I joined not in the merriment of my companions. I took no share in
their mirth. The trapper's story had intensified the anguish of my
thoughts; and now, that I found time to dwell upon its purport, my
reflections were bitter beyond expression. I could have no doubt as to
who was the heroine of that strange history. She who had been so
shamefully deceived--she who had so nobly risked her life to save her
honour--she the wild huntress, by the Utahs called _Ma-ra-nee_--could be
no other than that _Marian_, of whom I had heard so much--Marian Holt!
The circumstances detailed by the trapper were perfectly conformable to
this belief--they concurred in establishing it. The time--the place--
the route taken--the Mormon train all agreed with what we had
ascertained regarding Stebbins's first expedition across the prairies.
The Mexican had mentioned no names. It was likely he knew them not; or
if so, it was scarcely probable he could have pronounced them. But it
needed not names to confirm me in the belief that "Josh Stebbins" was
the sham-husband, and that she whom he would have betrayed--this
huntress-maiden, was the lost love of my comrade Wingrove--the sister of
my own Lilian. This would account for the resemblance that had struck
me. It no longer seemed vague, in my memory: I could now trace it
palpably and clearly.
And this was the grand beauty upon which the young backwoodsman had so
enthusiastically descanted. Often had he described it to my incredulous
ear. I had attributed his praises to the partiality of a lover's eye--
having not the slightest suspicion that their object was possessed of
such merits. No more should I question the justice of his admiration,
nor wonder at its warmth. The rude hyperbole that had occasionally
escaped him, when speaking of the "girl"--as he called her--no longer
appeared extravagant. In truth, the charms of this magnificent maiden
were worthy of metaphoric phrase. Perhaps, had I seen her first--before
looking upon Lilian--that is, had I not seen Lilian at all--my own heart
might have yielded to this half-Indian damsel? Not so now. The gaudy
tulip may attract the eye, but the incense of the perfumed violet is
sweeter to the soul. Even had both been presented together, I could not
have hesitated in my choice. All the same should I have chosen the gold
and the rose; and my heart's preference was now fixed, fondly and for
ever.
My love for Lilian Holt was a passion too profound to be otherwise than
perpetual. It was in my bosom--in its innermost recesses,
all-pervading--all-absorbing. There would it cling till death. Even in
those dread hours when death seemed hovering above my head, the thought
of Lilian was uppermost--even then did my mind dwell upon the perils
that encompassed her path. And now that I was myself delivered from
danger, had I reason to regard the future of my beloved with
apprehensions less acute? No. The horrid scheme which the trapper's
story had disclosed in respect to her sister--might not she, too, be the
victim of a similar procuration? O heaven! it was too painfully
probable. The more I dwelt upon it, the more probable appeared this
appalling hypothesis.
I have already spoken of my experience of Mormon life, and the insight I
had incidentally obtained into its hideous characteristics. I have said
that the _spiritual-wife_ doctrine was long since exploded--repudiated
even by the apostles themselves--and in its place the _many-wife_ system
had been adopted. There was no change in reality, only in profession.
The practice of the Mormon leaders had been the same from the beginning;
only that then polygamy had been carried on _sub rosa_. Publicity being
no longer dreaded, it was now practised "openly and above board." We
term it polygamy--adopting an oriental phrase. It is nothing of the
kind. Polygamy presupposes some species of marriage, according to the
laws of the land; but for Mormon matrimony--at least that indulged in by
the dignitaries of the church--there were no statutes, except such as
they had chosen to set up for themselves. The ceremony is simply a
farce; and consists in the sprinkling of a little water by some brother
apostle, with a few mock-mesmeric passes--jocosely termed the "laying on
of hands!" The cheat is usually a secret performance: having no other
object than to overcome those natural scruples--not very strong among
women of Mormon training--but which sometimes, in the case of young
girls of Christian education, had opposed themselves to the designs of
these impudent impostors. Something resembling matrimony may be the
condition of a Mormon wife--that is, the wife of an ordinary "Saint,"
whose means will not allow him to indulge in the gross joys of polygamy.
But it is different with the score or two of well-to-do gentlemen who
finger the finances of the church--the tenths and other tributes which
they contrive to extract from the common herd. Among these, the
so-called "wife" is regarded in no other light than that of _une femme
entretenue_.
I knew that one of the duties specially enjoined upon those emissaries
termed "apostles," is to gather young girls from all parts of the world.
The purpose is proclaimed with all the affectation of sanctified
phraseology:--that they should become "mothers in the church," and by
this means lead to the more rapid increase of the followers of the true
faith! This is the public declaration, intended for the common ear.
But the leaders are actuated by motives still more infamous. Their
emissaries have instructions to select the _fairer forms_ of creation;
and it is well-known that to making converts of this class, have their
energies been more especially devoted.
It was this species of proselytising--alas! too often successful--that
more than aught else had roused the indignation of the backwoodsmen of
Missouri and Illinois, and caused the expulsion of the Saints from their
grand temple-city of Nauvoo. In the ranks of their assailants were many
outraged men--fathers who looked for a lost child--angry brothers,
seeking revenge for a sister lured from her home--lovers, who lamented a
sweetheart beguiled by that fatal faith--and no doubt the blood of the
pseudo-Saint's, there and then shed, was balm to many a chafed and
sorrowing spirit.
In the category of this uxorious infamy, no name was more distinguished
than that of him, on whose shoulders the mantle of the _prophet_ had
descended--the chief who now held ascendancy among these self-styled
saints; and who, with an iron hand, controlled the destinies of their
church. A man cunning and unscrupulous; a thorough plebeian in thought,
but possessed of a certain portentous polish, well suited to deceive the
stupid herd that follows him, and sufficient for the character he is
called upon to play; a debauchee boldly declared, and scarcely caring
for the hypocrisy of concealment; above all, an irresponsible despot,
whose will is law to all around him; and, when needing enforcement, can
at any hour pretend to the sanction of authority from heaven: such is
the head of the Mormon Church! With both the temporal and spiritual
power in his hands; legislative, executive, and judicial united--the
fiscal too, for the prophet is sole treasurer of the _tenths_--this
monster of imposition wields a power equalled only by the barbaric
chiefs of Africa, or the rajahs of Ind. It might truly be said, that
both the souls and bodies of his subjects are his, and not their own.
The former he can control, and shape to his designs at will. As for the
latter, though he may not take life openly, it is well-known that his
sacred edict issued to the "destroying angels," is equally efficacious
to kill. Woe betide the Latter-day Saint, who dares to dream of dissent
or apostasy! Woe to him who expresses disaffection, or even discontent!
Too surely may he dread a mysterious punishment--too certainly expect
the midnight visitation of the _Danites_!
Exercising such influence over Mormon men, it is almost superfluous to
add, that his control over Mormon women is yet more complete. Virtue,
assailed under the mask of a spiritual hypocrisy, is apt to give way--
alas! too easily--in all parts of the world; but in a state of society,
where such slips are rather a fashion than a disgrace, it is needless to
say that they are of continual occurrence. The practice of the
pseudo-prophet in wife-taking has very little limit, beyond that fixed
by his own desires. It is true he may not outrage certain formalities,
by openly appropriating the wives of his followers; but should he fancy
to become the _husband_ of their daughters, not only is there no
opposition offered on the part of the parent, but the base proposal is
regarded in the light of an honour! So esteemed it the women from whom
Marian Holt had run away--the brave girl preferring the perils of
starvation and savage life to such gentle companionship! Thus
contemplating the character of the vulgar Alcibiades, for whose harem
she had been designed--in full knowledge of the circumstances which now
surrounded her sister--how could I deem the situation of Lilian
otherwise than similar--her destiny the same? With such a tyrant to
betray, such a father to protect, no wonder that I trembled for her
fate! No wonder that the sweat--forced from me my by soul's agony--
broke out in bead-drops upon my brow!