United States, announcing the determination to remove
as early as the next spring ; and they were urged to
come forward and finish the Temple, and receive their
endowments, before bidding a farewell to their beloved
city. The place of destination at first contemplated
was Vancouver's Island, near the mouth of the Colum-
bia.

Among the curious things to be noted at this period
was the excommunication from the Church of William
Smith, the sole surviving brother of the prophet. This
man, it seems, was ambitious of the succession, and,
in the bitterness of his disappointment, had let out
some unwholesome secrets in regard to the conduct of
the twelve apostles, for which they consigned him over
to the " buffetings of Satan ;" and the language of
the prophet Joseph, while pronouncing a blessing upon
his brother, contrasts strangely enough with the de-
nunciations subsequently showered upon the same sub-
ject. He became, in Mormon phraseology, an apostate,
and spoke in utter condemnation of the designs of the
leaders, representing " that it is their design to set up

142 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

an independent government somewhere in the neigh-
borhood of the Rocky Mountains, or near California ;
that the plan has f been maturing for a long time ; and
that, in fact, with hate in their hearts, skillfully kept
up by the Mormon leaders, whose pockets are to be
enriched by their toil, the mass of the Mormons will
be alike purged of American feelings, and shut out by
a barrier of mountains and Church restrictions from
any other than Mormon freedom."

In January, 1846, the plan for removal became more
fully developed, as appears by a circular of the High
Council of the 20th of that month, in which they say :

"We, the members of the High Council of the
Church, by the voice of all her authorities, have united-
ly and unanimously agreed, and embrace this oppor-
tunity to inform you that we intend to send out into
the Western country from this place, some time in the
early part of the month of March, a company of pio-
neers, consisting mostly of young, hardy men, with
some families. These are destined to be furnished with
an ample outfit, taking with them a printing-press,
farming utensils of all kinds, with mill-irons and bolt-
ing-cloths, seeds of all kinds, grain, &c.

" The object of this early move is to put in a spring
crop, to build houses, and to prepare for the reception
of families, who will start so soon as grass shall be
sufficiently grown to sustain teams and stock. Our
pioneers are instructed to proceed west until they find
a good place to make a crop, in some good valley in
the neighborhood of the Rocky Mountains, where they
will infringe upon no one, and be not likely to be in-
fringed upon. Here we will make a resting-place

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

until we can determine a place for a permanent loca-
tion. In the event of the President's recommendation
to build block-houses and stockade forts on the route
to Oregon becoming a law, we have encouragements
of having that work to do ; and, under our peculiar
circumstances, we can do it with less expense to the
government than any other people."

In the same paper they make strong professions of
loyalty to the government, notwithstanding the various
injuries they had sustained, and deny that they have
been guilty of the crimes laid to their charge. In ref-
erence to their property to be left behind, they say,
" Much of our property will be left in the hands of
competent agents for sale at a low rate, for teams, for
goods, and for cash. The funds arising from the sale
of property will be applied to the removal of families
from time to time, as fast as consistent; and it now
remains to be proven whether those of our families and
friends who are necessarily left behind for a season, to
obtain an outfit through the sale of property, shall be
mobbed, burned, and driven away by force."

In reference to the conditions upon which they agreed
to leave, they say, " We agreed to leave the county for
the sake of peace, upon the condition that no more
vexatious prosecutions be instituted against us. In
good faith we have labored to fulfill this engagement.
Governor Ford has also done his duty to further our
wishes in this respect. But there are some who are
unwilling that we should have any existence any
where."

Brigham Young manifested much ability and fore-
cast in the arrangements to remove a population of

144

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

some 15,000 souls to a new home beyond the Rocky
Mountains. The Saints were divided into different
companies, which were to emigrate at different times,
so as not to be in each other's way. Places were se-
lected in the Indian country, among the Omahas and
Potawatomies, where different sections could make
temporary settlements, as resting and recruiting points,
until their final removal could be practicable. Espe-
cial pains were taken to conciliate the Indians on the
entire route ; and so perfect were the arrangements in

LEAVING NAUVOO.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

detail, that the degree of suffering was comparatively
trifling, except what resulted from the persevering hos-
tility of the people of Illinois. The first band, consist-
ing of something less than 2000, crossed the Mississippi
on the ice, in February, 1846. " To see," says the
Times and Seasons, " such a large body of men, wom-
en, and children, compelled by the inefficiency of the
law, and potency of mobocracy, to leave a great city
in the month of February, for the sake of the enjoy-
ment of pure religion, fills the soul with astonishment,
and gives the world a sample of fidelity and faith, brill-
iant as the sun, and forcible as a tempest, and as en-
during as eternity."

This pioneer band encountered much severe weather
and suffering. Other detachments followed from time
to time during the season. The Great Salt Lake Val-
ley being ultimately fixed upon as the new Mormon
Zion, an advance colony of about 4000 arrived there
in July, 1847, and went to work diligently to irrigate
the land and put in crops. They laid the foundation
of Great Salt Lake City.

Those who still remained in Nauvoo continued their
work upon the Temple, deeming the completion of that
edifice as essential to the fulfillment of prophecy. This
excited the jealousy of the people that they really did
not intend to leave the state, and a thousand rumors
were put into circulation that the main body would
return with a horde of Indian warriors, and take signal
vengeance for all their wrongs. But little was wanting
to fan into a flame fiercer than ever the hatred which
burned in the popular mind. One form of violence
succeeded to another, still more flagrant, and finally

G

146 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

the luckless Saints who yet lingered within the walls
of Nauvoo were regularly besieged in September, 1846,
and, after fighting for two or three days, were driven
from the place. They made their way in the best
manner they could, under circumstances of much diffi-
culty and suffering, to the temporary settlements west
of the Missouri. It can never be too deeply regretted
that such disgraceful scenes were permitted to occur.
The Mormons had manifested their good faith by leav-
ing as fast as practicable, and it was in the last degree
cruel, cowardly, and brutal to attack a feeble remnant
left behind. [These lamentable occurrences gave some
plausibility to the charge of religious persecution, which
the Saints have not failed to make heard in all lands,
and which has contributed so largely to an augmenta-
tion of their numbers.

Once more, then, we find these strange people fugi-
tives from their homes, and now seeking an abiding-
place deep in the recesses of savage life. The ques-
tion naturally occurs,Jffere they really persecuted on
account of their religion, or were their habits and prac-
tices such as made them intolerable in any civilized
community? They had essayed to establish them-
selves in different states of the Union, and the result
would seem to prove that, for some reason, they can
not exist in contact with republican institutions — that
they present a combination of the elements of popular
superstition and fanaticism, which, in its constitution
and government, must necessarily interfere with the
rights of the citizen, and come into collision with the
laws of the land. It was, in fact, the strange anomaly
of an independent power within the bosom of the state,

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 147

which, like a camp of soldiers, believed itself entitled to
liveatfree quarters upon the surrounding population.
-" ' At Palmyra, the character of Smith and his family
were held in such light esteem, that he could make no
proselytes, and he left voluntarily. At Kirtland, Ohio,
the popular indignation on account of his alleged swin-
dling operations, to say nothing of other things, re-
duced him to the vulgar necessity of running away.
His disciples became fugitives from Missouri, because,
in the language of Governor Boggs, " they had insti-
tuted a government of their own, independent of, and
in opposition to, the government of the state." They
were received in Illinois with open arms, and treated
with an extraordinary degree of favor ; but, in the end,
were driven from the state, after the violent death of
their prophet, and compelled to seek shelter behind the
Rocky Mountains. And what was the true character
of the community at Nauvoo ? They admit them-
selves that their city had become the common resort
of thieves, counterfeiters, &c., who sheltered their mis-
deeds under the bad name of the Saints. The most
conclusive evidence, however, is furnished by their own
apologist, Colonel T. L. Kane, who delivered a discourse
before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania on the
subject of the Mormon exode. He says :

" When the persecution triumphed there, and no al-
ternative remained for the steadfast in the faith but
flight out of Egypt into the wilderness, as it was term-
ed, all their fair-weather friends forsook them. Priests
and elders, scribes and preachers, deserted by whole
councils at a time; each talented knave, of whose
craft they had been the victims, finding his own pre-

148 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

text for abandoning them, without surrendering the
money-bag of which he was the holder. One of these,
for instance, bore with him so considerable a congre-
gation, that he was able to found quite a thriving com-
munity in Northern Wisconsin, which I believe he af-
terward transplanted entire to an island in one of the
lakes. Other speculative heresiarchs folded for them-
selves credulous sheep all through the Western coun-
try. One Rigdon, not long since, held a cure of them
in our own state (Pennsylvania). Quite recently, an
abandoned clergyman, who, shortly before the exode,
was excommunicated for improper conduct, has pre-
sented a memorial to Congress, in which he charges
the Mormons with very much more than he himself
appears to have been guilty of. This abusive person,
a former intimate of the Major-general James Arling-
ton Bennett, lately on trial in New York, in company
with a one-eyed Thompson of that city, is also the only
surviving brother of the prophet Joseph Smith, and,
as such, still claims to be the sole, true president, and
genuine arch high-priest" (p. 86).

If the design of the author had been to prove that
this community was composed of impostors and dupes,
organized and systematized for mischief, like a prowl-
ing band of wolves, he could not have stated facts
more germain to the matter. Here were, it seems,
"whole councils" composed of "priests and elders,
scribes and preachers," including William, the proph-
et's brother — leaders and rulers in Israel — high in of-
fice, and high in the confidence of the prophet, and
who turn out to be the veriest knaves and villains in
Christendom. This would seem to involve a pretty

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. J4Q

thorough impeachment of Joseph's pretensions, who,
as prophet-seer, had no right to be imposed upon by
such " fair-weather friends /" and the contiguous pop-
ulation of Grentiles, who claimed neither the gift of
prophecy nor seership, may well be excused for believ-
ing themselves cheated and robbed by the neighboring
Saints.

It is a misnomer to say the Mormons have been per-
secuted on account of their religion. Religious perse-
cution does not belong to the American mind. Aside
from constitutional and statutory protection, all forms
and creeds are tolerated, however ridiculous and ab-
surd, provided their practical ultimation do not inter-
fere with the rights of others. Here, however, lies one
branch of the difficulty. Mormonism, unhappily, fur-
nishes a justification to the conscience of the fanatical
believer for the commission of all the crimes which
have been charged to its account. But it is suggested,
Why not bring the criminal to justice by indictment
and trial ? Why resort to force ? Here lies another
branch of the difficulty. A community like that at
Nauvoo possessed almost unlimited facilities for the
concealment of crime, in the first instance, and, in the
end, for screening the detected offender from justice.
A Gentile, whose horse had been feloniously taken from
his stable, might trace it to the Mormon capital, but,
once within its periphery, and all further trace would
be lost : it was then as fruitless a task as hunting In-
dians in the everglades of Florida without the aid of
bloodhounds.

It has been claimed that the hostility against the
Saints was stimulated by mercenary men, who covet-

150 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

ed their lands and improvements. That it had no
such incentive in Jackson county, is evident from the
fact that a proposition was fairly made to purchase
their property at double its value. The Mormons hav-
ing rejected this proposition, and being finally compel-
led to remove under adverse circumstances, it is quite
probable that selfish men took advantage of the emer-
gency, in many cases, to buy out their titles at a cheap
rate. Such things would happen in any community,
and we can not suppose that a Western border popula-
tion are any more free from unconscientious and grasp-
ing spirits than more refined societies. There is prob-
ably more foundation for the charge in the break-up at
Nauvoo. Cases of individual wrong will always occur
in civil commotions. Marauders will always be found,
hovering, like carrion crows, around a field of battle,
or a besieged city, watching their opportunity for plun-
der; but it would be short-sighted enough to believe
that the war was instigated by them. These occur-
rences, however much to be regretted, are not to divert
our attention from the original causes of the trouble,
and these are to be found in the Mormon system itself
— in its arrogant religious pretensions, its reeking licen-
tiousness, and its general license to plunder the goods,
and trample upon the rights of all " Gentile" commu-
nities with which it may happen to be in contact ; and
the authors and upholders of the imposture must be
held accountable, as well for its remote and collateral,
as its immediate consequences. It is not for them to
complain that, in making war upon the social morali-
ty, and the civil and religious institutions of the coun-
try, they have not only lost the battle, but come out
of the contest with diminished resources.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

CHAPTER IX.

HISTORY CONTINUED.

Battalion for Mexican War. — Mormons arrive at Salt Lake. — Charac-
ter of the Mormon Exode. — " Crickets." — General Address to the
Saints. — " Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company," and " Public
Works." — State of Deseret. — Territory organized. — Ceremonies on
breaking Ground for the Temple.

THE fugitive Mormons established themselves at two
different points in the Indian country, and, after a sea-
son of much privation and suffering, their affairs began
to brighten. The Indians were friendly, their own in-
dustry and perseverance worthy of all commendation,
the land was fertile, arid their crops abundant.

It was during the fore part of their sojourn in this
region that a Mormon regiment was recruited into the
United States service for the Mexican war. This, like
many other matters connected with the Saints, has
been made the subject of much contradictory remark.
They are fond of referring to it as a requisition made
upon them by the government to test their loyalty,
and their ready response to it is cited as strong evi-
dence of their patriotic devotion to the country ; and
as this regiment was on its march to California at the
period when the remaining Saints were driven from-
Nauvoo, it offered an opportunity for comment not to
be neglected. In an address to the Saints in all parts
of the world, Brigham Young certainly makes a strong
point on this subject. After taking a retrospect of the

152 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

sufferings and persecutions of the Mormons, he says :
" And, hard as it was to write it, it must forever re-
main a truth on the page of history, that, while the
flower of Israel's camp were sustaining the wing of
the American eagle by their influence and arms in a
foreign country, their brothers, sisters, fathers, moth-
ers, and children were driven by mob violence from a
free and independent state of the same national repub-
lic, and were compelled to flee from the fire, the sword,
the musket, and the cannon's mouth, as from the de-
mon of death."

Some of the Mormon seceders represent that they in-
tended to excite an Indian war, and furnished the men
to lull suspicion, knowing that active service would in
the end make them a well-disciplined corps. But it is
not probable there was any settled purpose of the kind.
Nor is it to be presumed that they felt much attach-
ment to a country which they had over and over again
doomed to destruction, and against which they habit-
ually indulged in bitter complaints and denunciations.
According to WjUiaia,^Smith, the prophet Joseph's
brother, the leaders intended to establish an independ-
ent government beyond the Rocky Mountains ; and as
the Great Salt Lake Valley, to which they were jour-
neying, was at the time Mexican territory, there would
seem to be good evidence to that effect. Their profes-
sions of loyalty and patriotism must therefore be re-
ceived with many grains of allowance. Colonel Kane
says: "At the commencement of the Mexican war,
the President considered it desirable to march a body
of reliable infantry to California at as early a period as
practicable, and the known hardihood and habits of

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

discipline of the Mormons were supposed peculiarly to
fit them for this service. As California was supposed,
also, to be their ultimate destination, the long march
would cost them less than other citizens. They were
accordingly invited to furnish a battalion of volunteers
early in the month of July" (p. 27).

The transaction seems, then, one of convenience on
both sides ; the government wanted some good troops,
and the Saints were willing to fight for pay, especially
in the direction and against an enemy which harmon-
ized so remarkably well with their ulterior designs.
They were at that time, too, in great need of ready
funds, and the bounty, or portion of the pay, which is
said to have amounted to some $20,000, was paid to
the authorities of the Church, and more than counter-
balanced the inconvenience arising from the absence
of that number of men. ^*

Early in the spring of 1847, a pioneer band of 0110
hundred and forty-three men, with seventy wagons,
started on their westward journey, with all the means
and appliances for forming a settlement. They reach-
ed the valley of Great Salt Lake in July, laid the foun-
dation of their present capital, and put in extensive
crops for the future necessities of the incoming Saints.
Others followed at short intervals, and some four thou-
sand people became the inhabitants of the valley during
that year. In 1848, nearly all that remained made
their way to the new land of promise. Fortunately,
the land cost them nothing, and all the money and
goods saved from the wreck of their property at Nau-
voo they were able to devote to other uses than acquir-
ing a property in the soil.

156 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

This was a remarkable exode, in respect to its num-
bers, the motives by which they were stimulated, and
the admirable manner in which it was effected ; but
it is still more remarkable, in a country where a cease-
less tide of emigration has been for years, and still is,
surging from the east to the west, under no greater
stimulus than the love of change or hope of gain, that
this particular case should be singled out as " not par-
alleled in the history of mankind since Moses led the
Israelites from Egypt." In fact, the task was com-
paratively an easy one. The whole history of Mormon-
ism is a continuing illustration of the prodigious power
of religious fanaticism over the mind. It required no
greater effort to induce the Mormons to remove from
Nauvoo to Salt Lake than from their previous homes
to the gathering-place of the Saints for the time, nor
so great, because the concentrated enthusiasm of the
multitude easily sways and carries along individual
minds. There was skill and good management in de-
tails, which enabled large masses to emigrate in safety ;
but the way had been fully explored. Thousands of
families had previously, in small bands, performed the
tedious journey to Oregon, without the stimulus of
religious enthusiasm, running the gauntlet of Indian
hostilities under far more discouraging circumstances,
and strewing the interminable road with frequent evi-
dences of suffering and mortality. The Mormons ac-
complished one half of this journey in bands too pow-
erful to be molested by Indians, united by the same
religious faith, and under the control and direction of
a single will.

Perhaps the traveler who threads his way over the

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

same journey, breathes the same pure, joyous, bracing
air, hunts the same game, and gazes upon the same
spreading plains and cloud-capped mountains, may not
be able to see and appreciate the peculiar wonders
with which the Mormons' pilgrimage may be legit-
imately invested. The Saints, however, are exceed-
ingly fond of the marvelous. In their eyes it was a
flight into the wilderness from a storm of religious per-
secution, and was attended with uncommon dangers,
and surrounded with uncommon protection. If the
cloud by day, and pillar of fire by night, were not act-
ually visible to mortal sight, they were no less really
present, and the exode and its results were attended
with miracles and wonders. On the arrival of Brigham
Young with the first presidency in the valley, he was
too sick to be able to rise from his carriage-bed ; but
when the party reached a particular spot, he became
suddenly restored, rose up, and, directing attention to
the top of a high mountain peak, proclaimed that he
had in vision seen the prophet, Joseph Smith, standing
there, pointing down to the spot then occupied by them
as the site of the future Temple. It is needless to say
that this place is Temple Block, on which the sacred
edifice is now being built.

The year 1848 was one of privation and suffering
prior to the maturing of the growing crops. Among ,
other discouraging incidents, a curious kind of " crick-
et" made its appearance in myriads, manifesting all .
the destructive properties of the locust of Eastern coun-
tries. All vegetation was swept clean before its fright-
ful progress as effectually as the grass before the
scorching fury of a prairie conflagration, and the crops

160 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

put in with so much toil, and on which so much de-
pended, were fast disappearing. Suddenly, however,
flocks of white gulls floated over the mountain tops,
with healing in their wings, and stayed this withering
destruction by feasting upon the destroyer. It is no
matter for wonder that the leaders should place this in
the list of miraculous interpositions in their favor, nor
that the mass of the Saints should implicitly believe
that the gulls were hatched into sudden maturity for
the occasion ; but it is a little strange that one, of the
evident intelligence of Colonel Kane, should speak of
these fowl as " before strangers to the valley."

The crickets and the gulls have been annual visitors
since, as they were before, the bane and the antidote
together ; and the Mormons have been able to raise
enough to supply not only their own wants, but a sur-
plus for the emigrants to California and Oregon.

After the pioneer company reached Salt Lake Val-
ley, and commenced a permanent settlement, another
address was issued to the Saints all over the world.
This address is very long, and embraces a great variety
of subjects relative to the gathering of the Saints in
their mountain Zion. The design of Brigham Young
did not end in merely escaping from persecution — it
had been foreshadowed by "William Smith — it was to
found an independent state ; and this address develops
the comprehensiveness of the plan. The Saints were
not only required to assemble at the common centre,
but to come provided for all possible emergencies. The
following will be sufficient to give the reader an idea
of its scope and compass :

"And to all the Saints in any country bordering

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

upon the Atlantic, we would say, pursue the same
course. Come immediately, and prepare to go West,
bringing with you all kinds of choice seeds of grain,
vegetables, fruits, shrubbery, trees, and vines— -every
thing that will please the eye, gladden the heart, or
cheer the soul of man, that grows upon the face of the
whole earth ; also, the best stock of beast, bird, and
fowl of every kind; also, the best tools of every de-
scription, and machinery for spinning or weaving, and
dressing cotton, wool, flax, and silk, &c., &c., or mod-
els and descriptions of the same, by which they can
construct them ; and the same in relation to all kinds
of farming utensils and husbandry, such as corn-shell-
ers, grain-thrashers and cleaners, smut-machines, mills,
and every implement and article within their knowl-
edge that shall tend to promote the comfort, health,
happiness, or prosperity of any people.

" It is very desirable that all the Saints should im-
prove every opportunity of securing at least a copy of
every valuable treatise on education — every book, map,
chart, or diagram that may contain interesting, useful,
and attractive matter, to gain the attention of children,
and cause them to love to read ; and also every histor-
ical, mathematical, philosophical, geographical, geolog-
ical, astronomical, scientific, practical, and all other
variety of useful and interesting writings, maps, &c.,
to present to the general Church Recorder when they
shall arrive at their destination, from which important
and interesting matter may be gleaned to compile the
most valuable works on every science and subject, for
the benefit of the rising generation.

" Let all Saints who love God more than their own

J62 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

dear selves — and none else are Saints— gather, without
delay, to the place appointed, bringing their gold, their
silver, their copper, their zinc, their tin, and brass, and
iron, and choice steel, and ivory, and precious stones,
their curiosities of science, of art, of nature, and every
thing in their possession or within their reach, to build
in strength and stability, to beautify, to adorn, to em-
bellish, to delight, and to cast a fragrance over the
house of the Lord ; with sweet instruments of music
and melody, and songs, and fragrance, and sweet odors,
and beautiful colors, whether it be in precious jewels,
or minerals, or choice ores, or in wisdom and knowl-
edge, or understanding, manifested in carved work, or
curious workmanship of the box, the fir, and pine-tree,
or any thing that ever was, or is, or is to be, for the
exaltation, glory, honor, salvation of the living and the
dead for time and all eternity."

The address manifests much tact and ability, and
was well calculated to promote the objects intended.
It winds up with the usual high pretenses to a love of
order and morality which has ever distinguished the
preaching of this anomalous community :

" The kingdom of God consists in correct principles,
and it mattereth not what a man's religious faith is —
whether he be a Presbyterian, or a Methodist, or a
Baptist, or a Latter-day Saint, or ' Mormon,' or a
Campbellite, or a Catholic, or Episcopalian, or Moham-
medan, or even Pagan, or any thing else. If he will bow
the knee, and with his tongue confess that Jesus is the
Christ, and will support good and wholesome laws for
the regulation of society, we hail him as a brother, and
will stand by him as he stands by us in these things ;

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 1(33

for every man's faith is a matter between his own soul
and his God alone. But if he shall deny the Jesus —
if he shall curse God — if he shall indulge in debauch-
ery, and drunkenness, and crime — if he shall lie, and
swear, and steal — if he shall take the name of the great
God in vain, and commit all manner of abominations,
he shall have no place in our midst ; for we have
long sought to find a people that will work righteous-
ness— that will distribute justice equally — that will
acknowledge God in all their ways- — that will regard
those sacred laws and ordinances which are recorded
in that sacred book called the Bible, which we verily
believe, and which we proclaim to the ends of the
earth."

It is owing to the comprehensive views of this ad-
dress being measurably carried out that we find so
many of the means and appliances of civilized life in
the Great Basin. Flouring-mills have been erected
upon some of the numerous streams which pour down
from the mountains, sufficient to meet the wants of
the people ; and a few saw-mills have been put up at
points where the scanty timber is to be found in most
abundance. Other mechanical employments are also
in operation to an extent equal to the wants of such a
community.

The Saints went on gathering as fast as distance
and other circumstances would permit, in obedience to
the injunctions of the reigning prophet. But many
were poor, and, especially in Great Britain, unable to
defray the expenses of so great a journey without aid
from the Church. This gave rise to two institutions,
"The Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company," and

1(34 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

" The Public "Works," which, in connection with " The
Tithing-office," are now engines of state in the hands
of the ecclesiastical despotism existing in Utah. The
subject is thus alluded to in a letter from Brigham
Young, dated October 14th, 1849, to Orson Pratt, then
in England :

"You will learn from our general epistle the princi-
pal events occurring with us ; but we have thought
proper to write you more particularly in relation to
some matters of general interest — in an especial man-
ner, the perpetual emigrating fund for the poor Saints.
This fund, we wish all to understand, is perpetual, and,
in order to be kept good, will need constant accessions.
To further this end, we expect all who are benefited
by its operation will be willing to reimburse that
amount as soon as they are able, facilities for which
will, very soon after their arrival here, present them-
selves in the shape of public works."

These " Public "Works" were soon after permanent-
ly established, under the direction and control of the
Church. They consist of work-shops, built on Temple
Block, in which various mechanical trades are carried
on as systematically as in manufacturing establish-
ments in the States. The poor emigrating Saint is,
through the " Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company,"
furnished with the means of performing the great jour-
ney, but, when he gets to Zion, he is without food, rai-
ment, or shelter. A house is speedily built for him,
and he is placed in the " Public Works" to work out
the debt, during which process he -is furnished with
the necessaries of life from the Tithing-office, to the
amount of a moiety of the value of his labor ; and as

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

he is charged enormously for what he receives, as well
as a tithe of his labor, he is in a state of almost hope-
less servitude ; like the frog in the well, which fell
back one foot at night for every two feet hopped out in
the daytime, his final extrication is hedged around
with discouraging drawbacks.

The Mexican war terminated, and the members of
the Mormon battalion straggled back, part of them to
Utah, and part remained in California. The treaty of
Gaudeloupe Hidalgo followed, and the Saints still found
themselves within the dominions of the great persecut-
ing republic, from which they had made such perse-
vering efforts to escape. But they were by themselves,
in the fastnesses of the mountains, excluded from ob-
servation, and secure, at least, from present molesta-
tion ; and the next best thing to becoming a state in-
dependent of the Union, was to become an independ-
ent state of the Union. Brigham Young hastened,
therefore, to organize the new State of " Deseret," un-
der a Constitution, with the following boundaries :
" Commencing at the 33d degree of north latitude,
where it crosses the 108th degree of longitude, west
of Greenwich ; thence running south and west to the
northern boundary of Mexico ; thence west to, and
down the main channel of the Grila River, on the
northern line of Mexico, and on the northern boundary
of Lower California to the Pacific Ocean ; thence along
the coast northwesterly to 118 degrees 30 minutes of
west longitude ; thence north to where said line inter-
sects the dividing ridge of the Sierra Nevada Mount-
ains ; thence north along the summit of the Sierra Ne-
vada Mountains to the dividing range of mountains

166 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

that separates the waters flowing into the Columbia
River from the waters running into the Great Basin ;
thence easterly along the dividing range of mountains
that separates said waters flowing into the Columbia
River on the north from the waters flowing into the
Great Basin on the south, to the summit of the Wind
River chain of mountains ; thence southeast and south
by the dividing range of mountains that separate the
waters flowing into the Gulf of Mexico from the wa-
ters flowing into the Gulf of California, to the place of
beginning, as set forth in a map drawn by Charles
Preass, and published by order of the Senate of the
"United States in 1848."

The term " Deseret," in Mormon language, is said
to signify the " Land of the Honey-bee ;" yet, strange
to say, this useful insect, typical of order and industry,
is unknown in the Great Basin. One of the emigrat-
ing bands of the Saints took in three hives, one of
which, with great care and management, survived the
severe winter of 1849-50 ; but, unluckily, in the en-
suing summer, this hive was found one morning some
distance from its proper place, robbed of its sweets,
and the poor bees scattered abroad.

The bounds of the State of Deseret would probably
have been found to contain the requisite numbers for
admission into the Union ; but Congress wisely con-
cluded to shear this ambitious stranger of her self-con-
stituted proportions, and wait until the Saints should
give some better evidences of good citizenship before
investing them with the full panoply of state sovereign-
ty. The present Territory of Utah was organized in
1850 under an act of Congress, soon after which Brig-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

ham Young was appointed Governor by the Presi-
dent.

In the summer of 1851, the Legislative Assembly
was elected under the Territorial Bill, and held its first
session in the following fall and winter ; and from this
period the laws of the United States have been nomin-
ally in operation — what the reality is in this respect
will appear more fully as we proceed.

After the confusion incident to the influx of large
numbers had measurably settled into something like
order, Brigham Young turned his attention to temple
building, which seems ever to have been the focal point
of Mormon fanaticism. Temple Block, to which the
index finger of the martyred Joseph had pointed from
Ensign Peak in Brigham's vision, was duly set apart
and consecrated for sacerdotal purposes. A tabernacle
was speedily built for present use; but the Temple,
without which the dead could not be baptized from
Purgatory, required deliberation and time to erect upon
a scale of grandeur equal to the present prosperity and
anticipations of the future greatness of the Saints. A
wall, surrounding the whole block, of reddish sand-
stone, handsomely dressed, was nearly completed on
two sides up to the spring of 1853. Every step in
the progress of this mighty edifice and its appurtenan-
ces has been commemorated by imposing ceremonies
in the presence of multitudes. The one witnessed by
the author, on the occasion of breaking ground for the
foundation of the building (February 14th, 1853), will
give the reader some faint idea of the modus operandi
by which " Latter-day" fanaticism is kept up to its fe-
ver heat.

168 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

The day was superbly fine, the atmosphere without
a cloud, and the panoramic view such as no other place
can exhibit. The mountains east, west, and south
were covered with snow, and glittered gloriously in
the sun. The ceremonies were to commence at eleven
o'clock. Before the hour a great multitude assembled,
to the amount of some thousands, with a large infusion
of women and children. A stake was driven down at
the point intended for the centre of the building. Two
large brass bands were in attendance, and discoursed
good music, among which was our old acquaintance
" Hail Columbia !" A wagon was stationed at an ap-
propriate place, as a stand for those who were to con-
duct the exercises of the day. At the appointed time,
the Governor took his station and addressed the mul-
titude. The tenor of his remarks was : That they
were now about to make a third attempt to build a
Temple ; that they had tried twice before, but had not
been permitted to finish one and enjoy it any length of
time ; that it was the duty of the brethren to go on
with the work, even if it should cost a million, and
they knew they were to leave it the day after its com-
pletion ; that, if they were destined to leave it, it would
be their duty to leave it with cheerfulness ; that some
might wish to know what his knowledge was on the
subject— whether he had had a revelation as to the
site of the Temple; that, for seven years past, the
very spot had been present in his mind, in dreams and
visions, notwithstanding individuals had gone in differ-
ent directions to hunt out a place, and if they wished
him to write out the revelation, he would do so ; but
that no revelation or command was necessary-^— the

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

people were bound to "build a temple without any —
they might as well ask for a revelation to build a house
for themselves. He took them to task for not prompt-
ly paying their tithes ; said if the tithes were paid, as
they should be, there would be no need of extra contri-
butions to go on with the building. Once, and but
once, he excited a laugh in the crowd, but it was done
in a way which harmonized well enough with the
time and occasion. He said there were very many
present who had not the rare privilege of being perse-
cuted by mobs, &c., but that they need not give them-
selves any uneasiness, as their time would come yet,
in some form or other.

The Governor speaks easily, has a ready flow of
words, and a voice of sufficient compass for out-door
speaking. He is not what would be called an eloquent
or impassioned speaker in the States. He is very self-
possessed, and his manner is deliberate and argument-
ative. He was listened to with the most profound
attention, and evidently has the most unbounded in-
fluence with the people.

After the address succeeded a prayer by Elder Kim-
ball, very much in the manner of prayers on such occa-
sions. There were some allusions which a stranger to
the Mormon creed would not have understood ; for in-
stance, he thanked the Lord, among other things, for
our tabernacles. This was in reference to their doc-
trine, that our spirits existed as intelligent beings long
before our bodies, which they call tabernacles ; and
that the spirits enter into these tabernacles for the
purpose of having an earthly body in the resurrection.
The address and prayer, with intervening music, being

T~T

170 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

ended, the ceremony of excavating was commenced by
the Governor, who was succeeded by the twelve apos-
tles, each throwing up a small quantity of earth ; after
which the assembly was dismissed. The ceremonies
were imposing, and there was an evident manifestation
of the tremendous power of religious enthusiasm under
the direction of a single will. I am but little learned
in scientific phrenology, but I think the ready eye of
one of our Fowlers would have detected the organs of
veneration and marvelousness prominently developed,
while the heads of the multitude were uncovered dur-
ing the prayer.

It is not to be supposed that such a ceremony could
pass without something of the marvelous. A gold
dollar was found by the prophet- Governor while en-
gaged in the work, which was, of course, seen by one
of the twelve to drop from the clouds, and was inter-
preted to mean that the Saints were to be amply sup-
plied with funds for this glorious work.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

CHAPTER X.

GOVERNMENT.

Priesthoods. — The President is Prophet and Seer : his Power. — Tith-
ing.— Individual cases. — Tithing-office.

THE government of the Mormon Church, like its
doctrines, has been a matter of after-thought. At
first it was simple enough, consisting of the prophet
as the supreme head, and the leading men as priests
under him, without division into particular orders. As
the tide of success, however, began to elevate him
upon its swelling flood, and visions of ambition and
power floated through his brain, his ideas of govern-
ment rapidly swelled and expanded, like an anaconda
in swallowing a captive tiger. As multitudes gathered
into the new Zion and its numerous stakes, they could
not be moulded to the prophet's will and controlled
without a regular system. This has given rise to a
very singular machinery of Church government, part
of which is apparent, and part, consisting of secret ini-
tiatory ceremonies, is sedulously guarded from profane
curiosity.

That which is open to observation has been duly
established by revelation, and consists of complicated
and imposing machinery ; and there is probably no
government in the world so well calculated to concen-
trate despotic power in the hands of a few. There are
two priesthoods in the Church— -the Melchisedek and

172 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

the Aaronic (which latter includes the Levitical). All
other authorities are appendages to one or the other
of these priesthoods. Each priesthood holds the keys
of the peculiar mysteries which it has in charge. The
key is an important emblem in Mormon symbolics.
All heavenly mysteries are duly lockqd up, and can not
be opened except by the agent who is authorized to
hold and use the key.

The Melchisedek is the superior priesthood, and con-
sists of high priests and elders ; the Aaronic is inferior,
and made up of bishops, priests, teachers, and deacons.
The Melchisedek priesthood is clustered about with
holy sanctions and sublime mysteries, which strike
awe into the minds of the simple-minded believers :

" And the sons of Moses, according to the holy priest-
hood which he received under the hand of his father-
in-law Jethro, and Jetliro received it under the hand
of Caleb, and Caleb received it under the hand of Elihu,
and Elihu under the hand of Jeremy, and Jeremy un-
der the hand of God, and God under the hand of Esaias,
and Esaias received it under the hand of God ; Esaias
also lived in the days of Abraham, and was blessed of
him ; which Abraham received the priesthood from
Melchisedek, who received it through the lineage of
his fathers, even till Noah ; and from Noah till Enoch,
through the lineage of their fathers; and from Enoch
to Abel, who was slain by the conspiracy of his brother,
who received the priesthood, by the commandments of
God, by the hand of his father Adam, who was the
first man ; •which priesthood continueth in the Church
of God in all generations, and is without beginning of
days or end of years."

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

" The power and authority of the Melchisedek priest-
hood is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings
of the Church, to have the privilege of receiving the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to have the heav-
ens opened unto them, and to enjoy the communion
and presence of God the Father, and Jesus Christ the
Mediator of the new covenant.'7 (Doctrines and Cov-
enants^ p. 101.)

" The power and authority of the lesser, or Aaronio
priesthood, is to hold the keys of the ministering of
angels, and to administer in outward ordinances — the
letter of the Gospel — the baptism of repentance for the
remission of sins, agreeably to the covenants and com-
mandments." (P. 102.)

These priesthoods have their presidencies, which con-
trol them and all below them. The bishopric is the
presidency of the Aaronic priesthood, and hold the keys
of the same.

The very apex of the pyramid is the presidency of
the Melchisedek priesthood, and consequently of the
whole Church. This is the quorum of three, and is
commonly called the first presidency, which is the high-
est authority for the final decision of all questions, and
to whom all persons in the Church are subject.

There are also twelve apostles, called also a quorum,
who are, in theory, equal in power to the presidency of
three ; though this is by no means the case in practice.
Their decisions, to be of equal weight, must be unan-
imous, and of the whole body ; and as it is their more
especial business to go into all the world and preach,
under the direction of the first presidency, it is very
seldom that they can exercise much effective power.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

There are also quorums of seventies, who, in theory,
may decide matters for the Church, under the same
qualification of unanimity. These seventies are trav-
eling quorums for preaching under the direction of the
twelve, as the latter are under the direction of the
three. A general assembly of all the quorums consti-
tute the spiritual authorities of the Church.

In extraordinary cases, a high council is convened.
This tribunal was organized in 1834 by revelation, as
follows :

" 1. This day a general council of twenty-four high
priests assembled at the house of Joseph Smith, Jr., by
revelation, and proceeded to organize the high council
of the Church of Christ, which was to consist of twelve
high priests, and one or three presidents, as the case
might require. The high council was appointed by
revelation for the purpose of settling important diffi-
culties which might arise in the Church, which could
not be settled by the Church or the bishop's council to
the satisfaction of the parties.

" 2. Joseph Smith, Jr., Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick
G. "Williams, were acknowledged presidents by the voice
of the council ; and Joseph Smith, Sen., John Smith, Jo-
seph Coe, John Johnson, Martin Harris, John S. Carter,
Jared Carter, Oliver Cowdry, Samuel H. Smith, Orson
Hyde, Sylvester Smith, and Luke Johnson, high priests,
were chosen to be a standing council for the Church,
by the unanimous voice of the council."

Each quorum has its president; and the president
of the quorum of three is the president of the high
council, and over all the Church, from whom " comes
the administration of ordinances and blessings upon

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

the Church, by the laying on of hands." Joseph Smith
was the first president ; Brigham Young is the present
one.

The president is " the seer, revelator, and prophet,
having all the gifts of God, which he bestows upon the
head of the Church." As president of the high coun-
cil, he may, " in cases of difficulty respecting doctrine
or principle, inquire and obtain the mind of the Lord
by revelation."

The prophet Joseph was very careful to secure this
feature of absolute power, the obedient oracle, of
course, always giving the requisite response. In April,
1830, it uttered as follows :

" Behold, there shall be a record kept among you,
and in it thou shalt be called a seer, a translator, a
prophet, an apostle of Jesus Christ, an elder of the
Church, through the will of God the Father, and the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, being inspired of the
Holy Ghost to lay the foundation thereof, and to build
it up unto the most holy faith." (Doctrines and Cov-
enants^ p. 265.)

And in September, 1830, the following important
enunciation was given on this point :

" But behold, verily, verily, I say unto thee, no one
shall be appointed to receive commandments and rev-
elations in this Church excepting my servant Joseph
Smith, Jr., for he receive th them even as Moses ; and
thou shalt be obedient unto the things which I shall
give unto him, even as Aaron, to declare faithfully the
commandments and revelations with power and au-
thority unto the Church. And if thou art led at any
time by the Comforter to speak or teach, or at all times

176 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

by the way of commandment unto the Church, thou
mayest do it ; but thou shalt not write by way of com-
mandment, but by wisdom. And thou shalt not com-
mand him who is at thy head, and at the head of the
Church ; for I have given him the keys of the mysteries,
and the revelations, which are sealed, until I shall ap-
point unto them another in his stead." (Doctrines
and Covenants, p. 272.)

The Church assemble in conference every half year,
and go through with the ceremony of re-electing the
prophet as president of the Church ; but this is the
merest formality in the world, as nobody dreams of
trying to reverse the Lord's appointment. Like the
parishioners of Knocktarlittie, who always elected the
candidate of the Duke of Argyle, the Saints are equal-
ly ready to ratify the nomination of the celestial cau-
cus.

By reason of these exalted gifts, the president, in
fact, controls and governs the whole Church, the sev-v
eral quorums being the mere instruments of his will.
The government of the Mormons has, therefore, from
tlie beginning, been a species of absolute theocracy, or
very nearly so. This absolutism has been preserved
by various expedients, as the putting forth of revela-
tions from time to time, the performance of miracles
by healing the sick, preaching in unknown tongues,
and other forms of popular imposition ; keeping up a
prying system of espionage ; sending off turbulent spir-
its on distant missions ; and, more especially, the ab-
sorption of nearly all the wealth of the members, un-
der an improved system of tithing and other forms of
ecclesiastical appropriation. Some idea of the power

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. ^77

claimed by and for the reigning prophet may be gath-
ered from their own statements.

" Who gives me power that, < at the pointing of my
finger,' the hosts of Israel move, and at my request
the inhabitants of this great territory are displaced ?
that at my command they are here ? Who gives me
that power ? Let the world inquire. It is the God of
heaven ; it is the Spirit of the holy Gospel ; it is not
of myself; it is the Lord Jesus Christ trying to save
the inhabitants of the earth." (Remarks of Brigham
Young, Deseret News, August 26th, 1852.)

" When God calls a man to preside, he gives him
wisdom to preside, so heap the balance on to me." " I
have not the least fear of any division in this Church,
for I can turn them whithersoever I will, Amen."
(Same, Deseret News, November 6th, 1852.)

" Jesus sought to do the will of his Father in heav-
en ; so it was our duty to do the will of Joseph ; and
now it is the duty of us all to do the will of Brother
Brigham, for he reveals to us the will of God, which
is his will. We will do his will as an elder, as a proph-
et, as an apostle of Jesus Christ, holding the same keys
that Peter of old held, the same that Joseph Smith
held as an apostle. You all believe this, don't you,
without an exception ? Well, if this is your faith, if
this is your determination, I want you should manifest
it by raising your right hands, and saying AY. [A
literal forest of hands was the result of this call, and
the spacious hall trembled when a simultaneous * ay'
burst from the mouths of over 2000 persons.] There it
is, and it can not be any other way." ( Speech of Eld.
Kimball, Des. News extra, Sept. Uth, 1852, p. 1, 2.)
H2

178 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

Those turbulent and ambitious spirits who are rest-
ive under superior authority, human or divine, are gen-
erally disposed of by sending them as missionaries into
foreign countries ; and as the most troublesome of
these are from the United States, there is not the same
effort as formerly to make converts in this country.
Of the eighty missionaries sent away in the fall of
1852, only three were sent to the States — one to Tex-
as, one to "Washington, and one to St. Louis ; the last
two being rather intended as resident agents than mis-
sionaries. It has been found that the English labor-
ing classes are more amenable to authority, and sub-
mit more quietly to tithing and other burdens, and are
less startled at the innovations upon the common rules
of morality, than the more astute, enterprising, and
self-reliant Yankee. And as the South Sea Islanders
and Chinese are supposed to be exceedingly plastic on
all these points, so important to the welfare of Mor-
mondom, considerable efforts have been made to make
proselytes among them.

Tithing, in the Mormon hierarchy, is a regular sys-
tem of the appropriation of the mass of individual prop-
erty for the support and aggrandizement of the proph-
et and his priesthood. In the Jewish Church it was
the devotion of a tenth of the increase to sacerdotal
purposes. We shall see how much the system has
been improved upon by the modern prophet and his co-
adjutors. By a revelation of February, 1831, Smith
discovered that those having property should convey it
to the bishop and his counselors for the support of the
poor, for the purchase of lands for the public benefit of
the Church, and building of houses of worship, &c.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

In August, 1831, it was revealed that " all the mon-
eys which can be spared, it mattereth not whether it
be little or much, be sent up unto the land of Zion,
unto them whom I have appointed to receive."

In July, 1838, this important branch of the new dis-
pensation assumed a more definite shape as follows :

" In answer to the question, 0 Lord, show unto thy
servants how much thou requirest of the properties for
a tithing ?

" 1. Verily, thus saith the Lord, I require all their
surplus property to be put into the hands of the bishop
of my Church of Zion, for the building of mine house,
and for the laying the foundation of Zion, and for the
priesthood, and for the debts of the presidency of my
Church ; and this shall be the beginning of the tithing
of my people ; and after that, those who have been thus
tithed shall pay one tenth of all their interest annually,
and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for
my holy priesthood, saith the Lord.

" 2. Verily, I say unto you, it shall come to pass,
that all those who gather unto the land of Zion shall
be tithed of their surplus properties, and shall observe
this law, or they shall not be found worthy to abide
among you." (Doctrines and Covenants, p. 430.)

The key of this riddle very much depended on the
true meaning of the words " surplus properties ;" and
as the point has been construed by those whose pock-
ets were to be replenished from this source, it has been
found to signify the complete stripping of the Latter-
day dupe of nearly all his available means. On this
subject, Elder Phelps, at the September Conference,
1851, discoursed as follows :

180 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

" I stand before you to address you on one of the
most important acts of life that tends to salvation.
Pay your tithing. Yes, from this day, and from this
place, let every elder of Israel carry this glad tidings
with the Gospel of repentance, that all that pay their
tithing shall not be burned, if they obey the ordinan-
ces of the Lord. Let every elder, as soon as a convert
to the truth of Jehovah is washed from his sins, teach
this standing law." Here he quotes the above revela-
tion, and then proceeds thus : " This is plain language ;
all the ' surplus property' of a Saint belongs to the
Lord, or, in other words, to the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints. Then, if an elder baptizes a per-
son worth $10,000, and he only needs $5000 to bring
him and his family to the valley, and situate himself
with a house and farm, and the necessary appendages
to obtain his living, $5000 is the amount of his sur-
plus property to be consecrated to the work of the Lord.
So with the man worth $100,000, that needs only
$10,000 for himself, $90,000 belongs to the Lord, or
to the Church for the public works, as directed by the
presidency. What next? In the first case of the
$5000 for individual benefit, that comes under the
head of < interest' to be tithed annually, and actually
means my portion, my part or lot, and is the ' in-
crease.' Grain, hay, cattle, swine, stock of every de-
scription, poultry, fruit, yea, every thing animal or veg-
etable, together with all the time not employed in pro-
ducing these commodities, are to be tithed annually
while the Saints occupy the earth in the flesh. If he
has no property, and is sound in body, then every tenth
labor-day belongs to the Lord." (Deseret Almanac,
1852.)

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

How much a man needs for himself is a question to
be decided by " council ;" in other words, by the reign-
ing prophet, who, being guided by revelation, can not
err. If all is taken, he has no right to complain, be-
cause it is revealed to the prophet that property is an
injury to him, and he promotes his temporal and fu-
ture welfare by taking it from him. All good Saints
bear this denuding process with exemplary patience.
The discontented are made to feel the ten thousand
annoyances which may be brought to bear upon them
in a community so secluded and so organized ; and if
they prove too refractory, they are handed over to the
tender mercies of the Danites.

This system of plucking, under one pretext or an-
other, has been a distinguishing trait of Mormonism
from its commencement. Any number of cases are
related at Salt Lake City, a few of which will suffice
for the present purpose.

A woman by the name of Vienna Jaques — a square-
built, angular Yankee, claiming to be a lineal descend-
ant of John Rogers, of Smithfield memory — was a res-
ident of the city of notions, when she was made a
hopeless captive by one of the earliest Mormon mis-
sionaries. She " gathered" as in duty bound, at Kirt-
land, then one of Zion's stakes, with her little fortune,
consisting of about $1500 in ready money. The proph-
et Joseph was, of course, always in want of money ;
and, like the sink of Mary's River, which absorbs the
confluent waters, had a ready skill in extracting from
his followers both moieties of their goods and chattels.
In due time, the treasures of Sister Vienna were trans-
ferred to Joseph's coffers, and she became his creditor,

182 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

and enjoyed the superior unction of becoming a resi-
dent in his family. He, however, tired of her pres-
ence, and unceremoniously got rid of her and the debt
too by one of those celestial responses which never
failed him in time of need. The divine rescript ran as
follows :

" And again, verily, verily, I say unto you, it is my
will that my handmaid, Vienna Jaques, should receive
money to bear her expenses, and go up unto the land
of Zion ; and the residue of the money may be conse-
crated unto me, and she be rewarded in mine own due
time. Verily, I say unto you, that it is meet in mine
eyes that she should go up unto the land of Zion, and
receive an inheritance from the hand of the bishop,
that she may settle down in peace, inasmuch as she is
faithful, and not be idle in her days from thenceforth."
(Doctrines and Covenants, p. 332.)

Vienna, in obedience to this command, straightway
gathered with the Saints in Missouri; and, as her
health was good, and her habits industrious, she man-
aged to gain a livelihood. She has since followed the
fortunes of the Saints in all their varying phases, and
is now industriously earning her living as a nurse at
Salt Lake City — proud that her means have been de-
voted to Joseph's use— doubly proud that she has been
made the subject of a revelation from heaven, and ready
to do vigorous battle with any one who ventures to in-
timate that the whole concern is a veritable humbug.

The case of Captain R****! attracted some attention
in the winter and spring of 1853. This gentleman
had been a sea-captain, was a resident of one of the
British North American provinces, and had amassed a

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

large fortune. His mind, being afloat on religious sub-
jects, was excited with the idea that the last days were
at hand, and that the Latter-day Saints enjoyed open
communication with heaven, through the medium of
their prophet. So rich a galleon was a tempting prize
for missionary privateering; and a few extra broad-
sides, in the shape of miracles, and other et cetera, re-
duced the gallant captain to submission. Among the
many inducements held out for his gathering with the
Saints was, that a project was on foot to establish the
business of manufacturing sugar from the beet root,
on a large scale, in the valley, which would furnish a
favorable opportunity for the profitable investment of
his capital. Seduced by these representations, he was
induced to make heavy advances for the purchase and
transportation of the sugar machinery, with the under-
standing that he was to have a joint-stock interest in
the concern, in proportion to the amount invested. His
advances are said to have amounted to over $20,000.
He repaired to the valley in the fall of 1852, for the
double purpose of gathering with the Saints, and look-
ing after his interest in the sugar business. The ma-
chinery came, too, but was unceremoniously turned
into the public works as the property of the Church ;
and the captain was given to understand that, instead
of making himself the member of a joint-stock com-
pany, he had only obeyed a law of tithing, which re-
quired an appropriation of his " surplus properties"
This did not at first satisfy him, and it was generally
understood that he would leave the valley in the spring
in disgust ; but, as he had other " surplus properties,"
he was in some way prevented from going ; whether

134 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

by a revelation to suit his case, as in the instance of
Sister Jaques, or how, has not been permitted to trans-
pire.

A Mr. C****d, an Englishman of fair fortune, is a
fellow-sufferer in the sugar business, and is understood
to have advanced large sums; but he is in a much
more disagreeable fix. In an unguarded moment, he
was seduced to enter more deeply into the mysteries
and privileges of the Saints by taking a wife. This,
however, would not be worthy of notice, were it not
for the material fact, that he has a wife living in Eng-
land, where there are sharp laws against bigamy. He
is from henceforth as helpless a prisoner at Salt Lake
as the poor whale stranded upon the beach, which can
neither fight nor swim.

A large building has been erected at the capital for
a tithing-office, in which one tenth of the grain, beef,
pork, butter, and every other product of labor, is re-
ceived and stored ; and in the same building are kept
accounts with every member of the Church, in which
the amount of the produce of each one is carefully as-
certained, and he is charged with one tenth of every
thing, including his labor, and credited with what he
pays. Branch offices are kept at the principal villages
and settlements, from which reports are made. In this
manner the presiding prophet is kept perfectly posted
up, not only in regard to the condition and prospects
of each one, but made speedily aware of the growth
and extent of any sentiments of disloyalty to the Mor-
mon rule.

This complete reduction of all its parts to a depend-
ence on its head runs through all the ramifications of

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

the Mormon hierarchy, and probably forms a more per-
fect blending of Church and State than the world has
ever yet seen. The temporal affairs of the community
and all its members are governed by its ecclesiastical
organization, which, in practice, is absolute, stern, un-
relenting, and cruel. A Saint can neither marry, or
get divorced, or sell his property, or successfully trans-
act business, or leave the Great Basin, without the
consent or against the advice of " council" The laws
of Japan are not more minute and searching in their
operations.

CHAPTER XL

GOVERNMENT.

Legislative Assembly. — Governor's Message, 1852. — Legislation pro-
ceeds from the Church. — No Freedom of the Ballot-box. — Crimes.1 — •
Murder of Hatch. — Case of Goodyear. — Joe Bankhead. — Better
Treatment of Emigrants. — Thieving. — Different Classes of Mormons.

THE Territory of Utah is organized as such under an
act of Congress, and, theoretically at least, the laws of
the United States applicable to territories are therein
administered. Under the organic act, a Legislative As-
sembly was elected in the summer of 1851, and held a
session in the following autumn and winter. At this
session they passed a small body of laws, embracing
the usual range of legislative action — the organization
of the courts of justice — the punishment of crime
(except bigamy] — the administration of estates — the
incorporation of cities — the construction of roads and
bridges — the training of the militia, &c., &c.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

Legislative action, both in form and substance, is
not very dissimilar from those of other territories, ex-
cept that it is obviously controlled by the Church. The
second Legislative Assembly met on the 13th of De-
cember, at the Council House. This building was
originally erected for Church purposes, but has been
purchased by the Territory, and is now used as a State
House, library, &c. The Legislative Assembly is di-
vided into the Council or Upper House, consisting of
thirteen members, and the House of Representatives,
of twenty-six members. After the organization of the
two houses, they came together in joint session to re-
ceive the Governor's message. The Governor, on be-
ing notified of the hour, came in, and was seated in
the speaker's chair. On being asked if he had any
communication to make, he handed his message to the
president of the Council, who handed it to the clerk
of the House, and the same was read. The message
is much longer than necessary for the amount of mat-
ter contained in it, and, as a literary production, is open
to criticism. Take the following ambitious gem as a
sample :

" Hence, also, the fanatical bigot, with the spirit of
Northern supremacy, seeks to enwrap with sacrilegious
flame the altar of his country's liberties, offering an
unholy sacrifice, which, arising in encircling wreaths of
dark and turbid columns, emitting, in fitful glare, the
burning lava, betokens erewhile her consummation."

His excellency must have lapsed suddenly into his
ecstatic state as a seer when he penned this " turbid"
prophecy.

In reference, however, to the practical sense and

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

wisdom of the most of its suggestions, it is a creditable
document. He calls the attention of the Legislative
Assembly to the most important points of interest, such
as making ferries and bridges over the principal rivers ;
promoting the working of the iron and coal mines in
Iron county ; encouraging domestic manufactures in
all its branches ; the necessity of simplicity and precis-
ion in legislation, and certainty in the administration
of the laws ; and the importance of education. He is
severe on California and her gold ; but it must be re-
membered that his Mormon excellency has had a diffi-
cult task to keep his flock together in the vicinity of
the great El Dorado. He raps Congress soundly over
the knuckles for President-making, and paying the
Utah officers so shabbily. This may seem in bad taste
for a mere territory, but the Governor claims that she
is " a part of the grand confederacy which has so long
embellished the national galaxy ;" so there is no more
to be said.

In two or three days after the organization of the
two houses, the Governor made a speech to them in
joint session, in reference to their mode of doing busi-
ness. This was deemed of so much importance, that
one hundred copies were ordered to be printed for the
use of the members. Here it is verbatim :

" Previous to opening the business to be considered
by this Assembly, and as all the members are not pres-
ent, I wish to offer a few words for your guidance as
members of a law-making department. Men who are
not capable of governing themselves — of behaving
themselves as gentlemen ought to behave, are utterly
unprepared to make laws for others. If you will look

188 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

upon Congressional practices, it is plain that printed
rules for the government of legislative bodies have
been the most fruitful source of vexatious debate and
shameful strife. The second reading of an act by sec-
tions is now to be brought before this assembly. We
would like to hear any objections that can be made to
this act, or to any part of it ; which objections must
be made at the time the section is read, so that, in the
third reading, the bill may not be delayed in its pas-
sage. Find no fault until you can make a motion for
the betterment of the bill or section. If you can not
improve it, let it alone until you can."

The result of these "few words for your guidance"
was, that the Legislative Assembly ceased all further
talk about rules, and went through the session without
them. Nor did this instance of executive interference
strike any one of the members as extraordinary or
improper. All legislation, in fact, proceeds from the
Church — or, more properly, from Brigham Young, who
is at the head of the Church. The passage of an act
against his known wishes would, in Utah, be considered
an idea altogether too preposterous to be for a moment
entertained ; and such must continue to be the case,
so long as the Church is the controlling power in the
Territory. In such a community, legislation and the
administration of the laws have no force or vigor, ex-
cept so far as they harmonize with its ecclesiastical
policy. They are forms, but forms without life, except
such as is breathed into it by the prophet of the Lord.
Their forms and proceedings are convenient enough in
cases and controversies where there is no particular in-
terest or policy to thwart their operation, and a snug

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

little fund is annually drawn from the national treas-
ury to defray the expenses. The Governor, and the
secretary, and the judges, and the public prosecutor,
and the marshal, are all there in solemn array, like
wax figures in a museum ; and legislators hold their
sessions — and courts are organized — and grand juries
are charged to be vigilant in presenting the criminal
for trial. But, notwithstanding all this imposing ma-
chinery, neither life nor property is any the more secure
from the hatred or grasp of the Church. That is above
law, and controls the consciences and acts of its mem-
bers at will.

The members of the Legislative Assembly are elect-
ed by the people ; but the nominees of the Church are
sure to be chosen. To render assurance doubly sure
on this point, the following curious provisions are em-
bodied in the act regulating elections, passed January
3, 1853 :

"Sec. 5. Each elector shall provide himself with a
vote, containing the names of the persons he wishes
elected, and the offices he would have them to fill, and
present it, neatly folded, to the judge of the election,
who shall number and deposit it in the ballot-box. The
clerk shall then write the name of the elector, and op-
posite it the number of his vote.

"Sec. 6. At the close of the election, the judge shall
seal up the ballot-box, and the list of the names of the
electors, and transmit the same, without delay, to the
county clerk."

By this ingenious contrivance, it is known whom
each elector votes for, and the dangers of a free exer-
cise of the rights of suffrage averted.

1QO UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

In a territory so governed, it will not excite surprise
that cases of extortion, robbery, murder, and other
crimes, should occur, and defy all legal redress ; or
that the law itself should be made the instrument of
crime. No one can be long a sojourner at Salt Lake
City without hearing of persons mysteriously disappear-
ing ; of Missourians, supposed to have been engaged in
the mobs in Jackson county, being decoyed into can-
ons, and ruthlessly dispatched. These he would be
inclined to treat as bugbear stories, unless confirmed
by his own observation, or his previous knowledge of
Mormon history. The " Danites," originally organized
as a species of secret police, to execute the behests of
the Church — by whom suspected persons can be dealt
with, and, if need be, put off out the way — are still in
existence, and such and such persons are frequently
spoken of as members of that notable corps. The Mor-
mon hierarchy has all the efficiency of a secret society :
its members are initiated into different degrees ; take
oaths of allegiance to the Church, of vengeance upon
their former persecutors, and of denunciations upon
themselves in case of apostacy ; and have signs and
pass-words by which they recognize each other in any
part of the world. A community, so banded together
by oaths of fanaticism, combine a vast magazine of
the elements of mischief in the hands of a few design-
ing men, and it would be strange if atrocious crimes
were not sometimes committed.

A case of violence occurred in December, 1852, in
which a mortal wound was inflicted, affording a fair
illustration of the subject. Two men, by the name of
Hickman and Hatch, members of the Danite band,

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

were noted for robberies, and many a deed of reckless
and criminal violence. Hatch, for some reason or other,
became sick of the trade, and was supposed to have a
design of leaving the valley : he became a " suspected
person." These men were one day traveling in com-
pany on horseback, some miles from the city, and came
to one of the creeks which pour down from the mount-
ains, lined with cotton-wood bushes. Hatch plunged
in to cross over, and, while in the bed of the stream,
received a shot ; the bullet passing obliquely through
his body, and evidently fired by a person behind him
on the bank. Hickman immediately turned his horse,
fled to the city, and reported that they had been attack-
ed by Indians, and his companion killed. Hatch, how-
ever, had strength enough to make his way back to
the city, and stated that he had been shot by Hickman ;
which account of the transaction was adhered to by
him and his family for some weeks, until Hickman
called upon, and had a long private interview with
him ; after which the family contradicted the story,
and the victim remained silent when questioned on the
subject. Hatch died of the wound in March, and at
the last moment told his physician that the shot was
fired by Hickman. The latter attended the funeral ;
and, while officiously engaged in filling up the grave,
the father of the murdered man, under the influence
of a sudden and uncontrollable paroxysm of vengeance,
caught up a spade, and aimed a furious blow at his
head, which must have inflicted a fatal wound, had
not his arm been arrested by one of the by-standers.
What passed at the private interview was only known
to the two ; but it was believed that Hickman then

192 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

stated to his companion that he had shot him by com-
mand of " council ;" and that unless he and his family
ceased to speak of it, some further punishment would
be visited upon them.

No person at Salt Lake City, old enough to form a
conclusion from facts stated, ever for a moment doubt-
ed of the guilt of Hickman. Not the first step, how-
ever, was taken to investigate the matter judicially, or
to bring the murderer to justice. The Governor, and
the district attorney, and the marshal, were all there,
duly commissioned and clothed with power, and had
been duly sworn, too, to execute the laws ; but in vain.
Justice still sleeps, nor is it probable that her slum-
bers will ever be disturbed in this particular case.
Hickman is still at large, and, both before and since
the death of his victim, has been frequently seen in
that kind of close and intimate relationship with the
Governor which is usual between the principal and his
confidential agent.

Of course, when such serious crimes can be commit-
ted with impunity or by authority, smaller ones can
not very much shock the moral sense. Great com-
plaints have been made by emigrants, from time to
time, of the loss of their animals, in which the names
of some of the twelve apostles are associated.

In the winter of 1850 and 1851, a larger number of
emigrants than usual wintered at Salt Lake. In the
spring, many of them met in Carson's Valley, on their
way to California, and, on comparing notes, made up
a grievous list of complaints against the Saints of plun-
der, by means more or less direct — some under tho
forms of law, and some otherwise — the most flagrant

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

of which were published in a pamphlet, and verified by
the oaths of the sufferers. These statements being ex
parte, and set forth, doubtless, with a degree of ex-
aggeration natural to persons telling their own story,
where smarting under a sense of injury, can not be re-
garded as conclusive proof upon the subject. But when
we reflect that there has ever been a lax morality in
their intercourse with the Gentiles, which has its foun-
dation in their religious principles, we are compelled to
admit that more cases of oppression, extortion, and di-
rect plunder have been tolerated among the Saints than
could be in any other civilized community on the foot-
stool.

A case occurred in 1851, of some notoriety, and
which seems to be reasonably well authenticated. A
man by the name of Groodyear, a mountaineer, had an
Indian wife, and was established on Ogden River, near
Salt Lake, when the Mormons first came into the val-
ley. They bought out his possession and improvements,
and he went to California. After a time, he returned
with a number of superior horses which he had pur-
chased, intending to sell them at a profit. He left
sixty of these horses on a range under the charge of
one Hayt, a Mormon, and went back to California to
pursue the business, where he died. "When news came
of his death to Great Salt Lake City, letters of admin-
istration were taken out by two persons whose names
are widely known in that region in connection with
questionable transactions, and neither of whom were
related to -the deceased, or had any claims against his
estate. Armed with these powers, these worthies took
possession of the horses, turned them over on Antelope

I

194 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

Island, got up a sham sale, and bought them in for a
song. Goodyear 's brother went to the Mormon capital
in 1851 to look after the property, and called upon the
administrators to ascertain how matters stood. As it
was difficult to find them together, they kept up a game
of battledore with him for some time, in which he had
to play the unfortunate part of the shuttlecock. They
finally pretended that the mass of the property had
been expended in the expenses of administration and
in support of the children. Groodyear then appealed to
Brigham Young ; but he seemed to be very ignorant
about the transaction, and, on the whole, concluded
that the property ought to remain where the children
were. He then searched for the children, of which
there were two, and found them with their grandfather,
an old Indian, in a state of great destitution, and that
not a shilling had been expended for their benefit.
After much fruitless and vexatious negotiation, the
matter was finally compromised for a small sum, about
$200. The horses were worth at least $3000. Was
the G-overnor cognizant of this transaction ? Any one
acquainted with the thorough system and espionage
kept up in Utah could have no doubt on the subject,
and he would be exceedingly verdant not to believe
that a very liberal tithing of this plunder went into the
coffers of the Church.

Gentiles, however, who reside and are engaged in
business at Salt Lake City, are sufficiently sharp to
protect themselves, and they gain an influence which
makes it comparatively easy to enforce their rights. A
curious instance occurred, in which Holliday & Warner,
a mercantile firm, were interested. They missed a num-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

ber of cattle from a herd which they were collecting
for the California market, and managed to trace the
depredation to Joseph Bankhead, one of the faithful.
As the most ready means of recovering their property,
they laid the matter, with the proofs, before the Gov-
ernor. Brigham satisfied himself of the facts, and then
sent word to Bankhead that he wished to see him on
important business. Joe repaired, without delay, to
the executive presence, when something like the fol-
lowing amusing scene is said to have occurred. As
Joe entered, the Governor regarded him with a frown,
and, in a stern voice, thundered out, " Joe Bankhead !
Joe Bankhead !"

Joe. " Why, Governor, what is the matter ?"

Brigham. " Joe Bankhead, I havehad a vision about
cattle."

Joe Bankhead's body began to perspire ; Joe was
dreadfully scared.

Brigham. "Joe Bankhead, go instantly and pay
Holliday & Warner for those cattle ! Joe Bankhead,
begone !"

Joe retired chop-fallen, and thoroughly convinced
that Brigham was a true prophet of the Lord. He went
straightway and paid for the cattle, greatly wondering
that, among his numerous peccadilloes, the celestial
councils should remain oblivious of all except this tri-
fling one against the Gentiles, the most venial of all
Mormon sins. Had Holliday & Warner been mere
wayfarers, and Joe of more conspicuous standing in
the Church, it is to be feared the supernal powers would
have turned a deaf ear to the complaint. Brigham is
usually very accessible in a case like that of Bankhead,

196 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

because it gives him influence with the resident Gren-
tiles, and serves to impress upon the superstitious a be-
lief that he can penetrate their most secret actions, and
even thoughts.

These unfortunate propensities of the Saints, in the
absence of Gentiles, are often exercised upon each oth-
er, something like a collection of spiders made by a
Frenchman for the purpose of manufacturing silk from
the web, and whose experiment totally failed, because
the smaller ones fell a prey to the ferocity of the lar-
ger. Under these circumstances, it becomes necessary
at times to put the civil law in force, and as there are
no prisons in the territory, the convict is ordinarily sen-
tenced to work upon the streets, encumbered with a
ball and chain.

The emigrants, too, are treated much better than at
first. Their visits to the valley have been found of so
much advantage to the Saints, that greater pains have
been taken to protect them from the depredations of
the most lawless and ungovernable. "We would fain
believe, also, that, as the recollection of persecutions
suffered in the States loses its extreme bitterness by
lapse of time, a kindlier feeling is coming into exercise.
There certainly have been instances not a few in
which sick and worn-down travelers have been treated
with brotherly kindness, and sent on their way rejoic-
ing without fee or reward.

Notwithstanding every effort, however, whether civil
or ecclesiastical, thieving is lamentably common, as
the following, from a sermon preached by Brigham,
published in The Deseret News, May 14th, 1853, will
show :

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 197

" How many complaints have been made to me by
men who have had their horses stolen out of their sta-
bles or out of their corrals ; or of clothes being taken
from the line. The reason why people lose their prop-
erty is because they do not watch it. Have I ever
complained of any such thing ? No ! "Why ? Be-
cause I watch my corral. Do I lose any thing out of
my barn ? No ! Because I lock it up^ and keep
somebody there to watch it. Do I lose any clothing ?
Not that I know of. I tell my folks not to leave out
my clothing. * Why,' they ask ; ' is there any danger
of their being stolen ?' ' It is none of your business ;
they will not dry after dark ; therefore take them in,
and hang them out again in the morning.' All will
be peace here this summer if you keep on watching."

If the terrors which surround the name of the proph-
et of the Lord can not protect his property without the
aid of a sentinel at his door, there would seem to be
greater numbers who profess Mormonism without sin-
cere faith in its pretensions than has generally been
supposed. In what proportion the infidels stand to the
true believers, it is not easy to estimate. The Mormon
community is curiously made up: it may be divided
into four classes.

The first are the leaders, from the prophet down—
those high in the priesthood, who are interested in
keeping up the delusion, because they live upon the
ordinary and extraordinary tithing extracted from the
people. These, like the conductor, engineers, brake-
men, and switch-tenders on a rail- way, manage and
control the whole machinery. They get up revela-
tions, perform sham miracles, talk in unknown tongues,

198 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

and concoct among themselves the various means and
modes of imposing upon popular credulity. Not one
of these have the least faith in Latter-day theology,
except as a species of stock in trade, which enables
them to thrive at the expense of others.

Second. Some, " leaving their country for their
country's good," have resorted to the new Zion, not
only because it afforded an asylum from pursuit, but
seemed to offer a safe field for the indulgence of their
vicious propensities. These have no faith in any thing
except the universal depravity of mankind. They form
a floating population : some become leaders and rulers
in Israel, and are sufficiently contented ; others, not
succeeding quite so well, become discontented, and
leave. In this same class may be included persons who
have been unfortunate in business in the States, and,
finding themselves on the very lowest round of the lad-
der, gather with the Saints under the deceptive induce-
ments held out of being able to better their condition.

Third. Many obey the call to gather themselves in
the " tops of the mountains," because they think they
are Mormons. They are afloat on religious subjects ;
discontented with current forms and creeds ; and cap-
tivated with the ideas that the last days are at hand,
and an open communication permitted with heaven.
These flock to the new promised land, with high hopes
that they have at last found a resting-place. But when
they get there, and gain some knowledge of the out-
rages upon morality and decency so openly practiced,
they become thoroughly disgusted, and seek every op-
portunity to escape from the dreadful thraldom to
which they have unwittingly subjected themselves.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. jgg

The fourth class is made of the Mormons who be-
lieve in all, and are ready to swallow down all the im-
provements of the system which come from head-quar-
ters. They give credit to every miracle performed,
however transparent the imposition, and justify every
enormity, however wicked, which is practiced or sanc-
tioned by authority. These people break up their com-
fortable homes in the States, brave the dangers and dif-
ficulties of the great journey, settle down in content-
ment in the valley of the Great Salt Lake, look for-
ward in confidence to the speedy wind up of mundane
things, and really believe they constitute the grand
centre from which radiates all the light by which hu-
manity is to be regenerated. The firm grasp which
these fanatical notions have taken of their minds is in-
conceivable.

Once, on a brief visit to the shores of Utah Lake, I
met with hospitable treatment in a squalid hut, tenant-
ed by a man and his wife by the name of Blanchard.
They had been Presbyterians in the States, but becom-
ing tired of a religion which had become stationary, as
they termed it, and fascinated with the ideas of direct
communication with heaven through the medium of a
prophet, the performance of miracles by duly author-
ized apostles, and especially of the " last days" being
at hand, they had embraced the new faith, and bid
adieu to their old friends and pleasant home in the
State of Connecticut. The woman was very voluble,
and ready enough to talk on all Mormon subjects ex-
cept polygamy, and on that she was sore. In one con-
versation with her, I pointed to a lofty mountain which
reared its snowy summit to the sky within a mile of

200 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

the dwelling, and asked her if that would ever literal-
ly subside into a plane. " Yes, indeed," was her re-
sponse ; "I expect to see that mountain literally made
low, for the last days are at hand, and the Bible says
that { every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain
made low,' and the Bible means exactly what it says."
Of her sincerity there was no room for doubt.

This class constitutes about two thirds of the entire
Mormon community, and furnishes the reliable power
— the grand lever — by which the whole is governed.
They are generally industrious and honest to an ex-
emplary degree, and manifest on ordinary occasions
the kindly instincts and sympathies of humanity, But
their fanaticism renders them blind instruments in the
hands of " council" for the perpetration of any atrocity,
however criminal or revolting.

A community so made up requires the exercise of
much adroitness and cunning to keep them under
obedient control, and the wits of the leaders are well
sharpened in this respect. But, with all the manage-
ment and chicanery at their command, Mormondom
has ever been like a region of moving sand, which loses
in a given time on one side as much as it has gained
on the other.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 201

CHAPTER III.

DOCTRINES.

Idea of " Last Day." — Inspiration of Mormon Apostles. — Doctrines as
contained in Book of "Doctrines and Covenants." — Faith the con-
trolling Principle. — Rebellion of Lucifer. — Great Efficacy of Bap-
tism.— Syllabus of Doctrines. — Damnation and Salvation.

THE Mormon creed is a curious piece of checkered
and incongruous patchwork. Joseph Smith, the found-
er, claimed to be the divinely authorized discoverer
and translator of the sacred writings of an ancient peo-
ple on this continent — alleged to have been written on
golden plates, and reserved until these last days for the
use of " the Church of Latter-day Saints"— called the
Book of Mormon.

The cardinal starting-point of Mormonism is, that
the last days are at hand, and that the Mormons are
Latter -day Saints. The controlling idea is, that the
general judgment is to come soon ; by which is not
meant an indefinite series of ages, but within the life-
time of the present generation. As early as January,
1833, the prophet announced as follows :

" And now I am prepared to say, by the authority
of Jesus Christ, that not many years shall pass away
before the United States shall present such a scene of
bloodshed as has not a parallel in the history of our
nation ; pestilence, hail, famine, and earthquakes will
sweep the wicked of this generation from off the face
of the land, to open and prepare the way for the return
of the lost tribes of Israel from the north country. The

12

202 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

people of the Lord, those who have complied with the
requisitions of the new covenant, have already com-
menced gathering together to Zion, which is in the
State of Missouri ; therefore I declare unto you the
warning which the Lord has commanded me to declare
unto this generation, remembering that the eyes of my
Maker are upon me, and that to Him I am accounta-
ble for every word I say, wishing nothing worse to my
fellow-men than their eternal salvation ; therefore, ' fear
(rod and give glory to Him, for the hour of his judg-
ment is come.' Repent ye, repent ye, and embrace
the everlasting covenant, and flee to Zion before the
overflowing scourge overtake you, for there are those
now living upon the earth ivhose eyes shall not be
closed in death until they see all these things which I
have spoken fulfilled." (Times and Seasons, p. 707.)
The gathering of the Saints is that they may wit-
ness the imposing exhibition of the consummation of
all things, which, in fact, is to be got up for their ex-
clusive benefit. Under this leading idea, the true be-
liever leaves a comfortable home in the States, en-
dures privations and encounters danger in the long and
weary travel to Utah, shelters himself in a WTetched
mud hovel in the Valley of Salt, and patiently waits
for the sound of the last trump. To be sure, some die
on the way, and some die at the place of gathering,
but these are only the few decayed leaves which fall
from the tree in summer ; the mass of the foliage re-
mains until the autumnal frosts. This is a fixed and
abiding idea in the Mormon mind. They have even
defined the time to be in or about the year 1870 when
the grand wind-up is to take place. Any other than a

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. gQ3

speedy period for this catastrophe would disperse the
Saints to the four winds. When the time shall have
elapsed without the occurrence of this momentous dis-
play in the literal heavens, it will require a special
meeting of the Celestials, and a strong revelation, to
reconcile them to a postponement.

Under the pressure of this belief, the sending forth
of missionaries is a necessity. The fanatical Mormon
would not be satisfied unless he believed the work of
conversion and gathering to be rapidly going on. No
inconsiderable amount of their preaching is made up
of reports from returned missionaries, who recount the
victories they have gained over Gentile adversaries, the
miracles they have performed, and the multitudes they
have baptized. In March, 1853, one Gruard, a return-
ing missionary from the Sandwich Islands, delivered
one of these discourses, in which he claimed to have
baptized 700 natives. A Mormon's statement is gen-
erally to be taken with many grains of allowance, es-
pecially where there is no chance for contradiction ; and
if this champion baptized one tenth of the number, it
was a sufficient foundation for the story ; but, whether
70 or 700, not a dozen of them will ever become mem-
bers of the Latter-day flock.

Before the eventful period arrives, the Saints have a
huge amount of business to do. They have not only
to gather in all who are to be made Saints among the
Gentiles, but the lost tribes of Israel are to be brought
out of the " North country" — somewhere in the neigh-
borhood of Sir John Franklin — and all the Indians are
to be converted. Joseph, in 1831, said by revelation,
" But before the great day of the Lord shall come, Ja-

204 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

cob shall flourish in the wilderness, and the Lamanitcs
shall blossom as the rose." The Lamanites are In-
dians, but they have never blossomed at all under Mor-
mon horticulture. Encouraged by the prophecy, they
have preached diligently to the sons of the forest and
* the plains, and have baptized a few ; but the Indians
are a wary race, and not one convert has ever remain-
ed steadfast. On the contrary, they are now in open
hostility with the Utahs, upon whose lands they have
encroached ; and Walker, or Wachor, the chief of this
tribe, is their most deadly enemy, notwithstanding he
has been purified by repeated baptisms.

The Mormon Church commenced with no distinct
faith or doctrines, except a belief in Smith as a proph-
et, the Bible as reformed by him, the authenticity of
the Book of Mormon, and that the last days were at
hand. Smith's object was to gather in followers from
Christendom ; and to have rejected the Bible wholly
would have shocked all who place faith in it. His plan
was rather a renovation than a repudiation of ancient
forms — the Melchisedek and Aaronic priesthood — the
twelve apostles — the seventies, &c., &c. — blending Ju-
daism and Christianity together in this respect, and
claiming that out of these forms there can be no effi-
cient administration in spiritual things. This exercise
of the gift of revelation has gone on from one emer-
gency to another, and from one speculation to another
— a species of sacerdotal legislation, each subsequent
enactment repealing what is inconsistent with it in
previous statutes — until the Book of Mormon has be-
come of minor authority. These Sibylline leaves were
collected together, and published in 1835, in the Book

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 2Q5

of " Doctrines and Covenants," and, as a whole, exhibit
the inharmonious and contradictory features which
might reasonably be expected under similar circum-
stances.

It is a curious fact, that they have widely departed
from the only important doctrines contained in the
Book of Mormon ; but they claim that their system is
progressive. Says Brigham Young : " If he (an apos-
tle) magnifies his calling, his words are the words of
eternal life and salvation to those who hearken to them,
just as much so as any written revelations contained
in these three books (Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doc-
trines and Covenants). There is nothing contained in
these three books that is any more revelation than the
words of an apostle that is magnifying his calling."
(Deseret News extra, p. 25.)

If the apostle, under the influence of this divine af-
flatus, eliminates nothing but what is found in these
three books, he makes no advance. Each, of course,
is ambitious of being found in the ranks of this moving
array, and each, as a medium, gives the hues and col-
orings of his own mind. The result is precisely such
as might have been anticipated, and the revelations of
the voluptuary, the ambitious, the crafty, and the vis-
ionary speculatist, have come forth laden with the reek-
ing effluvia and murky hues of each one's ruling love.
There is nothing positively bad in the Book of Mormon
more than in the Apocrypha. It teaches Theism, the
moral virtues, faith, charity, the marriage of one man
with one wife, and, withal, very pointedly condemns
concubinage and its kindred vices. The progressive,
Saints have run into pantheism ; polygamy, with its

206 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

affinities ; and, what is decidedly curious, as early as
1835 they totally ignored charity as a doctrinal prin-
ciple, while they made faith the beginning, middle,
and end of all religion.

In 1835, something like a systematic statement of
doctrines was arranged in seven lectures, by Sidney
Rigdon, which were published, and form the first part
of the " Doctrines and Covenants." Every one of
these lectures is headed " OF FAITH." From these lec-
tures it appears that they divide all theology into Faith,
the objects of faith, and the effects which flow from it.

FAITH is the first great governing principle, which
has power, dominion, and authority over all things. It
is the principle of power in God as well as in man. By
it were all things created ; without it, God could not
have created any thing ; nor could he uphold and gov-
ern the universe. It lies at the foundation of all hu-
man effort, and is the only means of man's salvation.
God would not have attempted to create any thing un-
less he had had faith in his power to do it, and the
same rule holds in regard to man.

Next comes the OBJECTS of faith, and under this
head they profess a belief in the being and attributes
of God. God is without beginning of days or end of
life ; infinite and eternal ; omnipotent, omnipresent, and
omniscient ; the creator and upholder of all things, and
the only living and true God. (Doctrines and Cov-
enants, p. 25, 39, 92, &c.) Our knowledge of God is
only traditionary. Adam and Cain had personal inter-
views with him, and their knowledge has been handed
down to posterity. Without a knowledge of the being
and attributes of God, and faith in him, no one could

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 207

be saved; and in this respect the Latter-day Saints
are on an equality with the Former-day Saints.

God consists of a trinity of Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, but the supreme power belongs to the Father
and Son. Though the Holy Spirit has a nominal place
in this trinity, yet, as he seems to be shorn of power,
and to act more in the capacity of a servant, their doc-
trine in this respect, and at this period, was rather a
duality than a trinity. (Doctrines and Covenants,
p. 52, 55.)

God the Father is a personage of spirit, and the Son
a personage of body ; that is, a body into which he en-
tered in the natural world. The Son was begotten of
the Father, and descended, and suffered according to
previous ordination before the foundation of the world,
to be a propitiation for the sins of all who should be-
lieve on him ; by the efficacy of which the Saints are
to have fullness of spirit and glory.

It seems that men, or rather their bodies, were not
created as new beings, but as receptacles or " taber-
nacles" for pre-existing spirits which had been begot-
ten in the heavens, and were there as the sons of God
who shouted for joy at the creation ; and that it was a
necessary part of the plan that man should transgress,
and the body die, in order that these " sons" should be
furnished with resurrection bodies. It does not seem
to have occurred to the Creator to impose the dissolu-
tion of the " tabernacle" as a part of the law of crea-
tion without disobedience. However, the plan having
been adopted that man should transgress, it became
necessary for some one to offer an atonement, and a
council was called to choose a candidate for this mis*

208 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

sion. Among the celebrated personages present on this
memorable occasion was " Lucifer, son of the morn-
ing ;" the passage from Job, " and Satan came also
among them," being deemed sufficient authority on
this point. Lucifer and the Son were the two candi-
dates presented to this democratic theocracy ; stump
speeches were made ; and the devil seems to have
made a stiff fight of it, but was finally outvoted.
" The contention in heaven was, Jesus said there would
be certain souls that would not be saved, and the devil
said he could save them all ; the grand council gave in
for Jesus Christ ; so the devil rebelled against God and
fell, and all who put up their heads for him." ( Times
and Seasons, p. 616.)

So much ill blood was engendered by this strife, that
the devil and his adherents were finally banished, and
their " tabernacles" in this world are the negro race,
being cursed with a black skin. This, in reference to
the election of the Son and the disgrace of Lucifer, is
a doctrinal point, developed since the publication of the
Book of Doctrines and Covenants, and introduced here
for the sake of the connection.

Under the objects of faith are classed the works of
faith, by which are understood those effected by the
powers of the mind, instead of those resulting from
physical efforts. By faith, in this sense, every thing is
accomplished by God, angels, and men. " The whole
visible creation is the effect of faith." " As all visible
creation is the effect of faith, so is salvation also," and
each one is saved according to the degree of his faith.
" Salvation consists in the glory, authority, majesty,
power, and dominion which Jehovah possesses, and in

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 209

nothing else," and to this same degree men attain who
are saved. Salvation " begins with faith, and contin-
ues by faith ; and every blessing which is obtained in
relation to it is the effect of faith, whether it pertains
to this life or that which is to come." Faith brings
with it " apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teach-
ers, gifts, wisdom, knowledge, miracles, healings,
tongues, interpretation of tongues," &c.

BAPTISM is necessary to salvation, and is adminis-
tered only by an apostle, and by immersion. Infants
are not baptized, but blessed by an elder by the laying
on of hands. Those who believe and are baptized, re-
ceive the Holy Ghost and the remission of sins. " It
shall come to pass, that on as many as ye shall bap-
tize with water, ye shall lay your hands, and they
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Those who
do not believe and are not baptized, are damned ; but
as this would involve the damnation of all those who
had died without the administration of this rite, bap-
tisms are performed for them by proxy ; that is, a Saint
may be baptized for his deceased relatives or friends —
called " baptism for the dead" — and they, by this pro-
cess, are released from a state somewhat akin to Pur-
gatory. This kind of baptism, however, can only be
administered in the Temple.

Baptism may be said to be the most important of
the Latter-day ordinances. Without it, no one can ba
saved ; with it, the vilest is on the high road to salva-
tion. There would seem to be an efficacy about it in
Mormon hands which partakes of the miraculous. No
matter how vile or filthy the applicant, baptism wash-
es him into purity and comeliness. A man reeking

210 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

from the pot-house or the brothel — the gambler, the
horse-thief, and the counterfeiter — can have their sins
made as wool by this all-powerful ablution. Woman,
too, comes within this generous and comprehensive
pale of salvation. She can be picked up from the gut-
ter of pollution — selected out from the third tier and
Five Points — and laved into respectability and purity.
The oddity mentioned by Hudibras, which was

" Whelp'd without form, until the dam
Had lick'd it into shape and frame,"

scarcely furnishes a parallel to its wondrous trans-
formations.

This efficacy, too, has a continuando — a species of
perpetuity perfectly marvelous. A man or woman
may slide away into former licenses — the horse-thief
may, in a fit of forgetfulness, take a valuable nag from
some careless emigrant — the fair Cyprian be a little
too lavish of her favors — when lo ! these stray lambs
return again and again to the ever-open fold, and are
washed into a new regeneration — their sins forgotten
and forgiven, and ready to be forgotten and forgiven,
for the seventy and seventh time, which I believe is
the canonical number of times in which they may
safely transgress. Even the sin of apostacy, which, in
Mormon estimation, is the blackest of all, may be
whitened by this process ; and it is related of Gladden
Bishop, who claimed to stand in the same relation to
Joseph Smith that our Lord did to John the Baptist,
that he was excommunicated and rebaptized nine
times, but was finally cut off and given over to the
bufFetings of Satan for one thousand years.

The SACRAMENT of the Lord's Supper is recommend-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

ed as expedient, and is administered by a priest or el-
der. "Wine was at first used, but water afterward sub-
stituted, because none could be obtained except of Gen-
tile manufacture.

Subsequently, to rebut the charges of infidelity and
heathenism brought against them, they published the
following syllabus of doctrines :

" We believe in (rod the eternal Father, and in his
Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

"We believe that men will be punished for their
own sins, and not for Adam's transgressions.

" We believe that through the atonement of Christ
all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws
and ordinances of the Gospel.

" We believe that these ordinances are, 1st. Faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ ; 2d. Repentance ; 3d. Bap-
tism by immersion for the remission of sins ; 4th. Lay-
ing on of hands by the gift of the Holy Spirit ; 5th.
The Lord's Supper.

" We believe that men must be called of God by in-
spiration, and by laying on of hands from those who
are duly commissioned to preach the Gospel, and ad-
minister the ordinances thereof.

" We believe in the same organization that existed
in the primitive Church, viz., apostles, prophets, pas-
tors, teachers, evangelists, &c.

" We believe in the powers and gifts of the everlast-
ing Gospel, viz., the gift of faith, discerning of spirits,
prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, tongues, and the
interpretation of tongues, wisdom, charity, brotherly
love, &c.

" We believe in the word of God recorded in the Bi-

212 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

ble ; we also believe the word of God recorded in the
Book of Mormon, and in all other good books.

" We believe all that God has now revealed, all that
he does now reveal, and we believe that he will reveal
many more great and important things pertaining to
the kingdom of God and Messiah's second coming.

" We believe in the literal gathering of Israel, and
in the restoration of the ten tribes ; that Zion will be
established upon the Western Continent ; that Christ
will reign personally upon the earth a thousand years ;
and that the earth will be renewed, and receive its par-
adisiacal glory.

"We believe in the literal resurrection of the body,
and that the rest of the dead live not again until the
thousand years are expired.

" We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty
God according to the dictates of our own conscience,
unmolested, and allow all men the same privilege, let
them worship how or what they may.

" We believe in being subject to kings, queens, pres-
idents, rulers and magistrates ; in obeying, honoring,
and sustaining the law.

" We believe in being honest, true, chaste, temper-
ate, benevolent, virtuous, and upright, and in doing
good to all men ; indeed, we may say that we follow
the admonitions of Paul : we 6 believe all things,' we
1 hope all things,' we have endured very many things,
and hope to be able to ' endure all things.' Every thing
lovely, virtuous, praiseworthy, and of good report, we
seek after, looking forward ' to the recompense of re-
ward.' But an idle or lazy person can not be a Chris-
tian, neither have salvation. He is a drone, and is des-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 213

tined to be stung to death, and tumbled out of the
hive."

In this rudely-fashioned theological structure, faith,
it will be seen, is the cementing principle by which it
is kept together. Faith is made not only the grand
motive and propelling power, but also the regulating
principle — the modus operandi — in divine and human
efforts. They seem to have wholly overlooked the fact
that man has a will as well as an understanding ;
and that, as he was created in the image and likeness
of God, we are warranted in the belief that the Cre-
ator possesses these faculties in infinite perfection.
The will of man is the receptacle of love, and the un-
derstanding of wisdom ; and as the one is the motive,
and the other the regulating power of all orderly hu-
man action, we may see that a union of these two fac-
ulties is absolutely necessary to constitute humanity.
And, looking from man to his Maker, we may gain
some insight into the laws which regulate the creation
and government of the universe. Knowing, too, that
man possesses these two faculties, and that charity re-
sides in the will, and faith in the understanding, we
may learn why it is that these two doctrinal principles
are so necessarily interwoven into his spiritual being,
that to take away one would destroy that duality which
makes him human — would, in fact, reduce him to a
mere perversion, which might well be represented by
a body with one eye, one arm, and one leg, one lobe of
a brain, one half of a nose, &c.

The Saints have invented, or rather destroyed, the
law of human existence. They have set up faith as
a duty which controls all things, divine and human.

214 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

Love is nothing — wisdom is every thing. God and his
creatures have understandings, but no will — thoughts,
but no affections. The cold, harsh, icy inductions of
reason, create, govern, and control all things ; nothing
moves in heaven, earth, or hell from the impulses of
affection. The only impulses in Mormon faith or prac-
tice are those which regard worldly grandeur, and the
appetites and lusts of the flesh. God created all things
because he had faith in his power to do it, not because
he was actuated by the love of producing happiness :
it was a question of power, not of love. Man acts only
because he believes he can produce results ; if he did
not so believe, he would make no effort. All that is
said in common parlance and in preaching about the
love and tender mercies of God, are mere cant and
unmeaning phrases by the side of the freezing dogma
of faith so distinctly set forth. We may as soon ex-
pect the snow-capped mountains which surround the
seat of Mormon power to be clothed with the verdure
of spring, as look for the vegetation and growth of a
single spiritual principle from such a creed.

At first, their notions of hell were not very well de-
fined. They scouted the idea of " fire and brimstone,"
notwithstanding their literalism, on the ground that the
bodies of the damned, being material, must necessarily
be consumed in such a furnace. In reference to the
duration of punishment, some curious ideas have been
evolved. The question was once put to Joseph, by a
Universalist, upon this point, and was answered by a
quibbling revelation in the following formula :

" Eternal punishment is > Endless punishment is
God's punishment. > God's punishment."

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

By the same revelation, it appears that the terms eter-
nal and endless are used because God is eternal and
endless, and not in reference to the duration of the
punishment; that punishment for a limited period is
eternal and endless, because (rod inflicts it. The Lord
was condescending enough to inform the prophet that
it was written " eternal damnation, that it might work
upon the hearts of the children of men," for the sake
of his glory. "Whether the Universalist, so skillfully
angled for, was caught, does not appear.

In regard to the nature of the punishment, the most
definite idea seems to be, that those who come short
of salvation are deprived of their external bodies, sep-
arated from their friends, and imprisoned. In this con-
dition, as " the spirits in prison," they are preached to,
and have a chance to repent, and, if they do, can enter
again into earthly tabernacles, and try once more for a
kingdom. Every sinner, therefore, has more than one
chance ; he can run the gauntlet of an earthly taber-
nacle as many times as he chooses to repent in this
infernal prison-house.

The prophet, however, was careful, in a subsequent
revelation, to provide a more enduring hell for apos-
tates. Apostacy was discovered to be the sin against
the Holy Grhost which is not to be forgiven. Those
who sin in this respect are " they who shall go away
into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and
his angels, and the only ones on whom the second
death shall have any power ; yea, the only ones who
shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord :"
"they shall go away into everlasting punishment,
which is endless punishment, to reign with the devil

21(3 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

and his angels to eternity." The devil and his angels
are those who voted in the minority at the election be-
fore referred to, and were cast down. Whether this
appendix to the infernal regions was satisfactory to the
Universalist, we have no means of knowing.

The salvation, as well as damnation, of the Saints
possesses many curious features. The grossest mate-
rialism will be found to be the underlying formation
on which the conglomerated stratum rests. There are
three degrees of salvation, or glories, as they are some-
times called — the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial,
corresponding to the sun, moon, and stars. The celes-
tial is the highest, and those who attain it are to have
celestial bodies, and are the priests of the order of Mel-
chisedek. The terrestrial is a degree lower. It is
made up of the " spirits in prison" who receive tho
Grospel when it is there preached to them : these have
only terrestrial bodies. The telestial is the lowest of
all, and is made up of those who in the first instance
are cast into hell, but, after roasting a while, are final-
ly redeemed from the devil in the last resurrection.
These have telestial bodies, and occupy, as it were, the
basement story of this singular theological edifice.
The bodies for these degrees, though differently named,
all agree in being material ; that being, according to
Mormon estimation, the entire composition of all things,
divine, human, and infernal.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 217

CHAPTER XIII.

DOCTRINES CONTINUED.

Doctrinal Sermons. — The Resurrection Saints to have Farms and be-
come Gods. — Pre-existence of Spirits. — Pantheism. — Propagation
of Gods. — Holy Spirit. — Angels. — Materialism.

IN the summer of 1852, discourses were delivered by
Orson Pratt and Brigham Young, in which some of
the eccentric features of the Mormon creed, in refer-
ence to the salvation and glory of the Saints, are dis-
tinctly set forth.

They believe, it appears, that by the sin of Adam
eating the fruit contrary to the divine command, the
penalty of the death of the body was brought upon all
men ; and that, without any future redemption, the
soul and the body would eternally lie in the grave.
The death of Christ, however, satisfied the original sin,
and by it man will have a resurrection from the grave
only.

" You will be redeemed from the original sin with
no works on your part whatever. Jesus had died to
redeem you from it, and you are as sure to be redeem-
ed as you live upon the face of the earth." " If you
have murdered all the days of your life, and commit-
ted all the sins the devil would prompt you to commit,
you will get a resurrection— your spirit will be restored
to your body ; and if Jesus had not come, all of us
would have slumbered in the grave." (PratPs Ser-
mon, Deseret News, Aug. 21, 1852.)

K

218 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

It is the general belief of Christendom that man, on
the dissolution of the body, must bid a final adieu to his
earthly riches. But this forms no part of the Mormon
faith. After the earth has been purified by fire, and
after the resurrection, each Saint is to have a good
farm :

" 0 ye Saints, when you sleep in the grave, don't be
afraid that your agricultural pursuits are forever at an
end ; don't be fearful that you will never get any more
landed property ; but if you are Saints, be of good cheer ;
for when you come up in the morning of the resurrec-
tion, behold, there is a new earth," &c. ""We are
looking for things in their immortal state, and farmers
will have great farms upon the earth when it is so
changed." (Idem.)

But the sequel shows that the size of these farms de-
pends very much upon the length of time the earth
shall escape the fiery purification. If the universal
conflagration should happen to be postponed for 8000
years, there will have to be close engineering to make
out a decent-sized lot, leaving out of the estimation salt
lakes, deserts, and canons.

"But don't be so fast, says one ; don't you know that
there are only about 197,000,000 of square miles, or
about 126,000,000,000 of acres upon the surface of
the globe? Will these accommodate all the inhab-
itants after the resurrection ? Yes ; for, if the earth
should stand 8000 years, or eighty centuries, and the
population should be a thousand million in every cen-
tury, that would be 80,000,000,000 of inhabitants, and
we know that many centuries have passed that would
not give the tenth part of this ; but supposing this to be,

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 219

the number, there would then be over an acre, and a
half for each person upon the surface of the globe."
(Idem.)

The wicked, however, being excluded from the prom-
ises, gives the Saint the reasonable expectation of a
good farm, even though the earth should jog on in the
old way a little over the time limited. Upon the as-
sumption that one out of a hundred is brought into the
fold, each Saint " would receive over 150 acres, which
would be quite enough to raise manna, and to build
some habitations upon and some splendid mansions;
it would be large enough to raise flax to make robes
of, and to have beautiful orchards of fruit-trees ; it
would be large enough to have our flower-gardens, and
every thing the agriculturist and the botanist want,
and some to spare."

It seems, too, each man is to rise with his wives and
children, and the work of generation is still to go on ;
and when the house gets too full, the surplus popula-
tion are to be sent forth to new worlds, to be created
for their especial benefit. This, however, is not to be
the end of his progress ; he is even to become a god,
and a creator of worlds on his own hook.

" The Lord created you and me for the purpose of
becoming gods like himself. We are created, we are
born for the express purpose of growing up from the
low estate of manhood, to become gods like unto our
Father in heaven. The Lord has organized mankind
for the express purpose of increasing in that intelligence
and truth which is with Grod, until he is capable of
creating worlds on worlds, and becoming gods." (Brig-
ham Young, Deseret News, Oct. 2, 1852.)

220 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

" After men have got their exaltation and their
crowns — have become gods, even the sons of Grod—
are made King of kings and Lord of lords — they have
the power then of propagating their species in spirit,
and that is the first of their operations with regard to
organizing a world. Power is then given to them to
organize the elements, and then commence the organ-
ization of tabernacles. How can they do it ? Have
they to go to that earth ? Yes, an Adam will have to
go there, and he can not do without Eve ; he must
have Eve to commence the work of generation ; and
they will go into the garden, and continue to eat and
drink of the fruits of the corporeal world, until this
grosser matter is diffused sufficiently through their ce-
lestial bodies to enable them, according to the estab-
lished laws, to produce mortal tabernacles for their
spiritual children." (Brigham Young, Deseret News
extra, September 14th, 1852.)

" But I expect, if I am faithful with yourselves, that
I shall see the time with yourselves that we will know
how to prepare to organize an earth like this — know
how to people that earth, how to redeem it, how to
sanctify it, and how to glorify it, with those who live
upon it who hearken to our counsel. The Father and
Son have attained to this point already ; I am on the
way, and so are you, and every faithful servant of
G-od." (Idem.)

The Father and Son, therefore, must have been mor-
tals once, like the redoubtable Brigham, and have
worked their way to their present condition !

This, however, does not tell the whole story. Each
and every Mormon has had a pre-exist ence. The ma-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 221

terial body is a tabernacle produced by natural gener-
ation, into which the pre-existing spirit is inserted.
But to create a spirit every time a natural body is cre-
ated is considered too irksome a business for the Al-
mighty. The following reasoning is considered very
conclusive at Salt Lake :

" Do the Scriptures declare that the spirit was form-
ed at the time the tabernacle was made ? No. All
the tabernacles of the children of men that were ever
formed, from remote generations, from the days of
Adam to this time^ have been formed out of the earth.
"We are of the earth, earthy. The tabernacle has been
organized according to certain principles and laws of
organization, with bones, and flesh, and sinews, and
skin. Now where do you suppose all these tabernacles
got their spirits ? Does the Lord make a new spirit
every time a tabernacle is made ? if so, the work of
creation, according to the belief of Christendom, did
not cease on the seventh day. If we admit their views,
the Lord must be continually making spirits to inhabit
all the tabernacles of the children of men ; he must
make something like one thousand millions of spirits
every century ; he must be working at it every day,
for there are many hundreds of individuals being born
into the world every day. Does the Lord create a new
spirit every time a new tabernacle comes into the
world ? That does not look reasonable, or God like."
( Orson Pratt, Des. News extra, Sept. 14£A, 1852.)

But, happily, the Lord is relieved of this daily drudg-
ery by a discovery which solves the whole difficulty.
These pre-existing spirits were no other than the sons
of (rod who shouted for joy on a certain memorable oo-

222 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

casion : " The Lord told Job that all the sons of God
shouted for joy, and the morning stars sang together,
when the foundations of the globe were laid. The
SONS of God, recollect, shouted for joy, because there
was a beautiful habitation being built, so that they
could get tabernacles and dwell therein ; they expect-
ed the time ; they looked forward to the period ; it was
joyful for them to reflect that the creation was about
being formed, the corner-stone of it was laid, on which
they might, in their times and in their seasons, go forth
and receive tabernacles for their spirits to dwell in."
(Idem.)

How the penalty of death, which is claimed to be
brought upon all men by the sin of Adam, could attach
to those SONS who had not at the time entered taber-
nacles, does not appear to be explained. One would
think, with such a punishment staring them in the
face, to say nothing of Missouri mobs and other casu-
alties, they would be somewhat shy of entering such
rickety and exposed habitations. But that they did
pre-exist is proved to the satisfaction of all good Saints :
" We find that Solomon, that wise man, says that when
the body returns to the dust, the spirit returns to God
who gave it. Now all this congregation very well
know, that if we never existed there we could not re-
turn there. I could not return to California; why?
because I never have been there." (Idem.)

Why Solomon's declaration will not as well apply to
the daily creation of spirits to be inserted in the taber-
nacles, as well as to the supposed case of the SONS be-
ing created in a batch before the foundation of the
world, is not explained,

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 223

Some of these pre-created sons are more noble and
intelligent than others, which fact is made satisfacto-
rily to appear by " the Book of Abraham, translated
from the Egyptian papyrus by the prophet Joseph
Smith." And what is still more wonderful, the scur-
vy ones have been sent into the bodies of Hottentots,
negroes, &c., while the most noble have been reserved
for these latter days, for the distinguished honor of be-
ing inserted into tabernacles prepared by the conse-
crated concubines of Utah.

According to the Brahmin, Vishnu, from a little fish,
became a big fish, and from a big fish, a giant, and
from a giant, a boar, and with his tusks raised the
earth from the bottom of the waters. This was a feat
sufficiently marvelous; but the Mormon has proved
himself a match for the East Indian ; the latter never
dreamed of making human beings the raw material for
manufacturing gods. The former have fairly bridged
over the impassable gulf which separates the finite
from the infinite. These strange mutations from weak-
ness to omnipotence, which, in this case, may not ir-
reverently be compared to that which begins in a tad-
pole and ends in a bullfrog, are effected by the all-
powerful instrumentality of faith, which, like the in-
trusive young of the cuckoo in the sparrow's nest, has
crowded out or made subordinate every other doctrinal
principle.

So far the system would seem to be Polytheism, dif-
fering from that of the ancients, inasmuch as each man
is to become a god and creator. These wild notions
lift up the Mormon in his own conceit, and invest him
with superior privileges. Being a god in embryo, he

224 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

feels the right to anticipate the privileges of divine roy-
alty ; and as he has no idea of heavenly happiness, ex-
cept from that which springs from the unlimited enjoy-
ment of the senses, he has already legalized adultery,
and is fast running into kingly enormities equal to any
of which history has yet spoken.

As before stated, the Mormons have floated off
strangely from their original anchorage. On the sub-
ject of the Trinity, the Book of Mormon recognizes the
common doctrine of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ; and
it is fair to believe that the early converts were not
disturbed in their faith on this point ; but they have
since adopted notions on this subject which would more
appropriately apply to the fabled gods of antiquity.
They now believe that God the Father was originally
a spirit propagated by a previous God or Father ; that
he was at first a disembodied spirit, and, to obtain a
body or clothing to his spirit, passed through a proba-
tion upon some earth like a human being. The Father
of God, they say, was the grandfather of Christ. Of
course, the grandparent must have been propagated
by some prior Deity. How far back this theocratic
pedigree runs, does not appear to be definitely settled.
Some of the Saints, in conversation, express the belief
that each earth in the universe has its own separate
God, exercising his omnipotent functions independent
of the rest; that other earths have probably passed
through the purifying process which is yet in store for
this earth ; and that some of the earths have been cre-
ated by mortals, who had become gods. There would,
therefore, seem to be no danger of a failure in this the-
ocratic lineage for the government of the universe ; and

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 226

if there were, the improved machinery at Salt Lake
would insure a supply of the genuine article.

The term " only -be got ten" appeared to be somewhat
at war with this theory, but is now satisfactorily ex-
plained. It is alleged that, after Christ was chosen a
delegate at the grand council before mentioned, the
Father begat a tabernacle for him, through a human
mother, and that this was the only instance of that
description.

The HOLY GTHOST is a disembodied spirit, and it is
believed he will at some period pass through a human
probation and obtain a body. Some believe that this
has already been done, and that he occupied the body
of the prophet Smith ; but this has not yet received the
stamp of authority, and must be regarded as one of the
ten thousand wild notions floating through Mormon
brains. This personage has a kind of shadowy exist-
ence in Latter-day theology, appearing and disappear-
ing with all the eccentric shiftings of an Aurora Bore-
alis. Probably Shakspeare's Ariel, in the Tempest, is
as nearly an embodiment of the character as can well
be conceived. His pedigree remains in still greater
obscurity. Who was his sire, and who his dam, is a
point to be explained by some future revelation.

It is an important point in Mormon belief, that the
" sons" or spirits who have been begotten in heaven
should have natural bodies, as a kind of shield for pro-
tection ; otherwise, each one is like a body without a
skin, or a clam without a shell. Why, being material
in the first instance (as will appear in the sequel), it
should be necessary to dip them, like candles, into the
grosser parts of nature, to crust them over, is a point
K2

226 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

to be yet canvassed and settled. Satan and his party
are doomed to remain without bodies, or take up with
very vile ones, on account of their factious opposition
at the time the celestial election was held. Had he
obtained a majority on that occasion, the position of
the parties would have been changed.

On the subject of ANGELS, too, the Saints have de-
parted from common belief in assigning them a much
lower position in the supernal regions. These beings
— who have heretofore been so brightly colored with
the hues of a heavenly morning — whose very name
has presented a perfect ideal of the highest degree of
happiness and goodness which can be secured to cre-
ated beings — have failed somehow to reach the highest
position in the Mormon heaven. They are regarded as
ministering spirits, messengers, or traveling agents, to
do the bidding of those who are above them in the scale.
One of them, for instance, was ordered to appear to the
prophet Joseph, and point out the locality of the golden
plates. They are alleged, indeed, to be happy in their
sphere, but they can never be invested with the para-
phernalia of celestial royalty, like the most favored of
the Latter-day Saints. The fair Cyprians of Salt Lake
feel themselves quite superior to angels. He or she
who can only be an angel is considered decidedly below
par. Why any of the Saints should be reduced to this
dilemma is not very clear ; but the best opinion seems
to be, that angels are those who have not been married
or sealed ; and it is an argument for silly and deluded
females that they must lengthen out the tail of some
harem in order to reach a higher degree of salva-
tion.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 227

"I will tell you what revelation says, not only con-
cerning them that reject these things, but concerning
those that, through their carelessness, or want of faith,
or some thing else, have failed to have their marriages
sealed for time and for all eternity ; those that do not do
these things, so as to have the same ordinances sealed
upon their heads by divine authority, as was upon the
head of old father Adam — if they fail to do it through
wickedness — through their ungodliness — behold, they
also will never have the privilege of possessing that
which is possessed by the gods that hold the keys of
power, of coming up to the thrones of their exaltation,
and receiving their kingdoms. What will be their
condition ? the Lord has told us. He says these are
angels ; because they keep not this law, they shall be
ministering servants unto those who are worthy of ob-
taining a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory ;
wherefore, saith the Lord, they shall remain singly and
separately in their saved condition, and shall not have
power to enlarge themselves, and thus shall they re-
main forever and ever." ( Orson Pratt, Des. News
extra.)

Another important departure from the primitive
faith is their doctrine of MATERIALISM. They have re-
vived the old atomic theory of the ancient Greeks, with
improvements, and teach that matter is eternal and in-
telligent. They believe that all things, divine or hu-
man, are material ; and, as a sequence, they negative
the omnipresence of God, and eventually make the
Saints every way the equal of (rod.

" God the Father is material ; Jesus Christ is ma-
terial; angels are material; men are material; the

228 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

universe is material. Nothing exists which is not
material." (Millennial Star, vol. vi., p. 19.)

" What is God? He is a material organized intel-
ligence, possessing both tody and parts. This being
can not occupy two distinct places at once, therefore
he can not be every where present." (P. 20.)

Of CHRIST they say, " He, too, can traverse space,
and go from world to world like the Father, but can
not occupy two places at once."

Of the SPIRITS they say, " They are material organ-
izations, intelligences possessing body and parts, but
not composed of flesh and bones, but of some substance
less tangible to pur gross senses in our present life,
but tangible to those in the same element as them-
selves. In short, they are men in embryo — intelli-
gences waiting to come into the material world, and
take upon them flesh and bones, that, through birth,
death, and the resurrection, they may also be perfect-
ed in the material organization. Such was Jesus
Christ, and such were we before we came into this
world, and such we will be again in the intervening
space between death and resurrection."

Of MEN they say, " They are the offspring of God
the Father, and brothers of Jesus Christ. They were
once intelligent spirits in the presence of God, and
were with him before the earth was formed. They
are capable of receiving intelligence and exaltation to
such a degree as to be raised from the dead with a
body like that of Jesus Christ, and to possess immortal
flesh and bones, being gods or sons of God, endowed
with the same powers, attributes, and capacities that
their heavenly Father and Jesus Christ possess."

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 229

MATTER they claim to be eternal, and INTELLIGENCE
to "be " either a property of material atoms, or a re-
sult of the combination or contact of these atoms."
(P. 159.)

Matter could not have been created by any being,
because that would suppose the existence of such be-
ing prior to the matter, which could not be, inasmuch
as such being consists of matter.

This whole doctrine of matter seems to be compact-
ed in the following intricate weaving of Orson Pratt.
(Idem, p. 173.)

" The only sound answer that can be given to these
intricate inquiries is, that these atoms must be intel-
ligent, having self-moving powers, limited to contain
spheres and modes of action according to the nature
and degree of their intelligence ; and that this intel-
ligence is not the effect, but the cause of combina-
tion ; not derived from experience, but self-existent and
eternal."

This is as clear as mud. According to this, the first
being was created by a chance combination of matter ;
or else, these atoms being intelligent, squads of them
got together and formed themselves into a being. Was
there any wrangling among them as to which should
be elevated to the head, arid which depressed to the
nether extremities ? which should be hide, and which
hair ? which should tamely form the portion of a base-
ment wall, or shine gloriously in a Venus de Medici or
Greek Slave? Of course, all organized forms had a
beginning — gods, men, and devils being on a par in
this respect, except that the former got the start in
this combining process. How it chanced that some

230 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

of these atoms were of finer quality than others, or
why each, being intelligent, it became necessary for
them to be organized into combined forms, are things
which do not distinctly appear.

This author continues his speculations, and ruth-
lessly overthrows long-cherished opinions in this wise :
" Attraction is said to be a property of matter. It is
said that every atom attracts every other atom with a
force varying inversely as the square of the distance.
But attraction is impossible, for any atom can not act
where it is not." He explains the phenomena usually
attributed to attraction as follows : " It is evident that
intelligent self-moving atoms, confined in their move-
ments within the necessary limits, can produce all
these effects. These self-moving atoms are regulated
by the following law, namely, Every atom moves itself
toward every other atom with a force varying inverse-
ly as the square of the distance." (P. 174.)

Newton would seem to have made a grand mistake.
His theory of gravitation is effectually exploded, and
at Salt Lake has become an obsolete idea. The apple
will hereafter fall to the ground because it is intelli-
gent, and prefers a downward motion. It is to be
hoped that our Spitzenbergs, and our pippins, and all
their relations, will continue in that happy form of
mind, and not " shoot madly from their spheres" in
another direction.

But the principle of gravitation is not the only cher-
ished idea which the world must give up. There are
other and more important sequences from these start-
ling propositions. If each atom be intelligent, self-
existent, and eternal, there must be as many first

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 231

causes as there are atoms in the universe, and the
idea of a (TREAT FIRST CAUSE must share the fate of
the Newtonian theory. It has been shrewdly remark-
ed by some one, that " if all men were kings, there
would be no subjects." Upon this principle, one would
naturally suppose that these first causes, or gods, would
scarcely find elbow-room for each other. Some would
call this atheism, but why does it not come nearer
pantheism ? Each atom is a god by itself, because it
is "intelligent, self -existent, and eternal" and each
Saint is consequently a conglomeration of gods. The
subject naturally provokes some queries, which may,
perhaps, be satisfactorily solved at some future reve-
lation from the celestial atoms above. Atoms, as or-
ganized into men, quarrel and fight with each other ;
was there any fighting between them before men were
created? Who confined these atoms " within the nec-
essary limits?" was that a matter of chance, or did the
leaders of the godocracy get together in atomic cau-
cus, and cut and dry the business for the multitude
after the fashion of modern politicians ? Why is the
boy less wise than the gray-beard, and why is it nec-
essary to build up schools and seminaries of educa-
tion?

This whole doctrine of the eternity of matter and
the origin of the gods is in direct contradiction to the
Book of Mormon and of Smith's early revelations.

" By these things we know that there is a Gfod in
heaven, who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to
everlasting, the same unchangeable God, the framer
of heaven and earth, and all things which are in
them." (Doctrines and Covenants, p. 92.)

232 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

" There is a Grod, and he hath created all things,
both the heavens and the earth, and all things that are
in them." (Book of Mormon, p. 69.)

Afterward we find the prophet, in the very last ser-
mon he preached, using the following language :

" The head Grod called together the gods, and sat in
grand council. The grand counselors sat in yonder
heavens, and contemplated the creation of "the worlds
that were created at that time." (Times and Sea-
sons, p. 614.)

But Mormonism claims to be a progressive Church,
and what was truth yesterday is discovered to be false
to-day, and the new principle is destined to be ex-
ploded to-morrow.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 233

CHAPTER XIV.

DOCTRINES CONTINUED.

Early Notions on Marriage. — Introduction of Polygamy. — Existed at
first as a secret Institution. — Jesuitism of Missionaries on the Subject.
— Polygamy an Element of Salvation. — The Gods are Polygamists.

AT an early period, their views in relation to mar-
riage were in conformity to the rest of the civilized
world. This, in fact, was one of the few subjects
which was plainly expressed in the Book of Mormon.

" And now I make an end of speaking unto you con-
cerning this pride. And were it not that I must speak
unto you concerning a grosser crime, my heart would
rejoice exceedingly because of you. But the word of
G-od burdens me because of your grosser crimes. For
behold, thus saith the Lord, this people begin to wax
in iniquity ; they understand not the Scriptures ; for
they seek to excuse themselves in committing whore-
doms, because of the things which were written con-
cerning David, and Solomon his son. Behold, David
and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines,
which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord.
Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people
forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of
mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a righteous
branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph ; where-
fore I, the Lord God, will not suffer that this people
shall do like unto them of old. Wherefore, my breth-
ren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord ;

234 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

for there shall not any man among you have save it be
one wife, and concubines he shall have none ; for I,
the Lord Grod, delight in the chastity of women ; and
whoredoms are an abomination before me." (Book
of Mormon, p. 135.)

Their book of " Doctrines and Covenants" has the
form of the marriage ceremony, including the covenant
obligations of the parties, in which is found the fol-
lowing :

" You both mutually agree to be each other's com-
panion, husband and wife, observing the legal rights
belonging to this condition ; that is, keeping yourselves
wholly for each other, and from all others, during
your lives."

In 1843 the prophet had a revelation by which po-
lygamy was introduced, as already stated ; and this
institution is now the most distinctive feature of Mor-
monism. In answer to the objection that this revela-
tion is in contradiction to the " Book of Mormon," the
Saints quote the following vague and somewhat un-
meaning sentence, which appears as a context to the
above extract : " For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts,
raise up seed unto me, I will command my people;
otherwise they shall hearken unto these things." By
this they say " the bars were left down ;" but whether
Joseph and Bigdon purposely left " the bars down," or
intended this as one of the thousand obscure and
wordy sentences with which the book abounds, with-
out particular aim or object, is not very clear. Be this,
however, as it may, the whole Church have rushed
through this gap like a flock of goats ; and ihe Mormon
community are now as hopelessly encircled within the

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 235

folds of this pernicious doctrine, as poor Laocoon with-
in those of the serpent by which his "body was crushed.

The introduction of polygamy or concubinage into
the Mormon Church was as certain as any other effect
from an obvious cause. It belongs to it as legitimate-
ly as a muddy current to the Missouri, or filth to a
cess-pool, and may be regarded as the crowning trait
of Mormonism. As already stated, it grew out of the
polluted mind of the prophet, who established it as an
institution of the Church to legalize his own licentious-
ness, and the effect has been to diffuse the poison from
a portion through nearly the whole mass.

The revelation on this subject, which the reader will
find in the Appendix, forms an era in Latter-day his-
tory, and is a curiosity of its kind. A brief analysis
will exhibit its salient points.

In the first place, the Mormon deity, in this import-
ant communication, seems to have become utterly ob-
livious of the strong terms of condemnation which he
had used in the Grolden Bible in regard to the debauch-
eries of David and Solomon, and the tender solicitude
therein expressed in reference to " the chastity of wom-
en." In the next place, all marriage covenants are
declared to "be void which are not sealed by the " holy
spirit of promise of him who is anointed" which,
of course, turns out to be Joseph Smith. Marriages
with this precious sanction are for eternity ; but with-
out it they are only for time, and the parties can get
no higher than angels on the ladder of salvation. The
promises to Abraham that his seed should be multi-
plied are then repeated, and the prophet is assured that
he is a lineal descendant of that patriarch, and is com-

236 UTAH AND THE MoRMONS.

manded to " do the works of Abraham," which means
that he must take unto himself a multiplicity of wives
and concubines.

" Grod commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Ha-
gar to Abraham to wife. And why did she do it?
Because this was the law, and from Hagar sprang
many people. This, therefore, was fulfilling among
other things the promises. "Was Abraham, therefore,
under condemnation ? Verily, I say unto you, Nay ;
for I the Lord commanded it."

"Abraham received concubines, and they bare him
children, and it was accounted to him for righteous-
ness, because they were given unto him, and he abode
in my law. As Isaac also and Jacob did none other
things than that which they were commanded, they
have entered into their exaltation, according to the
promises, and sit upon thrones, and are not angels, but
are gods"

Passing over sundry matters relating to the high
powers with which the prophet was invested, and the
high favor in which he stood, and also some very flat-
tering compliments to Emma Smith, his wife, we come
to the summing up of the whole matter, in the last
two paragraphs, containing the law of the priesthood
in reference to polygamy, from which extracts have
already been made.

A laughing philosopher might find food for merri-
ment in all this, unless too much shocked by the bold
blasphemy which can venture to put into the mouth
of the Most High a justification for the grossest licen-
tiousness on the part of his creatures. The world has
heretofore supposed that the introduction of Christian-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 237

ity produced a revocation of the external ceremonies
of the Jewish dispensation as the essentials of religion,
and afforded a happy deliverance from the licentious
practices permitted among the Jewish people. Their
internal states were such as could be aptly symbolized
by the prophet Hosea taking a harlot to wife, and oth-
er representative performances equally offensive ; and
they were subsequently denounced as " a wicked and
adulterous generation" by that Being before whose
omniscient scrutiny all their pollutions and abomina-
tions were laid bare.

According to the book of creation, the human race
proceeded from a single pair. The Creator did not
see fit to provide a score of Eves for the one Adam,
though the necessity of populating the earth would
seem to have been as great then as at any subsequent
period. The first bigamist or polygamist of whom we
have any account was Lamech, a descendant of Cain,
the first murderer, and himself an admitted homicide.
Lamech belonged to that race whose enormous wick-
edness brought on their own destruction by a flood of
waters. With no more than a secular knowledge of
ecclesiastical history, we may easily see that the Jews
possessed a peculiar genius, which could be exact in
external ceremonies without any knowledge of their
signification ; and for the same reason, that they were
the best adapted for the preservation of the word of the
Old Testament in its integrity. As they were merely
outward in all things of religion and worship, so, too,
they were grossly licentious, and presented the lowest
plane of human degradation into which the Divine
could descend, and work out the salvation of the human

238 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

family. In all these respects the Jews were a chosen
people ; but the idea that Christians are to revive the
practices of Jewry would be as startling and absurd
as to command the mature and fruit-bearing tree to
sink back into its own roots.

Any degree of self-respect, however small, must pre-
clude an argument with the Mormon champions on the
fairness of the precedents by which they justify their
licentiousness. One might as well debate the point
with any other class of fanatics or designing impostors,
as to whether they had the right to stone people to
death for violating the Sabbath. For the murderer, the
most legitimate argument is the halter ; and for the
bigamist, the most appropriate one is the penitentiary.
There is no such thing as an argument where there is
no common ground. The Bible, the common resting-
place of all Christian minds, ceases to be mutual au-
thority when a new revelation changes a permission
into a command, and makes new readings and trans-
lations to suit the ideas, or pander to the lusts of the
revelator ; and truly, if the world has learned nothing
real in regard to polygamy, or sacerdotal lust, after a
period of 6000 years, it may be regarded as quite un-
teachable on any subject.

It may seem strange that so many persons have been
converted to the Mormon faith, in the faith of such
systematic prostitution. It is libel enough upon the
integrity and intelligence of mankind that Mormonism,
in any form, ever had an existence ; but it is due to
many to say, that they have been brought into the
Church under the strongest assurances of the mission-
aries that polygamy did not exist among them. Smith

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. £39

had his pretended revelation on the subject July 12,
1843, from which, until the 29th of August, 1852, it
existed as a secret institution. At the last-mentioned
period, it was publicly justified in a sermon preached
by Orson Pratt ; and the revelation and sermon were,
on the 14th of September following, published to the
world in the " Deseret News extra." During this en-
tire period of nine years, their missionaries were in-
structed to deny the existence of polygamy, and they
have proved themselves prompt and ready liars on all
occasions when the subject has been called in question.
On this point the proofs are abundant.

In or about the year 1845, one John C. Bennett
apostatized from Mormonism, and in his expose alleged
that the spiritual wife system was in vogue at Nauvoo.
Parley P. Pratt, then and now of high authority in the
Church, promptly denied that any such doctrine was
" known, held, or practiced as a principle of the Latter-
day Saints ;" and urged that it was " but another name
for whoredoms," " and that it was as foreign from the
real principles of the Church as the devil is from Grod,
or as sectarianism is from Christianity." (Millennial
Star, vol. vi., p. 22.)

In "A Series of Pamphlets," published in 1851, the
reader will find an account of a discussion between
Elder John Taylor, another Mormon dignitary, and
some persons in France, in July, 1850. One of the
charges brought against the Mormons was, that polyga-
my was practiced among them. To refute this, Elder
Taylor remarked, " We are accused here of polygamy,
and actions the most indelicate, obscene, and disgust-
ing, such as none but a corrupt heart could have con-

240 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

trived. These things are too outrageous to admit of
belief ; therefore I shall content myself by reading our
views of chastity and marriage from a work published
by us, containing some of the articles of our faith."
He then read from the Book of " Doctrines and Cov-
enants" on the subject, containing the following mar-
riage obligations :

" You both mutually agree to be each other's com-
panion, husband and wife, observing the legal rights
belonging to this condition ; that is, keeping yourselves
wholly for each other, and from all others, during
your lives."

Also the following : " Inasmuch as this Church of
Jesus Christ has been reproached with the crime of
fornication and poly gamy, we declare that we believe
that one man should have one wife, and one woman
but one husband"

It will be recollected that polygamy was introduced
by the prophet in August, 1843, nearly seven years
before this discussion ; and yet this sacerdotal villain
quoted from the lying book of "Doctrines and Cov-
enants" in denial of the charge. But this is not all :
this unmitigated scamp was at that very period living
in a state of adultery with a plurality of wives, so call-
ed. Perhaps his Mormon conscience justified him with
the plea that he did not directly deny the charge him-
self— he only said it was too gross an accusation to be
believed, and then quoted what he knew to be false
from one of their sacred books ! It is difficult to find
terms in which to express the baseness of these false-
hoods. "We detest the man who tells a lie for the pur-
pose of gain ; we pity and despise the one who resorts

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 24:1

to it to screen his guilt from detection. But in what
estimation shall we hold these reverend panderers, who
utter glib and polished falsehoods to entice weak-mind-
ed females into their ecclesiastical brothel ? A witness
who perjures himself in one point of his testimony is
discredited in all ; and the Latter-day Saints can not
complain of the application of this rule to all their al-
legations and pretenses.

The Book of " Doctrines and Covenants," which has
this standing falsehood upon its pages, is regarded as
even superior to the Book of Mormon as an authori-
ty and guide. A new edition was printed in 1846,
in which the same thing is repeated. Many simple-
minded and honest people have been cajoled into Mor-
monism, who would have been saved from this pit
of pollution had they known the truth on this point.
Many have left after learning the truth ; many are pre-
paring to leave ; and many others would leave, were
not their means exhausted in support of the hierarchy,
which now keeps them in bondage.

Polygamy, since its introduction, has branched into
importance ; and as an element of salvation, has be-
come paramount to the atonement, and even to faith
itself. Orson Pratt, in his sermon in justification, thus
enlightens the world on this point :

" But, says the objector, we can not see how this
doctrine can be embraced as a matter of religion and
faith ; we can hardly conceive how it can be embraced
only as a kind of domestic concern, something that per-
tains to domestic pleasures, in no way connected with
religion. In reply, we will show you that it is incor-
porated as a part of our religion, and necessary for our
L

242 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

exaltation to the fullness of the Lord's glory in tho
eternal world. "Would you like to know the reasons ?
Before you get through^ we will endeavor to tell you
why we consider it an essential doctrine to glory and
exaltation to our fullness of happiness in the world to
come." (Deseret News extra.)

What sublime efficacy ! The descent, sufferings,
and glorification of our Lord effected only the resur-
rection of the body, but a higher degree of salvation is
secured by the efficient instrumentality of bigamy and
adultery. The furies of the French Revolution abolish-
ed Christianity, and bowed themselves in mock ado-
ration before the Goddess of Reason in the form of a
strumpet. But the Mormon has improved upon this
by taking the strumpet to his bosom — wallowing in the
filth of the brothel as the grand panacea for the puri-
fication of society, and the elevation of himself to the
attributes of Deity.

Polygamy, according to the Mormons, is a privilege
belonging to the gods as well as to men. Their pro-
fanity on this subject exceeds belief. The spirits who
enter the earthly tabernacles, they insist, are sons of
the gods begotten in the usual course of generation.
God has, nobody knows how many, wives or concu-
bines— the words of the Psalmist, " Kings' daughters
were among thy honorable women; upon thy right
hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir," being con-
sidered sufficient on this point. This doctrine is now
as common at Salt Lake as " household words."

" God was married, or how could he beget his son
Jesus Christ, and do the works of his father." (Des-
eret Almanac, 1853.)

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 343

" The apostle says to the Hebrews, ' We have had
fathers of our flesh, who corrected us, and we gave
them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in sub-
jection to the Father of Spirits, and live ?' Father of
spirits, which are in shape and form of mortal beings,
would lead us to infer that spirits not only have a fa-
ther, but also a MOTHER." (Deseret News, Dec. 25,
1852.)

Christ, as a spirit, was begotten in the heavens, and
born of one of the celestial concubines. A tabernacle
was begotten for him on earth by his father, similar to
the affair of Jupiter and Europa. Christ, too, was mar-
ried, and his wives were Mary and Martha ; these fe-
males would not have ministered unto him in the way
described (so they reason), had they not been his wives.

The pollution of the Latter-day polygamist is thor-
ough and complete, mind and body. There is no de-
gree of profanity and blasphemy that he can not com-
pass with the coolness of an every-day occupation.
Every thing sacred which he breathes upon or touch-
es, is profaned and polluted, from the throne of the
Eternal to the family altar, around which are usually
garnered all the hopes and joys of Christian minds.
All his doctrines are based on literalism and material-
ism-— all his joys are carnal and selfish.

" If," says the Elder Lorenzo Snow, " you show me
a man who is not selfish, you will show me no man
at all ; if you show me a woman who is not selfish,
you will show me an idiot, and one who knows not
the way to happiness or a crown of glory." (Deseret
News, Nov. 6, 1842.)

The true follower of Smith can form no idea of

244 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

earthly and heavenly happiness except what proceeds
from, or is in some way connected with, the pleas-
ures of the bodily senses. He knows nothing of spir-
itual ideas or pleasures. Disinterested benevolence
has no place in the storehouse of his religious treas-
ures. Every thing with him is matter ; and mind is
nothing, here and hereafter, except as it is made up
of, and connected with matter. He is, in the strictest
sense of the term, a materialist ; this he not only openly
avows, but strenuously contends that materialism fur-
nishes the only key to happiness. He is of the earth,
earthy ; and earthy he desires and expects to be through
all coming futurity. His future eternity is merely an
elongation of time, and is to be spent upon the earth,
after the general conflagration, in all the pomp of dei-
fied royalty, and in the gratification of every bodily
lust. His supremest felicity is to consist in acting the
glutton and the debauchee, free from bodily infirmities
and a sense of satiety. He expects to live fast with-
out wearing. The fires of his insatiable appetites are
always to be supplied with fuel without consuming
him. His body is not elevated into a mental sphere,
and made subservient to the mandates of a pure, re-
generated, spiritual master, but his mind is brought
down into the filthy lusts of the body, and there wal-
lows in the mire of sensuality. His religion resides
only in the natural degree of his mind, and in the
most sensual portion of such degree. Spiritual ideas
are consequently above his comprehension. He can
neither smell, touch, taste, hear, or see them, and,
therefore, they have no existence in his universe. His
intellectual is the bat of evening : he knows nothing

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 245

of the " eagle towering in his pride of place." His
residence is in the basement story of humanity ; and
the universal prevalence of his system would drag
the mind down into a low plane, restore the reign of
pantheism, the dance of satyrs, and the dalliancea of
syrens.

He exhibits to the world a present, active religious
zeal, and compasses sea and land to make proselytes
to his faith ; but his mission is that of the swindler and
the cheat : he goes with a lie in his mouth, and labors
only to enlarge his own borders, and build up and
strengthen his own dominions, and pander to his own
pleasures. Selfish and sensual himself, he appeals to
all that is selfish and sensual in those he hopes to make
the victims of his duplicity, and the instruments of his
ambition and pleasures. He belongs to the external
and the ultimate : he is all rind — all kernel — all husk.
He delights in literal constructions. The sentence of
death passed upon Adam meant only the death of his
external body, because Adam could be nothing unless
in connection with this body. The way in which he
speaks of the propagation of the Lord's Divine Human
is natural and gross to a shocking degree. They have
no spiritual idea of the production of a Human by " tho
virtue of the Most High," into which the Lord could en-
ter, and with which he could form a complete union for
the purposes of salvation. The Immaculate Conception
was neither more nor less than an ordinary case of
generation — nothing higher than the fabled intercourse
of the heathen gods with the daughters of men. The
god of his conception is carnal and sensual. The Jews
wore condemned for not doing the works of Abraham,

246 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

and these consisted in having a plurality of wives and
concubines. The heavens are nothing more than one
or more earths purified by fire, and it has gone through
this process merely that it may be a place for the prop-
agation of spirits for earthly tabernacles elsewhere be-
gotten. Thus time and eternity are but the unvary-
ing cycles of the lusts of the flesh and of worldly
grandeur, and earth and heaven but the vast recepta-
cles of the debauchee and the strumpet; and as all
who do " the works of Abraham" are to become gods,
he is destined to be the greatest god who has the larg-
est harem and claims paternity to the greatest number
of bastards.

CHAPTER XV.

Prevalence of Polygamy. — Its Effects on Population. — Arguments in
its Favor. — Its Effects on Morals. — Frightful Licentiousness. — Its
Influence on the first Wife. — Divisions and Hatred in Families.

As a matter of civil polity, it would seem, at this
age of the world, as though the founders of communi-
ties and states might regard polygamy as a settled
question. It existed among the Jews, \vith other ques-
tionable practices, by divine permission, on account of
the hardness of their hearts. The fruits of polygamy
among them were such as might readily be supposed
by any one knowing any thing of the relation of cause
and effect. Each individual case presents a picture
of family dissensions, divisions, and misery. Sarah, af-
ter giving Hagar to Abraham (not by divine command,
as Smith would have his dupes believe), turns her

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 347

oil', after the birth of Ishmael, in a fit of jealousy and
rage.

" The increasing wealth of the Hebrews under the
patriarchal government, which forwarded its temporal
power, was, however, morally counteracted in its influ-
ence by polygamy, the fatal tendency of which was
soon discovered in the domestic misery distracting the
family and embittering the days of the fondest, as he
was the most unfortunate of fathers. The jealousies
of the sisters, Rachel and Leah, for supremacy in their
husband's affections, and the contentions of the sons
of Bilhah and of Zilpah, produced those dark divisions
which finally ended in the expulsion of Joseph.

" The envious brothers, who hated Joseph for his
virtues, who meditated his murder, sold him to slave-
ry, &c., were such sons and brothers as Oriental des-
potism produces down to the present day— -where wom-
an is still the servant and man the master, and where
polygamy is still the ruling institution of the land."
( Woman and her Master, vol. i., p. 56.)

No nation of ancient or modern times, in which po-
lygamy has existed as a part of its political or religious
institutions, has exhibited a permanent degree of vigor
or prosperity. It did not prevail, except in one or two
extraordinary instances, among the Greeks, nor at all
among the Romans until, for a period, during the cor-
ruptions of the Empire. The modern nations of Eu-
rope are free from this scourge. It belongs now to the
indolent and opium-eating Turks and Asiatics, the mis-
erable Africans, the North American savages, and the
Latter-day Saints. It is the offspring of lust, and its
legitimate results are soon manifest in the rapid degen-
eracy of races.

248 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

The reader is ready to ask, To what extent does it
prevail and how does it work with the Saints ? Are
the ordinary laws, and cause and effect, suspended, to
accommodate the modern prophet and his disciples ?
Does it increase population, purify morals, improve the
race, and produce happiness ?

Polygamy is now fastened upon the Mormon com-
munity as tenaciously as the shirt of poor Nessus,
which Hercules found far easier to put on than tear off.
About one fourth of the adult male population are po-
lygamists, varying in the number of their wives from
two up to fifty. The priesthood, and especially that
portion who hold all the power, and control nearly all
the wealth of the community, have the largest harems.
Larger numbers would undoubtedly enter into it but
for the scarcity of women and the want of means to
support them. The census of 1851 disclosed the fact
that there were 698 more males than females in the
Territory. Subsequent emigrations have not probably
much changed this proportion. For each man to have
two wives would require twice as many females as
males. Of course it follows that, where the chief ba-
shaws have from ten to fifty in their harems, large
numbers can not have even one.

The effect upon population is decidedly deleterious.
The prophet Joseph had over forty wives at Nauvoo,
and the rest of the priesthood had various numbers,
corresponding to their standing and inclinations ; and
nearly all the children of these polygamous marriages
died at that place ; indeed, it is alleged by Mormons
that not one was taken to Utah. Brigham Young has
thirty children, of whom eight are by his first and sec-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 349

end lawful wives ; the remaining twenty-two arc by
his spirituals. He has about fifty wives, some of whom
were widows of Joseph Smith, and are probably past
the time of having children ; but, supposing him to
have thirty who are capable of having issue-— which is
below the true number — the twenty-two children
would be less than one child to a concubine. If each
of these degraded females could have been the honored
wife of one husband, the aggregate number of children,
according to the usual average of four in a family,
would be one hundred and twenty, showing a loss in
population of ninety-eight.

The children are subject to a frightful degree of sick-
ness and mortality. This is the combined result of
the gross sensuality of the parents, and want of care
toward their offspring. As a general rule, these saint-
ly pretenders take as little care of their wives as of
their children ; and of both, less than a careful farmer
in the States would of his cattle ; and nowhere out of
the " Five Points" in New York city can a more filthy,
miserable, neglected-looking, and disorderly rabble of
children be found than in the streets of Great Salt
Lake City. The Governor, again, whose attention to
his multifarious family we are bound to suppose great-
er than the average, affords a fair illustration. He
was twice lawfully married, and has had eight legiti-
mate children, who are all living. He has had a largo
number of children by his concubines — no one knows
how many — it is only known that there are only
twenty-two surviving. These females do not reside in
the " Governor's house," so called, but in different es-
tablishments, from one up to a dozen in a place ; and
L2

250 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

their children can only have the care of one parent.
It would be too great a tax upon his time to render
the same care and attention to the children of these
separate families as is bestowed in a single family,
where there is a union of affection and interests. In
cases where the wives and children are all under one
roof, the total disruption of all domestic ties and har-
mony produce the same result. It would, therefore,
seem that the boasted increase of population from this
polluted source bids fair, under the just disposings of
Providence, to be a decided failure.

The moralists of Salt Lake exhibit some strange
mental obliquities in defense of polygamy. The fol-
lowing, from a letter of "W". "W. Phelps to the New York
Herald, dated May, 1852, is quite popular with the
Saints :

" If you have not received a communication from
Dr. J. M. Bernhisel, on the plurality of wives, being a
dialogue between Judge Brochus and the King's Fool,
call on him for it, and let the people have it, and I
think your one- wife system will sing as small as our
racing (rilpins, or ' dirty cotton court.' Of two evils,
a Mormon chooses neither, but goes in for all good and
more good ; which, if, as Solomon said, a good wife is
a good thing, then the more you have the more good
you have ; so that when the suffering female kind over
the great globe are acquainted with the fact that ' the
daughters of kings are among the Lord's honorable
wives in heaven' (Psalm xlv.), 'and on the right hand
the queen in gold of Ophir,' you will hear of more hon-
orable women clinging to the holy priesthood than you
ever thought of, or a narrow-contracted Christian cler-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 251

gy drove into corruption by night-closetings because
their deeds are evil."

The Emperor Vitellius reasoned in the same way in
regard to a good dinner, and usually tickled his throat
with a feather, and threw up what he had eaten, in
order to dine over again. This convenient rule would
give a wife a score of husbands. Upon the same prin-
ciple, a man should have as many heads as a hydra,
as many arms as Briareus, and as many legs as a
spider ; and Nature was a niggard of her favors when
she made him up.

The argument, however, most relied on in support
of the system is, that it tends to good morals, by taking
away the inducements to unlawful pleasures ; that,
inasmuch as a man has as many wives as he pleases,
he has no temptation to wander in forbidden paths.
They even go so far as to claim that it is the only sys-
tem of domestic polity by which purity can be pre-
served. In following out this idea, they are indus-
trious in gathering up and publishing in the Deseret
News the numerous cases of seduction, adultery, and
elopement occurring in the States, which find their way
into the public prints, and are fond of contrasting the
purity of morals in Utah in this respect with these
irregularities, and with the tolerated houses of ill fame
in the great cities of the Old and New "World. This
is decidedly a fair specimen of Mormon logic ; and re-
minds one of an inhabitant of the ancient seas, of
which we have only the fossil remains, called some-
times the Ink-bag, which had the art to conceal itself
by ejecting a black fluid.

Upon this basis, it is very easy to purify the morals

252 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

of a people by civil enactments. The legislator wise
enough to legalize bigamy, burglary, forgery, perjury,
theft, and murder, would do away with the necessity
of penitentiaries and criminal codes. The people who
had the rare privilege of doing these things according
to law, would be better off than the ancient Spartans.
They were allowed to steal, provided the theft was
committed in a sly, artful manner ; but under the
Mormon improvement, the burglar could pick locks
and break doors in broad daylight. How true it is,
that a perversion of moral principle brings a cloud
upon the reasoning faculties ! When the will is im-
mersed in evil propensities, the understanding is ready
to justify the abominations to which they lead. The
Saints, while chuckling .over the secret and stealthy
sins of Eastern life, are willfully blind to the enormi-
ties enacted in their midst.

Their system of plurality has obliterated nearly all
sense of decency, and would seem to be fast leading to
an intercourse open and promiscuous as the cattle in
the fields. A man living in common with a dozen dir-
ty Arabs, whether he calls them wives or concubines,
can not have a very nice sense of propriety. It is dif-
ficult to give a true account of the effects which have
resulted from this cause, and, at the same time, pre-
serve decency of language. It is related of one of the
English Georges, that, when he became old and sap-
less, a plump maiden was selected for his seasons of
repose, and made to act the part of a warming-pan to
his majesty. The Saints are progressive. Three in
one bed sleep warmer than two, when wood is scarce
and a kingdom is to be built up. Last year (1852)

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 253

they seriously discussed the subject of introducing a
new order into the Church, by which the wives of ab-
sent missionaries might be sealed to Saints left at
home, under the plea that the important business of
peopling the celestial kingdoms ought not to be inter-
rupted. Practically, this would make no great differ-
ence, as the proxies now readily make their way into
these half-deserted tenements. There are a number
of cases in which a man has taken a widow and her
daughter for wives at the same time. One has a wid-
ow and her two daughters. There are also instances
of the niece being sealed to the uncle , and they excite
no more attention than any ordinary case. How far
the plague-spot is to spread in this direction remains
to be seen. Brigham Young stated in the pulpit, in
1852, that the time might come when, for the sake of
keeping the lineage of the priesthood unbroken, mar-
riages would be confined to the same families ; as, for
instance, the son of one mother would marry th6
daughter of another by the same father. This fact
was spoken of by so many persons as to preclude all
reasonable doubt of its truth. Why should not the
blood of the priesthood, like that of the Incas, be kept
pure ?

A case has already occurred, which shows at least
an entering wedge for the introduction of this improve-
ment upon the system. One Watt came over from
England with his half-sister, and on the way they con-
cluded to enter into some of the sublime mysteries of
Mormonism. When they arrived at Salt Lake City,
they repaired to the " Governor's house" to be sealed.
The lady was fairer than any at that time in Brig-

254 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

ham's collection, and he told Watt it would not do ;
that the time had not yet arrived when persons so
nearly related could be married ; but that he would
seal her to himself. This was done ; but Brigharn, for
some reason, like Henry the Eighth with Catharine of
Cleves, became, in a day or two, sick of the new sul-
tana; sent for "Watt; told him he had reconsidered
the matter, and concluded, on the whole, that the orig-
inal proposition might be safely acted upon. Brigham
was thereupon duly divorced, and Watt married to his
half-sister.

There has been some talk of going even beyond this,
and allowing the father to seal his own daughter to
himself. And why not ? The same principle of lit-
eral construction, combined with a fanatical belief of
the speedy destruction of the Gentile world, would jus-
tify it. Did not the daughters of Lot become sealed
to their father, under the belief that all mankind had
been consumed in the fires of Sodom and Gomorrah ?
Nature, too, has already sanctioned it in the example
of hens, cattle, and goats. Why should not the Saints
act upon these exemplary precedents, inasmuch as it
has become so very important that both worlds should
be peopled with an improved breed ? The truth is,
their doctrine of the anterior existence of the spirits of
men, so strenuously taught and extensively believed,
has had a strong effect in obliterating the sentiment of
female chastity. If the bodies of men are tabernacles
for pre-existing spirits to enter into, it can matter but
little by whom they are begotten. It becomes a mat-
ter of mechanical employment ; and no matter how
often the workmen are changed, so long as the article

UTAH AND- THE MORMONS. 355

is properly manufactured. The chaste union of two
minds in the conjugal relationship becomes thus a
tiling entirely unknown.

The high-priest dignitaries of the Church are ex-
ceedingly skillful in procuring young girls for wives.
They inculcate the idea that elderly members, who
have been tried and found faithful, are surer instru-
ments of salvation than the young, who may aposta-
tize ; and as marriage to one who remains steadfast to
the end is essential to escape from the fate of being
mere angels, a great many young women are fooled
into this bubbling and seething caldron of prostitution.
Elder Wilford "Woodruff, one of the twelve apostles,
has a regular system of changing his harem. He takes
in one or more young girls, and so manages, after he
tires of them, that they are glad to ask for a divorce,
after which he beats the bush for recruits. He took a
fresh one, about fourteen years old, in March, 1853,
and will probably get rid of her in the course of the en-
suing summer. These maneuvers are practiced more
or less by the whole gang ; the girls discarded by
one become sealed to others, and so travel the entire
rounds ; and when they accomplish the whole circuit,
and are ready to start anew, they have a profoundly
" realizing sense" of female modesty, to say nothing of
some of its adjuncts.

These things are producing results in the very vitals
of the Mormon community as frightful as the barking
monsters in the bowels of Milton's portress to the in-
fernal regions :

" About her middle round
A cry of hell-hounds, never ceasing, barked

956 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

With wide Cerberean mouths full loud, and rung
A hideous peal."

Young men, in a majority of cases, find it impossi-
ble to obtain even one wife, and run into excesses ri-
valing some of the choicest purlieus of Eastern cities.
When the door of licensed indulgences are so widely
thrown open to the elders, it is scarcely to be supposed
that the young will look on with indifference ; nor can
it be surprising that the affair of Absalom and his fa-
ther's concubines should be considered and acted upon
by the youthful Saint as a fair precedent.

Various apostates have disclosed the fact that among
the Temple mysteries of Morrnonism is a degree into
which the most favored ones are initiated, called the
" Order of the Cloistered Saints," of which the follow-
ing account is given :

""When an apostle, high-priest, elder, or scribe, con-
ceives an affection for a female, and has ascertained
her views on the subject, he communicates confiden-
tially to the prophet his love affair, and requests him
to inquire of the Lord whether or not it would be right
and proper for him to take unto himself this woman
for his spiritual wife. It is no obstacle whatever to
this spiritual marriage if one or both of the parties
should happen to have a husband or wTife already united
to them according to the laws of the land.

" The prophet puts this singular question to the
Lord, and if he receives an answer in the affirmative,
which is always the case when the parties are in fa-
vor with the president, the parties assemble in the
lodge-room, accompanied by a duly authorized admin-
istrator, and place themselves kneeling before the al-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 257

tar. The administrator commences the ceremony by
saying,

" ' You separately and jointly, in the name of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, do solemnly covenant and agree
that you will not disclose any matter relating to the
sacred act now in progress of consummation, whereby
any Gentile shall come to the knowledge of the secret
purposes of this order, or whereby the Saints may suf-
fer persecution, your lives being the forfeit.'

" Then comes a mock ceremony of marriage, after
which — the parties leave the cloister, with, general-
ly, a firm belief, at least on the part of the female, in
the sacredness and validity of the ceremonial, and con-
sider themselves as united in spiritual marriage, the
duties and privileges of which are in no particular dif-
ferent from those of any other marriage covenant."

The reader will naturally ask if this can be true.
A residence of less than six months will be very apt to
remove any doubts he may entertain on the subject.
If the husband of a female Saint happens to be Gen-
tile, it is a great point with the Mormons to have her
sealed in this way without his knowledge. Her pros-
titution is easily effected, inasmuch as she is made to
believe that it is necessary to her salvation, all Gentile
marriages being void.

The system is fast proving itself a terrible whip of
scorpions, from the lash of which there is no escape
but in the ultimate disorganization of the Mormon
community. Mankind were created a pair, male and
female, and, in harmony with such an origin, political
science discloses the fact that males and females are
born into the world in nearly equal numbers. States

258 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

are made up of families, and can not be strongly com-
pacted where the family is not a unit ; on the contrary,
they are the most united, enterprising, and efficient
for the common good where it is harmonious. Poly-
gamy introduces an element of disorder into families,
and saps the foundations of social order according to
the extent to which it prevails. On general principles,
we may as well believe a building will remain unin-
jured by tearing away its basement walls, or the hu-
man body retain its healthy condition after a subtile
poison has disorganized its tissues, as that society will
flourish, with hatred rankling in the bosom of the-fam-
ilies of which it is composed. It may be supposed
that religious fanaticism will do much to change and
control the ordinary current of human emotions. This
has had its influence in the Mormon community, but
it is generally limited and temporary in its character ;
and now that persecution, or that which was regarded
as such, has ceased, fanaticism has lost much of the
nourishment upon which it subsisted. The fact is,
the Mormon mind has greatly cooled of its primitive
fervor ; its thermometer has fallen below its first fever
heat ; and the ordinary causes which regulate human
conduct have been quietly resuming their operations.
Many who at first practiced or justified polygamy, be-
cause it was one of the points which invited Gentile
persecution, are beginning to realize that it is a nest
of adders, of which the sting can no longer remain un-
felt.

In Utah, the effect of the plurality system is most
severely felt by the first or real wife. In Turkey, and
other kindred nations, where polygamy has long exist-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 259

cd, it has become a fixed sentiment in the minds of
men and women through the lapse of ages. "Woman
is there too much degraded to be the companion of
man, and her wishes on the subject are of no more ac-
count than of so many slaves. In the Mormon com-
munity, however, the case is different : it was intro-
duced to gratify the lust of Smith and his principal
followers, and has been forced upon the society, in total
disregard of the wishes and happiness of the first wife,
as well as in opposition to the common sentiment of the
age. That it should have been tolerated at all is only
to be accounted for by the deep fanaticism and lament-
ably lax morality existing at all periods among the
Saints.

A wife, in Utah, can not live out half her days. In
families where polygamy has not been introduced, she
suffers an agony of apprehension on the subject which
can scarcely be conceived, much more described. There
is a sad, complaining, suffering look, obvious to the
most ordinary observer, which tells the story, if there
were no other evidence on the subject. In most cases,
it is producing premature old age, and some have al-
ready sunk into an early grave under an intolerable
weight of affliction. The man, from the moment he
makes up his mind to bring one or more concubines
into the family, becomes always neglectful, and in
most cases abusive to his wife. In every instance
where it has been introduced, it has totally destroyed
all union of affection and interest previously existing.
The wife has no further motive to labor and economize
for the family, because she finds one or more intruders
who have the right to share in the benefits of her ex-

260 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

ertions ; and the concubine, for a similar reason, feels
no interest and makes no effort. The wife hates them
for interfering with her comforts, and estranging the
affections of her husband ; they, on the other hand,
hate the wife and each other, and the children of each
other. The husband hates the wife on whose affections
he has trampled, and over whom he has tyrannized,
and hates each concubine, of whom he tires when a
fresh one is introduced ; and the children hate each other
as cordially as a band of half-starved young wolves. It
is hate, and strife, and wretchedness through the whole
family circle. Hecate herself, in her deepest malignity,
could not have devised a more effectual scheme to de-
stroy the happiness of mankind. The husband, under
the double influence of domestic discord and gross in-
dulgence, loses his energy, becomes discouraged, sinks
into the bloated, vulgar debauchee, and affords a cap-
ital illustration of the truth, that

" Our pleasant vices are made the whips to scourge us."

In many families where there are as yet no concu-
bines, the wife is anxious to remove from this valley
of Sodom, as well on her own account as to save her
young daughters from becoming the inmates of a priest-
ly harem; and, as she has it in her power to obtain a
divorce at any time, it may seem strange that she
should remain the inmate of such a domestic hell. But
a divorce would be of no practical benefit to her. She
would be compelled to separate from her children ; and,
as she is powerless to perform an overland journey of
over a thousand miles, to bring herself within the pro-
tection of a civilized government, she must, of course,

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 261

remain, and seek a precarious livelihood, under the
discouraging pressure of Church vengeance.

Any number of cases illustrative of the degrading
licentiousness of the system, and of the brutality and
wretchedness which it produces, might be mentioned.
In a conversation with one of the missionaries (and,
withal, a man of more than ordinary shrewdness), I
asked him what the effect of the system was upon the
domestic relations. ""Why," said he, "you must be
aware that human nature among the first wives is op-
posed to it. When a man's wife gets a little old, and
he takes a fancy to a young one, why, you know, the
old one will feel jealous that she is to give way to the
other ; but it is the order of the Church, and she must
submit to it." This was accompanied with a sly leer,
such as would have done credit to a satyr.

A man, by the name of Eldridge, was living with
much apparent happiness with his wife at Nauvoo, at
the time of the great break up there. Emma Smith,
the prophet's widow, had seen enough of Mormonism,
and, having secured some property out of the general
wreck, resolved to remain in the States. AVhen the
Saints were on the point of removing, Emma Smith
advised Mrs. Eldridge not to follow her husband to the
valley of Great Salt Lake ; told her he would certainly
go into the plurality order, and then she would be treat-
ed with neglect ; that was the case with them all. Mrs.
E. replied that her husband had promised her that he
would never go into it ; that they were attached to
each other; and that she had the utmost confidence
in him. They went on together to Salt Lake, and, in
1851, the predictions of Mrs. Smith were verified.

262 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

Brigham Young, for some reason or other, desired to
involve Eldridge in the meshes of spiritual wife-ism, and
repeatedly importuned him on the subject. Eldridge
told him he was living very happily with his wife, and
that to bring another into the family would almost kill
her. Young replied that, if his wife was opposed to
the order of the Church, " the quicker she was damned
the better." He also stated, among other things, that
he was about to go off on an exploring tour in the Ter-
ritory with a party (naming some of them) ; that he
and the rest intended each to take along a new wife ;
that he (Eldridge) had better do so too, and they would
have " a nice time of it." Eldridge finally yielded, and
so worked upcn his wife as to compel her to give her
consent to his being sealed to a miserable drab selected
for this occasion. From this period he became a per-
fect brute in the treatment of his wife ; turned her
from the best room in the house to make room for his
concubine ; and she, thoroughly crushed and despair-
ing, realizes that her once peaceful and happy home
has been changed into a domestic hell. This is a fair
history of the fate of the first wife.

Instances of brutal insensibility on the part of the
men are common, and excite but little attention. A
man connected with the stage, having a number of
wives, came home one evening (January, 1853) from
rehearsing his part, and found one of them dead. This
trifling circumstance, however, did not in the least in-
terfere with his engagement at the theatre ; he per-
formed his part that evening ; buried his deceased wife
the next day ; and kept on at the theatre as though
nothing extraordinary had happened.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 263

It may excite surprise that so many females can be
found who are willing to be made the ready instruments
of debauchery ; but they are generally young, exceed-
ingly ignorant, and are made to believe that their sal-
vation depends upon it, and it is regarded as no dis-
grace in the community in which they live. This com-
munity is so completely isolated as to form a world by
itself, and its habits and morals are borrowed from the
cock-pit and third tier of more civilized regions. The
greatest opposition comes from the first wives : there
are a few instances in which they advocate it ; but
these are divorces from the States, and are somewhat
familiar with having " things in common."

Many of the older sealed ones are women who have
been seduced to leave their husbands and families in
the States. These, of course, become thorough-paced
strumpets, and, when too old for use, are noted devotees.
A fair type of this class is a Mrs. Cobb, whose race
would embellish the pages of Peregrine Pickle. This
woman was living in Boston with her husband and
family when Brigham Young visited that city as a
missionary. He was at that time a good-looking man,
and Madam Cobb made up her mind that to aid Brig-
ham in building up a celestial kingdom was far pref-
erable to the humdrum of her domestic duties. She
accordingly raced off, taking one of her children (a
young girl), was divorced from her husband, arid after-
ward duly sealed to Brigham. She was the reigning
sultana for a time, and queened it with a high hand ;
but he finally tired of her, and she is now a full-blown
devotee ; talks solemnly of being sealed to Joseph Smith
and other dead prophets ; and tries hard, by the extra v-

264 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

agance of her nonsense, to make herself a mother in
Israel. Her daughter, in the mean time, has grown
up handsome in face, and accomplished in the peculiar
graces which belong to female Mormondom. The moth-
er and daughter deal frequently in crimination and
recrimination with each other, calling things by their
right names in choice Billingsgate ; and the parent is
in a fair way of draining to the bottom that cup of bit-
terness which she has prepared for her own lips.

CHAPTER XVI.

Book of Mormon. — Proofs of its modern Origin. — Its Style. — Argu-
ments in Favor of the System.

THE Book of Mormon claims to be "the history of
the inhabitants of America, who are a branch of the
house of Israel, of the tribe of Joseph, of whom the In-
dians are still a remnant ; but the principal nation of
them having fallen in battle in the fourth or fifth cen-
tury, one of their prophets, whose name was Moroni,
saw fit to make an abridgment of their history, their
prophecies, and their doctrines, which he engraved on
plates, and afterward being slain, the records fell into
the hands of his son Moroni, who, being hunted by his
enemies, was directed to deposit them safely in the
earth," &c. In other words, the Book of Mormon pro-
fesses to be the Bible of this ancient people, which has
been exhumed by Joseph Smith for the use of "these
last days," and it is upon this foundation that the
whole Mormon structure has been built.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 265

Upon examination, however, it will be seen that the
book itself never could have sustained the superincum-
bent weight ; it required certain adjuncts, such as the
gift of prophecy, seership, miracles, tongues, and other
popular marvels, to give any thing like success to the
scheme.

There is probably no book in the world which con-
tains within itself so many proofs of its real origin,
and one but partially read in the history of human
credulity is struck with wonder that the imposture
should have fastened itself upon such numbers ; and
that, too, with such strength, that no incongruity, in-
consistency, or absurdity which can be pointed out can
make the least impression. At the very outset we
are met with a most surprising fact : a portion of the
Israelites are alleged to have found their way, in a
marvelous manner, to the shores of America, and they
and their descendants write a long book, in which
there is not one word of the Hebrew tongue : it proves
to be in a language so wholly lost as to require a mi-
raculous translation, through the aid of a huge pair of
spectacles. In addition to this, not a single Hebrew
word or character can be found in the languages of
these descendants of Israel upon the American con-
tinent. Miracles become very suspicious characters
when they start into existence without necessity or ap-
parent object.

A reader of the Book of Mormon will not be disposed
to deny, very strenuously, that the authors must, at
times, have possessed the gift of strange tongues. The
religious portions are especially encumbered with gross
grammatical errors, to say nothing of violations of good
M

9(3(3 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

taste. The common version of the Bible contains some
errors of this description, but this was translated by
men, in an age when the accuracies of language were
not as well denned as at present. But how such- mis-
takes should happen in a translation made through an
infallible " Urim and Thummim" is a mystery which
none but a Mormon elder can probably either explain
or understand. Phrases like the following frequent-
ly occur : " I the Lord hath not forgotten my people ;"
" I the Lord delighted in the chastity of women ;"
" For a more history part are written upon my other
plates ;" " These things had not ought to be ;" "And
the effects thereof is poison;" "I ought not to harrow
in my desires the firm decree of a just Grod." The
Book of " Doctrines and Covenants" abounds in simi-
lar phrases : •" And the spirit of the body is the soul of
man ;" " Her who sitteth upon many waters."

The book contains evidences of its modern origin on
almost every page. The mariner's compass, which was
not discovered until the fourteenth century, and which
made such a revolution in commercial enterprises as to
form an era in the history of the world, was, it seems,
miraculously made known to Lehi in the reign of Zed-
ekiah, king of Judah :

"And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord
spake unto my father by night, and commanded him
that on the morrow he should take his journey into
the wilderness. And it came to pass, that as my fa-
ther arose in the morning, and went forth to the tent
door, to his great astonishment he beheld upon the
ground a round ball, of curious workmanship ; and it
was of fine brass. And within the ball were two spin-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 267

dies ; and the one pointed the way whither we should
go into the wilderness." (P. 42.)

"And now, my son, I have somewhat to say con-
cerning the thing which our fathers call a ball or di-
rector ; or our fathers called it liahona, which is, being
interpreted, a compass; and the Lord prepared it."
(P. 348.)

These ancient worthies had a wonderful prescience
of modem terms and customs, and in this respect to-
tally outstrip the prophet of the Old Testament.

"And it came to pass, that I did arm them with bows
and with arrows, with swords, and with cimeters, and
with clubs, and with slings, and with all manner of
weapons which we could invent, and I and my people
did go forth against the Lamanitss to battle." .

The cimeter is a Turkish weapon, not known until
after the time of Mohammed.

" And because my words shall hiss forth, many of
the Grentiles shall say, A Bible ! a Bible ! we have
got a Bible, and there can not be any more Bible."
(P. 123.)

" Bible" is a word which belongs to modern theolo-
gy, to express, in the complex, the Old and New Testa-
ments, and does not occur in either of those books.

So, also, we have "priestcraft," lawyers " skillful in
their profession," "machinery" law "suits" "plan
of redemption," " dissenters" and a multitude of oth-
er terms and phrases, which belong to the dialects and
customs of the present time.

Modem sectarian theology appeared to be about as
well known then as now. Among other curiosities in
this department was a preacher of universal salvation,

268 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

who held forth to the great scandal and annoyance of
more rigid constructionists.

" And it came to pass, that in the first year of the
reign of Alma in the judgment-seat, there was a man
brought before him to be judged — a man who was
large, and was noted for his much strength ; and he
had gone about among the people, preaching to them
that which he termed to be the word of God, bearing
down against the Church ; declaring unto the people
that every priest and teacher ought to become popular ;
and they ought not to labor with their hands, but that
they ought to be supported by the people ; and he also
testified unto the people that all mankind should be
saved at the last day, and that they need not fear nor
tremble, but that they might lift up their heads, and
rejoice ; for the Lord had created all men, and had
also redeemed all men ; and, in the end, all men should
have eternal life." (P. 335.)

Perhaps the greatest curiosity of the book is, that
" Christ and him crucified" was preached, and " bap-
tism" administered, and Christian churches establish-
ed, long before the Christian era. Revivals, and revi-
valists, and protracted meetings, and anxious seats,
were as well known among the Lamanites and Ne-
phites as modern sectarians. The incongruity of the
thing appears to have occurred to Joseph and Rigdon,
for one of these imaginary preachers is made to say :

"And now, my son, this was the ministry unto
which ye were called, to declare these glad tidings unto
this people, to prepare their minds ; or, rather, that sal-
vation might come unto them, that they may prepare
the minds of their children to hear the word at the time

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 269

of his coming. And now I will ease your mind some-
what on this subject. Behold, you marvel why these
things should be known so long beforehand. Behold,
I say unto you, Is not a soul at this time as precious
unto G-od as a soul will be at the time of his coming ?
Is it not as necessary that the plan of redemption
should be made known unto this people, as well as unto
their children ? Is it not as easy at this time for the
Lord to send his angel to declare these glad tidings
unto us as unto our children, or as after the time of
his coming ?" (P. 352.)

What was to be the fate of the precious souls to
whom this ante-dated Gospel was not proclaimed, this
reverend Nephite does not give us to understand ex-
cept by implication.

One of these ancient revivalists had a summary
knack of making converts : he promptly knocked them
down by the mysterious power with which he was
clothed, with as much facility as a bowler knocks down
nine-pins ; and not only so, but kept them in durance
generally for about three days. They not only preach-
ed Christianity, but, strange to say, anti-Christ made
his appearance too : " But it came to pass, in the latter
end of the seventeenth year, there came a man into
the land of Zarahemla, and he was anti-Christ, for he
began to preach," &c. (P. 322.)

Occasionally the authors discourse on abstruse sub-
jects, and, when they do, they get into too deep wrater.
The following, on the subject of the fall of Adam, put
into the mouth of the prophet Lehi, is a fair sample :

" And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed, he
would not have fallen, but he would have remained in

270 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

the garden of Eden. And all things which were cre-
ated must have remained in the same state which they
were after they were created, and they must have re-
mained forever, and had no end. And they would
have had no children ; wherefore they would have re-
mained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they
knew no misery ; doing no good, for they knew no sin.
But behold, all things have teen done in the wisdom
of Him who knoweth all things. Adam fell, that men
might be ; and men are, that they might have joy."
(P. 69.)

Curious enough that sin should be a condition prece-
dent to having children ! Curious, too, that a man
should be under the necessity of transacting a shindy
or two before he is capable of performing a good ac-
tion !

There is a continual effort to imitate the style of the
Scriptures which it is absolutely painful to read :

" And now I say unto you, that this is the order af-
ter which I am called : yea, to preach unto my beloved
brethren ; yea, and every one that dwelleth in the
land ; yea, to preach unto all, both old and young, both
bond and free ; yea, I say unto you the aged, and also
the middle aged, and the rising generation ; yea, to
cry unto them that they must repent, and be born
again ; yea, thus saith the Spirit, Repent, all ye ends of
the earth, for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand ;
yea, the Son of (rod cometh in his glory, in his might,
majesty, power, and dominion." (P. 251.)

This continually-strained effort betrays itself, and
produces, to say the least, some very queer descriptions.
A well-sustained battle against odds is thus described :

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 271

" But they fought for their lives, and for their wives,
and for their children ; therefore they exerted them-
selves, and like dragons did they fight."

The following must have made a deep impression
upon those to whom it was addressed :

"And now, if ye do not this, behold, ye are in our
hands, and I will command my men that they shall
fall upon you, and inflict the wounds of death in your
bodies, that ye may become extinct."

These Nephite philosophers seem to have been as
profound in their knowledge of mental emotions, as
graphic in their descriptions of external objects, as the
following plainly shows :

" Now if ye give place that a seed may be planted
in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good
seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye
will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin
to swell within your breasts ; and when you feel these
swelling motions, ye will begin to say within your-
selves, it must needs be that this is a good seed, or
that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my
soul ; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understand-
ing ; yea, and it beginneth to be delicious to me."

The following contains a very ample " bill of partic-
ulars," but whether intended as a description of tho
" still small voice" of Scripture, it is really difficult to
say :

" And it came to pass, that while they were thus
conversing one with another, they heard a voice, as if
it came out of heaven ; and they cast their eyes round
about, for they understood not the voice which they
heard ; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a

272 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

loud voice ; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being
a small voice, it did pierce them that did hear to the
centre, insomuch that there were no part of their frame
that it did not cause to quake ; yea, it did pierce them
to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn."

Occasionally there is an attempt to imitate the sub-
lime passages so frequent in the Word of the Old Test-
ament ; but it is as the sound of the squib and pop-
gun to the roar of the thunder and the earthquake.
Take the following :

" And the rocks of the earth must rend; and be-
cause of the groanings of the earth, many of the kings
of the isles of the sea shall be wrought upon to ex-
claim, < The God of nature suffers !' " (P. 55.)

This is quite descriptive of a terrestrial colic, and
these kings, forsooth, were not permitted to sympathize
with these distressing symptoms in the stomach of
mother earth until wrought upon by the Spirit.

The following perfect fusillade of sublimities is in-
tended to be a prophetic representation of the phenom-
ena that should take place at the Crucifixion :

" Yea, at the time that he shall yield up the ghost,
there shall be thunderings and lightnings for the space
of many hours, and the earth shall shake and tremble,
and the rocks which are upon the face of this earth,
which are both above the earth and beneath, which ye
know at this time are solid, or the more part of it is
one solid mass, shall be broken up ; yea, they shall be
rent in twain, and shall ever after be found in seams
and in cracks, and in broken fragments upon the face
of the whole earth ; yea, both above the earth and be-
neath."

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 273

In imitation of that striking passage, " They have
sown the wind, and shall reap the whirlwind," we find
the following :

" And again he saith, if my people shall sow filth-
iness, they shall reap the chaff thereof in the whirlwind ;
and the effects thereof is poison."

Joseph subsequently continued his penchant for sub-
lime efforts in his revelations :

" The earth rolls upon her wings; and the sun
giveth his light by day, and the moon giveth her light
by night ; and the stars also giveth their light as they
roll upon their wings" &c. (Doctrines and Cov-
enants, p. 102.)

Rolling upon wings is a new method of flying. The
Psalmist should have written, " If I take the wings of
the morning, and roll into the uttermost parts of the
sea."

The following is in imitation of a passage in the Rev-
elations : " And the powers of darkness prevail upon the
earth among the children of men, in the presence of
all the hosts of heaven, which cause th silence to reign,
and all eternity is pained," &c. (Idem, p. 127.)

The following is the trumpet which is to be sounded
for the benefit of the Saints : " The heavens shall shake,
and the earth shall tremble, and the trump of Grod
shall sound both long and loud" &c.

The polemic reader will be somewhat curious to
know what kind of arguments are relied upon to sus-
tain the divine authenticity of such a book. It is the
harsh construction of some, that it is far easier to pro-
duce conviction upon the mass of mankind in favor of
a lie than of the truth, and the history of Mormonism

M2

274 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

furnishes notable proof in support of the proposition.
According to the Talmud, the body of a Jew, though
buried thousands of miles from Mount Zion, will wrig-
gle itself through the ground until it ultimately arrives
at that desirable point, and all true sons of Jacob be-
lieve in the statement. Why should not the Saints,
who claim to be descended from the " tribe of Joseph,"
believe in marvels equally wonderful, and prove their
existence by a logic which never fails to demonstrate
what it undertakes ?

Mormonism ignores all prevalent forms and creeds,
and claims to form a complete system within itself ; it
has not only clothed itself in all the external parapher-
nalia of an independent hierarchy, but has boldly sent
forth its champions to prove itself true, and its adver-
saries false. Its most noted and voluminous polemic
author is Orson Pratt, whose speculations on the mys-
teries of matter and mind have already been noticed.
His arguments will be mostly found in a book entitled
"A Series of Pamphlets, by Orson Pratt" The first
pamphlet of six pages in this collection, entitled "Di-
vine Authority " contains a general summary of his ar-
gumentation, though many points are afterward great-
ly extended. A brief notice of some of the points made
by him will be sufficient for the present purpose.

He commences with receiving a letter from an anon-
ymous correspondent, who is satisfied that all prevail-
ing creeds are false ; that all preachers and teachers of
the day are without authority ; that " the translations
of the Scriptures, being done without inspiration," are
uncertain ; and that, if the Saints have not " the au-
thority to teach, interpret," <fec., no one else has it ;

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 275

concluding with a desire that the Mormons may bo
proved to be in possession of these gifts. Mr. Pratt
gravely assumes the positions of his correspondent to
be true, and, from this convenient starting-point (which,
under ordinary circumstances, would distance all pur-
suers), leisurely walks over the course.

In the first division of his subject, he comes to the
conclusion that it is a " strong presumptive evidence
Mr. Smith was sent of God," because other churches
do not profess to have inspired apostles, prophets, &c.,
but the Latter-day Saints do profess to have them, with
authority to administer all the ordinances ; because Mr.
Smith has successfully patterned after ancient forms
in the paraphernalia of his Church, and because his
doctrines are pure and infallible. This is a curious
string of professions and assumptions, which seems to
leave the reasoner exactly where he started. It may
well excite a smile that a man should be considered as
divinely commissioned because he has made certain
professions and patterned after ancient forms, and
provoke a sneer that Mr. Pratt, with one wife and a
dozen concubines, should be considered as pure as the
man who has not violated the laws of the land and the
moral sense of Christendom in his domestic relations.

In the second place, he comes to the same conclusion
because Smith declares that the angel Moroni appear-
ed to him, and revealed the place where he had con-
cealed the Book of Mormon : and this is claimed to be
a fulfillment of the prophetic vision of John : "And I
saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having
the everlasting Grospel to preach unto them that dwell
on the earth," &c. But how this can be, on a literal

276 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

construction, which is the Mormon rule, would seem to
be very puzzling. The Book of Mormon should have
come out of the air instead of the ground to fulfill the
vision. It seems, too, the angel seen by John had the
Gospel himself, and was to preach it himself, and he
did proclaim it with a loud voice to all nations ; whereas
the imaginary angel of Smith appeared to him and his
coadjutors in secret, stealthy interviews, something very
like the studied concealment of a gang of thieves or
counterfeiters ; and these unpromising appearances are
followed by translating the newly-discovered book by
the popular wizardcraft of looking through peep-stones,
while the plates are carefully concealed from the vul-
gar gaze.

The third position is, that Smith's mission was di-
vine, because he declares " that Peter, James, and John
came to him in the capacity of ministering angels, and,
by the laying on of hands, ordained him an apostle, and
commanded him to preach," &c. ; and the reasoner is
sure, very sure, that there is something transcending
human thought in all this ; that Mr. Smith could never
have originated such an idea. It would, indeed, be
wonderful, had not hundreds of the inmates of Bedlam
forestalled the Mormon prophet in hatching similar
absurdities.

The fourth proof is, that Smith professes to have
received, " through revelation and commandment from
God, a dispensation for the gathering of the Saints
from all nations." Mr. Pratt undertakes to prove from
Scripture that the people of God were to be brought
out from the Gentiles, and gathered together in one
place, and reasons that Smith, an unpracticed marks-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 277

man, never could have hit so happy an idea by a chance
shot. Less clever rogues than the prophet Joseph would
have stumbled upon this idea without supernatural aid.
How else could he have his followers so completely un-
der his influence, or collect his tithes, or keep them
from apostacy, or so securely indulge in a community
of wives, and other licentious practices ? Without the
gathering, the adventure would have lacked one of
its most essential elements of success.

The sixth subdivision of the argument exhibits more
than any other the pains which have been taken to
bring the discovery of the Mormon Bible within the
letter of ancient prophecy. As a train of argument, it
will be found to hold together with the tenacity usually
ascribed to a rope of sand. It will be recollected that
the Saints are strict literalists, and claim that certain
prophecies were literally fulfilled in the discovery of
this book. A brief examination will show that these
prophetic declarations must be stretched, like pieces of
India-rubber, to an extraordinary degree of tenuity, in
order to cover the requisite surface. In Isaiah xxix.
occurs the following passage :

" And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak
out of the ground ; and thy speech shall be low out of
the dust, and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a
familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall
whisper out of the dust."

Mr. Pratt reasons that the Book of Mormon is refer-
red to in this declaration, because it was taken out of
the ground. The tribe of Joseph, he says, " have been
brought down like all the rest of Israel ; but the words
of their ancient prophets 'speak out of the ground' and

978 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

' whisper out of the dust' to the ears of the present
generation, revealing, in a very 'familiar'' manner, the
history of ancient America." Now, on reading the
context, it will be found that all this is spoken of the
city of Jerusalem, "besieged and brought into a state of
abasement by an army, and, literally understood, has
as little to do with a book as with moonshine.

Again, it is said in the same chapter of Isaiah:
" And the vision of all is become unto you as the words
of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that
is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee ; and he says,
I can not, for it is sealed ; and the book is delivered to
him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee ;
and he saith, I am not learned."

To bring his scheme within this prophecy, Smith or
Rigdon inserted in the Book of Mormon the following :

" But behold, it shall come to pass that the Lord (rod
shall say unto him to whom he shall deliver the book,
Take these words which are not sealed, and deliver them
to another, that he may show them to another, that he
may show them unto the learned, saying, Read this, I
pray thee ; and the learned shall say, Bring hither the
book, and I will read them ; and now, because of the
glory of the world, and to get gain, will they say this,
and not for the glory of (rod ; and the man shall say,
I can not bring the book, for it is sealed ; then shall
the learned say, I can not read it."

After Smith discovered the glyph which has already
been spoken of, he transcribed some of the characters,
and sent them to Professor Anthon by Martin Harris.
Neither Anthon nor other mortal, learned or unlearned,
of course, could read them ; and this is claimed as a

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 279

fulfillment of prophecy. It may be a quasi fulfillment
of Smith's own prophecy in the Book of Mormon, but
it requires a vast deal of pulling and stretching to bring
it within that of Isaiah. In the latter, the book itself
was delivered to the man of learning, which is evident
from his answer, " it is sealed," referring to the book,
arid not to any portion of the words ; and not only so,
but this book was not delivered to the unlearned man
until afterward, who, in fact, never read it at all ; and
it was only the blind and deaf that finally penetrated
the mystery. It may be asked why Smith did not
more nearly conform the Book of Mormon in this re-
spect to the prophecy ; but he could not, because, to
have delivered Spaulding's " Manuscript Found" or the
glyph to Anthon, would have broken the egg before the
cockatrice was fairly hatched, and ended the imposture
at once.

But the most extraordinary argument ever brought
forth in support of any thing divine or human is, that
the Book of Mormon predicts that it should be shown
to three witnesses, and that the prophet actually found
the requisite number ; and Mr. Pratt, in great apparent
simplicity, says, " Now an impostor might indeed pre-
dict the raising of THREE WITNESSES, but he could not
call down an angel from heaven, in the presence of
these witnesses, to fulfill his predictions." True enough ;
.but what was to prevent the impostor from procuring
three or more lying witnesses, ready to swear that black
was white, for the purpose of sharing in the proceeds
of the imposture ?

The eleventh proof of divine authority is the power
to perform miracles claimed by the prophet and his

280 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

followers. Decidedly the most bold feature of Mormon-
ism, and one which shows how strongly the originators
must have relied upon popular credulity, is the pre-
tense of possessing the miraculous signs following true
discipleship, as described in the following passage from
Mark :

"And these signs shall follow them that believe : In
my name shall they cast out devils ; they shall speak
with new tongues ; they shall take up serpents ; and
if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them ;
they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall re-
cover."

The claims in favor of the marvelous skill possessed
by the celebrated Doctor Caustic, of whom it was
said,

" To raise a dead dog he was able,
Though laid in quarters on the table,
And lead him yelping round the town,
With two legs up and two legs down,"

do not exceed those of the Latter-day Saints in mirac-
ulous gifts.

The leaders have literally performed some of these
prodigies, to the entire conviction of all true Saints.
As may be readily supposed, the mass of Mormon mir-
acles consist in healing diseases ; and, in proof of these
notable performances, they have a string of certificates
as long as the tail of a kite — almost as long, indeed, as
the vender of a quack medicine appends to his univer-
sal panacea. Every one is familiar with the powerful
agency of the imagination in the curing or ameliora-
tion of disease, and hence it is less difficult to impose
upon the credulity of the multitude by extraordinary

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 281

cures than almost any other form of legerdemain. I
never heard, however, of any of these miracle-mongers
who were willing to handle living rattlesnakes, or
swallow doses of arsenic or strychnine to test their
boasted powers. Indeed, so little confidence have they
in the miraculous texture of their stomachs, that, in
their penal statutes of 1852, they impose a heavy fine
on the druggist who shall " sell and deliver any arsenic,
corrosive sublimate, prussic acid" &c., without the
word poison written on it ; nay, more, they have man-
ifested an uncommon degree of apprehension on the
subject by imposing, in section 107 of the same act, a
severe punishment upon the physician who shall ad-
minister poison as a medicine without fully explaining
the nature and effect to the patient, and obtaining his
free consent if over age, or of his parent or guardian
if a minor.

The fact that the amount of mortality in Utah has
been next to that of Louisiana ; that their cemetery is
filled with graves, from the infant of a span long to
the maturity of manhood ; that all kinds of medical
practice are in vogue among them, from Thomsonian-
ism up, or down, through all the patliies, forms a
standing contradiction to all their pretenses in this re-
spect. Yet they are never in want of an argument
sufficiently ingenious to impose upon those whose busi-
ness it is to have faith. If the man dies, why then
his time had come, and it was of no use to pour on
the consecrated oil, or lay on the hands. So the world
goes. Quackery is the most powerful lever yet, either
in medicine or theology.

That they should have had great success in gaming

282 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

credit for these marvelous gifts can not appear strange
to one who is aware of the great popular delusions
prevalent in community. Who has not listened to sto-
ries of haunted dwellings — of mysterious sights seen,
and voices heard ? Who has not heard of the juggling
impositions of fortune-tellers, of witches and wizards,
who, by means of cards, peep-stones, or something
else, make thousands believe in their ability to unrav-
el present perplexities and read future events — to dis-
cover secreted goods, and prognosticate happy match-
es and embryo fortunes ? All these things, and more
like them, are known to exist, and to command exten-
sive belief; but no one can be fully sensible of the
power and extent of this human element until he sees
the subjects of them gathered together, and concentrat-
ed, as it were, in a burning focus by the aid of relig-
ious sanction in the Valley of Salt Lake.

The only other " sign" which they pretend to pat-
ronize to any considerable extent is the gift of tongues,
and in this they exhibit all the adroitness which prac-
tice can give. Many readers will not fail to recollect
the gibberish termed " hog-Latin" so common as an
amusement with boys at school, some of whom are very
expert in this exercise, and will roll off the unmeaning
di*alect with great ease and fluency. This juvenile
sport has been carefully revised and greatly enlarged
by the proselyting members of the Mormon communi-
ty. No part of their jugglery is more transparent than
this, and yet, strange to say, it has been one of their
most efficient instruments of success. Hundreds will
now gravely date their conversion from the period when
they first heard the exercise of this marvel.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 283

A very cursory examination of the pamphlets wo
have been considering will be found amply sufficient
to satisfy any one of their scope and character. A train
of reasoning similar to that which has been adopted —
which is made up of inferences from mere assump-
tions, with ad captandum applications of Scripture —
would sustain any other system just as well as the
one in the support of which Mr. Pratt has so severely
taxed his powers. In this style of reasoning, the au-
thor has proved himself a perfect knight-errant in po-
lemic warfare, cutting to the right and left with reck-
less desperation. A bull in a china-shop could not
produce a more terrible smash, or effect more inextri-
cable confusion. In Tract No. 3, for instance, he has
bastardized all Christendom for the last seventeen
hundred years, by satisfactorily proving that, since the
first century after Christ, there has been no one au-
thorized to perform the marriage ceremony, or admin-
ister any of the ordinances of the Church. Curious
enough that such a sentence should be pronounced by
the jaded voluptuary who sports a harem by divine
command !

The whole argument is addressed to the weakest
points of the human mind — it is all outside. There is
not the slightest attempt at internal evidence. Trfere
is no pretense of the development of a single new spir-
itual truth, or of any advance in the natural or meta-
physical sciences — not even the display of a beautiful
or sublime idea. The whole cui bono, or utility of
such a scheme, is left untouched, and the world is
called upon to embrace Mormonism because Smith
pretends to have taken the Book of Mormon from the

284 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

ground; because he has found three witnesses; be-
cause Mr. Anthon could not translate the strange
characters submitted to his inspection ; because Smith
has copied after ancient forms in his machinery of
apostles, elders, &c. ; because he and they pretend to
the gift of prophecy ; and because they also pretend to
the performance of miracles, and have annexed the
usual certificates !

CHAPTER XVII.

Efforts to make female Converts. — Mode of conducting public Wor-
ship.— Sermon by Parley P. Pratt. — Schools. — Deseret News. —
Doctor Richards. — Deseret Almanac, by W. W. Phelps. — Lan-
guage used in public Discourses.

THE design of the leading Mormons in gathering
their followers into one place was, as will readily be
seen, to isolate them from the rest of mankind, and
thus the more easily to subject them to their govern-
ment. Polygamy, though at first introduced for the
sole reason that the prophet Smith was a licentious
man, is now sought to be extended as a matter of pol-
icy, because it renders this isolation the more complete.
Tlie man in Utah who becomes a polygamist becomes
a fixture, because he is then still more unfit for any
other community. In reference to this policy, the
Mormon missionaries make especial efforts to gain fe-
male converts, esteeming success in this work para-
mount even to the acquisition of wealthy disciples.
When, however, they manage to obtain a lodgment in
a family where girls and money both abound, they re-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 285

gard themselves in pursuit of a prize for which they
will put forth their best exertions. Such a family
transferred to Salt Lake City is an object of great
consideration. The wealth of the father speedily finds
its way into the coffers of the Church, and the daugh-
ters are in due time distributed among the high-priests,
or have the proud distinction of starting new harems.

Out of the pale of this singular society, it is often a
matter for marvel that, in an age which is regarded
the most enlightened since the creation of the world,
men and women who have been accustomed to the
usages of civilized life should remain the passive sub-
jects of such a despotism. But the true Mormon
knows little or nothing of what is going on outside of
the rim of the Great Basin, except that which is de-
rived from pulpit discourses, and the newspapers and
publications which belong to his own faith. All the
means of instruction within those boundaries are made
instrumental in holding the consciences and bodies of
the Saints in subjection. They are generally a church-
going people. In Salt Lake City, their congregations
on the Sabbath are from 2500 to 3000, which, in a
population of 8000, is a large proportion.

Their devotional exercises have their peculiarities,
though generally resembling those of other communi-
ties. Their discourses on these occasions are mostly
stereotyped, and are made up of histories of their per-
secutions, and a description of the glorious destiny in
store for the Saints. The reader shall have one of the
most favorable specimens, which occurred on Sunday,
the 9th of January, 1853.

The services commenced with music from a full

286 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

band stationed in front of the priest's platform, accom-
panied with voices, the performance of which was
creditable. This was followed by a prayer, which had
nothing to distinguish it from similar exercises else-
where ; after which was music again. The presiding
elder for the day then called upon one of the priests
sitting on the platform for a sermon, who, in this in-
stance, proved to be Parley P. Pratt, one of their most
plausible sermonizers. During the discourse the sa-
crament was administered, which was done by one
or two persons taking each a pitcher of water and a
tumbler, and going around among the congregation,
followed by another with a plate of broken bread, each
of the assembled Saints being thus furnished with a
drink of water and a piece of bread. After Elder Pratt
finished his sermon, a returned missionary from the
Sandwich Islands was called up, and gave a tedious
and egotistical account of his doings in that part of the
world ; after which came a short benediction, and an-
other tune was played by the band as the audience
retired.

The discourse of Elder Pratt was thoroughly Mor-
mon. He congratulated himself and the audience
that so large a number had congregated in the House
of the Lord. He then descanted at considerable
length upon the persecutions which they had suffered
from the Gentiles, and the miraculous exhibition at
present made by the Saints in having established and
built up themselves in their isolated position under
such discouraging circumstances. He averred that
nothing like it had ever been known before ; that no
other people could have done it, and that this was ev-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 287

idence of their divine mission ; that this was now the
great centre of attraction, and that every thing which
was said or done by them was closely watched, and
caught up with great eagerness and published by the
rest of the world. He then discoursed upon the glo-
rious destiny of the Saints here and hereafter, in pre-
paring to build up kingdoms and become gods, and
expressed a feeling of solemnity when he felt that ho
was a responsible agent in the great work. But, on the
whole, he expressed himself very well satisfied that he
had performed his whole duty, and that he could not
better it if it were to be performed over again ; that
he had left wives and family to go on missions, and
strongly condemned the Saint who could be kept back
from such a duty by a woman ; that the present actors
would soon be out of the way, and then the responsi-
bility would rest upon the boys and girls of the rising
generation ; that, in view of this, he thought they were
spending too much time in amusements, and too little
in learning the sciences and mechanical arts, and thus
preparing themselves for their mission ; that (rod was
not too proud to turn his attention to the arts and sci-
ences, of which there was abundant evidence, to wit,
in having laid out the garden of Eden, planned the
Temple of Solomon, &c.

He spoke with an ordinary degree of ease and flu-
ency, and used many ad captandum expressions to
excite the mirth of his hearers. With the exception
of the exhortation to the young to become studious and
industrious, there was not a single useful idea in the
whole discourse ; but it was well calculated to keep
up the spiritual pride and self-glorification of the audi-

288 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

ence, by reminding them of the persecutions which
they had suffered, the marvelous things which they
had achieved, and their glorious destinies in prospect.
Humility, which forms so constant a theme in Chris-
tian pulpits, finds no abiding-place in a Mormon's mind.
"Why should it ? He was one of the spirits who shout-
ed for joy at the creation, and is destined to become a
god and rule over a kingdom.

Parley P. Pratt is one of their ablest men ; he is evi-
dently above mediocrity in .point of talent, and, with
proper cultivation, and under any other than a system
of imposture, would be noted as a good speaker. He
has a subtle and seductive genius, is very self-possess-
ed, and wears a candid and friendly appearance. He
wrote " The Voice of Warning" a work much esteem-
ed among the Saints, and is, withal, a poet. At one
period he had some rough weather with Brigham
Young, who was jealous that he had an eye to the suc-
cession, and sent him as a missionary to the Sandwich
Islands. Since his return he has been busily enofasred

«/ Do

in another work, which is to furnish the key to all re-
ligious knowledge. He was formerly a Campbellite
preacher, and became noted for wild and visionary no-
tions in regard to the Millennium. The Book of Mor-
mon and the ready-made revelations of the prophet Jo-
seph found a friendly soil in the peculiar idiosyncracies
of his mind, and he surrendered to Mormonism at the
first summons, and at an early period. His mind is
thoroughly imbued with the necessity of ecclesiastical
forms and machinery for salvation, such as baptism,
authorized apostles, &c. The apostolic succession hav-
ing, in his view, been lost, it was necessary to have

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 289

the authority renewed, which was done in the case of
Smith through an angel. He enters readily into polyga-
my ; has a harem of eight wives ; has lost eight chil-
dren, and has sixteen still living. At his house he will
introduce the stranger to one as Mrs. Pratt ; and then,
pointing with complacent nonchalance to the rest of
the bevy, will say, " These are all Mrs. Pratts." The
most of his brethren exhibit a kind of hang-dog look on
such occasions, and seern to feel like a culprit caught
in depredating upon a hen-roost ; but Parley puts a
bold face upon the matter, and in this is certainly con-
sistent with his professed principles.

In addition to their means of instruction derived from
the pulpit, they have organized schools, very similar to
the common school district system in the States. In
Great Salt Lake City there is a school -house in every
ward, and schools have been kept up in the most of
them ; but they are wretchedly managed, and so far
have proved to be hot-beds of vice rather than places
of instruction. The children and youth now growing
up, and for the improvement of whom these means of
instruction have been provided, are ungoverned and
ungovernable, in and out of school ; and, so far from
any effort being made to remedy the evil, this youthful
turbulence is complacently regarded as evidence of
their celestial descent. The Hon. J. M. Grant, Speaker
of the House of Representatives, in a discourse deliv-
ered at a ward school-house on Sunday, the 20th of
February, 1853, stated that the children of the Saints
possessed superior minds, which made it difficult to
govern them in school ; and that, for his part, he was
glad of it, as it manifested the dignity of their origin.

N

290 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

With such notions openly preached, it is no wonder the
schools are arenas of riot and disorder : they are worse
than that; they are the seminaries of juvenile vice —
incipient embryo hells, in which the most filthy and
obscene ideas are instilled into their young minds.
These children exhibit a precocity of knowledge on
subjects which parents usually conceal from them
which is perfectly astounding. It is a common thing
for them to retail at school the disgusting intimacies
which they have witnessed at home. Young men who
have graduated in these primary institutions of vice
are licentious to a degree that will not bear description.
The openness with which these forward youths are fol-
lowing in the footsteps of their predecessors may find
fitting comparisons with flocks and herds, but not in
any branch of the human family outside of Mormon-
dom, or since the days of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The " Deseret News," published semi-monthly at
Salt Lake City, at five dollars per year, furnishes the
Saints with the most of their newspaper reading. This
usually contains a curious medley ; at least, such would
be likely to be the judgment of any other than a Mor-
mon. Take the one of April 30th, 1853, as a sample.

The first column is devoted to anecdotes and witti-
cisms ; after which follows a poetic effusion, by Miss E.
R. Snow, " To the Saints in Europe," the first stanza
of which and the chorus will be enough to show how
deeply the Latter-day muse has quaffed from the " Pie-
rian puddle :"

" Ye Saints who are dwelling in Europe,

"Wherever you're scattered abroad,
Grace and mercy be multiplied to you,
Through the favor and knowledge of God.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 291

CHORUS.

Come, come to the chambers of Israel ;

Come, come to your home in the West ;
Come, come to the valleys of Ephraim —

Come, come to the land of the bless'd."

After the poetry, two columns are taken up with the
autobiography of Joseph Smith, which is being repub-
lished in consecutive portions. Then comes a sermon
by Elder P. P. Pratt before the April Conference, in
which he undertakes to tell us of what stuff spirits
are made :

" But what are they if they are not flesh and bones ?
What are they if they are not tangible to our gross
organs of sense ? Of what are they composed that we
can neither see, hear, nor handle them, except we are
quickened, or our organs touched by the principles of
vision, clairvoyance, or spiritual sight ? What are they ?
Why, they are organized intelligences. What are they
made of? They are made of the element which we
call spirit, which is as much an element of material
existence as earth, air, electricity, or any other tangi-
ble substance recognized by man ; but so subtile, so re-
fined is its nature, that it is not tangible to our gross
organs. It is invisible to us unless we are quickened
by a portion of the same element, and, like electricity
and several other substances, it is only known or made
manifest to our senses by its effects. For instance,
electricity is not always visible to us, but its existence
is made manifest by its operations upon the wire or
upon the nerves. We can not see the air, but we feel
its effects, and without it we can not breathe.

" If a wire were extended in connection with the
equatorial line of our globe in one entire circle of twen-

292 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

ty-five thousand miles in extent, the electric fluid
would convey a token from one intelligence to another
the length of the entire circle in a very small portion
of a second, or, we will say, in the twinkling of an eye.
This, then, proves that the spiritual fluid or element
called electricity is an actual physical and tangible
power, and is as much a real and tangible substance
as the ponderous rocks which were laid on yesterday
in the foundation of our contemplated Temple."

Parley then goes on to give a dismal account of those
who have died without having the Gospel preached to
them by those who are authorized to hold the " keys"
but he somehow provides a way of escape for every
body except apostates from Latter-day-ism :

" Such apostates seek, in all dispensations, to bring
destruction on the innocent, and to shed innocent
blood, or consent thereto. For such, I again repeat, I
know no forgiveness. Their children, who, by the con-
duct of such fathers, have been plunged into ignorance
and misery for so many ages, and have lived without
the privileges of the Gospel, will look down upon such
a parentage with mingled feelings of horror, contempt,
reproach, and pity, as the agents who plunged their
posterity into the depths of misery and woe."

After the sermon comes the editorial. The leader
relates to the scarcity of provisions, and some good ad-
vice is given to the Saints to save their grain, and to
be charitable to each other. Under the editorial head
is an abstract of news, in which the disasters of the
Gentile world by fire, earthquakes, &c., are largely
represented. We then have communications from sun-
dry correspondents, and, among others, a very charac-

UTAH AND- THE MORMONS. 393

teristio one from Edward Sayers, the Deseret garden-
er :

" i I herewith send a few cucumbers, which you will
please to accept as the first of the season with me ;
this I do, as I know you are always glad to see any
thing like early productions in the Yalley. If the little
article on plants meets your approbation, I shall feel
much obliged if you will give it an insertion in the
News. E. S.

" ' Doct. Richards, Present.'

" "With the above we received a plate of cucumbers,
varying from 5J to 8-J inches — the lot averaging 6|
inches in length ; large enough for table use, or about
If inches in diameter ; the whole covered with a hand-
ful of green leaves from 7 to 10 inches in diameter.
We are thankful to learn by this expression that Friend
Sayers has not forgotten the texture of our eye and
taste for early vegetables, though it is many years
since we have had the opportunity of regaling in his
botanic, flower, and vegetable kingdom."

Then follow the minutes of the General Conference,
the largest portion of which is occupied with a sermon
and speech from Brigham, and a few short speeches
from other dignitaries. In the sermon, the reigning
seer condescends to give the assembled Saints some
light in reference to the Temple, of which the corner
stones had been lately laid :

" I scarcely ever say much about revelations or vis-
ions ; but suffice it to say, five years ago last July I
was here, and saw in the spirit the Temple, not ten
feet from where we have laid the chief corner stone.
I have not inquired what kind of a temple we should

294 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

build. Why ? Because it was represented before me.
I never looked upon that ground but the vision of it
was there. I see it as plainly as if it was in reality
before me. "Wait until it is done. I will say, how-
ever, that it will have six towers to begin with instead
of one. Now do not any of you apostatize because it
will have six towers, and Joseph only built one. It is
easier for us to build sixteen than it was for him to
build one. The time will come when there will be
one in the centre of temples we shall build ; and on
the top, groves and fish-ponds. But we shall not see
them here at present."

These fish, we may be permitted to conjecture, will
be gudgeons, and gulls will probably sport in the same
waters.

It would seem, from the speech, as though Brigham
had been rivaled a little too closely in chasing after
some dowered widows to be quite agreeable :

" You may see a great many miserly persons with
regard to dollars and cents ; it is just as natural for
men to be miserly with regard to their religious bless-
ings. You may see hundreds of elders who say to the
sisters, ' Come, and be sealed to me,' crawling round
to make the holy ordinances of (rod a matter of spec-
ulation to administer to their avaricious dispositions.
They tell you that you will go into eternity, and find
yourselves without husbands, and can not get an exalt-
ation ; that you can not have this, that, or the other,
unless you are seated to them. I am free, and so are
you. My advice to the sisters is, Never be sealed to
any man, unless you wish to be. I say to you high-
priests and elders, never, from this time, ask a woman

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 295

to be sealed to you, unless she wants to be, but let the
ividows and children alone"

The following affords some insight into the mysteries
of courtship and marriage, as managed in this favored
region :

" I might notice many more items pertaining to this
matter ; but the elders going round telling the sisters
they must be sealed to them, or they can not get an
exaltation, particularly has wounded my feelings.
How ignorant such men are ! This, to me, is like a
shadow ; to talk about it is sheer nonsense. Let every
man and woman magnify their calling in the kingdom
of God, and he will take care that we have our exalt-
ation.

" Sisters come to me and inquire what they shall do,
saying, Brother A. or B. taught me so and so. They
are as wild as the deer on the mountains ; their ideas
and calculations are derogatory to every shade of good
sound sense, and to every principle of the priesthood
of heaven."

The following are short speeches :

" Benjamin L. Clapp remarked, * I have been for some
time in a curious frame of mind, depressed in spirit,
but I have done nothing in secret, neither blasphemed
the name of God,' and called on the Saints to forgive
him, that he once more might enjoy the Spirit of God ;
and thanks God he has been reproved, as it is for his
benefit. He wants to stand in his lot and place, and
magnify his calling. He feels better to-day than he
has for the last two years."

" President Young presented the text, a set of fire-
irons made by the brethren from the native irori in

296 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

Iron county ; also a small piece of metal, looking like
silver, found at the bottom of the furnace, on which
aqua fortis has no effect ; and said he, < We no longer
ask any person to go to Iron county.'

" Elder George A. Smith was called upon to preach
' an iron sermon,' who rose, took in the stand one of the
fire-irons, holding the same over his head, cried out
' Stereotype edition,' and descended, amid the cheers
of the Saints. As many of the Saints had been in the
house over five hours, the choir sung * Praise God from
whom all blessings flow.' Benediction by Lorenzo
Snow."

The last page is devoted to advertisements, of which
the following are peculiar :

" BRANDS, BRANDS !

" Mistake corrected. — By some unaccountable op-
eration in human affairs, the following mark JL was
recorded and published for the benefit of Lyman Hin-
man.

" This M^ is Lyman Hinman's brand, on the left
hip, three inches long by four inches wide ; residence,
Richards' Mill, Davis county ; and all persons will
please take notice, and govern themselves accordingly.

"H. COR AY,
" Acting Recorder of Brands, Utah Territory."

" NOTICE.

" The members of the 31st Quorum of Seventies are
requested to send in their names and genealogies in
the following order, to the Clerk of said Quorum in
Grand Salt Lake City : Person's name ; when born ;

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 297

place of birth ; parents' names ; baptized ; ordained
into the Quorum. By order of the Presidents,

" GTEO. WOODWARD, Clerk"

" Gr. D. WATT, REPORTER,

is on hand when called for, to make verbatim re-
ports of the blessings of children, confirmations, ser-
mons, lectures, &c., &c., and may be found in the
President's Office, northwest corner of the Council
House, up stairs.

" P. S.— - When any of the Wards call a meeting for
the blessing of children, it may be found for their ben-
efit to have Gr. D. W. present on such occasions."

The "Deseret News" is edited by Dr. Willard Rich-
ards, a member of the Quorum of Three, and who, it
will be recollected, was an inmate of the Carthage jail
when the Smiths were murdered, and narrowly escaped
injury on that critical occasion. He is also the Presi-
dent of the Legislative Council, and, in addition, holds
the important position of deputy post-master at Salt
Lake City under the general government. He is of
unwieldy size, and disposed to lethargy. His corpu-
lence is a disease produced by the joint influence of
gluttony and drink. He evinces much kindliness of
disposition and politeness of demeanor, and is not des-
titute of talent. Some of his editorials read well and
are sensible. His history in reference to polygamy is
worth relating. When it was first introduced by the
prophet, he was much annoyed. He was, it seems,
married to a wife for whom he had a strong attach-
ment, and was so fearful that it would render her un-
N2

298 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

happy, that he managed to keep all knowledge of it
from her, which certainly presents the amiability of
his disposition in a favorable light. His wife died in
Nauvoo, after which the doctor took unto himself a
goodly number of concubines, under the universal plea
that it was a divinely authorized order of the Church.
Was he sincere, or did he all the while suspect that
the inspiration of Joseph was from a class of spirits
similar to those with whom Dr. Faustus was, in pop-
ular credulity, supposed to have been in league when
he invented type ? He will not live with his concu-
bines, but furnishes them with separate stalls, as a
farmer would his favorite cows, and continues to re-
side with a maiden sister. He is an instance of an
easy, good-natured man, spoiled by a profane religious
system and vicious associations. His obesity and hab-
its will soon remove him to a state where all that is
good and evil, recorded in his book of life, will be fully
explored.

Another medium of instruction, through the agency
of which the Saints are kept in a high degree of illu-
mination, is the "Deseret Almanac," a concern got up
by "W. W. Phelps, editor of the " Morning and Even-
ing Star" when Zion was located in Missouri, since
Speaker of the House of Representatives at the first
session of the Legislative Assembly, and who some-
times calls himself the " King's Jester." This man, as
already stated, was a broken-down political hack, who
resided for a time at Cortland, and also at Canandai-
gua, in the State of New York. There were too many
screws loose in his mind to make him efficient in any
thing rational, and, soon after Smith appeared upon the

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 299

stage with Spaulding's book, and his own machinery
of seer-stones and miracles, Phelps was irresistibly at-
tracted, and became an early convert. When the
troubles came on in Missouri, and Joseph and Hyrum
were arrested for treason, he apostatized, and, as a
witness before Judge King, made some ugly disclo-
sures. He was afterward restored to the bosom of the
Church, and now figures among the great men of the
Latter-day Saints. In the secret penetralia of Mor-
mon Temple mysteries, he plays the part of the ser-
pent-devil in the garden of Eden ; and on such occa-
sions, wriggles and hisses so much like a real snake,
that his services are looked upon as indispensable by
all true believers.

An almanac made up by such a genius must, of
course, have its peculiarities. In the one for 1852 oc-
curs the following scrap of sublime doctrine :

" The nearest ' fixed star' must be Mount Paran,
mentioned in Habakkuk, the fruitful world of glory
where the ' Holy One' came from ; or, rather, Kolob,
where our Father in the heavens resides in the midst
of his glory and kingdoms. The next < fixed star,' also
mentioned by Habakkuk, must be Tamen, the world
of perfection, where Grod came from to do the works
of his Father spoken of by John the Revelator (Rev.,
L, 6) ; which Father of Grod and grandfather of Jesus
Christ must now be living in one of the eternity of
eternities, which closes the Lord's Prayer in the Greek
version, and is mentioned by John (Rev., xix., 3, &c.)."

This idea of matrimony and pedigree among the
Mormon gods is kept up in the Almanac for the present
year, as will be seen by the following specimen page :

300

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

1853.] FEBRUARY begins on Tuesday, and has 28 days. [WINTER.

First day, lOh. 3m. long. Fifteenth day, lOh. 35m. long.

CHANGES OF THE MOON. CONJUNCTIONS, Ac., OF PLANETS.

d. h. m. d. A. m.

• New Moon, 6 10 7 a. 4 <$ <£ 3 li 47m.

}) First quarter, 14 9 45 a. <J 4 <£ 7 3 8 m.

O Full moon, 23 11 58 m. $ 6 <C 5 11 20m.

Day of Week J^-

ALMANACANA.

Sun I Sun \ Moon
Ris. (Sets. South.

Moon
Rises.

A. m. h. m. , h. m.

A. m.

Tuesday

1

Weather changes, so do men.

7 13:5 16 7 6

1 30

Wednesday

2

Mary's purification.

7 12

5 17

8 8

233

Thursday

3

Law costs cash ;

7 11

5 18

9 4

3 34

Friday

4

Matrimony patience.

7 10

520

10 4

4 19

Saturday

5

God hates sin and debauchery.

7 9

5 21

11 2

524

Sunday

6

Flattery is the fog of greatness.

7 7

5 21

11 57

6 19

Monday

7

Beware ! yes, of folly.

7 6

5 22

1245

sets.

Tuesday

8

Hyrum Smith b. 1800.

7 5

523

1 41

6 1

Wednesday

9

Among officials, when one dog

7 4

5 24

2 23

7 13

Thursday

10

barks, another imitates him.

7 3

5 26

3 6

8 19

Friday

11

Every body talks too much.

7 2

527

348

9 13

Saturday

12

Cholera in London, 1812.

7 0

528

429

10 8

Sunday

13

Be one in time for eternity.

6 59

529

5 19

11 10

Monday

14

Gold governs this world, and

6 58

5 31

555

11 52

Tuesday

15

wisdom heaven.

6 56

5 32

644

morn.

Wednesday

16

Vision of Joseph Smith, 1832.

655

5 32

729

54

Thursday

17

W.W. Phelpsb. 1792.

6 54

5 33

8 20

2 1

Friday

18

Sirius s. 8h. 52m.

6 52

5 37

9 8

3 3

Saturday

19

Why does man fail in what he

6 51

5 38

10 9

355

Sunday

20

aims at nine times out of tenl

650

539

11 1

453

Monday

21

Because he does not honor God.

648

540

11 58

5 56

Tuesday

22

Ezra T. Benson b. 1811.

647

541

morn.

rises.

Wednesday

23

God was married, or how could

645

543

46

6 24

Thursday

24

he beget his son Jesus Christ

644

544

1 38

7 13

Friday

25

lawfully, and do the works of

642

545

2 28

8 1

Saturday

26

his Father 1

641

546

3 19

9 13

Sunday

27

Eternity swallows ages.

6 39

547

4 11

1033

Monday

28

Deseret University chart'd 1850.

6 38

548

5 18

11 50

In the miscellaneous department we find such scraps
as these :

" UNION.

" The experience of ages shows that i union' makes
heaven eternal, because the sun-lit, moon-tinged, star-
ry hosts above are as they were from the beginning.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. £01

Now I wish and pray for the ' Saints,' as they gather
from the nations of the earth, to come to the same
union. When this globe was organized, the < waters
Were gathered into one place ;' so, when we view the
Great Basin, we see the waters from all points of the
compass run to the centre, or Great Salt Lake, and
there is no ' outlet,' but a specimen of union as to com-
ing together, and preservation as to salt. Here, then,
let every Saint PRESERVE THE UNION by bringing and
manufacturing all that is needed, and not ' casting
their pearls before swine,' by buying goods of Japheth's
merchantmen, who run back to their < sties' in the East,
0 eh, 0 eh, 0 eh ! how easy we made $500,000 out
of the d — d Mormons by charging five hundred per
cent. Don't take that pitcher to the well again — 'tis
cracked ! i Let the dead bury their dead,' or let the
world cheat the world ; but, Saint, keep thyself unspot-
ted from the world !"

" HINTS FOR HUMANITY.

" A family hell — a smoky house, a wife never suit-
ed, and a few ragged urchins playing cards and scratch-
ing their heads.

" Paradise lost — a beautiful girl, after having tasted
of the good word of God, with a prospect of the ' pow-
ers to come,' that runs away and marries a c tare of
the field.' "

"A SONNET ON BOGUS.

" A new idea, fresh,

The people all are bogus :
Their bodies true are flesh,

But devils' spirit rogue us — (except the Mormons}.

302 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

" The world goes on to cheat,

The very fashions vogue us ;
There's tares among the wheat,

And every coin has bogus — (except the Mormon} ."

The General Conference meets every six months, in
April and October, which is a general meeting of the
Church, and on which occasions speeches are made
and sermons delivered. Lectures are also occasionally
delivered before the " Female Health Society," an as-
sociation for the promotion of health, in which the
mysteries of curing disease by miraculous agency are
more particularly descanted upon. The language of
their discourses on devotional, business, and festive oc-
casions, is often low, filthy, obscene, profane, and bru-
tal to a degree shocking to Grentile ears.

In the summer of 1851, Brigham Young delivered
a discourse intended to use up the doctors, in which,
in vulgar and obscene language, he undertook to show
that he was as well acquainted with the different parts
of the human body as professional men. One phrase,
in particular, has passed into the dignity of " house-
hold words." He said he knew that " women had
legs, &c., &c., as well as the doctors." The dialect
of the blackguard is so common to Brigham as to ex-
cite very little 'attention. In a speech of his, published
in the "Deseret News" of April 2d, 1853, against the
Grladdenites, such phrases as these occur : " Nasty,
sneaking apostate ;" " nasty little Smith and his wife ;"
" go to hell across lots;" " nasty, stinking ribbons."
The Governor has a large harem, and sure no one can
dispute his full appreciation of the meaning of the word
" nasty"

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 3Q3

During the same summer that Brigham used up the
doctors, a party of pleasure, men and women, resorted
to the top of " Ensign Peak," and, among others, was
an address delivered by "W. "W. Phelps, in which he
went on to enlighten the mothers and daughters in
Israel as to the proper time and manner in which the
work of generation should be carried on, with a mi-
nuteness of detail and vulgarity of language which
could scarcely have been more broad had he denuded
himself by way of illustration. This reached the cli-
max of Mormon obscenity in public speaking, and is
often used by way of comparison. When any thing a
little richer than common has been elicited, it is said
to be almost equal to " Phelps' s sermon on the Mount"
So much remark was made about it at the time, that
he reported the speech for the Deseret News, in which,
though bad enough, the grosser portions are omitted.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Social Intercourse. — Governor's Party. — Influence of Polygamy upon
Amusements. — Style of Building. — Amusing Scenes growing out
of Polygamy. — Superstition. — Endowment Robes. — Initiation Cer-
emonies.— The Curse. — The Patriarch and his Blessings. — Gift of
Tongues. — Notions on Slavery.

THE Mormons are a social people. They have erect-
ed a large building called " Social Hall" with express
reference to their gratification in this respect, and the
building is so arranged as to answer the double pur-
pose of a theatre and a place for social parties. In the
basement is a kitchen, having all the means and ap-

304 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

pliances for cooking ; adjacent to which is a saloon,
capable of seating four to five hundred people. When
a gathering takes place too large for the private res-
idence of the one who intends to be the master of the
feast, " Social Hall" presents ample " room and verge"
enough for all the guests. These parties have their
oddities, like every thing else connected with this
strange people.

The Governor made a party in this building in Jan-
uary, 1853, for which the invitation cards, very neatly
executed, were sent around some days beforehand. At
the entrance each guest was met by the "private sec-
retary," and required to pay two dollars and a half
toward the expenses of the entertainment. This seem-
ed odd enough ; but it is the universal custom in all
their parties of pleasure, and is no bad idea where lux-
uries are expensive. The party was large, and, after
a goodly number had assembled, the business of the
evening was opened by a short prayer ; after which
the dancing commenced, and was kept up during the
whole evening. A band of music, which performed
exceedingly well, was stationed on the raised platform,
and there was room enough on the main floor for half
a dozen sets of cotillions. Those who did not see fit
to engage in dancing made themselves agreeable in
conversation ; and many being present who had trav-
eled over almost the entire globe as missionaries, a
stranger could not fail to pass the evening pleasantly.
The supper came off at eleven, and was first-rate ; all
the elements of a good feast were there, and were en-
joyed with great good humor. The latest sultana, wrho
is quite pretty, was present as a guest. Some dozen

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 395

others, however, of the harem, gave efficient aid in
preparing the supper, and were hospitable in their at-
tentions during the feast.

The Governor did not appear to enter with much
zest into the enjoyments of the evening — did not dance,
and seemed abstracted. Perhaps he was not in the
vein, or he may have been solicitous that every thing
should go off right ; at any rate, no one could complain
of any want of attention. He wore his hat, as usual.
By-the-way, he seldom or never takes off his hat : in
" Social Hall" — by his own fireside — in the State House
delivering his message to the Legislative Assembly,
it is all the same ; the eternal hat is ever topmost. Is
this intended as a species of ecclesiastical crown — a
kind of Mormon tiara, emblematical of his sovereignty ?
Or has he got a bald spot, or ugly wen on the top of
his bump of veneration ? I don't know ; I only know
that Brigham and his hat, like the Centaur and his
horse, are inseparable companions. His appearance is
injured by this confounded hat, because he and his hat
are always associated in the minds of all who have
ever seen him.

He must have been a very good-looking young man.
He is now about fifty-five ; dresses well and in good
taste ; has a dignified presence ; is of fair height, and
well-rounded and well-proportioned figure, but stoops
a little too much for his age. To a stranger his man-
ners are affable, and his conversation possesses the in-
terest natural to a shrewd mind and large experience
in some of the roughest phases of human life. He has
not the daring, reckless genius of Smith (dealing little
in the prophet's bold and dashing revelations), nor does

306 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

he possess the same popularity ; but he is his equal in
cunning, and his superior in sagacity. In "Utah he is
a great man; in the States he would be lost in the
multitude of greater men. He is probably in the only
place in the world where he could ever be distinguished.

Social parties are very common, at which music and
dancing are the universal accompaniments. The in-
vited guests generally contribute something toward the
expenses, and often the sum for each one to pay is
noted upon the card of invitation. Sometimes the
contributions appear in the form of pies, cake, roasted
fowl, &c., or some drinkable, forming a regular in-door
pic-nic. During the winter, they keep up theatrical
exhibitions at Social Hall, and generally the perform-
ances are better sustained in all their parts than in
theatres in the Atlantic cities, though the principal
part would not so well bear comparison. They lack
in costume, but their music is good, and they have a
scene-painter who would embellish theatres of much
greater pretensions.

But the misery of all their social and theatrical en-
tertainments is that they are too often made the places
of assignation. At the theatre, the audience com-
bines the peculiar characteristics of the pit and third
tier of eastern cities ; and as the room is imperfectly
lighted, there are things said and done which would
not bear a stronger light or a more definite description.
Polygamy poisons every thing ; it seems to break down
all the barriers of female virtue. And how can it well
be otherwise ? A dozen women, the common property
of one man, some of them divorced from other men,
lodged under the same roof, and often more than one

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

307

in the same room, soon begin to feel that they might
as well be the common property each of a dozen men.
I have been in small huts where the man and his two
wives lodged in the only room in the house. I was
in a wretched hut, in a small village on Utah Lake,
where the man and his two wives and grown-up daugh-
ter lodged in the same room, containing two beds : it
was their parlor, kitchen, and bed-room. It was a
manifest struggle between poverty and licentiousness,
and there was filth enough to manure a garden. A
child in Utah who knows his own father is wiser than
common children — wiser even than his mother, who, in
many instances, would be exceedingly puzzled to fix
the paternity.

BRIGHAM YOUNG'S ESTABLISHMENT.

Polygamy is introducing a new style of building at
Salt Lake City. A man with half a dozen wives builds,
if he can, a long, low dwelling, having six entrances

308

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

from the outside ; and when he takes in a new wife,
if able to do so, adds another apartment. The object
is to keep the women and babies, as much as possible,

DR. CLINTON'S HAREM.

apart, and prevent those terrible cat-fights which some-
times occur, with all the accompaniments of Billings-
gate, torn caps, and broken broom-sticks. As the " di-
vine institution" extends, these buildings increase, and
in a few years the city will look like a collection of
barracks for the accommodation of soldiers. Some
have separate buildings in parts of the city remote from
each other, and others have farm-houses, and the wives
are thus kept separate, the husband dividing his time
between them all.

Some funny scenes occur occasionally. Joseph
Young, a brother of Brigham, had a wife who was
more of a man than himself, and managed to ward off
plurality for some time. But he belonged to the blood-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

royal, and was persuaded to make good his claim to
royal privileges, by taking in a concubine from his own
kitchen. This would seem to have settled the ques-
tion, but the virago made a fight of it ; she not only
cleared the house of her rival, but effectually inter-
rupted the honey-moon by maintaining a close espion-
age upon the good man. One day, however, she was
absent, and, returning sooner than expected, found the
bride and groom in rather too intimate proximity to
suit her fancy. She seized the broom-stick, and laid
on with such good-will that the pair were glad to quit
the house in a very embarrassing predicament — very.
It cost Brother Young a dollar to buy a new broom ;
and the veritable Sister Young, like the young fowler
who came home empty-handed, if she did not abso-
lutely bring down her game, had the satisfaction, at
least, of making the feathers fly.

In the singularly made up population of Salt Lake
Valley is a colony of Welsh, of whom the head man is
Dan Ap Jones, and his wife is called the ""Welsh
Queen." Polygamy has made its inroads, too, upon
these Britons, and a noted case is often related, in
which the Welsh Queen figures as the principal per-
sonage. It seems that this queen claims a prodigious-
ly long pedigree, reaching back as far as Gr wen win,
the " Wolf of Plinlimmon," in the time of the Crusades,
and is a personage of more than ordinary importance.
The " divine institution" had been kept, a profound se-
cret from her Welsh majesty before she left her native
mountains, though her dear Ap had got an inkling of
how matters stood in this respect at Zion ; and being
connected at least with royal blood, he had a slight

310 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

hankering after some of its privileges. On the way
over the Plains they encountered scattered parties of
Mormon emigrants, from whom the princess ascertain-
ed, with some distinctness, the true state of things in
the Valley of Salt. In connection with this intelli-
gence, her attention became disagreeably fixed upon
some significant signs of intimacy between Ap and a
servant-girl ; and, to cap the climax, the girl began to
assume the airs of an equal. The Amazon

" Nursed her wrath to keep it warm,"

until an overt act of treason took place, when, pouncing
upon her victim unexpectedly, she tore her clothes from
her body ; and in the war of words which ensued,
Queen No. 2 dropped from her mouth a set of teeth,
which Dan, like a loving husband, had provided for her,
but which Queen No. 1 stamped into the ground in
her fury, utterly destroying their capacity for grinding
any more food.

Any number of anecdotes might be related illustra-
tive of the same subject : one more must suffice. This
was a tragi-comic scene, connected with no less a per-
sonage than "W. W. Phelps, King's Jester, Almanac-
maker, &c., &c. His wife, it seems, had given her con-
sent, as she thought, to his enlarging his domestic bor-
ders by taking in another helpmate ; but, after the
deed was done, found herself so goaded with jealousy,
that the immortal "W. "W. was compelled to lodge the
new-comer elsewhere than under the homestead roof.
This allayed some of the irritation ; but still, when he
was absent attending upon the new wife, the old one
felt so much annoyed, that she was impelled to consti-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

tute herself a spy upon their actions. One night she
stationed herself by the window of the apartment,
where the lovers were too much engrossed with each
other to pay any attention to intruders, but incautious-
ly leaning too heavily against the sash, the whole fell
in, including her own person. Phelps of the male gen-
der, of course, bounced up in great alarm at the crash,
and was much surprised to find Phelps No. 1 of the
female gender prone upon the floor, with face and
hands cut with broken bits of glass.

The Mormon system adapts itself readily to popu-
lar superstitions, and infuses into them new life and
activity. The reigning prophet is the only true medi-
um of a direct revelation from heaven ; but, notwith-
standing this, there are any number of dreams dream-
ed, and sights seen, of a supernatural character. The
saints are surrounded by the spirits of the earth and
the air ; their movements individually and collectively
are regulated by an invisible and supernatural agency.
Remarkable dreams, and quasi visions, and strange
sights, and mysterious omens, are exceedingly com-
mon, and are related with grave solemnity. One man
dreamed that a dead uncle appeared to him, and en-
treated that he would be baptized for him, which of
course was a convincing argument in favor of the doc-
trine of baptism for the dead. Another was perfect-
ly sure that he had seen one of the three Lamanites
spoken of in the Book of Mormon, who were to wander
over the earth until the final consummation of all
things — an idea borrowed undoubtedly from the popu-
lar notion of the " Wandering Jew."

In their initiation into the Church, the novitiates are

312 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

invested with a mysterious garment called the endow-
ment rote, to which many virtues are ascribed. These
curious robes may be seen on the clothes-line in the
afternoon of every washing-day, and consist of a white
garment, made up of common shirting, with strips and
crosses of scarlet stitched in, emblematical of some of
their temple mysteries. It is believed that Doctor
Richards had on one of these robes, and thereby escaped
unhurt at the Carthage jail ; and that Joseph and Hy-
rum neglected to put them on, and therefore lost their
lives. The person thus invested is supposed to be safe
against the arts of the devil to bring harm upon him,
and in a condition to escape danger from shipwreck,
disease, bullets, &c. Some of them are so imbued with
this idea, that in changing the garment, they will keep
one leg in the old one until they invest the other with
the new, lest the devil or some of his imps should ob-
tain a temporary advantage.

Mrs. Catharine Lewis has given us some insight into
the ceremonies of the first initiation — the following is
condensed from a pamphlet written by her while the
Saints were at Nauvoo :

" She was taken to the Temple at Nauvoo, carried up
three flights of stairs to the Hall of Initiation. There
she was disrobed, washed, and anointed with great cer-
emony by females. After the washing, a blanket was
put round her, and the priestess whispered a new name
in her ear, which she was never to disclose. The next
ceremony was the garden of Eden, where one person,
representing Grod, creates a world, then makes man,
takes a rib and forms a helpmeet for him. Then an-
other person, representing the devil, tempts Eve with

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

forbidden fruit ; then the men and women hide, be-
cause God is coming ; and so they go through a lot of
mummery, including the flaming sword- — the men
wearing nothing but white drawers with shirts over
them, and white linen caps. She was required to per-
form several ceremonies, such as drawing her hand
across her throat as if in the act of cutting, and after-
ward learned that it would have been certain death to
have resisted. The last sign was then given, accom-
panied with the incantation, * Marrow in the bones,
strength in the sinews, and virtue in the loins through-
out all generations.' Her clothes were then restored
to her."

This lady had the good fortune to escape from Nau-
voo before being initiated into the deeper mysteries.

In these secret initiatory rites, a curse is invoked by
each one upon him or herself in case of apostacy, and,
in addition to this, the prophet is careful to fulminate
an additional curse upon those who escape from his
jurisdiction. These ecclesiastical thunders often prove
more potent than would generally be believed. Many
persons, who feel themselves robbed and oppressed by
the authorities of the Church, and resolve time and
again to escape from their unpleasant situation, aro
nevertheless restrained and kept in bondage by the su-
perstitious fear that they may in some way be brought
under the curse. The discontented Mormon mind
presents a singular bundle of contradictions. I have
heard persons of this description speak freely of the
manner in which they had been plundered of their
property, and of the numberless rascalities of Brigham
and his associates, and of the abominable and lament-

0

314 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

able effects of polygamy, and express their determina-
tion to leave the Territory ; and yet these same per-
sons, even after making some preparations for the jour-
ney, would remember the curse to which they stood
exposed, and slide tack into the lap of Mormonism,
the passive slaves of this gross and filthy imposture.
The leaders take unwearied pains to ascertain the sub-
sequent history of those who have apostatized, and
publish in the pulpit and by the press cases in which
they have met with misfortune, some of which —
whether in the form of destruction of property by fire
or otherwise, or untimely death — are supposed to have
been produced by the direct agency of the Saints them-
selves.

Among other singular institutions, they have a Pa-
triarch, whose business it is to bestow blessings. The
blessing is given in writing to the applicant, who pays
for the same one dollar and a half, of which one dollar
belongs to the Patriarch, and the balance is paid to the
scribe for recording the document. This constitutes a
revenue similar to that procured from the sale of in-
dulgences, or of masses in popish times. At an early
period, the mantle of patriarchal inspiration fell upon
Uncle John Smith — it now covers the shoulders of Un-
cle Joseph Smith. It seems to be necessary that the
incumbent should be an uncle and a Smith : there is
no danger of the failure of the latter, and it is sup-
posed the former will last the few years yet remain-
ing before the great terrestrial clock finally runs down.

These blessings, like the endowment robes, are sup-

. posed to possess wonderful virtues in protecting the

subjects of them from misfortune. A simple fool, by

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

the name of Colborn, took great apparent satisfaction
in exhibiting a blessing he had received from the ver-
itable John Smith, while in Nauvoo in 1835. It cov-
ered two pages, and promised him almost every thing,
and, among them, freedom from poverty and disease.
He had, previous to this, been trying to excite sympa-
thy by complaining of his miserable state of poverty
and disease ever since he came to the valley ; he was,
nevertheless, fully persuaded that the blessing had been
fulfilled to the very letter.

Any number of conversions can be traced to the
supposed performance of miracles, among which the
exercise of the gift of tongues is very conspicuous.
One man stated that he was listening to a discourse by
a Mormon elder, who all at once let forth a perfect flood
of language entirely new to him. It caused " a sud-
den thrill," as he described it, " from the back of his
head down his back-bone ;" and, of course, he was con-
verted from that hour. Another compared it to a shock
of electricity.

These miraculous powers are generally taken upon
trust. A Mormon lady related the case of an elder so
ignorant that he could neither read nor write, who was
a remarkably fluent preacher, and could repeat the
Bible from beginning to end without missing a word.
On being asked how he obtained such a knowledge of
the Bible, he answered that it was given him of the
Spirit while he was preaching. This fellow afterward
apostatized, but, notwithstanding, she still persisted in
the most implicit faith in his supernatural knowledge.

A Mrs. "Western, an old and simple-minded lady, re-
lates that she was dissatisfied with all other doctrines

31(5 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

and preachings because no claim was made to the
signs which are to follow those who believe, and that
she was converted by the first Mormon sermon she
heard because the elder claimed to be in the possession
of these proofs of discipleship, and actually joined the
Church with no other evidence that he possessed them
except his own assertion. She really believes she was
healed twice miraculously, once by consecrated oil and
the laying on of hands, and once by baptism ; and it
was a great mystery to her that she could not be so
healed at other times. It seems she was at one period
very anxious to have a demonstration of the gift of
tongues. Lodging one night with a woman who pre-
tended to the gift, her artful companion broke out in
her sleep with a song in an unknown tongue, and,
after an interval of genuine snoring, tuned up her
pipes in English by way of translation. This, with
other things, so completely fastened the simple-minded
old lady, that the plurality system, though it greatly
shocked her when introduced, did not drive her off.
She now consoles herself that it was permitted to try
the Church, and will eventually be abolished. She
became a convert at a time of life when she could not
be an object of desire to any of the Latter-day ba-
shaws, and has escaped contamination from the worst
pollutions of Mormonism.

So generally diffused is the notion that our bodies
are tabernacles for pre-existing spirits to enter into,
that mothers pretend to surmise from what particular
tribe their children come from. One lady gravely
stated that her little Ruth came from the tribe of
Joseph. " She is a selfish little thing," said she,

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

" and, you know, Joseph knew how to feather his own
nest."

The Mormons justify slavery, and would be slave-
holders upon religious principle if in their power. It
will be recollected that, in the grand council of the
gods convened to deliberate on the salvation of the
human race, the devil and his adherents raised a fac-
tious opposition to Christ, and were defeated, cursed,
and banished. They believe that the spirit of one of
this crew entered into the tabernacle called Cain and
committed the first murder, and that the negroes aro
descendants of Cain, and furnish tabernacles for these
pre-existing devils. They believe that they have a
black skin because they are under a curse, and that it
is perfectly right for those having white skins to carry
the celestial sentence into execution by enslaving them.
I asked one of the elders how this sable pedigree es-
caped the flood : his answer was, that Ham's wife was
a descendant of Cain, and was saved in the ark, and
that the same curse was subsequently pronounced upon
Ham.

318 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

CHAPTER XIX.

Manner of making Converts. — Doctor Cox. — English Converts. — Con-
tinual Loss of Members. — Dissensions. — Gladdenism. — Apparent
Decline of Mormonism. — Decrease of Population. — Present Charac-
ter of its Missionaries. — Conclusion.

THE Mormons have had great success in making
converts by the boldness of their pretensions, and tho
hardihood of their manner of recommending them.
Doctor Cox, in his " Interviews," gives us a very char-
acteristic instance of an attempt to convert him on the
part of two of Joseph's missionaries. They called one
Sabbath morning, and in a very solemn and imposing
manner addressed him as " Brother Cox, a man of Grod,
a friend of truth, a lover of righteousness, and a preach-
er of the Gospel," and announced that they had been
sent on a special mission to him ; and that he was to
become a Latter-day Saint, and rise to great eminence
in the new Zion. The doctor called for some mirac-
ulous demonstration by way of credential, which they
declined exhibiting just then, although they claimed
the power to do so. The Saints possess great cunning
in adapting themselves to the peculiar temperaments
and idiosyncracies of individuals ; but in this instance
they mistook their man. The interview ran into a
dialogue, which warmed into animation, of which tho
following — No. 1 representing the Doctor, and 2 and 3
his visitors — will give the reader some idea :

1. " I shall not stir another step in this business till

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

I sec the evidence on which you rely, as self-vaunted
envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary
from the court of the King of kings, to sustain your
apostolicity and vindicate your claims. Here, then, I
take my stand, and call for evidence — for proof. How
am I to know, gentlemen, that you are not impostors ?"
3. " You had better take care, sir, what you say.
The evidence may come sooner than you desire, and
as you do not expect, and what you will not relish, sure
enough ! I \vould just warn you to beware !"

1. " You mean that the evidence may surprise me,
coining in the way and style of some divine judgment ?"

3. " Yes, sir, I do ; and I hereby warn you against
it."

2. "Oh! if it should come now, what would be-
come — "

1. "Very well, gentlemen, I am ready, and quite
content. Send a good rousing judgment along— -a lit-
tle touch of earthquake, some thunder and lightning,
cholera morbus, palsy, volcano, avalanche, nightmare,
gout, ship fever, neuralgia, or any thing else you please ;
yes, little or much of it, gentlemen, and the sooner the
better, as I am ready, if you are, and quite disposed to
be accommodating."

3. " Sir, are you forgetting yourself all the time ?"

1. "Not at all; I am only remembering you. Let
us have some of the evidence. Come! your testimo-
nials, your seals, your signs, gentlemen."

2. " Why, I never saw or heard such a man as you !"

1. " Nor I ever read or conceived before of such men
or such apostles, exactly, as are you."

2. " I fear you are a hardened old — "

320 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

3. " Yes, and blinded, too, with darkness."

1. ""Why, surely there seems to "be considerable
darkness in my study — more than common this after-
noon— and I wish there were more air, since light seems
so scarce, and heat so oppressive in it."

3. " Sir, to tell you plainly, you are a hardened man
and a hypocrite — given up— reprobate."

2. " Oh, how dark — dark — dark you are !"

3. " Yes, you are a hypocrite, a liar, sir ; and I
know — "

1. " Stay just a moment. Pray, be quite calm. I
can refute all that instantly on the authority of two
apostles. Instead of liar, hypocrite, reprobate, I am,
you remember, < Brother Cox, a man of God, a friend
of truth, a lover of righteousness, and a preacher of the
Gospel.' This is a great honor—quite a high and a
memorable endorsement. It is, at least, the exalted
character I had a few hours since. If I have it not
yet, but have grown so bad all at once, as you now de-
nounce me, it must be because I have been some time
in your company."

The affair ended in a very unequivocal hint for the
intruders to quit the premises, which they did, mutter-
ing all sorts of maledictions. But where one experi-
ment like that of Doctor Cox failed, hundreds of others
succeeded, until the increasing numbers of their com-
munity became an inducement to join it, irrespective
of any religious convictions.

The facility with which they have made converts in
Great Britain has created surprise, but it is very easily
accounted for. In the first place, with all her light and
knowledge, there is in our mother country a lament-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

able mass of ignorance. Mr. Dickens, in his Household
Words, says on this subject : "It has been calculated
that there are in England and Wales six million per-
sons who can neither read nor write; that is to say,
about one third of the population, including, of course,
infants ; but, of all the children between five and four-
teen, more than one half attend no place of public in-
struction. These statements, compiled by M'Kay from
official and other authentic sources, for his work on the
social condition and education of the poor in England
and Europe, would be hard to believe, if we had not to
encounter, in our every-day life, degrees of illiteracy
which would be startling if we were not thoroughly
used to it. We can not pass through the streets, we
can not enter a place of public assembly, or ramble in
the fields, without the gloomy shadow of ignorance
sweeping over us."

In the next place, thousands, who have no fixed re-
ligious faith, are discontented with their condition, and
anxious to emigrate to this country, and very willingly
take advantage of the opportunity of having their ex-
penses paid by the " Emigrating Fund Company."
Deseret is described to them as a perfect paradise ; and
that which makes this Eden doubly attractive is, that
each one can have as much as he needs without pay-
ing a cent for it. The more pretending and ambitious
class of these converts are greatly elated, too, with the
idea of becoming priests, bishops, &c., which, in Eng-
land, are stations of importance. These foreign emi-
grants, after they get to Utah, make the most obedient
subjects, because they are accustomed to tithing, and
other features of an ecclesiastical dominion ; they glide

02

322 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

easily into all the wild and absurd notions of Mormon-
ism, and are more easily kept in debt to the " Public
Works," and consequently in entire dependence upon
the Church. As poor as they live in Utah, they still
fare better than formerly, and are contented in this
respect. This is the general rule, which has its nu-
merous exceptions. A sail-maker and boat-builder,
both Englishmen, left in discontent for California in
the spring of 1853, because it had been represented to
them that the commerce of Great Salt Lake was so
extensive as to furnish them continual employment,
which they found to be a sheer falsehood.

The Mormon rulers take great pains to have it be-
lieved that their community is continually and rapid-
ly increasing. This, however, is a very great mistake.
There has always been a curious state of accumula-
tion and loss going on with them, and the loss is at pres-
ent probably the largest part of the account. There is
no society in the world in which there are so few per-
manent members, in proportion to the converts origin-
ally made. Many of the new-born Saints very soon
lose the soda-water enthusiasm which is first experi-
enced, and fall away ; many, who have zeal enough to
commence the mighty pilgrimage toward the modern
Zion, cool off, and lodge like drift-wood by the way.
Each emigrating body tapers off, something like the
arrny of Peter the Hermit in the first great crusade.
Orson Pratt, in " The Seer" states the number of ex-
communications in the British Islands at 1776 for
the half year ending June 30, 1853. They have, in
reality, more backsliders and apostates, and are divided
into more sects, for the length of time since their com-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 393

mencement, than any other known religious denomina-
tion. Any one who has ever seen a miniature whirl-
wind upon a dusty plain, and attentively watched its
gyrations, catching up the dust, straws, leaves, and
other loose materials, and gradually increasing in bulk
and altitude until it is composed of a whirling and
somewhat dangerous column of heterogeneous mat-
ter, throwing off and gathering up, until it somewhat
suddenly subsides, can gain some idea of the associa-
tion and operation of those peculiar elements which
originated and have sustained Mormonism ; and it
needs no great degree of prophet-sagacity to foresee its
subsidence in like manner.

This disposition to fall away does' not end at Great
Salt Lake Valley. Hundreds, after they arrive at that
hitherto esteemed goal of all their wishes, find them-
selves bitterly disappointed in the anticipations and
hopes previously formed, and seek every opportunity
to make their way to California. The leaders are very
anxious to gain sufficient population to raise the Ter-
ritory to the rank of a state ; and on this, as well as
other grounds, throw every obstacle in the way of those
who are disposed to leave them. California has ac-
quired, in their dialect, the delightful sobriquet of
HELL, and the pulpit and the press thunder forth their
anathemas against all Saints who are turning their
faces in that direction. At the near approach of every
spring, which is more especially the season of emigra-
tion to the great Western El Dorado, the most untir-
ing efforts are made to prevent their numbers from di-
minishing. In addition to direct and indirect obsta-
cles thrown in the way of individuals, an appeal is gen-

324 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

erally made to the Saints collectively by the " Coun-
cil" of which the following, from the one published in
the Deseret News of February 19, 1853, will exhibit
the anxiety felt lest the Mormon ship should be desert-
ed by her crew.

" A Word to the Saints.

" ' Yes ! I think I shall go south, probably to the
Kanche. As I am counseled to go south, I have con-
cluded, perhaps, that this will be the best for me.'

" This is the story of many, as it is frequently told,
and comes to my ears ; and it is upon this point that I
wish to speak.

" Do I counsel the brethren to go to California, south
or north ? Not unless they want to go. If there is
any man, woman, or child, who desires to go to that
country, in preference to casting his or their lot among
the Saints — who feels so little interest in the cause of
truth as to be willing, after being delivered from the
Great Babylon, to again encounter the whirlpools of
sin and wickedness for the sake of gold — who prefers
to dwell in the tents of wickedness than to tarry among
the Saints — to any and all such persons, I say, go;
for Heaven's sake, for our sake, and for the sake of the
gold which you desire before all other gods, go ! But
to all others — to all such as have embraced the Gospel
for the love which they bear toward it — who love right-
eousness and truth, and who desire the peace of Jeru-
salem and the prosperity of Zion, stay ! hold! con-
sider what you are doing, and remember that here, in
these valleys, are the chambers of the Lord for his
people for a season.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 335

" Let no influence tempt you away, or seduce you
from the path of duty. As you value your religion,
which you have become the participants of through
the channel of the holy and eternal priesthood of the
Almighty, which in these last days he has seen fit to
bestow upon mankind — as you value the excellence
and the glory of the institutions of the people of (rod —
as you value your own salvation and exaltation, and
that of your kindred according to the flesh, as well as
the redemption of your dead, listen to the counselings
of the servants of God, and abide among his saints,
until you are sent away to the nations which lieth in
darkness. Until you shall be chosen as heralds of sal-
vation, to go forth with majesty and power of the eter-
nal priesthood, remain, and assist in preparing for the
great and mighty gathering of the Saints — assist in
the construction of a holy temple, which is to be built
in the tops of the mountains to the name of the mighty
Grod of Jacob, in which you can learn those ordinan-
ces necessary for the salvation of your dead, and can
obtain your endowment, and the blessings which shall
secure your exaltation in the kingdom of our G*od,
even to a place among the gods of eternity."

A stranger going among them will be told over and
over again that they are the most harmonious and
united people ever gathered into a community. The
contrary is the fact. Internal dissensions and schisms
have existed among them all the way through. The
immortal Joseph himself was often driven to his very
wit's end to prevent fragments from flying off in a tan-
gent and making themselves independent of the main
body. After the death of Smith, there was much strife

326 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

for the succession, and the election of Brigham Young
occasioned a great deal of heart-burning with the dis-
appointed candidates. At the breaking up at Nauvoo,
a considerable number split off, under the leadership
of one Strang, and are now Strangites, on Beaver Isl-
and, in one of our northern lakes. Another body went
into Texas under Lyman Wight. Brewster led off
another squad somewhere else. The divisions in this
way are said to number six or seven. Brigham man-
aged to slide more easily into the superstition and idio-
syncracies of the Saints, and led the mass to Great
Salt Lake ; but he, too, has his troubles from this
source, and is now more especially plagued with
Gladdenism, so called from Gladden Bishop, who pro-
fanely claims to be as much superior to Joseph Smith
as our Lord was to John the Baptist. This Gladden
gave Joseph much trouble ; was cut off from the
Church, and taken back, and rebaptized nine times ;
but, proving obstinate in heresy, was finally given over
to the buffetings of Satan for a thousand years.

This sect is small, but spreading in the very seat of
Mormon power, and is the more dangerous and troub-
lesome because composed of the more fanatical of the
Saints. Fanaticism is generally honest, but always
dangerous, because no one can foresee in what direc-
tion its burning focus may be turned. I met with,
and became acquainted with, some of these fanatics,
and have no reason to doubt their honesty in the belief
that Gladden Bishop is the Lord in his second coming.
One of them told me, with every appearance of sincer-
ity, that an angel was present at his birth, and that
the name Gladden was never before given to a human

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 397

being, and signified that he would make glad the
hearts of his people. It may well be suspected that
Joseph intended to take this important step himself,
and expand from the germ of a prophet into the full
bloom of a god. In his last sermon he said, " I can
enter into the mysteries ; I can enter largely into the
eternal worlds." He could have proved his way clear
from the Bible and the Book of Mormon just as easily
as the Mormons prove any thing, and all the dupes
and most of the knaves would have followed him.
But Gladden anticipated him, and death cut short his
aspirations for divine honors.

A man by the name of SMITH — which, like that of
the king, is " a tower of strength"— -was busy making
converts in the winter of 1852-3, with such success
that Brigham and his nobility became seriously alarm-
ed. Instead, however, of treating the subject with
ridicule, they resorted to the very doubtful expedient
of persecution.

Smith, the Gladdenite, repudiates polygamy, and
charges the present hierarchy with a departure from
the Book of Mormon in this, as well as in other par-
ticulars. He has great tenacity of purpose, and is,
withal, stimulated by hostility toward the leaders, on
account of having been stripped by them of his prop-
erty. On Sunday, the 20th of March, 1853, ho at-
tempted to preach in the street in front of the Council
House, in pursuance of a previous notice, but the
meeting, though perfectly orderly, was dispersed by
the city marshal. Nothing daunted, he made another
appointment for the same place on the following Sab-
bath ; but the marshal again appeared, took Smith into

328 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

custody, and detained him until he promised to make
no further attempt to preach on that day. On the
same day, Brigham preached in the Tabernacle, and
opened his Latteries upon the heretics with grape and
canister. The following are some of the choice speci-
mens of pulpit eloquence produced by the inspiration
of the occasion :

" When a man comes right out as an independent
devil, and says, * Damn Mormonism and all the Mor-
mons,' and is off with himself, not to Texas, but to
California (you know it used to be to Texas), I say he is
a gentleman by the side of a nasty, sneaking apostate,
who is opposed to nothing but Christianity ; I say to
him, Go in peace, sir ; go, and prosper, if you can.
But we have got a set of spirits here worse than such
a character. When I went from meeting last Sab-
bath, my ears were saluted with an apostate crying in
the streets here. We want such men to go to Califor-
nia, or any where they choose. I say to those persons,
You must not court persecution here, lest you get so
much of it you will not know \vhat to do writh it. Do
NOT court persecution. We have known Grladden Bish-
op for more than twenty years, and know him to be a
poor, dirty curse. Here is Sister Vilate Kimball,
Brother Heber's wife, has borne more from that man
than any other woman on earth could bear ; but she
won't bear it again. I say again, You GHaddenites,
do not court persecution, or you will get more than you
want, and it will come quicker than you want it. I
say to you bishops, Do not allow them to preach in
your wards. Who broke the roads to these valleys ?
did this little nasty Smith and his wife ? No ; they

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 339

stayed in St. Louis while we did it, peddling ribbons
and kissing the Grentiles. I know what they have
done here ; they have asked exorbitant prices for their
nasty, stinking ribbons [voices, < That's true']. We
broke the roads to this country. Now, you G ladden-
ites, keep your tongues still, lest sudden destruction
come upon you.

" I will tell you a dream that I had last night. I
dreamed that I was in the midst of a people who were
dressed in rags and tatters ; they had turbans upon
their heads, and these were also hanging in tatters.
The rags were of many colors, and, when the people
moved, they were all in motion. Their object in this
appeared to be to attract attention. Said they to me,
' We are Mormons, Brother Brigham.' ' No, you are
not,' I replied. < But ive have been,' said they, and
began to jump, and caper about, and dance, and their
rags of many colors were all in motion to attract the
attention of the people. I said, ' You are no Saints ;
you are a disgrace to them.' Said they, ' We have
been Mormons? By-and-by along came some mob-
ocrats, and they greeted them with ' How do you do,
sir ? I am happy to see you.' They kept on that way
for an hour. I felt ashamed of them, for they were,
in rny eyes, a disgrace to Mormonism. Then I saw
two ruffians, whom I knew to be mobbers and murder-
ers, and they crept into a bed where one of my wives
and children were. I said, < You that call yourselves
brethren, tell me, is this the fashion among you ?' They
said , ' 0, they are good men — they are gentlemen.' With
that, I took my large bowie knife, that I used to wear
as a bosom-pin in Nauvoo, and cut one of their throats

330 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

from ear to ear, saying, ' Gro to hell across lots.' The
other one said, ' You dare not serve me so.' I instant-
ly sprang at him,, seized him by the hair of the head,
and, bringing him down, cut his throat and sent him
after his comrade.; then told them both, if they would
behave themselves, they should yet live, but if they
did not, I would unjoint their necks. At this I awoke.

"I say, rather than that apostates shall flourish here,
I will unsheath my bowie knife, and conquer or die.
(Great commotion in the congregation, and a simul-
taneous burst of feeling assenting to the declaration.)
Now, you nasty apostates, clear out, or judgment will
be put to the line, and righteousness to the plummet.
(Voices generally, ' Go it, go it.') If you say it is
right, raise your hands. (All hands up.) Let us call
upon the Lord to assist us in this and every good
work."

No better evidence of the success of the new sect
need be produced. His excellency would never have
made so sublime a display of courage involving the
dreadful alternative of "victory or death," nor been
disturbed in his very dreams at the invasion of the
sanctity of his harem, had he not been strongly excited
in regard to the spread of Grladdenism. This discourse,
so characteristic of its author, was rapturously received,
and was as well adapted to the taste and scope of the
Mormon mind as any the Saints ever hear.

Brigham was succeeded by Parley P. Pratt, who has
more decency of language, as well as more subtlety of
genius, combined with much complacency of manner ;
but even he was on this occasion aroused up to a fight-
ing condition. After showing that all the persecutions

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 33^

ever suffered by the Latter-day innocents proceeded
directly or indirectly from apostates, he said :

" Sooner than be subjected to a repetition of these
wrongs, /, for one, would rather march out to-day and
be shot down. These are my feelings, and have been
for some time. Talk about liberty of conscience ! Have
not men liberty of conscience here ? Yes ; the Pres-
byterians, Methodists, Quakers, &c., have here the lib-
erty to worship God in their own way, and so has
every man in the world. People have the privilege of
apostatizing from this Church, and of worshiping dev-
ils, snakes, toads, or geese, if they please — only let their
neighbors alone. But they have not the privilege to
disturb the peace, or to endanger life or liberty ; that
is the idea. If they will take that privilege, I need
not repeat their doom ; it has been told here to-day.
They have been faithfully warned."

He proved, to his entire satisfaction and that of his
audience, that the Mormon mind had become so full
of truth, that, like Salt Lake, it could hold no more in
solution, and that liberty of speech to the Grladdenites
is only another name for the persecution of the Saints.

"We have truths already developed, unfulfilled by
us, unacted upon. There are more truths poured out
from the eternal fountain already than our minds can
contain, or than we have places and preparations to
carry out. And yet we are called upon to prove —
what ? Whether an egg that ivas known to be rot-
ten fifteen years ago has really improved by reason
of age ! ! !

" < You are going to be destroyed^ say they ; < de-
struction awaits this city!' "Well, what if we are?

332 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

We are as able to be destroyed as any people living.
What care we whether we are destroyed or not ? These
old tabernacles will die of themselves, if let alone.

"It is policy not to wait till you are killed, but act
on the defensive while you still live. I have said
enough on this subject."

The Constitution of the United States guarantees to
all liberty of speech, and the Saints claim to be much
attached to that instrument, alleging even that it was
given by inspiration ; but somehow the Mormon spec-
tacles are of a quality which prevents them from see-
ing this particular provision. Every man at Salt Lake
Valley is in the full enjoyment of this liberty only so
far as he preaches Mor monism as understood by "Coun-
cil."

On Sunday, the 27th of March, the subject was
again resumed at the Tabernacle by Elder Erastus
Snow, in a sermon distinguished by its profanity and
brutal ferocity. This was not reported for the Deseret
News, and the substance of it can only be stated from
memory. He began with the most sickening and ful-
some adulation of the bashaw of forty tails who at
present occupies the high and mighty position of the
prophet of the Lord in " these last days ;" after which,
by way of lashing himself into a fury, he poured forth
a torrent of invective against the Gentiles. He then
took up the Grladdenites, and hoped the Lord would
curse and destroy them. He plainly told the audience
that whoever should be the executioners of divine jus-
tice in this case, and slay the Grladdenites, their wives
and children, from the face of the earth, would receive
a bright crown of glory. The injunction to assassinate

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 333

these sectaries was open and undisguised, and repeated
in a variety of forms, and, what is more to be lament-
ed, was approvingly responded to by the audience. It
was a sphere of murder, plain, palpable, frightful, and
sickening. The picture was one which, once seen, can
never be effaced from the mind — a preacher in the
pulpit ferociously enjoining the murder of men, wom-
en, and children, for a difference of opinion, and 2000
faces intently gazing upon him with fanatical appro-
bation. The regions of the damned could scarcely pre-
sent a scene more truly diabolical. A Grentile emigrant
present stood it as long as he could, but finally left the
Tabernacle with compressed lips and clenched fist, and
evidently under an uncontrollable fit of indignant ex-
citement. This is Mormonism ! These are the people
who have made the world ring with the persecutions
of the G- entiles !

Elder Snow was succeeded by Amasa Lyman, one
of the twelve, a rubicund, smooth-faced debauchee,
who spends most of his time in San Bernardino, Cali-
fornia, and has concubines at convenient stations be-
tween that and the Mormon capital. His language
and manner were less violent and more dignified, but
quite as significant. He reminded the members of
the Church of their covenant obligations, and strongly
urged that this was an occasion in which particular
members were to perform the duties allotted to them ;
alluding evidently to the " Danitcs" or " Brothers of
Gideon" a band of organized ruffians of which men-
tion has already been made, whose duty it is to exe-
cute the mandates of the council, "right or wrong."

In the mean time, Smith had appointed a meeting

334 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

at his own house for this same Sabbath, and, as the
hour approached, a band of young men assembled
around his door, and collected a quantity of stones
ready for use ; and as the Gladdenites came to attend
the meeting, and entered the house, a long, six-foot,
scowling Danite, by the name of Cummings, in obe-
dience to his " covenant obligations," took them by the
collar and led them out, with threats of extermination.
After these demonstrations, it was generally supposed
by the resident Gentiles that Smith would mysterious-
ly disappear, as obnoxious men sometimes do in this
remote region ; but the leaders either concluded that
such a finale, after so much parade, might attract the
attention of the general government, or that their
threats would awe the heretics into submission. Be
this as it may, Gladdenism is feeding upon persecu-
tion and increasing its converts, and it may prove to
be one of the appointed means, under Providence, of
breaking the Mormon community into still smaller
fragments.

Mormonism has probably passed its culminating
point, and may reasonably be regarded as in the after-
noon of its existence. So great are the continual drains
upon them, that the present population of Utah can
only be increased, or even kept up, by emigration. Pri-
or to the summer of 1852, the existence of polygamy
had been carefully concealed from the mass of the
Saints residing abroad, and it was the belief of many
at Salt Lake City that its promulgation would discour-
age further emigration.

Whatever may be the cause — whether the public an-
nouncement and justification of polygamy, or the ab-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 335

sence of Gentile persecution, or because the concern is
wearing out of itself, a comparison of their numbers at
different dates will show an evident decline. When
Joseph was at the height of his power at Nauvoo, his
disciples in different parts of the earth were supposed
to number about 200,000 (including the families of
actual members, confined almost wholly to Great Brit-
ain and the United States). The Mormons themselves
boasted a much larger figure. In the Deseret Almanac
for 1853, the numbers are stated at 150,000 ; but how
one half of this is made up it is difficult to see. Tak-
ing 30,000 as the population of Utah, as given by the
same authority, and adding thereto 28,640, the num-
ber which Orson Pratt gives for the British Isles, after
taking out for deaths and excommunicated persons,
and we have, in round numbers, less than 59,000,
which leaves a balance of about 91,000 to be made up
from the United States, Sandwich Islands, &c. ; and
it is not probable that one eighth of that number can
be figured up, with the aid of Strangites and other
schismatics.

In Great Britain, the grand total in 1851 was given
at 30,747. In 1853 Orson Pratt gives it as follows :

" The Statistical Report of the Church of the Saints
in the British Islands, for the half year ending June
30, 1853, gives the following total: 53 conferences,
737 branches, 40 seventies, 10 high-priests, 2578 eld-
ers, 1854 priests, 1416 teachers, 834 deacons, 1776 ex-
communicated, 274 dead, 1722 emigrated, 2601 bap-
tized ; total, 30,690."

Deducting excommunications, emigrants, and deaths,
we have 26,918. This, if not a decided falling off,

336 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

shows at least a stand-still in a theatre of operations
heretofore remarkable for successful proselytism.

Again, the Deseret Almanac for 1853 gives " a little
over 30,000" as the then population of Utah. Orson
Pratt states it in his "Seer" at from " thirty to thirty-
five thousand." Some of the Gentile residents sup-
posed there might be between twenty-five and thirty
thousand ; my own observation fixed it at 25,000. It
appears from the minutes of the October Conference
(1853) that the Mormon population was 18,206. This
does not include the village of Toele, in Toele county,
nor Mountainville, in Utah county ; but the population
of both would not exceed 300, adding which would
make 18,506, showing a decrease of about 5000 since
the winter of 1853.

While the numbers already gathered are on the de-
crease, causes similar to those which have produced
this result are also at work which must seriously in-
terfere with the accession of new converts, especially
from civilized countries. Polygamy has proved to be the
Pandora's box from which these troublesome plagues
have gone forth on their errand of mischief, and it
would seem that Hope itself had been permitted to
escape. Owing to dissensions which have grown out
of this institution, the missionary establishment has
become much less effective, anjd, consequently, the pro-
gress of conversion is much more tardy than formerly.
"When the Governor or one of his favorites casts a long-
ing eye upon the Bathsheba of a more humble brother,
who is unwilling to give her up, it gives rise to collis-
ions, jealousies, and hate, which more or less ruffle the
surface of Mormon harmony. In these cases, the hus-

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 337

band is generally sent on a distant mission, that the
poacher upon his grounds may be rid of his opposition.
A case occurred in the fall of 1852. One Wells, the
Superintendent of the Public "Works, and, withal, a
species of right-hand man, conceived a violent passion
for the sister of one of his six wives, who happened to
be married to another man. The husband was forth-
with appointed on a mission to Siam ; but, fully un-
derstanding the true reason of his selection for so dis-
tant a post, he refused to go. This recusancy, how-
ever, did not save his wife, who, during the ensuing
winter, was transferred to the harem of the favorite.

Again, men who are disposed to be turbulent, and
who may exercise an influence dangerous to the reign-
ing prophet, are sent to distant parts of the globe, to
keep them out of the way. Some, too, who have be-
come miserable sots, and otherwise burdensome, are
sent off, in the hope that they will die or reform. Two
were appointed to the mission in China in the spring
of 1853, one of whom was a wretched inebriate. These
men went to California, on their way to their post, in
the same train with us. At the sink of Mary's River,
near the commencement of the forty-mile desert, was
one of those troublesome liquor stations which are be-
ginning to cluster the route, and at this place both of
these messengers of mercy became beastly drunk ; and
one of them, being quarrelsome in his cups, got into a
fight, and carried the unequivocal marks of the en-
counter in his face for some days.

Missionaries who are thus appointed more as a mat-
ter of policy at home than in reference to their effi-
ciency abroad, do not carry with them the same zeal

P

338 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

which distinguished the early Mormons. They have,
too, a more difficult task to perform. They have not
only to overcome the repugnance so strongly felt in all
Christian countries to polygamy, but to explain why
they have heretofore carried on a system of deception
in regard to its previous existence. From these and
other causes, it is not very likely that a larger number
of Saints than the present population of Utah will
ever be organized into a distinct community, and
these, it may well be foreseen, subject to a loss which
can not be repaired, must gradually sink away and
become lost in a better population. The American,
therefore, who is proud of his country, may reasonably
hope that the Union is not destined to be disgraced by
the admission of a state in which the licentious prac-
tices of Jewry and heathendom are made a part of its
religious institutions.

UTAH AND THE MORMONS. 339

CONCLUSION.

Early in May, 1853, we bade adieu to Great Salt
Lake City with a degree of pleasure which the reader,
if he has had the patience to peruse the foregoing pa-
ges, will readily appreciate, and started for California,
homeward bound. We joined a large cattle-train be-
longing to Messrs. Livingston and Kirkhead, under the
charge of Captain Howard Egan, an experienced
mountaineer. "We traveled along the eastern shore of
Great Salt Lake, and around its northern extremity;
looked into Oregon ; climbed over the Goose Creek
Mountains ; threaded our way down the Mary's River
to its sink ; passed into Carson's Valley, and up its
river to its sources in the great Sierra Nevada ; gazed
with wonder upon the sublime panorama of lofty
mountain peaks and tremendous chasms to be seen
from the summit of that mighty range ; and, finally,
descended from these snowy regions into the Italian
climate of California.

When we reached the valley of the Mary, the ordi-
nary emigrant road was found to be impassable, by
reason of the river floods, and our train was conducted
with great skill for some distance along the base of
the Humboldt Mountains, and from thence obliquely
to the river, making a divergence of about one hundred
and fifty miles. This led us over irregular highlands
and through frightful gorges — a region, torn by earth-
quakes and scorched by volcanic fires, which had never

340 UTAH AND THE MORMONS.

before been traversed by a white man. Such a journey
was of course made up of numerous incidents which
can not be forgotten, and especially to be remem-
bered may be mentioned the numberless kindnesses
received from the proprietor (Mr. L.), the conductor,
and every member of the train ; the freely -tendered
hospitalities of Colonel Reese, whose establishment in
Carson's Valley reminds one of the comforts and con-
veniences of eastern life ; and the friendly aid of Mr.
Edwin "Woolly, the conductor of the Mormon train, of-
fered to, and gratefully received by, a small party of
us who had impatiently separated from our friends, and
were about entering the rugged defiles of the great
Sierra.

But, however interesting all these incidents may be
to the parties concerned, the reader, in view of the
multiplicity of published travels, will readily excuse
in this instance a more minute detail.

APPENDIX.

REVELATION GIVEN TO JOSEPH SMITH, NAUVOO, JULY 12th, 1843.

VERILY, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Joseph, that in-
asmuch 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 Solomon, my servants, as touching the prin-
ciple and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines : Be-
hold ! 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 in-
structions which I am about to give unto you ; for all those who have
this law revealed unto them must obey the same ; for behold ! I reveal
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 appointed for
that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as was instituted from before
the foundations of the world ; and as pertaining to the new and ever-
lasting covenant, it was instituted for the fullness of my glory ; and he
that receiveth a fullness 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 this law are these :
All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances,
connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made, and en-
tered 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 contracts that are not made unto this end, have an end when
men are dead.

342 APPENDIX.

Behold ! mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and
not a house of confusion. Will I accept of an offering, saith the Lord,
that is not made in my name 1 Or will I receive at your hands that
which I have not appointed 1 And will I appoint unto you, saith the
Lord, except it be by law, even as I and my Father ordained unto you,
before the world was 1 I am the Lord thy God, and I give unto you
this commandment, that no man shall come unto the Father but by
me, or by my word, which is my law, saith the Lord ; and every thing
that is in the world, whether it be ordained of men, by thrones, or
principalities, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they may be,
that are not by me, or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown
down, and shall not remain after men are dead, neither in nor after the
resurrection, saith the Lord your God ; for whatsoever things remain-
eth are by me, and whatsoever things are not by me, shall be shaken
and destroyed.

Therefore, if a man marry him a wife in the world, and he marry
her not by me, nor by my word, and he covenant with her so long as
he is in the world, and she with him, their covenant and marriage is
not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the world ;
therefore they are not bound by any law when they are out of the
world ; therefore, when they are out of the world, they neither marry
nor are given in marriage, but are appointed angels in heaven, which
angels are ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy
of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight of glory ; for
these angels did not abide my law, therefore they can not be enlarged,
but remain separately, and singly, without exaltation, in their saved
condition, to all eternity, and from henceforth are not gods, but are
angels of God forever and ever.

And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife, and make
a covenant with her for time and for all eternity, if that covenant is
not by me or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed by the
Holy Spirit of promise, through him whom I have anointed and ap-
pointed unto this power, then it is not valid, neither of force when
they are out of the world, because they are not joined by me, saith the
Lord, neither by my word ; when they are out of the world, it can not
be received there, because the angels and the gods are appointed there,
by whom they can not pass ; they can not, therefore, inherit my glory,
for my house is a house of order, saith the Lord God.

And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word,
which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is
sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anoint-

APPENDIX. 343

ed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priest-
hood, and it shall be said unto them, Ye shall come forth in the first
resurrection ; and if it he after the first resurrection, in the next resur-
rection ; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers,
dominions, all heights and depths, then shall it be written in the Lamb's
Book of Life that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed inno-
cent blood ; and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder
whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all
things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them in time and through
all eternity ; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world,
and they shall pass by the angels and the gods, which are set there, to
their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their
heads, which glory shall be a fullness and a continuation of the seeds
forever and ever.

Then shall they be gods, because they have no end ; therefore shall
they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue ; then
shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then
shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are
subject unto them.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law, ye can not
attain to this glory; for strait is the gate, and narrow the way, that
leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there
be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world, neither do ye
know me. But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me,
and shall receive your exaltation, that where I am, ye shall be also.
This is eternal lives, to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus
Christ whom he hath sent. I am he. Receive ye, therefore, my- law.
Broad is the gate, and wide the way that leadeth to the death, and
many there are that go in thereat, because they receive me not, neither
do they abide in my law.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man marry a wife according to my
word, and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise according to
mine appointment, and he or she shall commit any sin or transgression
of the new and everlasting covenant whatever, and all manner of blas-
phemies, and if they commit no murder, wherein they shed innocent
blood, yet they shall come forth in the first resurrection, and enter into
their exaltation ; but they shall be destroyed in the flesh, and shall be
delivered unto the bufferings of Satan, unto the day of redemption,
saith the Lord God.

The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall not be forgiven
in the world nor out of the world, is in that yc commit murder, wherein

344 APPENDIX.

-ye shed innocent blood, and assent unto my death, after ye have re-
ceived my new and everlasting covenant, saith the Lord God ; and he
that abideth not this law can in no wise enter into my glory, but shall
be damned, saith the Lord.

I am the Lord thy God, and will give unto thee the law of my holy
priesthood, as was ordained by me and my Father before the world
was. Abraham received all things, whatsoever he received, by revela-
tion and commandment, by my word, saith the Lord, and hath entered
into his exaltation, and sitteth upon his throne.

Abraham received promises concerning his seed, and of the fruit of
his loins — from whose loins ye are, viz., my servant Joseph — which
were to continue so long as they were in the world ; and as touching
Abraham and his seed out of the world, they should continue ; both
in the world and out of the world should they continue as innumerable
as the stars ; or, if ye were to count the sand upon the sea-shore, ye
could not number them. This promise is yours also, because ye are
of Abraham, and the promise was made unto Abraham, and by this law
are the continuation of the works of my Father, wherein he glorineth
himself. Go ye, therefore, and do the works of Abraham ; enter ye
into my law, and ye shall be saved. But if ye enter not into my lav/,
ye can not receive the promises of my Father, which he made unto
Abraham.

God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to
wife. And why did she do it 1 Because this was the law, and from
Hagar sprang many people. This, therefore, was fulfilling, among
other things, the promises. Was Abraham? therefore, undef condemna-
tion'? Verily, I say unto you, Nay; for the Lord commanded it»
Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac ; nevertheless, it was
written, Thou shalt not kill. Abraham, however, did not refuse, and it
was accounted unto him for righteousness.

Abraham received concubines, and they bare him children, and it
was accounted unto him for righteousness, because they were given
unto him, and he abode in my law ; as Isaac also, and Jacob, did none
other things than that which they were commanded ; and because they
did none other things than that which they were commanded, they
have entered into their exaltation, according to the promises, and sit
upon thrones ; and are not angels, but are gods. David also received
many wives and concubines, as also Solomon, and Moses my servant,
as also many others of my servants, from the beginning of creation
until this time, and in nothing did they sin, save in those things which
they received not of me.

APPENDIX. 345

David's wives and concubines were given unto him of me by the
hand of Nathan my servant, and others of the prophets who had the
keys of this power ; and in none of these things did he sin against
me, save in the case of Uriah and his wife ; and, therefore, he hath
fallen from his exaltation, and received his portion ; and he shall not
inherit them out of the world, for I gave them unto another, saith the
Lord.

I am the Lord thy God, and I gave unto thee, my servant Joseph,
an appointment, and restore all things ; ask what ye will, and it shall
be given unto you, according to my word ; and as ye have asked con-
cerning adultery, verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man receiveth a
wife in the new and everlasting covenant, and if she be with another
man, and I have not appointed unto her by the holy anointing, she hath
committed adultery, and shall be destroyed. If she be not in the new
and everlasting covenant, and she be with another man, she has com-
mitted adultery ; and if her husband be with another woman, and he
was under a vow, he hath broken his vow, and hath committed adultery ;
and if she hath not committed adultery, but is innocent, and hath not
broken her vow, and she knoweth it, and I reveal it unto you, my
servant Joseph, then shall you have power, by the power of my holy
priesthood, to take her, and give her unto him that hath not committed
adultery, but hath been faithful ; for he shall be made ruler over many ;
for I have conferred upon you the keys and power of the priesthood,
wherein I restore all things, and make known unto you all things in
due time.

And verily, verily, I say unto you, that whatsoever you seal on earth
shall be sealed in heaven ; and whatsoever you bind on earth, in my
name and by my word, saith the Lord, it shall be eternally bound in
the heavens ; and whosesoever sins you remit on earth, shall be re-
mitted eternally in the heavens ; and whosesoever sins you retain on
earth, shall be retained in heaven.

And again, verily, I say, whomsoever you bless, I will bless ; and
whomsoever you curse, I will curse, saith the Lord ; for I, the Lord,
am thy God.

And "again, verily, I say unto you, my servant Joseph, that whatso-
ever you give on earth, and to whomsoever you give any one on earth,
by my word and according to my law, it shall be visited with blessings
and not cursings, and with my power, saith the Lord, and shall be
without condemnation on earth and in heaven, for I am the Lord thy
God, and will be with thee even unto the end of the world, and through
all eternity ; for. verily I seal upon you your exaltation, and prepare a
P 2

346 APPENDIX.

throne for you in the kingdom of my Father, with Abraham your father.
Behold ! I have seen your sacrifices, and will forgive all your sins ; I
have seen your sacrifices, in obedience to that which I have told you ;
go, therefore, and I make a way for your escape, as I accepted the of-
fering of Abraham, of his son Isaac.

Verily, I say unto you, a commandment I give unto mine handmaid,
Emma Smith, your wife, whom I have given unto you, that she stay
herself, and partake not of that which I commanded you to offer unto
her ; for I did it, saith the Lord, to prove you all, as I did Abraham,
and that I might require an offering at your hand by covenant and
sacrifice ; and let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, receive all those that
have been given unto my servant Joseph, and who are virtuous and
pure before me ; and those who are not pure, and have said they were
pure, shall be destroyed, saith the Lord God ; for I am the Lord thy
God, and ye shall obey my voice ; and I give unto my servant Joseph
that he shall be made ruler over many things, for he hath been faithful
over a few things, and from henceforth I will strengthen him.

And I command mine handmaid, Emma Smith, to abide and cleave
unto my servant Joseph, and to none else. But if she will not abide
this commandment, she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord, for I am the
Lord thy God, and will destroy her if she abide not in my law ; but if
she will not abide this commandment, then shall my servant Joseph do
all things for her, as he hath said ; and I will bless him, and multiply
him, and give unto him an hundred-fold in this world, of fathers and
mothers, brothers and sisters, houses and lands, wives and children,
and crowns of eternal lives in the eternal worlds. And again, verily,
I say, let mine handmaid forgive my servant Joseph his trespasses, and
then shall she be forgiven her trespasses, wherein she hath trespassed
against me ; and I, the Lord thy God, will bless her, and multiply her,
and make her heart to rejoice.

And again, I say, let not my servant Joseph put his property out of
his hands, lest an enemy come and destroy him — for Satan seeketh to
destroy — for I am the Lord thy God, and he is my servant ; and be-
hold ! and lo, I am with him, as I was with Abraham thy father, even
unto his exaltation and glory.

Now, as touching the law of the priesthood, there are many things
pertaining thereunto. Verily, if a man be called of my Father, as was
Aaron, by mine own voice, and by the voice of him that sent me, and
I have endowed him with the keys of the power of this priesthood, if
he do any thing in my name, and according to my law, and by my
word, he will not commit sin, and I will justify him. Let no one,

APPENDIX. 347

therefore, set on my servant Joseph, for I will justify him ; for he shall
do the sacrifice which I require at his hands, for his transgressions,
saith the Lord your God.

And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood : if any man
espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her
consent ; and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have
vowed to no other man, then is he justified ; he can not commit adultery,
for they are given unto him ; for he can not commit adultery with that
that belongeth unto him, and to none else ; and if he have ten virgins
given unto him by this law, he can not commit adultery, for they be-
long to him, and they are given unto him ; therefore is he justified.
But if one or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused, shall be
with another man, she has committed adultery, and shall be destroyed ;
for they are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, accord-
ing to my commandment, and to fulfill the promise which was given by
my Father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation
in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men ; for herein
is the work of my Father continued, that he may be glorified.

And again, verily, verily, I say unto you, if any man have a wife
who holds the keys of this power, and he teaches unto her the law cf
my priesthood as pertaining to these things, then shall she believe and
administer unto him, or she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord your
God ; for I will destroy her ; for I will magnify my name upon all those
who receive and abide in my law. Therefore it shall be lawful in me,
if she receive not this law, for him to receive all things whatsoever I,
the Lord his God, will give unto him, because she did not believe and
administer unto him according to my word ; and she then becomes
the transgressor, and he is exempt from the law of Sarah, who admin-
istered unto Abraham according to the law, when I commanded Abra-
ham to take Hagar to wife. And now, as pertaining to this law, verily,
verily, I say unto you, I will reveal more unto you hereafter, there-
fore let this suffice for the present. Behold ! I am Alpha and Omega.
AMEN.

THE END.