Brigham Young sends word I may see him tomorrow. So I go to bed
singing the popular Mormon hymn:
"Let the chorus still be sung,
Long live Brother Brigham Young,
And blessed be the vale of Desere't--ret--ret!
And blessed be the vale of Deseret."
At two o'clock the next afternoon Mr. Hiram B. Clawson, Brigham
Young's son-in-law and chief business manager, calls for me with
the Prophet's private sleigh, and we start for that distinguished
person's block.
I am shown into the Prophet's chief office. He comes forward,
greets me cordially, and introduces me to several influential
Mormons who are present.
Brigham Young is 62 years old, of medium height, and with sandy
hair and whiskers. An active, iron man, with a clear sharp eye.
A man of consummate shrewdness--of great executive ability. He
was born in the State of Vermont, and so by the way was Heber C.
Kimball, who will wear the Mormon Belt when Brigham leaves the
ring.
Brigham Young is a man of great natural ability. If you ask me,
How pious is he? I treat it as a conundrum, and give it up.
Personally he treated me with marked kindness throughout my sojourn
in Utah.
His power in Utah is quite as absolute as that of any living
sovereign, yet he uses it with such consummate shrewdness that his
people are passionately devoted to him.
He was an Elder at the first formal Mormon "stake" in this country,
at Kirtland, Ohio, and went to Nauvoo with Joseph Smith. That
distinguished Mormon handed his mantle and the Prophet business
over to Brigham when he died at Nauvoo.
Smith did a more flourishing business in the Prophet line than B.Y.
does. Smith used to have his little Revelation almost every day--
sometimes two before dinner. B.Y. only takes one once in a while.
The gateway of his block is surmounted by a brass American eagle,
and they say ("they say" here means anti-Mormons) that he receives
his spiritual dispatches through this piece of patriotic poultry.
They also say that he receives revelations from a stuffed white
calf that is trimmed with red ribbons and kept in an iron box. I
don't suppose these things are true. Rumor says that when the Lion
House was ready to be shingled, Brigham received a message from the
Lord stating that the carpenters must all take hold and shingle it,
and not charge a red cent for their services. Such carpenters as
refused to shingle would go to hell, and no postponement on account
of the weather. They say that Brigham, whenever a train of
emigrants arrives in Salt Lake City, orders all the women to march
up and down before his block, while he stands on the portico of the
Lion House and gobbles up the prettiest ones.
He is an immensely wealthy man. His wealth is variously estimated
at from ten to twenty millions of dollars. He owns saw mills,
grist mills, woollen factories, brass and iron foundries, farms,
brick-yards, &c., and superintends them all in person. A man in
Utah individually owns what he grows and makes, with the exception
of a one-tenth part: that must go to the Church; and Brigham Young,
as the first President, is the Church's treasurer. Gentiles, of
course, say that he abuses this blind confidence of his people, and
speculates with their money, and absorbs the interest if he doesn't
the principle. The Mormons deny this, and say that whatever of
their money he does use is for the good of the Church; that he
defrays the expenses of emigrants from far over the seas; that he
is foremost in all local enterprises tending to develop the
resources of the territory, an that, in short, he is incapable of
wrong in any shape.
Nobody seems to know how many wives Brigham Young has. Some set
the number as high as eighty, in which case his children must be
too numerous to mention. Each wife has a room to herself. These
rooms are large and airy, and I suppose they are supplied with all
the modern improvements. But never having been invited to visit
them I can't speak very definitely about this. When I left the
Prophet he shook me cordially by the hand, and invited me to call
again. This was flattering, because if he dislikes a man at the
first interview he never sees him again. He made no allusion to
the "letter" I had written about his community. Outside guards
were pacing up and down before the gateway, but they smiled upon me
sweetly. The veranda was crowded with Gentile miners, who seemed
to be surprised that I didn't return in a wooden overcoat, with my
throat neatly laid open from ear to ear.
Nobody seems to know how many wives Brigham Young has. Some set
the number as high as eighty, in which case his children must be
too numerous to mention. Each wife has a room to herself, These
rooms are large ans airy, and I suppose they are supplied with all
the modern improvements. But never having been invited to visit
them, I can't speak very definitely about this. When I left the
Prophet he shook me cordially by the hand, and invited me to call
again. This was flattering, because if he dislikes a man at the
first interview he never sees him again. He made no allusion to
the "letter" I had written about his community. Outside guards
were pacing up and down before the gateway, but they smiled upon me
sweetly. The verandah was crowded with Gentile miners, who seemed
to be surprised that I didn't return in a wooden overcoat, with my
throat neatly laid open from ear to ear.
. . . .
I go to the Theatre to-night. The play is Othello. This is a
really fine play and was a favourite of G. Washington, the father
of his country. On this stage, as upon all stages, the good old
conventionalities are strictly adhered to. The actors cross each
other at oblique angles from L.U.E. to R. I. E. on the slightest
provocation. Othello howls, Iago scowls, and the boys all laugh
when Roderigo dies. I stay to see charming Mrs. Irwin (Desdemona)
die, which she does very sweetly.
. . . .
I was an actor once, myself. I supported Edwin Forrest at a
theatre in Philadelphia. I played a pantomimic part. I removed
the chairs between scenes, and I did it so neatly that Mr. F. said
I would make a cabinet-maker if I "applied" myself.
. . . .
The parquette of the theatre is occupied exclusively by the Mormons
and their wives and children. They wouldn't let a Gentile in there
any more than they would a serpent. In the side seats are those of
President Young's wives who go the play, and a large and varied
assortment of children. It is an odd sight to see a jovial old
Mormon file down the parquette aisle with ten or twenty robust
wives at his heels. Yet this spectacle may be witnessed every
night the theatre is opened. The dress circle is chiefly occupied
by the officers from Camp Douglas and the Gentile Merchants. The
upper circles are filled by the private soldiers and Mormon boys.
I feel bound to say that a Mormon audience is quite as appreciative
as any other kind of an audience. They prefer comedy to tragedy.
Sentimental plays, for obvious reasons, are unpopular with them. It
will be remembered that when C. Melnotte, in the Lady of Lyons,
comes home from the wars, he folds Pauline to his heaving heart and
makes several remarks of an impassioned and slobbering character.
One night when the Lady of Lyons was produced here, an aged Mormon
arose and went out with his twenty-four wives, angrily stating that
he wouldn't sit and see a play where a man made such a CUSSED FUSS
OVER ONE WOMAN. The prices of the theatre are: Parquette, 75
cents; second and third upper circles, 25 cents. In an audience of
two thousand persons (and there are almost always that number
present probably a thousand will pay in cash, and the other
thousand in grain and a variety of articles; all of which will
command money however.
Brigham Young usually sits in the middle of the parquette, in a
rocking-chair, and with his hat on. He does not escort his wives
to the theatre. They go alone. When the play drags he either
falls into a tranquil sleep or walks out. He wears in winter time
a green wrapper, and his hat in the style introduced into this
country by Louis Kossuth, Esq. the liberator of Hungaria. I
invested a dollar in the liberty of Hungaria nearly fifteen years
ago.