The man that lays his hand upon a woman,
Save in the way of kindness, is a wretch
Whom 't were gross flattery to name a coward.
--_John Tobin_.
A baby was sleeping,
Its mother was weeping.
--_Samuel Lover_.
Polygamy _may_ die in Mormondom, but has never yet done so. Cases are
often reported, and from the manner of their finding it is a certainty
that new alliances are being formed continually between married men
and unmarried women.
Not long ago a very bright conversion was made in one of the missions
of an evangelical denomination. The convert was a young woman of more
than average intelligence. Some of her relatives had been polygamists,
but she repudiated the whole cult and creed. For a while this decision
made it necessary for her to find other residence than her rightful
home.
Some time after she permitted herself to be persuaded that a young man
of her acquaintance loved her more than he did the polygamous tenet of
his church--he was a Mormon--and that he never would attempt to woo
and win another woman while she remained his wife. She consented, and
was happy in her home life. Not for a moment did she suspect him of
double-dealing. Her honest heart was above entertaining such suspicion
had it entered. Serenely she saw her children growing to useful
womanhood. Not a cloud of anxiety appeared on the calm sea of life;
all was fine sailing. One day she was making some repairs in one of
her husband's garments when a letter fell from a pocket. It bore the
postmark of a city where they both had relatives, and it was quite
natural that she should look into its contents.
What despair and agony seized her when she read therein the statement
from the "other woman" telling her "fond" husband of the birth of the
child!
The poor, heart-stricken, and hitherto trusting wife immediately rose
to the dignity of outraged womanhood and insulted wifehood and
compelled the polygamist to choose at once between her and the
concubine. He did so, choosing the younger woman and leaving her who
had trusted him too fondly.
This is not a tale of the ancients in Utah, but a living, festering
story of the vivid present.
One way of avoiding prosecution by the law is the surreptitious,
clandestine rearing of children, whose mothers lose no prestige in the
community; for it is well understood "among the neighbors and
friends." "Public polygamy has been suspended," but the requirement of
the doctrine remains unchanged.