On the present occasion the Apostles occupied the stand set apart for

their use in the great Tabernacle, the second one in the tier of three.

The space south of the stand was occupied by the Patriarchs, Presidents

of Stakes and their Counselors, and the High Councils of the various

Stakes. North of the stands the Bishops and their Counselors were

seated, with Presiding Bishop Hunter and his Counselors in front. The

High Priests occupied the north center of the body of the great hall,

with their Presidents in front. The Seventies were seated in the south

half of the body of the hall, with the First Seven Presidents in front.

The space immediately back of the High Priests was reserved for the

Elders, while the north side of the house, under the gallery was set

apart for the quorums of the Lesser Priesthood, the Priests, Teachers

and Deacons. The gallery, capable of seating three thousand people, was

reserved for the use of the members of the Church.

Apostle Orson Pratt, with hair and full beard, made gloriously white

by the frosts of sixty-nine winters, presented the several motions

to be acted upon. The manner of voting was for the proposition to be

presented to each quorum severally, except in the case of the Priests,

Teachers and Deacons, who voted all together as the Lesser Priesthood;

the members of each quorum rose to their feet as the question was

presented and raised the right hand in token of assent, or, if any were

opposed to the proposition, they could make it manifest in the same way

after the affirmative vote had been taken.

The order in which the quorums voted was as follows:

First, the Twelve Apostles;

Second, the Patriarchs, Presidents of Stakes, their Counselors, and the

High Councils;

Third, the High Priests;

Fourth, the Seventies;

Fifth, the Elders;

Sixth, the Bishops and their Counselors;

Seventh, the Lesser Priesthood.

After this the Presidents of the quorums voted on the question and it

was then put to the entire assembly which arose _en masse_ and voted in

the same manner.

It was a remarkable scene. There was not a dissenting vote in all

that vast assembly; and there were probably thirteen thousand people

crowded into the great Tabernacle. Perfect unanimity prevailed; and

as the several quorums registered their votes and the entire assembly

arose and with uplifted hands sanctioned what they had done, the

scene was indescribably grand and impressive, carrying with it a

power and influence that can only come from a righteous people giving

their unrestrained assent to that which God has appointed. It was an

influence born of a union of _vox dei et vox populi_. It was a Spirit

identical with that which in a larger degree pervades the councils of

the Gods.

John Taylor was now invested with the highest office and honors which

God gives to man on the earth. He was placed on a par with Melchisedek,

Moses, Peter, Joseph and Brigham: for by the action of this conference

he was made President of the High Priesthood, whose duty it is to

preside over the whole Church, to be like Moses, a seer, a revelator,

a translator, a prophet, having all the gifts of God which He bestows

upon the head of the Church. [2]

The Lord in describing the power and authority of the Higher or

Melchisedek Priesthood, says: It holds the keys of all the spiritual

blessings of the Church. It has the privilege of receiving the

mysteries of the kingdom of heaven; of having the heavens opened to it;

the right to commune with the general assembly and church of the first

born; and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and

Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant. [3]

These are the privileges of the High Priesthood, and John Taylor was

called to preside over it, with a right to all the gifts and powers

associated therewith. What higher authority can man possess? What honor

greater can be given him? True, in the ceremonies which invested him

with these high dignities, there was no long drawn out pomp, no tapers,

processions, chantings, or clouds of incense; no vestures red or

white, gold-laced or furred; no sceptre or tiara; no peal of bells, no

cannon's roar, no formal, solemn _Te deum_! Yet what office created by

man--pontifical, princely, kingly--how graced so ever with the formal

pomp and show in the bestowal of it, can equal that conferred on John

Taylor, by the voice of God and the common consent of his brethren?

There is no man-created office but what is insignificant in comparison

with it. Monarchs with powers usurped, the fruits of conquest, or

inherited from a long line of princely ancestors, at the best held by

the sufferance of those they rule--monarchs who fret and strut out

their brief hour upon this world's troubled stage, who come, and see,

and conquer and then vanish, are but fools in power compared with

him who attains to the God-created office of President of the High

Priesthood.

The power of earthly potentates is limited to the earth, often to an

insignificant portion of it; and in duration to a few brief years,

then they perish, together with their power and glory; while the power

of him who attains to the office of President of the High Priesthood,

enters within the vail and has effect both in time and in eternity. He

binds on earth and it is bound in heaven; he looses on earth and it is

loosed in heaven. [4] He hath become a prince to that government to the

increase and dominion of which there is no end, and whose sceptre is an

unchanging sceptre of righteousness.

The princes of this world win and sustain their dominion by the sword;

he by the preaching of peace on earth, good will to man; they trust to

force--to armies and navies--for the perpetuation of their power; he

to love unfeigned, persuasion, long suffering, gentleness, meekness,

kindness and pure knowledge--reproving with sharpness at times, it is

true, but afterwards showing forth a double portion of love towards

those reproved, lest reproof be taken for enmity. [5] Moreover, the

princes of this world exercise dominion over their subjects, and

they that are great, exercise authority upon them--arbitrary, often

cruel, authority--and, as one of their own poets hath said, "Play such

fantastic tricks before high heaven, as make the angels weep." The Lord

hath decreed that it shall not be so in His government; but he that

would be chief in it, let him be the servant of all, even as the Son of

Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. [6] Jesus spake

truly when he said: "My kingdom is not of this world."

Such was the office, then, to which President Taylor succeeded;

and such the spirit in which its powers are to be exercised. Both

his native disposition and experience qualified him for the place.

From his earliest youth arrayed on the side of liberty as against

arbitrary authority, so pronounced in sentiment in that controversy, so

fearless in maintaining it, that he won the proud title of "Champion

of Liberty"--it was natural for him in his administration to pay due

regard to the principle of common consent, by which all things are to

be done in the Church.

With him as President there could be no arbitrary government among the

Saints. Teach men correct principles and let them govern themselves,

was a doctrine he learned in his early manhood from the Prophet

Joseph. He made it a leading principle in his career. He adopted it

in his family government, in his presidency of churches, conferences

and missions in the eastern states and in foreign lands. It was a

prominent characteristic of his administration while President of

the Twelve Apostles; it continued to be his motto during his more

direct Presidency of the Church. Yet while he respected the principle

of common consent, he blended with that respect a native dignity of

character and bearing which prevented in his administration that

severely democratic principle of government descending into factious

opposition: and on occasion could make those with whom he came in

contact feel that _vox Dei_ as he felt it within his own inspired soul

had a right to be heard in the administration of Church affairs, as

well as _vox populi_.

President Taylor's accession to the Presidency of the Church reveals

another thing in connection with his history which must not be

overlooked. It raises the corner of the veil which separates the

natural and spiritual worlds, and permits us to form an idea of

his career and character in his first estate, when as a spirit he

associated with the Gods in the eternal worlds. It is recorded of

Abraham that the Lord showed unto him the intelligences that were

organized before the world was; "and among all these there were many

of the noble and great ones; and God saw these souls that they were

good and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make

my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that

they were good; and he said, * * * Abraham, thou art one of them, thou

wast chosen before thou wast born." [7]

So with John Taylor. The high place as one of God's rulers which he had

now attained proclaimed that he, too, was one of the "noble and great

ones;" and like Jesus, [8] Abraham, Jeremiah, [9] and other prophets,

he was chosen before he was born.

Footnotes

1. Doc. and Cov. Sec. 107:22.

2. Doc. and Cov. Sec. 107: 91, 92.

3. Ibid, 18, 19.

4. Matt. xvi.

5. Doc. and Cov. Sec. 121.

6. Matt. xx.

7. Book of Abraham.

8. Heb. i: 1, 2.

9. Jeremiah i: 5.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

LABORS AS PRESIDENT--SAMPLE TOURS--CHARACTER OF SERMONS--LESS OF THE

POET BUT MORE OF THE PHILOSOPHER--A REVELATION.

Although President Taylor, at the time he became President of the

Church, was two years past the three score years and ten allotted

by the Psalmist as the life of man, he was not bowed down by their

weight. His form was erect and his step elastic; and he entered upon

the performance of his high duties with a zeal and vigor only to be

expected of a younger man. He visited the Stakes of Zion in Utah

and the surrounding territories, setting them in order, teaching,

counseling and encouraging the Saints with all the energy and kindness

of his great soul.

As a sample of his travels and labors among the people I give the

following summary of two of his trips during the year 1881: In the

latter part of July, in company with several of the Apostles and other

brethren, he started on a tour to visit some of the northern Stakes

and settlements. He was absent from Salt Lake City seventeen days,

during which time he visited five Stakes of Zion, viz., Cache, Rich,

Summit, Wasatch and Utah, traveling much of the distance in carriages.

Twenty-three meetings were held by the party. President Taylor attended

all but three, and spoke at the most of them.

In the latter part of November of the same year, he visited the

southern Stakes and settlements, accompanied by his Counselor Joseph

F. Smith and several of the Twelve Apostles. This tour occupied five

weeks and four days. The party held sixty-eight meetings; besides

many council meetings where advice and instructions to Presidents of

Stakes, Bishops and other officers of the Church were freely given.

Thus he labored incessantly among the people from his accession to the

Presidency until he was driven into retirement by the judicial crusade

waged against the Saints some years later.

The subject matter in the discourses of President Taylor in these years

dealt very largely with the duties of the Saints in all the relations

of life; as husbands and wives, parents and children, neighbors and

citizens; unity, honor, integrity, honesty, purity in thought and act

were his themes--in one word he preached righteousness as essential to

the favor of God, and with the favor of God he assured the Saints they

need not fear what man or nations could do. "God will be on the side of

Israel, if Israel will be on the side of right," was his oft-repeated,

confident assertion.

He was particularly careful to set in order the quorums of the

priesthood, and charged them to walk in holiness before the Lord. Who

does not remember with what earnestness and power in conferences and

other public meetings, he was wont to admonish Presidents of Stakes and

bishops of wards to set in order the priesthood and institutions under

their supervision? And how he urged them to labor with all diligence,

long-suffering and kindness for the reformation of the wayward! But if

they would not reform, how he then strictly charged the authorities

having jurisdiction in the case to sever them from the Church, that

God, angels and the world might know that Israel had no fellowship with

drunkards, debauchees, thieves, liars or the dishonest.

Alluding to the Priesthood and its organization he would say: "These

things are given to us for what? To gratify our ambition? to enable

us to ride over and trample under foot our fellow-creatures? to place

power and authority upon us? No; not for any man's emolument or

aggrandizement. Although there is nothing more honorable, nothing more

dignified, nothing to which a man ought so much to aspire to as to be a

servant of the living God, and to be commissioned by Him to do His work

upon the earth. And what for? To spread correct principles among men;

to combat priestcraft, statecraft, oppression, fraud and iniquity of

all kinds; and to introduce among men those pure and holy principles by

which the Gods are governed in the eternal worlds."

In addition to these things he taught implicit trust in God, showed the

Saints their dependence upon Him, and frequently alluded to the source

from whence they derived their knowledge of truth. "Any intelligence

which we may possess," he would say, "and which we may be able to

impart, is not of ourselves, but of God. It did not originate with

Joseph Smith, with Brigham Young, with the Twelve Apostles, nor was

it received from any institution of learning, or of science, either

religious, political or social. Our philosophy is not the philosophy of

the world; but of the earth and the heavens, of time and eternity, and

proceeds from God."

How like in spirit is this to that famous reply of the Son of God to

the Jews, who marveled at his doctrine, saying, "How knoweth this man

letters, having never learned?" What humility, what deep reverence for

God there is in the reply of Messiah--"My doctrine is not mine, but His

that sent me!"

If in these discourses preached in the latter years of his ministry

there were fewer of those poetic flights of eloquence so characteristic

of his earlier discourses and writings, there was a deeper solemnity,

a calmer but more intense, earnestness. If there was less of the poet,

there was more of the philosopher. The flower and bloom had fallen,

perhaps, but it was only that the ripening fruit and golden grain might

appear.

Finally, his counsels, his warnings, his doctrines and promises

received the most direct approval by the voice of God Himself,

demonstrating that his teachings had all along been inspired. The

approval above referred to is contained in the following revelation:

REVELATION GIVEN THROUGH PRESIDENT JOHN TAYLOR

AT SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH TERRITORY,

October 13TH, 1882.

Thus saith the Lord to the Twelve, and to the priesthood and people

of my Church: Let my servants George Teasdale and Heber J. Grant

be appointed to fill the vacancies in the Twelve, that you may be

fully organized and prepared for the labors devolving upon you, for

you have a great work to perform; and then proceed to fill up the

presiding quorum of Seventies, and assist in organizing that body

of my priesthood who are your co-laborers in the ministry. You may

appoint Seymour B. Young to fill up the vacancy in the presiding quorum

of Seventies, if he will conform to my law; for it is not meet that

men who will not abide my law shall preside over my priesthood; and

then proceed forthwith and call to your aid any assistance that you

may require from among the Seventies to assist you in your labors in

introducing and maintaining the gospel among the Lamanites throughout

the land. And then let High Priests be selected, under the direction of

the First Presidency, to preside over the various organizations that

shall exist among this people; that those who receive the gospel may

be taught in the doctrines of my church and in the ordinances and laws

thereof, and also in the things pertaining to my Zion and my kingdom,

saith the Lord, that they may be one with you in my Church and my

kingdom.

Let the Presidency of my Church be one in all things; and let the

Twelve also be one in all things; and let them all be one with me as I

am one with the Father.

And let the High Priests organize themselves, and purify themselves,

and prepare themselves for this labor, and for all other labors that

they may be called upon to fulfill.

And let the Presidents of Stakes also purify themselves, and the

priesthood and people of the Stakes over which they preside, and

organize the priesthood in their various Stakes according to my law,

in all the various departments thereof, in the High Councils, in the

Elders' quorums, and in the Bishops and their councils, and in the

quorums of Priests, Teachers and Deacons, that every quorum may be

fully organized according to the order of my Church; and, then, let

them inquire into the standing and fellowship of all that hold my holy

priesthood in their several Stakes; and if they find those that are

unworthy let them remove them, except they repent; for my priesthood,

whom I have called and whom I have sustained and honored, shall honor

me and obey my laws, and the laws of my holy priesthood, or they shall

not be considered worthy to hold my priesthood, saith the Lord. And let

my priesthood humble themselves before me, and seek not their own will

but my will; for if my priesthood, whom I have chosen, and called, and

endowed with the spirit and gifts of their several callings, and with

the powers thereof, do not acknowledge me I will not acknowledge them,

saith the Lord; for I will be honored and obeyed by my priesthood.

And, then, I call upon my priesthood, and upon all of my people, to

repent of all their sins and short-comings, of their covetousness

and pride and self-will, and of all their iniquities wherein they

sin against me; and to seek with all humility to fulfill my law, as

my priesthood, my saints and my people; and I call upon the heads of

families to put their houses in order according to the law of God, and

attend to the various duties and responsibilities associated therewith,

and to purify themselves before me, and to purge out iniquity from

their households. And I will bless and be with you, saith the Lord,

and ye shall gather together in your holy places wherein ye assemble

to call upon me, and ye shall ask for such things as are right, and I

will hear your prayers, and my Spirit and power shall be with you, and

my blessing shall rest upon you, upon your families, your dwellings and

your households, upon your flocks and herds and fields, your orchards

and vineyards, and upon all that pertains to you; and you shall be my

people and I will be your God; and your enemies shall not have dominion

over you, for I will preserve you and confound them, saith the Lord,

and they shall not have power nor dominion over you; for my word shall

go forth, and my work shall be accomplished, and my Zion shall be

established, and my rule and my power and my dominion shall prevail

among my people, and all nations shall yet acknowledge me. Even so,

Amen.

CHAPTER XL.

PUBLIC RECEPTION AT THE GARDO HOUSE--PROMISE OF PEACE--PEACE

DISTURBED--NEW AGITATION--AN OLD OPPONENT WITH BAD TASTE--THE FALSE

INDICTMENT--INVESTIGATION ASKED--DENIED--INDECENT HASTE--PASSAGE OF THE

EDMUNDS' BILL--THE SACRIFICE OF PRESIDENT TAYLOR.

In the latter part of December, 1881, the committee appointed to

furnish and arrange the affairs of the Gardo House as the family

residence of President Taylor, announced that it was ready; and if

agreeable to him, suggested that he immediately move into it. They also

intimated that they would be pleased to announce to his friends when

they could call upon him. He acted upon their suggestion and appointed

the 2nd of January as the day that a public reception would be given,

between the hours of 11 a. m. and 3 p. m.

At eleven o'clock that day Croxall's Band entered the enclosure and

serenaded the President in his new home, after which the doors were

thrown open and the stream of callers began filing into the house.

President Taylor, surrounded by his family, his counselors and a

few personal friends, received them cordially, and exchanged kindly

greetings. During the hours of reception Professor C. J. Thomas'

orchestral Band serenaded him. The Tabernacle choir came also, and

sang several pieces, among which was the grand anthem "And it shall

come to pass in the last days," etc., concluding with "Auld Lang

Syne." Two large tables in the dining hall were kept replenished with

refreshments, of which nearly all who called partook. It was estimated

that more than two thousand friends called upon the President that day.

All were pleased to greet him, and were full of kindness and the best

wishes for the man of God.

It was a grand day in the life of President Taylor. His youth and

manhood had been spent in the service of God. He had never manifested

a disposition to desert the ministry, no matter how strained his

own circumstances might be. He was never called to do service in

the cause of God, but that he answered, "ready!" and now that the

frosts of seventy-four winters had made silvery white his hair, he

was comfortably established in a magnificent home, surrounded by his

family, his friends and brethren and honored by all Israel. No man had

fairer prospects for enjoying the one boon ever coveted by age--the

privilege--

"To husband out life's taper at the close,

And keep the flame from wasting by repose."

The fair prospect of ease and comfort, however, was soon to be marred

by the ruthless machinations of unreasoning hate.

During the year 1881, a bitter agitation of the Mormon question, was

inaugurated in Utah and spread throughout the United States. It was the

work of sectarian religious bigots and political adventurers.

The efforts of sectarian ministers who have come to Utah as

missionaries to convert the Mormons to their creeds, have always

ended in dismal failure. Even those Saints who through neglect of

religious duty, or for other causes have become indifferent as to their

connection with the Church, could not be persuaded to feed upon the

dry husks of the dead theology preached by sectarian ministers. While

those who were feeding to the full in the rich pastures of the gospel

of Christ, would not so much as look in the direction of the barren

moors to which these missionaries invited them. The result was rage

and disappointment in the vexed souls of these ministers; and they

concluded that Mormonism was a thing not to be reasoned with, but to be

stamped out by force. [1]

Hunger for the spoils and emoluments of office, explains the motives

of the political adventurers who joined in this agitation. In all the

recommendations made to Congress by priests and demagogues, it may be

seen that the one object to be attained is the complete control of the

Territory by them.

Measures ostensibly for the suppression of plural marriage were

introduced into Congress; and a call was made upon the churches

throughout the country to hold mass meetings and adopt resolutions

urging Congress to enact the Edmunds' Bill. These mass meetings were

held early in 1882.

The one at Chicago was held at Farwell Hall, and among those

present was ex-Vice-President Colfax, the former opponent, it will

be remembered, of President Taylor in a discussion of the "Mormon

question." His presence at that meeting was a tacit, but none the less

emphatic acknowledgment, that he had failed to effect anything by his

argument. He had the best of reasons for knowing that argument could

not destroy Mormonism; he had tried it, and failed. Hence we see him

associated with those who had determined that it must be "stamped out."

He was at Farwell Hall that night to give the weight of his character

to a meeting, the purpose of which was to urge Congress to enact

proscriptive laws, to crush a people against whom he had hurled the

thunderbolt of his logic in vain. It was bad taste, to say the least,

for him to be present at that meeting. A decent respect for himself and

the opinion of mankind, would have suggested that he leave such work to

be done by other hands.

Meetings of this character were held in nearly all the large cities

in the Union. They were much alike in spirit. Hatred for the Mormon

people characterized them all. Bishop Fallows, at the meeting in

Chicago, declared that if the measures then pending in Congress were

not sufficient to heal the "political cancer," there were three hundred

thousand swords ready to cut it out.

I leave it to the reader to judge how much sweet Christian charity

there was in a meeting where such a remark was applauded.

As a sample of the charges made against the Saints and the Church in

this agitation, I take those presented at the meeting held in St. Louis.

It was alleged that the Mormon Church interfered in political affairs;

and that a recent vote for Delegate to Congress in Idaho had been

carried by a brief order from George Q. Cannon, directing the Mormons

to vote for a certain man:

That its numbers are daily recruited by cunning appeals to the

ignorance and base passions of men;

That the number of polygamous felons in Utah is strongly increased by

the importation from abroad of thousands who are ignorantly seduced or

licentiously attracted to this shameful institution;

That a large proportion of the whole number of polygamists are

unnaturalized foreigners who own no allegiance to the United States or

its laws;

That it openly derides the authority of the national government,

preaches treason publicly, and makes polygamous rebellion a religious

duty;

That it degrades women, blotting out of their speech the very notion of

home and all the sacred associations which it calls up, making a parody

of religion;

And, lastly, that it foolishly assumes to be defiant to and stronger

than the government.

As in these meetings it was assumed that these false statements

were true, it was not difficult to work up a spirit of indignation

throughout the country and to flood Congress with resolutions and

petitions to pass the Edmunds Bill.

Meantime the Saints in Utah were not inactive. They did not permit this

storm-cloud to gather without remonstrance. In February the Territorial

legislature passed resolutions denying the charges made against the

great majority of their constituents, and praying Congress to appoint a

commission of honorable men to investigate the condition of affairs in

Utah.

In addition to this, meetings in all parts of the Territory were held

and remonstrances drawn up against the enactment of the measures

pending before the national legislature. Memorials were formulated

by the men, women and the youth of both sexes respectively. In all

these memorials the false charges and base misrepresentations of their

detractors were emphatically denied. In the memorial signed by the men,

referring to plural marriage, it was said:

"Whatever of polygamy exists among the Mormons, rests solely upon their

religious convictions. It is unsupported by any Territorial legislative

enactments, and its practice already exposes them to the penalties

of Congressional law. And it is better to leave it to the legitimate

operations of that law, and the moral influences at work, than to

attempt to extirpate it by radically oppressive or revolutionary

measures."

On the same subject the women said: "And moreover, we your petitioners

hereby testify that we are happy in our homes, and satisfied with our

marriage relations and desire no change. * * * And we most solemnly

aver before God and man that our marital relations are most sacred,

that they are divine, enjoining obligations and ties that pertain to

time and reach into eternity. Were it not for the sacred and religious

character of plural marriage, we should never have entered upon the

practice of a principle which is contrary to our early teachings, and

in consequence of which our names are cast out as evil by the Christian

world."

The following paragraph occurred in the memorial of the young men: "We

deny that the religious institution of plural marriage, as practiced

by our parents, and to which many of us owe our existence, debases,

pollutes, or in any way degrades those who enter into it. On the

contrary, we solemnly affirm, and challenge successful contradiction,

that plural marriage is a sacred religious ordinance, and that its

practice has given to thousands, honorable names and peaceful homes

where Christian precepts and virtuous practices have been uniformly

inculcated, and the spirit of human liberty and religious freedom,

fostered from the cradle to maturity."

This in the young ladies': "We have been taught and conscientiously

believe that plural marriage is as much a part of our religion as

faith, repentance and baptism. * * * We solemnly and truthfully declare

that neither we nor our mothers are held in bondage, but that we enjoy

the greatest possible freedom, socially and religiously; that our homes

are happy ones and we are neither low nor degraded; for the principles

of purity, virtue, integrity and loyalty to the government of the

United States, have been instilled into our minds and hearts since our

earliest childhood."

In each memorial the petitioners prayed that Congress would suspend

further action on all bills relating to Utah, and send a commission of

honorable, intelligent and unprejudiced men and women to enquire into

and learn the true state of affairs in said Territory. The signers to

the men's petition numbered 16,256; those to the women's, 19,108; young

men's, 15,636; young ladies', 14,152; a total of 65,152.

Surely petitions so respectfully worded, solemnly denying such grave

charges, asking for so reasonable a thing as an inquiry into the

true condition of affairs in Utah, and so numerously signed as these

were, had some claim upon the attention of Congress. They were laid

aside, after being read, however, and the Edmunds Bill passed with

indecent haste. The bill was ably discussed in the Senate, and many

constitutional objections urged against it; but when it came to the

House, it was "railroaded through," and that with a rush; debate upon

it being limited to five minute speeches, the whole discussion not

lasting more than two hours. It was approved by the President on the

22nd of March, and then became law.

In addition to defining polygamy and fixing the punishment for it, the

new law also made cohabitation with more than one woman, a misdemeanor,

to be punished by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars and

six months' imprisonment; it provided that counts for polygamy and

unlawful cohabitation might be joined in the same indictment; it made

actual polygamists and those who believed in the rightfulness of it,

incompetent as jurors in any prosecution for polygamy or unlawful

cohabitation; it also made polygamists, or those cohabiting with more

than one woman, incompetent to vote or hold office. It vacated all

registration and election offices of every description, and placed the

registration of voters and the management of elections under a federal

returning board, known as the Utah Commission.

When the news of the full enactment of this law reached Utah, President

Taylor, knowing the vindictive hatred of the conspirators in Salt Lake

City who had concocted that law and aroused the popular clamor which

induced Congress to enact it; and knowing that they would seek first to

entangle him within its meshes because he was President of the Church;

and further knowing that such were the nature of his duties to the

Church that it was imperative that he have his liberty, that he might

watch over the interests of the great people committed to his care--he

resolved to make a great personal sacrifice by submitting to this law,

unjust, cruel and infamous as it was. He therefore took counsel with

his family and it was arranged that his wives return to their former

homes, while he continued to reside at the Gardo House.

Footnotes

1. At a Methodist conference held in Ogden during that year, a number

of resolutions were adopted on the subject of Mormonism, in one of

which it was said:

"Mormonism holds the balance of power in Idaho and Arizona and menaces

New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. We believe polygamy is a

foul system of licentiousness, practiced in the name of religion, hence

hideous and revolting. It should not be reasoned with, but ought to be

STAMPED OUT."

The same spirit ran through all the resolutions adopted.

CHAPTER XLI.

"A STORM IS COMING"--"TURN UP YOUR COLLARS"--POLICY OF THE CHURCH

OUTLINED--CONTEST UNDER THE LAW EVERY ENCROACHMENT ON THE DOMINION

OF LIBERTY--WARNINGS AND PROPHECIES--HOSANNA--NO NEW SHOUT--ITS

IMPRESSIONS ON A STRANGER.

The morning of the second day's conference in April, 1882, was stormy

and cold. The wind blew in fitful gusts, pelting the Saints with sleet

as with bowed heads and turned up collars they hurried along to attend

the conference. President Taylor made an impressive allusion to this

storm in the course of his remarks that day.

Referring to the late enactment of Congress--the Edmunds Bill--and the

bitter prejudice aroused against the Saints, he warned them that a

storm was coming; and that it would break in its fury upon them. "Let

us treat it," said he, half humorously "the same as we did this morning

in coming through the snow-storm--put up our coat collars (suiting the

action to the word) and wait till the storm subsides. After the storm

comes sunshine. While the storm lasts it is useless to reason with the

world; when it subsides we can talk to them."

In the afternoon he again referred to this matter: "I stated this

morning that there was a storm coming--in fact it is raging at present

and has been for some little time, and that it would be well for us to

keep up our coat collars and protect ourselves as best we could until

the storm passed over. There will be a storm in the United States

after awhile; and I want our brethren to prepare themselves for it. At

the last conference, I think, I advised all who were in debt to take

advantage of the prosperous times and pay their debts; so that they

might not be in bondage to anyone, and when the storm came they might

be prepared to meet it. There will be one of that kind very soon; and I

thought I would give you this warning again, and repeat this piece of

advice--the wise will understand."

On the last day of the conference--the 9th of April--President Taylor

preached one of the most remarkable and powerful sermons of his life.

He occupied more than two hours in delivering it; and throughout, the

immense congregation which filled the great Tabernacle to its utmost

capacity listened with rapt attention.

In addition to sketching the rise and progress of the work of the Lord

in these last days, he refuted by the most positive testimony the base

slanders on which the late agitation against the work was founded.

Referring to the assault made upon the Saints under the pretext of

suppressing polygamy, he thus defined the position and policy of the

Church:

"We covet no man's possessions. But we expect to maintain our own

rights. If we are crowded upon by unprincipled men or inimical

legislation, we shall not take the course pursued by the lawless, the

dissolute and unprincipled. We shall not have recourse to the dynamite

of the Russian Nihilists, the secret plans and machinations of the

communists, the boycotting and threats of the Fenians, the force and

disorder of the Jayhawkers, the regulators or the Molly Maguires, nor

any other secret or illegal combination; but we still expect to possess

and maintain our rights; but to obtain them in a legal, peaceful and

constitutional manner. As American citizens, we shall contend for

all our liberties, rights and immunities, guaranteed to us by the

Constitution; and no matter what action may be taken by mobocratic

influence, by excited and unreasonable men, or by inimical legislation,

we shall contend inch by inch for our freedom and rights, as well as

the freedom and rights of all American citizens and of all mankind.

"As a people or community, we can bide our time; but I will say to

you Latter-day Saints, that there is nothing of which you have been

despoiled by oppressive acts or mobocratic rule, but that you will

again possess, or your children after you. * * * Your possessions, of

which you have been fraudulently despoiled in Missouri and Illinois,

you will again possess, and that without force, or fraud or violence.

The Lord has a way of His own in regulating such matters. We are told

the wicked shall slay the wicked. He has a way of His own of 'emptying

the earth of the inhabitants thereof.' A terrible day of reckoning

is approaching the nations of the earth; the Lord is coming out of

His hiding place to vex the inhabitants thereof; and the destroyer of

the Gentiles, as prophesied of, is already on his way. * * * Already

combinations are being entered into which are very ominous for the

future prosperity, welfare and happiness of this great republic. The

volcanic fires of disordered and anarchial elements are beginning to

manifest themselves and exhibit the internal forces that are at work

among the turbulent and unthinking masses of the people.

"Congress will soon have something else to do than to prescribe and

persecute an innocent, law-abiding and patriotic people. Of all bodies

in the world, they can least afford to remove the bulwarks that bind

society together in this nation, to recklessly trample upon human

freedom and rights, and to rend and destroy that great palladium of

human rights--the Constitution of the United States. Ere long they

will need all its protecting influence to save this nation from

misrule, anarchy and mobocratic influence. They can ill afford to be

the foremost in tampering with human rights and human freedom, or in

tearing down the bulwarks of safety and protection which that sacred

instrument has guaranteed.

"The internal fires of revolution are already smouldering in this

nation, and they need but a spark to set them in a flame. Already are

agencies at work in the land calculated to subvert and overthrow every

principle of rule and government; already is corruption of every kind

prevailing in high places and permeating all society; already as a

nation, we are departing from our God, and corrupting ourselves with

malfeasance, dishonor and a lack of public integrity and good faith;

already are licentiousness and debauchery corrupting, undermining and

destroying society; already are we interfering with the laws of nature

and stopping the functions of life, and have become the slayers of our

own offspring, and employ human butchers in the shape of physicians to

assist in this diabolical and murderous work.

"The sins of this nation, the licentiousness, the debauchery, the

murders are entering into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and I tell

you now [addressing himself to the nation], from the tops of these

mountains, as a humble servant of the living God, that unless these

crimes are stopped, this nation will be overthrown, and its glory,

power, dominion and wealth will fade away like the dews of a summer

morning. I also say to other nations of the earth, that unless they

repent of their crimes, their iniquities and abominations, their

thrones will be overturned, their kingdoms and governments overthrown,

and their lands made desolate.

"This is not only my saying, but it is the saying of those ancient

prophets which they themselves profess to believe; for God will

speedily have a controversy with the nations of the earth, and, as I

stated before, the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way to overthrow

governments, to destroy dynasties, to lay waste thrones, kingdoms and

empires, to spread abroad anarchy and desolation, and to cause war,

famine and bloodshed to overspread the earth."

Reverting again to the position to be assumed by the Church in relation

to the Edmund's law, he expressed himself thus:

"We do not wish to place ourselves in a state of antagonism, nor

act defiantly towards this government. We will fulfill the letter,

so far as practicable, of that unjust, inhuman, oppressive and

unconstitutional law, so far as we can without violating principle;

but we cannot sacrifice every principle of human right at the behest

of corrupt, unreasoning and unprincipled men; we cannot violate the

highest and noblest principles of human nature and make pariahs and

outcasts of high-minded, virtuous and honorable women, nor sacrifice

at the shrine of popular clamor the highest and noblest principles of

humanity!

"We shall abide all constitutional law, as we always have done; but

while we are God-fearing and law-abiding, and respect all honorable

men and officers, we are no craven serfs, and have not learned to lick

the feet of oppressors, nor to bow in base submission to unreasoning

clamor. We will contend inch by inch, legally and constitutionally, for

our rights as American citizens. * * * We stand proudly erect in the

consciousness of our rights as American citizens, and plant ourselves

firmly on the sacred guarantees of the Constitution. * * * We need have

no fears, no trembling in our knees about these attempts to deprive us

of our God-given and constitutional liberties. God will take care of

His people, if we will only do right."

The speaker concluded as follows:

"Our trust is in God. You have heard me say before, Hosanna, the Lord

God Omnipotent reigneth; and if this congregation feels as I do, we

will join together in the same acclaim. Follow me. HOSANNA! HOSANNA!

HOSANNA TO GOD AND THE LAMB, FOREVER, AND EVER, WORLDS WITHOUT END.

AMEN, AMEN, AND AMEN!"

Thrice was the shout repeated, the vast congregation of from eleven

to thirteen thousand followed President Taylor as with one voice. The

grand words of praise and triumph were not new to Israel. They had

shaken the walls of the Temple at Nauvoo during the one day that it

stood resplendent in all the glory of the House of God--though the

Saints knew they would be compelled to abandon it the next day to their

enemies. The same glorious shout in the midst of toil and hardships had

rolled through the woods bordering the streams of Iowa, and had broken

the silence that for ages brooded over the vast prairies of the west.

Indeed the shout was older than that, older than the everlasting hills

which now listened to it--aye, older than the earth itself! For was not

this the shout which shook the heavens before the foundations of the

earth were laid, when "the morning stars sang together and all the sons

of God shouted for joy?" [1]

A celebrated press correspondent, [2] who was present in the interest

of the New York _World_, thus describes the closing scenes of that

conference:

"Acquainted though I am with displays of oriental fanaticism and

western revivalism, I set this Mormon enthusiasm on one side, as being

altogether of a different character; for it not only astonishes by its

fervor, but commands respect by its sincere sobriety. The congregation

of the Saints assembled in the Tabernacle, numbering, by my own careful

computation, eleven thousand odd, and composed in almost exactly equal

parts of the two sexes, reminded me of the Puritan gatherings of the

past as I had imagined them, and of my personal experiences of the

Transvaal Boers as I knew them. There was no rant, no affectation,

no straining after theatrical effect. The very simplicity of this

great gathering of country-folk was striking in the extreme, and

significant from first to last of a power that should hardly be trifled

with by sentimental legislation. * * * Nor could anything exceed the

impressiveness of the response which the people gave instantaneously

to the appeal of their President for the support of their voices. The

great Tabernacle was filled with waves of sound as the 'Amens' of the

congregation burst out. The shout of men going into battle was not more

stirring than the closing words of this memorable conference, spoken as

if by one vast voice."

Footnotes

1. Job xxxviii.

2. Mr. Phil Robinson who remained three months in Utah writing a series

of letters for the _World_. They are now published in book form under

the title of "Sinners and Saints." Mr. Robinson is one of the few

writers who have endeavored to tell the truth about the Mormons.

CHAPTER XLII.

WORK ON THE "MEDIATION AND ATONEMENT"--ITS CHARACTER--"THE AARONIC

PRIESTHOOD"--THE "STORM"--ARRIVAL OF THE COMMISSION--TEST OATH--"IN THE

MARRIAGE RELATION"--HOW IT WORKS--FIRST CASE IN THE CRUSADE--PRESIDENT

TAYLOR'S REFLECTIONS.

Notwithstanding the cares, labors and anxiety which his position as

President of the Church thrust upon him, in these eventful years of

which we are now writing, President Taylor still found time to write

works on the gospel. In the year 1882 he issued his work on the

Mediation and Atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is a

book of some two hundred royal octavo pages.

In the main, it is a collection of scriptural passages bearing upon the

subject, brought together from both ancient and modern revelations,

and arranged in such manner as to develop the necessity, sufficiency,

efficacy, glory, power and completeness of the atonement made by

Messiah, for the sins of the world. It is not a work ambitious of

displaying literary skill, or written with a view to meet the shallow

and trifling objections urged against this great, central fact of the

gospel by glib-tongued infidels and repeated without thought by their

apish followers. It was the object of the author to bring together

all the testimonies to be found in holy writ on this subject, as well

in modern as in ancient scripture; and most admirably did he succeed,

linking the testimonies together with such remarks as make their

meanings and bearings clear, and increase the value of the original

passages. The student of the great subject of the atonement, will find

in President Taylor's work a most valuable collection of material for

his consideration.

In chapter XXIII he will also find a most valuable reference to the

doctrine of evolution as believed in by the Darwinian school of

philosophers--a school of philosophy which professes to trace living

phenomena to their origin, and which, if it were true, would at once

destroy the doctrine of the Atonement.

In the appendix to the work, also will be found some interesting

information in relation to the ideas of a general atonement and

redemption entertained by the ancient heathen nations, traces of which

may still be found in the traditions of their descendants. From these

facts some noted infidel writers have sought to make it appear that

the Christian doctrine of the atonement was derived from the heathens;

but President Taylor clearly proves that the heathens originally

derived their knowledge of these things from the earlier servants of

God, and have preserved those truths, though in a mutilated form, in

their traditions. "Exhibiting," as President Taylor writes, "that

the atonement was a great plan of the Almighty for the salvation,

redemption and exaltation of the human family; and that the pretenders

in the various ages, had drawn whatever of truth they possessed,

from the knowledge of those principles taught by the priesthood from

the earliest periods of recorded time; instead of Christianity being

indebted, as some late writers would allege, to the turbid system of

heathen mythology, and to pagan ceremonies."

About this time he also wrote a pamphlet of some forty-five pages on

the Aaronic Priesthood, chiefly relating to the authority and duties of

Bishops.

The Mormon question having come once more prominently before the

country through the enactments of Congress against it, the editor of

the _North American Review_ visited Utah for the express purpose of

soliciting President Taylor to write an article on the then present

state of the Mormon question, which he did, reviewing the operations

of the recently passed Edmunds law; and in addition to that, refuted

many of the false, slanderous misrepresentations, both new and old,

respecting the Saints.

Meantime the storm which President Taylor had predicted at the April

conference in 1882, burst upon the Saints in all its fury. The

conspirators against the Church of Christ, in the Edmunds enactment,

had a law under which they hoped to be able to destroy its power.

The first act of the Commission appointed by that law, was to frame

a test oath which they required every person to take before he was

permitted to register or vote. This practically disfranchised a whole

Territory at one fell swoop; and in order to be reinstated as a voter,

every man had to take the oath, which required him to swear that he had

never simultaneously lived with more than one woman "_in the marriage

relation_;" or if a woman, that she was not the wife of a polygamist,

nor had she entered into any relation with any man in violation of the

laws of the United States concerning polygamy and bigamy.

By this arrangement it will be seen that those who cohabited with

more than one woman in adultery or prostitution, were not affected

by its provisions. The _roue_, the libertine, the strumpet, the

brothel-keeper, the adulterer and adulteress could vote. No matter how

licentious a man or a woman might be, all but the Mormons were screened

and protected in the exercise of the franchise by the ingenious

insertion of the clause, "in the marriage relation," a clause which

nowhere appears in the Edmunds law. Such broad constructionists were

the Commission, that they declared no man or woman who had ever been a

member of a family practicing plural marriage, should be permitted to

register or vote, no matter what their present status might be. As a

case in point, President Taylor himself relates the following incidents

connected with the operations of this law. They are from the article

above referred to in the _North American Review_:

"A former mayor of Salt Lake City, Mr. Feramorz Little, a very

honorable gentleman and highly respected, came to this Territory

many years ago, before there was any law of Congress against plural

marriage, and espoused two wives. Subsequently, one of these wives

died, then the other, and at the time that this incident occurred he

had been for years without a wife. He had a son who was appointed

registrar for a certain district in this city, and this son had the

mortification of being compelled, under the ruling of the Commission,

to refuse his father permission to register, and consequently deprived

him of the right to vote--a privilege which he had a perfect right to

exercise, both because of the provision in the Constitution that no

_ex post facto_ law shall be made, and again by reason of the statute

of limitations, which bars all action in any such cases after the

expiration of three years. Soon after the refusal of the registrar to

place his father's name on the registration list, a well known keeper

of a bagnio and her associates presented themselves, and the son had

the humiliation of having to permit them to register. These courtesans

afterward voted.

"Another case: A man came to the place of registration, and remarked

to the officer that he supposed he could not register, as he had a

wife and also kept a mistress. This man might be considered a very

straight-forward fellow to make so ready an acknowledgment, but I fail

to see anything straight-forward in such a crooked transaction as the

breaking of the marriage vows and marital infidelity. But the officer

knew what was in the oath better than this man, and advised him to read

it. He did so. When he came to the words, 'in the marriage relation,'

he immediately said, 'Yes, I see. I can go that,' and was at once sworn

and registered."

Having begun the application of the law so as to effect the franchise

of the party in the majority, the next move of the conspirators was to

begin action judicially.

The first case prosecuted under the new regime was that of Rudger

Clawson, a young man highly respected in the community. His case

marks the inauguration of as cruel and unjustifiable a judicial

crusade as was ever perpetrated against a free people in a professedly

free government. He was arraigned both for polygamy and unlawful

cohabitation, found guilty and sentenced on the 3rd of November,

1884. His sentence on both charges covered a period of four years

imprisonment, and eight hundred dollars in fines.

President Taylor was subpoenaed as a witness in his case, but the

testimony he gave was not material. Indeed the prosecution seemed more

anxious to involve him in a conflict with the court than to elicit any

fact he might know in relation to this particular case. His description

of the scene in court during this trial, the character of the man being

tried, and that of the men trying him, with a review of their methods

and the principles involved in the controversy, together with the

picture he draws of the present state of society as he described them

off hand in a discourse delivered in Ogden, a few days after the trial,

is too important to be omitted; and it demonstrates that the fire of

President Taylor's eloquence could still burn brightly on occasion,

until it scorched and burned an opponent, and vindicated the right. He

said:

"While I was in court a few days ago, and gazing upon the assembly

of judges, lawyers, marshals, witnesses, spectators, etc., many

reflections of a very peculiar character passed through my mind, some

of which I will here rehearse:

"I could not help thinking as I looked upon the scene, that there

was no necessity for all this; these parties [Rudger Clawson and his

plural wife] need not have placed themselves in this peculiar dilemma.

Here was a young man blessed with more than ordinary intelligence,

bearing amongst all who know him a most enviable reputation for virtue,

honesty, sobriety and all other desirable characteristics that we are

in the habit of supposing go to make a man respected and beloved, the

civilized world over. He had been trained from early childhood in the

nurture and admonition of the Lord, had been an attendant at Sabbath

school and Young Men's Improvement Societies, where his course was

of the most pleasing kind; more than this, some years ago when quite

a youth, he had shown his devotion to the faith in which he had been

reared, by going forth without purse or scrip to preach in the midst

of the unbelieving the doctrines of a most unpopular faith. And as I

reached this point in my reflections, my mind instinctively wanders to

a monument I gazed at in Salt Lake City cemetery but a few days ago.

That monument records in fitting words of respect and admiration the

devotion of two young missionaries in a far-off southern state, one of

whom had fallen a victim to mob violence, had sealed with his blood

the testimony which he bore, the other had stood by him in his hour

of sore need, and rescued his mangled body and brought it safely for

thousands of miles to the home of his bereaved parents and sorrowing

co-religionists.

"This heroic young man is the one now arraigned before the courts of

his country, for an alleged offense against the morality of the age!

Assuming that the reports pertaining to him should prove to be correct,

and he really has a plural wife, what then would be the position?

He from his earliest recollection, had been taught to reverence the

Bible as the word of God, to revere the lives and examples of the

ancient worthies whom Jehovah honored by making them His confidents,

and revealing unto them the secrets of his divine purposes; he had

read of one who was called 'the friend of God and the father of the

faithful;' of another who was said to be a 'man after God's own heart;'

of a third who in all things is said to have done the will of heaven,

and so on until they could be numbered by the score; yet all these

men, the friends, associates and confidents of the great Creator of

heaven and earth, were men with more than one wife, some with many

wives, yet they still possessed and rejoiced in the love and honor of

the great judge of all the world, whose judgments are just, and whose

words are all righteousness. This young man is charged with following

these worthy examples; it is asserted that he has taken to wife a

beautiful and virtuous young lady, belonging, like himself, to one of

our most respected families, and who also believes in the Bible, and in

the example set her by those holy women of old, such as Rachel, Ruth,

Hannah, and others, who honored God's law, and became the mothers of

prophets, priests and kings.

"And as my cogitations ran, I thought what need had these two to follow

such examples of a by-gone age; why not walk in the way of the world

today, unite with our modern Christian civilization, and if passion

guide their actions why call each other husband and wife, why hallow

their associations by any sacred ceremony--was there any need of such?

Why not do as tens of thousands of others do, live in the condition

of illicit love? And then if any child should be feared from this

unsanctified union, why not still follow our Christian exemplars,

remove the foetal incumbrance, call in some copyist of Madame Restell,

the abortionist, male or female that pollute our land? That would have

been, _sub-rosa_, genteel, fashionable, respectable, Christian-like, as

Christianity goes in this generation.

"If this did not succeed, the young man might have turned his victim

into the street to perish, or die of pollution as is done in tens of

thousands of instances, in the most sanctified manner by the hypocrites

of the day. Then in either of these cases, the young gentleman could

have been received into good society, be petted and applauded; could

hold a position under our government, be even a deputy marshal,

registrar or what not, and still further, be able to answer all

necessary questions; and be admitted as a grand juror without being

brought in as a gutter snipe on an open venire, but as a respectable

citizen on the regular panel.

"Or, again, these two, in the event of a child being born, might

consign it to the care of some degraded hag, some 'baby farmer,' where

gradually and quietly its innocent life would ebb out, and bye and bye

the grief-stricken parents would receive the anticipated notice that

their dear little offspring, notwithstanding every care, was dead and

buried! This is a respectable crime, a crime committed principally by

those who go to high-toned churches and fashionable meeting houses

in velvets and feathers, in silks and satins, and who with upturned

eyes and hypocritical voices, insult the majesty of heaven by drawling

out, 'Lord have mercy upon us, miserable sinners!' Yet they are

murderers--murderers of the worst kind, the shedders of innocent blood,

consumers of their own flesh, whom the vengeance of God awaits!

"This young man and woman could have done all this and no marshals with

ready feet would have dogged their steps, no packed grand juries with

unanimous alacrity would do the bidding of over-zealous prosecuting

attorneys; no federal judge would overturn precedent, ignore law,

disregard justice on purpose to convict. No, they might have been the

friends, associates, companions of judge and prosecutor, governor and

commissioner; but now, as they would neither associate unrighteously,

nor take means to destroy the results of their union, but honestly

and virtuously live, as is claimed, as husband and wife, he stands in

the felon's dock, charged with an offense against the dignity of the

United States, and to convict him, oppressive laws, more oppressively

administered are brought to bear with all the ingenuity that malice can

devise and hatred adopt.

"And there, in this ignominious position, he stands with every person

who might possibly be his friend, excluded from the jury, without the

possibility of a fair trial by his peers, not one of the panel being in

the least sympathy with himself; by such people this unfortunate young

gentleman has to be tried, judged, prosecuted, proscribed and condemned

because of his firm and unswerving faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac

and Jacob; of David, Solomon, and numerous other God-fearing and

honorable men, who, like him, have despised the cant and hypocrisy of

an ungodly world, and dared to obey the behests of Jehovah.

"Of these things he had learned from the Bible, in the Sunday School;

no wonder then that our would-be reformers are so anxious to exclude

the Bible from our district schools, as its teachings and examples so

emphatically condemn the theories on which the acts and legislation of

Congress are based, as well as the course pursued by those who seek to

aid in the regeneration of Utah, by adding to or taking from the law as

is best suited to shield their own corrupt practices; or, on the other

hand, by extra judicial proceedings, under cover of law, they pervert,

to prosecute and persecute the Mormons.

"Where was this scene enacted? In the gorgeous palaces of Belshazzar,

surrounded by his wives, concubines, and nobles, and where was seen

written on the walls '_Mene, Mene, Tekel Upharsin_?' No. Was it at the

destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, when ten righteous persons could

not be found to avert the wrath of an offended God, or in Pompeii or

Herculaneum, which, in their turn, for their libidinous and unrighteous

practices, as Sodom and Gomorrah, suffered the vengeance of eternal

fire? No. Was it at the Saturnalia of the Bacchanals of ancient Greece

and Rome? No. Those nations have long been overthrown and are now only

known to a few readers of ancient history. Was it during the reign

of the first French Republic, when they elevated a prostitute as the

goddess of reason? No. Was it in the days of the inquisition, when

the rack, the gibbet, the faggot and the flames were brought into

requisition to force unwilling victims to testify of things which

their conscience forbade, and who perished by thousands for daring

to think, and act, and believe in and worship God according to their

own consciences? No. Was it under the influence of Bacchus, or in the

midnight revelings as exhibited in Rome under Nero? No; this scene

was enacted in mid-day, in the nineteenth century, in the year of our

Lord, 1884, in the Federal court house, in Salt Lake City, at a court

presided over by Judge Charles S. Zane, Chief Justice for the United

States in the Territory of Utah, assisted by Prosecuting Attorney

William H. Dickson, and the other adjuncts of the law, and in the

presence of several hundred American citizens!"

CHAPTER XLIII.

THE STORM BURSTS UPON THE PEOPLE--THE MORALITY PLEA--WHO THE CRIMINALS

ARE--TESTIMONY OF STATISTICS--A VISIT TO ARIZONA AND MEXICO--ASSAULT

UPON THE PEOPLE IN ARIZONA--AN AMERICAN SIBERIA--SEEKING A PLACE OF

REFUGE--IN SAN FRANCISCO--THREATENED WITH ARREST--RETURN TO UTAH--LAST

SERMON--WARNING AND PROPHECY.

The "storm" increased in violence. Special appropriations were made in

Washington to aid in the enforcement of the infamous Edmunds law. With

those funds deputy marshals were multiplied, some of them being men

of notoriously immoral lives. They usually went in squads, pouncing

first upon one village and then another, raiding the homes of the most

respected and honorable men in the community, who were suspected of

living with their plural wives--with women they had honored with the

name of wife in some instances for more than a quarter of a century,

by whom they had reared large and respectable families: and because

they would not abandon them--thrust them away like unclean, nameless

things--this pack of human hounds were turned loose upon them, to dog

their footsteps, to invade their homes and insult their families.

Spotters and spies were employed to betray their neighbors; children

were hailed upon the streets and questioned about the affairs of

their parents; wives--lawful wives--were dragged into the courts and

compelled to testify against their husbands; shamefully indecent

questions were put to modest maidens in jury rooms and in open court;

juries were packed to convict; a Mormon accused of violation of the

anti-polygamy laws stood before a jury of his avowed political and

religious enemies; suspicion was equivalent to accusation; accusation

to indictment; indictment to conviction; and conviction met almost

invariably with the full penalty of the law, unless the victim was so

recreant to every sense of honor as to push from him the women he had

taken as wives for time and all eternity!

In the midst of this judicial "storm" which broke upon the Church in

Utah and the surrounding territories, President Taylor moved calmly on,

discharging his duties, counseling, encouraging and strengthening the

people. At the same time he did not fail to rebuke and proclaim the

hypocrisy of the men who were the prime movers in this unholy crusade,

carried on, professedly, in the interests of morality. For this purpose

he published the criminal statistics of Utah for the year 1883, by

which he demonstrated that while the Gentile population was greatly in

the minority, they furnished the overwhelming majority of criminals.

Following are his statements:

"The population of Utah may be estimated at one hundred and sixty

thousand in 1883.

"Of these say one hundred and thirty thousand are Mormons, and thirty

thousand are Gentiles--a very liberal estimate of the latter.

"In this year there were forty-six persons sent to the penitentiary

convicted of crime. Of these thirty-three were non-Mormons, and

thirteen reputed Mormons.

"At the above estimate of population the ratio or percentage would be

one prisoner for every ten thousand Mormons, or one hundredth of one

per cent., and of the Gentiles one convict in every nine hundred and

nine, or about one ninth of one per cent. So that the actual proportion

of criminals is more than ten times greater among the Gentiles of Utah,

with the above very liberal estimate, than among the Mormons.

"It is urged that these non-Mormon prisoners are not a fair

representation of the average of crime throughout the country, but are

the result of the flow of the desperate classes westward to the borders

of civilization; with greater truth we reply that the Mormon prisoners

are not representatives of Mormonism, nor the results of Mormonism, but

of the consequences of a departure from Mormon principles; and of the

thirteen prisoners classed as Mormons, the greater portion were only so

by family connection or association.

"ARRESTS IN SALT LAKE CITY IN 1883:

Mormons 150

Non-Mormons 1,559

or more than ten times the number of Mormon arrests.

"Again it is estimated that there are six thousand non-Mormons and

nineteen thousand Mormons in Salt Lake City, which shows of Mormons one

arrest in one hundred and twenty-six and two-thirds.

"Non-Mormons, one arrest in a fraction less than four, or rather more

than twenty-five per cent.

"If we were not on the defensive in this case," observed President

Taylor, when presenting the above facts, "I would say nothing about

these things; but it ill-becomes men who have ten criminals to our one,

to come here as our reformers, and try to disfranchise men who are

ten times as good as they are. These are facts that are not of my own

getting up. They come from the public records and can be verified by

the prison and other statistics."

In order to still further explode the defense made by those whom these

facts placed in so unenviable a position, _viz_: that the scum of

society from the eastern states had floated out here to the west, and

consequently the Gentile population in Utah was not representative of

Gentile communities elsewhere, he collected a number of statements

from the sermons and writings of leading ministers and writers from

various parts of the Union, on the subject of infanticide, foeticide

and kindred crimes, that told a sad tale of sexual immorality, which

every year, according to the authors he quoted, was growing worse and

worse--something too much of this:

Handle it carefully,

Deal with it gently,

Speak of it tenderly,

Poor justice is blind!

The Stakes of Zion located in Arizona suffered quite as much from this

judicial crusade as those living in Utah, and they were further away

from the chief pastors of the flock, and hence greater perplexity and

excitement. On learning of this, President Taylor determined to visit

them, learn the true situation of their affairs and counsel them as the

Lord should give him wisdom.

Accordingly a party of brethren was made up including his second

counselor, Joseph F. Smith, and also Apostles Moses Thatcher and

Francis M. Lyman, Bishop John Sharp and others. They were joined in the

south also by Apostle Erastus Snow.

The party left Salt Lake City on the 3rd of January, 1885, by the Union

Pacific Railway to Denver, thence to Albuquerque, in New Mexico, thence

to the settlements of the Saints in Apache County, Arizona, in the

vicinity of Winslow.

President Taylor went to St. David, in the extreme south-east corner

of Arizona, near Benson, where he met with the Presidents of the four

Stakes in that Territory; Jesse N. Smith, Christopher Layton, Alexander

F. McDonald and Lot Smith. He found the Saints in a lamentable

condition. They had been set upon in the most ruthless manner by their

enemies. Nearly all the forms of law had been abandoned in dealing with

them, and outrages had been heaped upon them, under the pretext of

executing the law, that were well nigh unendurable. Those who had been

convicted and sentenced had been shipped off to Detroit, a distance of

two thousand miles, notwithstanding there was a good available prison

at Yuma, within the Territory.

Under these circumstances President Taylor thought it better for the

brethren to evade the law; and in order that those who were being

hunted might find a temporary place of refuge, he sent two parties down

into Mexico to find suitable place for the settlement of those who had

to flee from this unhallowed persecution.

During the absence of these parties, he visited with a portion of his

party Guaymas, on the Gulf of California, in the state of Sonora,

Mexico. On the return trip he stopped off at Hermosillo, the capital

of the state of Sonora, where he and his party were received at the

residence of Governor Torres, with distinguished consideration.

Returning to Benson he met with the brethren sent in search of a

place of refuge, and decided in his capacity as Trustee-in-Trust of

the Church to assist in purchasing a place which had been selected by

Christopher Layton, just over the line in the state of Sonora.

After giving general directions to guide the Presidents of the Stakes

in Arizona as to their future policy and movements, President Taylor

and party visited the settlements of the Saints in Maricopa County, on

Salt River; and from thence _via_ Los Angeles went to San Francisco.

Here he spent a day or two visiting points of interest. Among other

features of his visit was a call at the famous library of the veteran

historian, Hurbert H. Bancroft.

While in San Francisco he received despatches to the effect that it

would not be safe for him to return home, as his arrest had been

determined upon. Notwithstanding this information he immediately

started for Salt Lake City, where he arrived on Tuesday, January 27th,

1885, having traveled nearly five thousand miles since the 3rd of the

same month.

The Sunday following, February 1st, he preached his last public sermon.

In it he related the principal incidents of his late mission into

Arizona, described the wrongs inflicted upon the people there, and told

the counsel he had given them.

As the vindictiveness of the courts had increased during his absence,

he gave the same advice to the people of Utah.

He deplored the condition of things in the Territory, not so much

on account of the Latter-day Saints, as on the account of the great

government of the United States, which had stooped from the proud

position it had hitherto boasted as the asylum for the oppressed of

all nations, to that of a persecutor of a righteous people for their

religion, until they had to find an asylum in an adjoining republic!

Referring to the outrages perpetrated both in Arizona and in Utah, he

asks:

"What would you do? Would you resent these outrages and break the heads

of the men engaged in them, and spill their blood? No;" said he, "avoid

them as much as you possibly can--just as you would wolves, or hyenas,

or crocodiles, or snakes, or any of these beasts or reptiles. * * *

Get out of their way as much as you can. What! Won't you submit to the

dignity of the law? Well, I would if the law would only be a little

more dignified. But when we see the dignity of the ermine bedragged

in the mud and mire, and every principle of justice violated, it

behooves men to take care of themselves as best they can. * * * But no

breaking of heads, no bloodshed, rendering evil for evil. Let us try

to cultivate the spirit of the gospel, and adhere to the principles of

truth. * * * While other men are seeking to trample the Constitution

under foot, we will try to maintain it. * * * I will tell you what you

will see by and by. You will see trouble! _trouble_! TROUBLE enough in

these United States. And as I have said before, I say today--_I tell

you in the name of God_, WOE! _to them that fight against Zion, for God

will fight against them!_"

Such was his last admonition, his last warning, his last prophecy

delivered in person in public to the people of God, to the nation in

which he had labored as a faithful servant of God, with such untiring

zeal, wisdom and skill for half a century.

That night he went into retirement, to escape the ruthless persecution

aimed at him by the unrelenting and hate-blinded enemies of the Church

of Christ.

CHAPTER XLIV.

PRESIDING UNDER DIFFICULTIES--GENERAL EPISTLE--AN INFAMOUS

CRUSADE--HOMES INVADED--JUDICIAL LEGISLATION--COHABITATION--PRESIDENT

TAYLOR'S DEPORTMENT.

From his places of retirement among the Saints, President Taylor

continued to preside over the Church, and under God to shape its policy

and direct its movements. Prevented by the mistaken zeal of the United

States officials and the vigilance of their myrmidons--the spotters

and spies--from attending the public meetings and conferences of the

Church, he, with his counselors, addressed general epistles to the

Saints in which they imparted such counsel and instruction as they

considered necessary and suited to the conditions by which they were

environed.

These papers are remarkable for their conservative tone and wisdom; for

the total absence of anger or vindictiveness, as also for the scope and

variety of the subjects they treated upon. They compare favorably with

the wisest and best state papers ever issued by kings or presidents,

ministers of state or cabinet councils. The flock of Christ, therefore,

was not left without the counsel of heaven or the care of the shepherds.

Still those were dark days. The seats reserved and usually occupied

by the leaders of Israel in the public assemblies were either vacant

or filled by comparative strangers. The recent enactments of Congress

infamous in themselves, were still more infamously enforced. The

courts and United States officials in Utah seemed utterly reckless in

their methods of executing the law. Men who at the most were guilty

of what the law defined to be a misdemeanor, punishable by six months

imprisonment and three hundred dollars fine, were hunted as if they

were guilty of the grossest crimes which could endanger the peace and

safety of the community.

Frequently, and I may say usually, deputy marshals in the night would

surround the houses suspected as being the places where their victims

were to be found, and then in the morning, before the inmates were

astir, would pounce upon them in the most unceremonious and brutal

manner. No place was so sacred in the homes of the people but these

minions under the color of law would force their way into it. Even

the bed chambers of modest maidenhood were rudely entered before the

occupants could dress, and in some instances the covering of their beds

stripped from them in the pretended search for violators of the law;

and they the while compelled to listen to their low blasphemies.

In proof of these allegations, which may seem too hard for belief

as time with its ever-moving wheels carries us away from the years

in which these acts of petty tyranny were perpetrated, I insert a

few statements of parties who suffered them. These statements are to

be found in a memorial addressed to Congress by the women of Utah,

presented in the Senate on the 6th of April, 1886, by Senator Blair of

New Hampshire, and ordered printed by that body:

"On January 11th, 1886, early in the morning, five deputy marshals

appeared at the residence of William Grant, American Fork, forced the

front door open, and, while the inmates were still in bed, made their

way up stairs to their sleeping apartments. There they were met by one

of the daughters of William Grant, who was aroused by the intrusion

and, despite her protestations, without giving time for the object

of their search to get up and dress himself, made their way into his

bedroom, finding him still in bed and his wife _en deshabille_ in the

act of dressing herself."

Mrs. Easton, of Greenville, near Beaver, relates the following:

"About seven a. m. deputies came to our house and demanded admittance.

I asked them to wait until we got dressed, and we would let them in.

Deputy Gleason said he would not wait, and raised the window and got

partly through by the time we opened the door, when he drew himself

back and came in through the door. He then went into the bedroom; one

of the young ladies had got under the bed, from which Gleason pulled

the bedding and ordered the young lady to come out. This she did, and

ran into the other room, where she was met by Thompson. I asked Gleason

why he pulled the bedding from the bed, and he answered, 'By God! I

found Watson in the same kind of a place.' He then said he thought

Easton was concealed in a small compass, and that he expected to find

him in a similar place, and was going to get him before he left."

Miss Morris, of the same place, says:

"Deputy Gleason came to my bed and pulled the clothing off me, asking

if there was any one in bed with me. He then went to the fireplace

and pulled a sack of straw from there and looked up the chimney. One

of them next pulled up a piece of carpet, when Gleason asked Thompson

if there was anyone under there. Thompson said 'No,' and Gleason

exclaimed, 'G--d d--it, we will look, any way.' They also looked in

cupboards, boxes, trunks, etc., and a small tea chest, but threw

nothing out."

Deputy Thompson, referred to in the above, is the man who, a few months

afterwards, December 16th, 1886, killed Edward M. Dalton at Parowan

by shooting him down in the street under the plea that Dalton was

trying to escape arrest for unlawful cohabitation. The testimony of

eye witnesses to the whole transaction, however, does not bear out the

claims of the man upon whose hands will be found innocent blood when he

shall stand before that tribunal where there is no shuffling--where the

action will be seen in its true light--where the guilty man himself,

even in the teeth and forehead of his offending, must give in the

evidence.

The following which occurred in Idaho is also from the aforesaid

Memorial:

"February 23rd, 1886, at about eleven o'clock at night, two deputy

marshals visited the house of Solomon Edwards, about seven miles from

Eagle Rock, Idaho, and arrested Mrs. Edwards, his legal wife, after she

had retired to bed, and required her to accompany them immediately to

Eagle Rock. Knowing something of the character of one of the deputies,

from his having visited the house before, when he indulged in a great

deal of drinking, profanity, and abuse, she feared to accompany them

without some protection, and requested a neighbor to go along on

horseback while she rode in the buggy with the two deputies. On the way

the buggy broke down and she, with an infant in her arms, was compelled

to walk the rest of the distance--between two and three miles. They

could have no reason for subpoenaing her in the night, and compelling her

to accompany them at such an untimely hour, except a fiendish malice or

a determination to heap all the indignities possible upon her, because

she was a Mormon woman, for she never attempted to evade the serving of

the warrant, and was perfectly willing to report herself at Eagle Rock

the next day. She was taken to Salt Lake City to testify against her

husband."

After reading such atrocities--such unjustifiable invasions of the

homes of the people--one instinctively asks himself if in the great

republic the wheels of civil liberty have not been turning backward

instead of forward. More than a century before these things transpired,

the eloquent Lord Chatham announced the great doctrine for all England

and her colonies, including those in America, that a man's house was

his castle; that though it might be so poor that the rains of heaven

could penetrate it, and the winds whistle through its crevices, yet

the king of England could not cross its threshold without its owner's

permission.

Not satisfied with the penalties affixed to the laws against unlawful

cohabitation, the Utah courts determined to increase them by means

little short of legislation itself. The trick resorted to was to decree

that the time a man had cohabited with more women than one as wives,

could be divided up into years, months or weeks, and separate bills

of indictment be found for each fragment of time. So ruled the Chief

Justice, Charles S. Zane. Judge Orlando W. Powers of the First Judicial

District, carried the infamous doctrine still further, and in charging

a grand jury, on the 23rd of September, 1885, said: "An indictment may

be found against a man guilty of unlawful cohabitation, for every day,

or other distinct interval of time, during which he offends. Each day

that a man cohabits with more than one woman, as I have defined the

word cohabit, is a distinct and separate violation of the law, and he

is liable for punishment for each separate offense."

His definition of cohabitation was as follows:

"The offense of cohabitation is complete when a man, to all outward

appearances, is living or associating with more than one woman as his

wife. To constitute the offense it is not necessary that it be shown

that the parties indulge in sexual intercourse. The intention of the

law-making power, in enacting the law, was to protect monogamous

marriage by prohibiting all other marriage, whether evidenced by a

ceremony, or by conduct and circumstances alone."

So held all the courts, and under that ruling such infamies as the

following were possible:

"In the case of Solomon Edwards recently accused of this

offense--unlawful cohabitation--it was proved by the evidence for the

prosecution that the defendant had lived with one wife only since the

passage of the Edmunds act, but after having separated from his former

plural wife, he called with his legal wife at the former's residence

to obtain a child, an agreement having been made that each party

should have one of the two children, and the court ruled that this was

unlawful cohabitation in the meaning of the law, and defendant was

convicted." [1]

It is but proper to say that the Supreme Court of the United States, on

an appeal being taken to it, decided against this infamous doctrine.

But it held sway for a time and exhibited the venomous disposition of

those entrusted with the execution of the laws in Utah.

In this crusade every effort was made to find President Taylor. His

own houses, the Church offices, and the Gardo House, were well-nigh

always under the surveillance of spies or deputy marshals, and the

latter places were several times searched, but always in vain. That

the place of his concealment was not discovered is little short of

the miraculous, since the business to which he continued to give

his personal attention was considerable, and required frequent

communication with agents who were at liberty to act. He owed his

safety, however, more to the promptings of the Holy Spirit than to the

cunning of man. More than once, in obedience to its whisperings, and

when to all outward appearances there was no danger to be feared, he

would leave his place of temporary abode. By frequently changing his

place of concealment, while running considerable risk of discovery in

moving, he kept his enemies mystified as to his whereabouts.

Though driven into retirement by a malicious and perverted

administration of the Edmunds law, he never allowed it to embitter his

thoughts or disturb the calmness and patience of his disposition. No,

not even so much as to lead him to speak evil of those who persecuted

him. "God forgive them," he would say, "they know not what they do." "I

pity them, with all my heart." The following letter addressed to his

family that had convened to celebrate the anniversary of his birth--a

custom with them for years--is the very best evidence both as to his

sentiments toward his enemies and the grandeur of his soul.

Footnotes

1. Women's Memorial to Congress.

CHAPTER XLV.

LETTER TO HIS FAMILY.

"_To my wives, my children, relatives and friends, who may have

assembled at the Gardo House, to celebrate the return of my birthday,

November 1st, 1886:_--

"As I am prevented from being with you on the present occasion, I

desire to send to you my benediction and blessing; and to say unto you:

May grace, mercy and peace be extended to you from God our Eternal

Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Savior, Redeemer and

Friend.

"I need not say unto you, that it would have afforded me very great

pleasure to have been with you on the present occasion, and to have

saluted you personally, as I know it would have been very gratifying

unto you. But, through the dispensation of an All-wise Providence,

things are not in a position that we would desire to have them; they

are in accordance, however, with the design of our Heavenly Father, who

ordains all things in harmony with the dispensation of His providence

towards the children of men.

"Some people suppose that persecutions and trials are afflictions;

but sometimes, and generally, if we are doing the will of the Lord

and keeping His commandments, they may be truly said to be blessings

in disguise. When our great Redeemer was on earth, He said to His

disciples: 'Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute

you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for

so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.'

"Although for the time being, these things may be painful, yet if

properly comprehended and realized, we should look at them in another

view, and feel as Paul said to the saints in his day: 'For our light

affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more

exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things

which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things

which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are

eternal,' and will lead us to reflect in most instances even as John

Wesley sang:

"'Shall I be carried to the skies,

On flowery beds of ease;

While others fought to win the prize,

And sailed through bloody seas!

"'No; I must fight, if I would reign,

Increase my courage, Lord;

I'll bear the toil, endure the pain,

Supported by thy word.'

"The foregoing are my sentiments, which I express from the bottom of

my heart; and I would state further, that if we expect to be united

with the hundred and forty-four thousand of which John speaks; who are

clothed in white raiment, and who were gathered together from every

nation, kindred, people and tongue, and who had washed their robes and

made them white in the blood of the Lamb (therefore were they next the

throne and serve their Maker day and night); we must pass through the

same ordeal they did.

"These people who were so honored of God, and of the Redeemer, and the

heavenly hosts, were those who had come up through much tribulation;

and we are further told in late revelations which God has given us

through the Prophet Joseph, that 'After much tribulation cometh the

blessing.'

"I was very sorry to learn, in the midst of other things, of the

sickness of my wives Jane and Sophia, and my heart has gone out in

prayer for them, accompanied by my brethren, that they may be healed,

and I am pleased to learn that there is some slight improvement in the

health of Aunt Jane, and also that there are some reasonable hopes of

the removal of the terrible affliction that has overtaken Aunt Sophia.

I would here remark that in speaking of these strokes, I have been

making careful inquiry about them since her sad affliction, and learned

that it is no uncommon thing for people to be healed of this kind of

disease. A lady of about her age that I conversed with quite recently,

said she had had two strokes of that kind, and she is now quite well,

hale and hearty. I mention these things in hopes that it will afford

some consolation to Aunt Sophia and to you, her friends.

"I am pleased to be informed that the health of the family is generally

good, and that the disposition and feeling of both wives and children

is to fear God, to work righteousness, and to yield obedience to His

laws. For if we expect to obtain a celestial glory and exaltations with

thrones, principalities and powers in the celestial kingdom of our God,

we must abide a celestial law. For it is expressly stated that we can

only inherit such a kingdom, such glory, and blessings as we prepare

ourselves for, by yielding obedience to the laws thereof; whether it be

a celestial, or terrestrial or telestial.

"We are engaged in a great work, and laying the foundation thereof--a

work that has been spoken of by all the holy prophets since the world

was; namely, the dispensation of the fullness of times, wherein God

will gather together all things in one, whether they be things in the

earth, or things in the heavens; and for this purpose God revealed

Himself, as also the Lord Jesus Christ, unto His servant the Prophet

Joseph Smith, when the Father pointed to the Son and said: 'This is

my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him.' He further

restored the everlasting gospel; together with the Aaronic and

Melchisedek Priesthoods; both of which are everlasting as God is; and

in the interest of humanity sent forth His gospel to the nations of

the earth. I am happy to say that I have been a bearer of this gospel

to several nations, and have been the means of bringing many to the

knowledge of the truth; among which are some of you, my wives. We

have been gathered together, according to the word of the Lord, and

the order of His Priesthood, to our present homes, our lands and our

possessions. We have had the privilege of assisting in building temples

to the Lord, and administering therein. The principles which have been

developed for the progression, the happiness and exaltation of the

faithful in Christ Jesus; and some of you, my sons, have been favored

with the Holy Priesthood, which is after the order of Melchisedek,

after the order of the Son God and of God the Eternal Father, and after

the power of an endless life. We expect and have faith, that this earth

will yet be renovated and purified, the wicked will be rooted out of

it, and the righteous inherit it; and we further look forward to the

time when there will be a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth

righteousness; and a new Jerusalem, wherein the Lord God and the Lamb

will be the light thereof, and you, my wives, and also my children who

have come to years of maturity, will have the privilege, if faithful

to your covenants, of entering into and partaking of the most exalted,

glorious, and eternal blessings, which any men or women on earth have

enjoyed in this world, or in the world to come; and will eventually be

associated with the Gods in the eternal worlds.

"We are here gathered together in this land of Zion for the purpose

of purifying, instructing and building up the Church of God; and also

building up a Zion of God, and establishing the rule and government

of God on the earth, and fulfilling that which is spoken of by the

Prophet: 'The Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is

our King; He will save us.'

"In view of the many great and precious promises which are made to us,

and which fall to our lot through obedience to the laws of God; we

should at all times place ourselves in conformity with the laws, usages

and requirements of the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth. Our

lives should not be a blank. We are heirs of eternal lives. We ought to

use all our energies in the interest of humanity, in the establishment

of the Zion of God, and the building up of the kingdom of God on the

earth.

"It would be very proper for you, my wives, and daughters who are

of sufficient age, if you have not already done so, to associate

yourselves with the Relief Societies; and of my sons and daughters

to unite themselves with the Young Men's and Young Women's Mutual

Improvement Associations; and thus, while you are receiving information

and benefit, you, at the same time may make yourselves useful and a

blessing unto others. Let me here say, that the Prophet Joseph Smith

instituted the Ladies' Relief Society for that purpose. It is proper

that you should all reverence the Lord your God in all things, and

cultivate His love and fear in your hearts. All ought to dedicate

themselves daily, morning and evening to the Lord, and seek for His

mercy, blessing and oversight, both day and night. You who have

families ought to gather them together every morning and every evening,

and dedicate yourselves to the Lord. And this dedication ought to be

in private, between yourselves only and the Lord, as well as in public

or family prayer. The Prophet Joseph gave a special charge to me while

living, as near as I can remember as follows: 'Brother Taylor, never

arise in the morning or retire at night, without dedicating yourself

unto God and asking His blessings upon you through the day or night, as

the case may be, and the Lord God will hear and answer your prayers;

and don't let any circumstances prevent it.' I had been in the habit

of doing so, for years before this; but since that time I have not

omitted, to my knowledge, the observance of this duty, morning or

evening.

"Never do an act that you would be ashamed of man knowing, for God sees

us always, both day and night, and if we expect to live and reign with

Him in eternity, we ought to do nothing that will disgrace us in time.

"We should be strictly honest, one with another, and with all men; let

our word always be as good as our bond; avoid all ostentation of pride

and vanity; and be meek, lowly, and humble; be full of integrity and

honor; and deal justly and righteously with all men; and have the fear

and love of God continually before us, and seek for the comforting

influence of the Holy Ghost to dwell with us. Let mothers be loving,

kind and considerate with their children, and the children kind and

obedient to their mothers, and to their Fathers; and seek always to be

governed by good and wise counsel, and so to live every day, and in all

our acts, as to keep a conscience void of offense towards God and man.

Be kind and courteous to all, seek to promote the welfare of all, be

gentlemen and ladies, and treat one another, and all men with proper

courtesy, respect and kindness. So shall you be honored by the good

and virtuous, enjoy the blessings of a good conscience, and secure the

approbation of God, and of the holy angels, in time and throughout all

eternity.

"The protecting care of the Lord over me and my brethren has been very

manifest since my absence from home, for which I feel to bless and

praise His holy name. I always am very desirous to acknowledge His

hand in all things, and I am very anxious that you should do the same.

For to the Lord we are indebted for every blessing which we enjoy,

pertaining to this life, and the life which is to come.

"While we seek to God our Heavenly Father for His blessings, let

us be careful to so live that we can secure and claim them, by our

obedience to His laws. Be merciful, and kind, and just, and generous

to all. Preserve your bodies and your spirits pure, and free from

contamination. Avoid lasciviousness, and every corrupting influence;

that you may be indeed the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of

a crooked and perverse generation.

"I pray God the Eternal Father that when we have all finished our

probation here, we may be presented to the Lord without spot or

blemish, as pure and honorable representatives of the Church and

kingdom of God on the earth, and then inherit a celestial glory in the

kingdom of our God, and enjoy everlasting felicity with the pure and

just in the realms of eternal day, through the merits and atonement of

the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, in worlds without end.

Amen.

"To those present of my friends and not of my immediate family, I

present a most hearty welcome, and an affectionate regard.

"I thank you all for your sympathetic, kind and generous feelings

manifested through the letters I have received. I must also beg you to

exercise to me a spirit of benevolence and charity, over my apparent

negligence, at times, in not being as prompt as desirable in answering

your communications. For while I profoundly respect and appreciate

your kindness, it is not always convenient for me to send an immediate

reply, as I have daily to attend to all my official duties as when in

my office at home.

"In regard to my position and that of my brethren who are with me, I

am happy to inform you that we now are, and always have been, during

our exile, supplied with everything that is necessary to our comfort

and convenience. Go where we will, we have good accommodations, plenty

of food and the necessaries of life, kind and sympathetic friends,

and the best of treatment. I am also happy in the belief that you are

comfortably situated. If there is anything that any of you require and

you will inform me, I shall be happy to supply it, if within my power.

Some of you have written that you 'would like to have a peep at me.'

I heartily reciprocate that feeling, and would like to have a 'peep'

at you on this occasion; but in my bodily absence my spirit and peace

shall be with you.

"God bless you all, in time and throughout the eternities to come, is

the prayer of your affectionate husband, father and friend in the new

and everlasting covenant--

"JOHN TAYLOR."

CHAPTER XLVI.

REFLECTIONS--DEATH OF SOPHIA TAYLOR--DETERMINATION TO BRING ABOUT AN

ISSUE--A VIOLENT ONE PREFERRED--HALF MASTING EPISODE--THE COURSE OF

THE G. A. R.--WARLIKE PREPARATIONS FOR PIONEER DAY--FLAGS AT HALF MAST

THROUGHOUT THE UNION--EXPRESSIONS OF LOVE AND CONFIDENCE--LAST ILLNESS

AND DEATH OF PRESIDENT TAYLOR.

Such was the man whom the United States officials in Utah thought it

necessary to hunt down like an atrocious felon, and even put a price

upon his head for his apprehension! This is the man adjudged unworthy

by the Edmunds law to vote or hold office in the United States! This

is the man who must be driven from his family and the comforts of home

to satisfy the clamor of an unthinking, prejudiced populace, aroused

to a frenzy of excited intolerance by misrepresentation and an appeal

to passion! It is a sad comment on the subserviency of our national

legislators to have it to say that they yielded a ready submission to

the clamors of the multitude, and steadily refused to investigate the

charges against the Latter-day Saints before enacting the proscriptive

legislation under which President Taylor and men of like character

suffered.

His wife Sophia mentioned in the foregoing letter, who was suffering

from the effects of a paralytic stroke at the time it was written, died

on the 27th of February following. During her distressing illness he

could not visit her; nor yet when the last sad rites that men performed

for the dead were held over her remains could he be present to look

upon the face of this loving and faithful wife. During her illness

her house was closely watched by spies, and even while she was dying

it was searched in hopes of finding him. Though his heart was torn

with anguish under these trying circumstances, he bowed to the hard

conditions with that Christian fortitude which had been characteristic

of him all his life.

When President Taylor retired from public view on the evening of the

1st of February, 1885, it was not out of any consideration for his

personal safety, or ease or comfort, but for the public good and in

the interests of peace. There can be no question but that there was

a cunningly devised plan on the part of the assailants of the Church

to involve the Saints in difficulty with the government, to provoke

them to acts of violence against the alleged execution of the law,

that a pretext might be found for their destruction or expulsion from

the land they had redeemed from the desert. What meant, else, that

unwarranted invasion of the homes of the people? What meant this

inhuman hounding of men so highly honored in the community? What

meant this reign of terror in which laws were perverted, time-honored

precedents overturned, and nearly all the rules of jurisprudence

ignored? What meant the repeated efforts to engage the military power

in the settlement of Utah affairs if violence was not contemplated?

That a pre-text for violence was eagerly sought is clearly seen in the

following:

On the 4th of July, 1885, the United States flag was raised at

half-mast at the City Hall, in Salt Lake City, and over some

other buildings, among them, Z. C. M. I., _Deseret News_ Office

and Tabernacle. This action was designed to express sorrow at the

subversion of those principles of religious and civil liberty in our

Territory for which the founders of our government had fought and died.

This act was construed to be an insult to the flag, and to portend

treason and rebellion. The wildest excitement prevailed; and threats of

violence were indulged in by the enemies of the Saints.

"Pioneer Day," the 24th of July, was not far off, and it was alleged by

the enemies of the Saints that it was the intention of the "Mormons"

to again "insult" the flag by putting it at half-mast, and draping it

in mourning. By industriously circulating such a rumor the country

expected a conflict on that date, and General O. O. Howard, deceived by

the misrepresentations of the anti-Mormon clique, in Salt Lake City,

made such representations to President Cleveland that he was directed

to keep all posts of the Western Platte department of the army in full

strength and be prepared for any emergency that might arise in Utah in

the near future. General Hatch with the Fifth Cavalry was ordered to

remain in readiness at Ogallala, Nebraska, to proceed by express train

to Salt Lake City if necessary.

On the 18th of the month there was a meeting of Lincoln Post No.

2, Grand Army of the Republic, in Butte, Montana. After some minor

business, the subject of the approaching Pioneer Day and Mormon

celebration at Salt Lake, July 24th, and General Howard's dispatches in

relation thereto was taken up and fully discussed. The result was the

appointment of a committee on resolutions. That committee reported the

following, which was unanimously adopted.

"LINCOLN POST, G. A. R.,

"BUTTE CITY,M. T., July 18, 1885.

"WHEREAS, from the report of General Howard and information received

from comrades of the G. A. R., residents of Utah, we are advised that

the representatives of the twin relic of barbarism design on the 24th

inst., to repeat their treasonable actions of July 4th and threaten to

trample the flag of our country in the dust, therefore, be it

"_Resolved_, that the comrades of Lincoln Post, No. 2, G. A. R., tender

to Governor Murray, of Utah, and to H. C. Wardleigh, Commander of the

Department of Utah, G. A. R., the services of this Post at Salt Lake

City on July 24, and 'continue during the war.'

"_Resolved_, that the members of this Post hold themselves in readiness

to 'move together' upon the request of our comrades in Utah; that the

Quartermaster be instructed to at once issue members of the Post arms

and ammunition, and the Adjutant be instructed to notify every member

of this Post to report for duty at once.

"(Signed) E. L. HOLMES,

"J. D. JENKS,

"F. R. VINCENT."

"SPECIAL ORDER."

"HEADQUARTERS LINCOLN POST, no. 2,

"DEPARTMENT OF MONTANA, G. A. R.,

"BUTTE, Montana, July 18, 1885.

"_Special Order No. 4_."

"I. COMRADES: In obedience to resolutions this day passed by Lincoln

Post, each comrade will hold himself in readiness to report for duty,

armed, uniformed and equipped.

"II. This Post is divided into two companies, A and B. Comrade C. S.

Shoemaker is assigned to the command of A. company, and Comrade John

Bechtel is assigned to the command of B. company.

"III. Harry C. Kessler, Quartermaster will at once issue arms and

ammunition to each comrade, and make the proper arrangement for such

transportation, subsistence and supplies as the occasion may require.

"[By order of the Post Commander.]

"J. J. YORK, Adjutant."

The cause of such a movement as this doubtless occurred at the instance

of the bitter anti-Mormons in Salt Lake. Eight days before, their

organ, the Salt Lake _Tribune_, said:

"The ex-Confederate soldiers are talking of holding an indignation

meeting here on the 24th inst., to express their views on the insult

offered to the flag on July 4, by the Mormon Church in this city. The

federal court room has been obtained, the railroads have agreed to give

half-fare rates from the Park, Ogden and the mining camps, and the

hotels such reasonable rates as to make it an object. The sentiments

of the ex-Confederates are to be embodied in the form of resolutions

to be sent to the Southern States and Congressmen, politicians and

newspapers in that section. It is believed that the southern people

should be made aware of the true condition of affairs in Utah, and that

they will listen to and believe what the ex-Confederate soldiers living

here may say on the subject, with more readiness than they would were

the information to come to them from all loyal citizens of Utah without

distinction. It is a good move, and for another reason. There is talk

on the streets to the effect that on the 24th--Pioneer's Day--the

Mormons intend to drape the flag in mourning and float it at half-mast.

That would be a good day for the presence in this city of two or three

thousand old soldiers, Federal and Confederate. It would probably

result in a speedy and effectual settlement of the whole Mormon

business, for with such men here in force the nation's flag would not

be insulted with impunity."