Second Week at Great Salt Lake City.--Visit to the Prophet.
[BRIGHAM YOUNG.]
Shortly after arriving, I had mentioned to Governor Cumming my desire
to call upon Mr., or rather, as his official title is, President
Brigham Young, and he honored me by inquiring what time would be most
convenient to him. The following was the answer: the body was in the
handwriting of an amanuensis--similarly Mr. Joseph Smith was in the
habit of dictation--and the signature, which would form a fair subject
for a Warrenologist, was the Prophet’s autograph.
“GOVERNOR A. CUMMING.
“Great Salt Lake City, Aug. 30, 1860.
“SIR,--In reply to your note of the 29th inst., I embrace the
earliest opportunity since my return to inform you that it will be
agreeable to me to meet the gentleman you mention in my office at 11
A.M. to-morrow, the 31st.
BRIGHAM YOUNG.”
The “President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints all
over the World” is obliged to use caution in admitting strangers,
not only for personal safety, but also to defend his dignity from the
rude and unfeeling remarks of visitors, who seem to think themselves
entitled, in the case of a Mormon, to transgress every rule of civility.
About noon, after a preliminary visit to Mr. Gilbert--and a visit
in these lands always entails a certain amount of “smiling”--I met
Governor Cumming in Main Street, and we proceeded together to our
visit. After a slight scrutiny we passed the guard--which is dressed in
plain clothes, and to the eye unarmed--and walking down the veranda,
entered the Prophet’s private office. Several people who were sitting
there rose at Mr. Cumming’s entrance. At a few words of introduction,
Mr. Brigham Young advanced, shook hands with complete simplicity of
manner, asked me to be seated on a sofa at one side of the room, and
presented me to those present.
Under ordinary circumstances it would be unfair in a visitor to draw
the portrait of one visited. But this is no common case. I have
violated no rites of hospitality. Mr. Brigham Young is a “seer,
revelator, and prophet, having all the gifts of God which he bestows
upon the Head of the Church:” his memoirs, lithographs, photographs,
and portraits have been published again and again; I add but one more
likeness; and, finally, I have nothing to say except in his favor.
The Prophet was born at Whittingham, Vermont, on the 1st of June,
1801; he was consequently, in 1860, fifty-nine years of age; he looks
about forty-five. _La célébrité vieillit_--I had expected to see a
venerable-looking old man. Scarcely a gray thread appears in his hair,
which is parted on the side, light colored, rather thick, and reaches
below the ears with a half curl. He formerly wore it long, after the
Western style; now it is cut level with the ear-lobes. The forehead is
somewhat narrow, the eyebrows are thin, the eyes between gray and blue,
with a calm, composed, and somewhat reserved expression: a slight droop
in the left lid made me think that he had suffered from paralysis; I
afterward heard that the ptosis is the result of a neuralgia which has
long tormented him. For this reason he usually covers his head, except
in his own house or in the Tabernacle. Mrs. Ward, who is followed by
the “Revue des Deux-Mondes,” therefore errs again in asserting that
“his Mormon majesty never removes his hat in public.” The nose, which
is fine and somewhat sharp-pointed, is bent a little to the left. The
lips are close like the New Englander’s, and the teeth, especially
those of the under jaw, are imperfect. The cheeks are rather fleshy,
and the line between the alæ of the nose and the mouth is broken;
the chin is somewhat peaked, and the face clean shaven, except under
the jaws, where the beard is allowed to grow. The hands are well
made, and not disfigured by rings. The figure is somewhat large,
broad-shouldered, and stooping a little when standing.
The Prophet’s dress was neat and plain as a Quaker’s, all gray homespun
except the cravat and waistcoat. His coat was of antique cut, and,
like the pantaloons, baggy, and the buttons were black. A neck-tie of
dark silk, with a large bow, was loosely passed round a starchless
collar, which turned down of its own accord. The waistcoat was of black
satin--once an article of almost national dress--single-breasted, and
buttoned nearly to the neck, and a plain gold chain was passed into the
pocket. The boots were Wellingtons, apparently of American make.
[“BRIGHAM.”]
Altogether the Prophet’s appearance was that of a gentleman
farmer in New England--in fact, such as he is: his father was an
agriculturist and revolutionary soldier, who settled “down East.” He
is a well-preserved man; a fact which some attribute to his habit of
sleeping, as the Citizen Proudhon so strongly advises, in solitude. His
manner is at once affable and impressive, simple and courteous: his
want of pretension contrasts favorably with certain pseudo-prophets
that I have seen, each and every of whom holds himself to be a “Logos”
without other claim save a semi-maniacal self-esteem. He shows no signs
of dogmatism, bigotry, or fanaticism, and never once entered--with
me at least--upon the subject of religion. He impresses a stranger
with a certain sense of power; his followers are, of course, wholly
fascinated by his superior strength of brain. It is commonly said there
is only one chief in Great Salt Lake City, and that is “Brigham.”
His temper is even and placid; his manner is cold--in fact, like his
face, somewhat bloodless; but he is neither morose nor methodistic,
and, where occasion requires, he can use all the weapons of ridicule
to direful effect, and “speak a bit of his mind” in a style which
no one forgets. He often reproves his erring followers in purposely
violent language, making the terrors of a scolding the punishment in
lieu of hanging for a stolen horse or cow. His powers of observation
are intuitively strong, and his friends declare him to be gifted
with an excellent memory and a perfect judgment of character. If he
dislikes a stranger at the first interview, he never sees him again.
Of his temperance and sobriety there is but one opinion. His life is
ascetic: his favorite food is baked potatoes with a little buttermilk,
and his drink water: he disapproves, as do all strict Mormons, of
spirituous liquors, and never touches any thing stronger than a glass
of thin Lager-bier; moreover, he abstains from tobacco. Mr. Hyde has
accused him of habitual intemperance: he is, as his appearance shows,
rather disposed to abstinence than to the reverse. Of his education
I can not speak: “men, not books--deeds, not words,” has ever been
his motto; he probably has, as Mr. Randolph said of Mr. Johnston, “a
mind uncorrupted by books.” In the only discourse which I heard him
deliver, he pronounced impětus, impētus. Yet he converses with ease
and correctness, has neither snuffle nor pompousness, and speaks
as an authority upon certain subjects, such as agriculture and
stock-breeding. He assumes no airs of extra sanctimoniousness, and has
the plain, simple manners of honesty. His followers deem him an angel
of light, his foes a goblin damned: he is, I presume, neither one nor
the other. I can not pronounce about his scrupulousness: all the world
over, the sincerest religious belief and the practice of devotion are
sometimes compatible not only with the most disorderly life, but with
the most terrible crimes; for mankind mostly believes that
“Il est avec le ciel des accommodements.”
He has been called hypocrite, swindler, forger, murderer. No one looks
it less. The best authorities--from those who accuse Mr. Joseph Smith
of the most heartless deception, to those who believe that he began
as an impostor and ended as a prophet--find in Mr. Brigham Young “an
earnest, obstinate egotistic enthusiasm, fanned by persecution and
inflamed by bloodshed.” He is the St. Paul of the New Dispensation:
true and sincere, he gave point, and energy, and consistency to the
somewhat disjointed, turbulent, and unforeseeing fanaticism of Mr.
Joseph Smith; and if he has not been able to create, he has shown
himself great in controlling circumstances. Finally, there is a total
absence of pretension in his manner, and he has been so long used to
power that he cares nothing for its display. The arts by which he rules
the heterogeneous mass of conflicting elements are indomitable will,
profound secrecy, and uncommon astuteness.
Such is His Excellency President Brigham Young, “painter and
glazier”--his earliest craft--prophet, revelator, translator, and seer;
the man who is revered as king or kaiser, pope or pontiff never was;
who, like the Old Man of the Mountain, by holding up his hand could
cause the death of any one within his reach; who, governing as well as
reigning, long stood up to fight with the sword of the Lord, and with
his few hundred guerrillas, against the then mighty power of the United
States; who has outwitted all diplomacy opposed to him; and, finally,
who made a treaty of peace with the President of the Great Republic as
though he had wielded the combined power of France, Russia, and England.
Remembering the frequent query, “What shall be done with the Mormons?”
I often asked the Saints, Who will or can succeed Mr. Brigham Young? No
one knows, and no one cares. They reply, with a singular disdain for
the usual course of history, with a perfect faith that their Cromwell
will know no Richard as his successor, that, as when the crisis came
the Lord raised up in him, then unknown and little valued, a fitting
successor to Mr. Joseph Smith--of whom, by-the-by, they now speak
with a respectful reverential _sotto voce_, as Christians name the
Founder of their faith--so, when the time for deciding the succession
shall arrive, the chosen Saints will not be left without a suitable
theocrat to exalt the people Israel. The Prophet professes, I believe,
to hold office in a kind of spiritual allegiance to the Smith family,
of which the eldest son, Mr. Joseph Smith, the third of that dynasty,
has of late years, though blessed by his father, created a schism in
the religion. By the persuasions of his mother, who, after the first
Prophet’s death, gave him a Gentile stepfather, he has abjured polygamy
and settled in the Mansion House at Nauvoo. The Mormons, though ready
to receive back the family at Great Salt Lake City when manifested by
the Lord, hardly look to him as their future chief. They all, however,
and none more than Mr. Brigham Young, show the best of feeling toward
the descendants of their founder, and expect much from David Smith,
the second and posthumous son of him martyred at Carthage. He was
called David, and choicely blessed before his birth by his father, who
prophesied that the Lord will see to his children. Moreover, all speak
in the highest terms of Mr. Joseph A. Young, the dweller at the White
House, the eldest son of the ex-governor, who traveled in Europe and
England, and distinguished himself in opposition to the federal troops.
[“SQUIRE WELLS.”--HEBER C. KIMBALL.]
After finishing with the “Lion of the Lord,” I proceeded to observe his
companions. By my side was seated Daniel H., whose title is “General,”
Wells, the Superintendent of Public Works, and the commander of the
Nauvoo Legion. He is the third President of the Mormon triumvirate, and
having been a justice of the peace and an alderman in Illinois, when
the Mormons dwelt there in 1839, he is usually known as Squire Wells:
he became a Saint when the Mormons were driven from Nauvoo in 1846, and
took their part in battles against the mob. In appearance he is a tall,
large, bony, rufous man, and his conduct of the affair in 1857-’8 is
spoken of with admiration by Mormons. The second of the Presidency, Mr.
Heber C. Kimball, was not present at that time, but on another occasion
he was: Mr. Brigham Young introduced me to him, remarking, with a quiet
and peculiar smile, that during his friend’s last visit to England, at
a meeting of the Methodists, one of the reverends attempted to pull
his chair from under him; at which reminiscence the person alluded to
looked uncommonly grim. Mr. Kimball was born in the same year as Mr.
Brigham Young, and was first baptized in 1832: he is a devoted follower
of the Prophet, a very Jonathan to this David, a Umar to the New Islam.
He is a large and powerful man, not unlike a blacksmith, which I
believe he was, and is now the owner of a fine block, with houses and
barns, garden and orchard, north of and adjoining that of Mr. Brigham
Young. The third person present was the apostle Mr. George A. Smith,
the historian and recorder of the Territory, and a cousin of the first
Prophet: he is a walking almanac of Mormon events, and is still full
of fight, strongly in favor of rubbing out the “wretched Irishmen and
Dutchmen sent from the East to try whether the Mormons would receive
federal officers.” Mr. Willford Woodruff, like Mr. Smith, one of
the original apostles, has visited England as a missionary, appeared
before the public as polemic and controversialist, and has now settled
down as an apostle at Great Salt Lake City. Mr. Albert O. Carrington,
a graduate of Dartmouth College, had acted as second assistant on
the topographical survey to Captain Stansbury, who speaks of him as
follows: “Being a gentleman of liberal education, he soon acquired,
under instruction, the requisite skill, and by his zeal, industry, and
practical good sense materially aided us in our subsequent operations.
He continued with the party till the termination of the survey,
accompanied it to the city (Washington), and has since returned to
his mountain home, carrying with him the respect and good wishes of
all with whom he was associated.” Of Mr. F. Little, who completed the
_septem contra Christianitatem_ then present, I shall have more to say
in a future chapter.
The Prophet received us in his private office, where he transacts the
greater part of his business, corrects his sermons, and conducts his
correspondence. It is a plain, neat room, with the usual conveniences,
a large writing-desk and money-safe, table, sofas, and chairs, all made
by the able mechanics of the settlement. I remarked a pistol and a
rifle hung within ready reach on the right-hand wall; one of these is,
I was told, a newly-invented twelve-shooter. There was a look of order,
which suited the character of the man: it is said that a door badly
hinged, or a curtain hung awry, “puts his eye out.” His style of doing
business at the desk or in the field--for the Prophet does not disdain
handiwork--is to issue distinct, copious, and intelligible directions
to his _employés_, after which he dislikes referring to the subject. It
is typical of his mode of acting, slow, deliberate, and conclusive. He
has the reputation of being wealthy. He rose to power a poor man. The
Gentiles naturally declare that he enriched himself by the tithes and
plunder of his followers, and especially by preying upon and robbing
the Gentiles. I believe, however, that no one pays Church-dues and alms
with more punctuality than the Prophet, and that he has far too many
opportunities of coining money, safely and honestly, to be guilty, like
some desperate destitute, of the short-sighted folly of fraud. In 1859
he owned, it is said, to being possessed of $250,000, equal to £50,000,
which makes a millionaire in these mountains--it is too large a sum
to jeopardize. His fortunes were principally made in business: like
the late Imaum of Muscat, he is the chief merchant as well as the high
priest. He sends long trains of wagons freighted with various goods to
the Eastern States, and supplies caravans and settlements with grain
and provisions. From the lumber which he sold to the federal troops for
hutting themselves at Camp Floyd, he is supposed to have netted not
less than $200,000. This is one of the sorest points with the army:
all declare that the Mormons would have been in rags or sackcloth if
soldiers had not been sent; and they naturally grudge discomfort,
hardship, and expatriation, whose only effect has been to benefit their
enemies.
[“LEMUEL.”--SLAVERY.]
After the few first words of greeting, I interpreted the Prophet’s look
to mean that he would not dislike to know my object in the City of
the Saints. I told him that, having read and heard much about Utah as
it is said to be, I was anxious to see Utah as it is. He then entered
briefly upon the subjects of stock and agriculture, and described the
several varieties of soil. One delicate topic was touched upon: he
alluded to the “Indian wars,” as they are here called: he declared that
when twenty are reported killed and wounded, that two or three would be
nearer the truth, and that he could do more with a few pounds of flour
and yards of cloth than all the sabres of the camp could effect. The
sentiment was cordially seconded by all present. The Israelitic origin
of “Lemuel,” and perhaps the prophecy that “many generations shall
not pass away among them save they shall be a white and delightsome
people,”[134] though untenable as an ethnologic theory, has in practice
worked at least this much of good, that the Mormons treat their
step-brethren with far more humanity than other Western men: they
feed, clothe, and lodge them, and attach them by good works to their
interests. Slavery has been legalized in Utah, but solely for the
purpose of inducing the Saints to buy children, who otherwise would be
abandoned or destroyed by their starving parents.[135] During my stay
in the city I did not see more than half a dozen negroes; and climate,
which, disdaining man’s interference, draws with unerring hand the true
and only compromise line between white and black labor, has irrevocably
decided that the African in these latitudes is valueless as a chattel,
because his keep costs more than his work returns. The negro, however,
is not admitted to the communion of Saints--rather a hard case for the
Hamite, if it be true that salvation is nowhere to be found beyond the
pale of the Mormon Church--and there are severe penalties for mixing
the blood of Shem and Japhet with the accursed race of Cain and Canaan.
The humanity of the Prophet’s followers to the Lamanite has been
distorted by Gentiles into a deep and dangerous project for “training
the Indians” to assassinate individual enemies, and, if necessary, to
act as guerrillas against the Eastern invaders. That the Yutas--they
divide the white world into two great classes, Mormon and Shwop, or
American generally--would, in case of war, “stand by” their patrons, I
do not doubt; but this would only be the effect of kindness, which it
is unfair to attribute to no worthier cause.
[134] Second Book of Nephi, chap. xii., par. 12. Lemuel was the
brother of Nephi; and the word is used by autonomasia for the
Lamanites or Indians.
[135] The wording of the following act shows the spirit in which
slavery was proposed:
A PREAMBLE AND AN ACT FOR THE FARTHER RELIEF OF INDIAN SLAVES AND
PRISONERS.
“Whereas, by reason of the acquisition of Upper California and
New Mexico, and the subsequent organization of the Territorial
Governments of New Mexico and Utah by the acts of the Congress of
the United States, these territories have organized governments
within and upon what would otherwise be considered Indian territory,
and which really is Indian territory so far as the right of soil is
involved, thereby presenting the novel feature of a white legalized
government on Indian lands; and
“Whereas the laws of the United States in relation to intercourse
with Indians are designed for, and only applicable to, territories
and countries under the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the United
States; and
“Whereas, from time immemorial, the practice of purchasing Indian
women and children of the Utah tribe of Indians by Mexican traders
has been indulged in and carried on by those respective people until
the Indians consider it an allowable traffic, and frequently offer
their prisoners or children for sale; and
“Whereas it is a common practice among these Indians to gamble away
their own children and women; and it is a well-established fact that
women and children thus obtained, or obtained by war, or theft, or
in any other manner, are by them frequently carried from place to
place, packed upon horses or mules, larieted out to subsist upon
grass, roots, or starve, and are frequently bound with thongs made
of raw-hide until their hands and feet become swollen, mutilated,
inflamed with pain, and wounded; and when with suffering, cold,
hunger, and abuse they fall sick, so as to become troublesome, are
frequently slain by their masters to get rid of them; and
“Whereas they do frequently kill their women and children taken
prisoners, either in revenge, or for amusement, or through the
influence of tradition, unless they are tempted to exchange them for
trade, which they usually do if they have an opportunity; and
“Whereas one family frequently steals the children and women of
another family, and such robberies and murders are continually
committed, in times of their greatest peace and amity, thus dragging
free Indian women and children into Mexican servitude and slavery, or
death, to the almost entire extirpation of the whole Indian race; and
“Whereas these inhuman practices are being daily enacted before our
eyes in the midst of the white settlements, and within the organized
counties of the Territory; and when the inhabitants do not purchase
or trade for those so offered for sale, they are generally doomed to
the most miserable existence, suffering the tortures of every species
of cruelty, until death kindly relieves them and closes the revolting
scenery:
“Wherefore, when all these facts are taken into consideration, it
becomes the duty of all humane and Christian people to extend unto
this degraded and downtrodden race such relief as can be awarded to
them, according to their situation and circumstances; it therefore
becomes necessary to consider,
“First, the circumstances of our location among these savage tribes
under the authority of Congress, while yet the Indian title to the
soil is left unextinguished; not even a treaty having been held, by
which a partition of territory or country has been made, thereby
bringing them into our door-yards, our houses, and in contact with
our every avocation.
“Second, their situation, and our duty toward them, upon the common
principles of humanity.
“Third, the remedy, or what will be the most conducive to ameliorate
their condition, preserve their lives and their liberties, and redeem
them from a worse than African bondage; it suggests itself to your
committee that to memorialize Congress to provide by some act of
national legislation for the new and unparalleled situation of the
inhabitants of this Territory, in relation to their intercourse with
these Indians, would be one resource, prolific in its results for our
mutual benefit; and, farther, that we ask their concurrence in the
following enactment, passed by the Legislature of the Territory of
Utah, January 31, A.D. 1852, entitled,
“‘_An Act for the Relief of Indian Slaves and Prisoners_.
“‘Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Assembly of
the Territory of Utah, That whenever any white person within any
organized county of this Territory shall have any Indian prisoner,
child, or woman, in his possession, whether by purchase or otherwise,
such person shall immediately go, together with such Indian prisoner,
child, or woman, before the selectmen or probate judge of the county.
If, in the opinion of the selectmen or probate judge, the person
having such Indian prisoner, child, or woman, is a suitable person,
and properly qualified to raise or retain and educate said Indian
prisoner, child, or woman, it shall be his or their duty to bind out
the same, by indenture, for the term of not exceeding twenty years,
at the discretion of the judge or selectmen.
“‘Sec. 2. The probate judge or selectmen shall cause to be written in
the indenture the name and age, place where born, name of parents if
known, tribe to which said Indian person belonged, name of the person
having him in possession, name of Indian from whom said person was
obtained, date of the indenture--a copy of which shall be filed in
the probate clerk’s office.
“‘Sec. 3. The selectmen in their respective counties are hereby
authorized to obtain such Indian prisoners, children, or women, and
bind them to some useful avocation.
“‘Sec. 4. The master to whom the indenture is made is hereby required
to send said apprentice to school, if there be a school in the
district or vicinity, for the term of three months in each year, at a
time when said Indian child shall be between the ages of seven years
and sixteen. The master shall clothe his apprentice in a comfortable
and becoming manner, according to his said master’s condition in life.
“‘Approved March 7, 1852.’”
The conversation, which lasted about an hour, ended by the Prophet
asking me the line of my last African exploration, and whether it was
the same country traversed by Dr. Livingstone. I replied that it was
about ten degrees north of the Zambezi. Mr. A. Carrington rose to point
out the place upon a map which hung against the wall, and placed his
finger too near the equator, when Mr. Brigham Young said, “A little
lower down.” There are many educated men in England who could not
have corrected the mistake as well: witness the “London Review,” in
which the gentleman who “does the geography”--not having the fear of a
certain society in Whitehall Place before his eyes--confounds, in all
the pomp of criticism upon the said exploration, lakes which are not
less than 200 miles apart.
[THE PROPHET NO COMMON MAN.]
When conversation began to flag, we rose up, shook hands, as is the
custom here, all round, and took leave. The first impression left upon
my mind by this short _séance_, and it was subsequently confirmed,
was, that the Prophet is no common man, and that he has none of the
weakness and vanity which characterize the common uncommon man. A
desultory conversation can not be expected to draw out a master
spirit, but a truly distinguished character exercises most often an
instinctive--some would call it a mesmeric--effect upon those who come
in contact with it; and as we hate or despise at first sight, and
love or like at first sight, so Nature teaches us at first sight what
to respect. It is observable that, although every Gentile writer has
represented Mr. Joseph Smith as a heartless impostor, few have ventured
to apply the term to Mr. Brigham Young. I also remarked an instance
of the veneration shown by his followers, whose affection for him is
equaled only by the confidence with which they intrust to him their
dearest interests in this world and in the next. After my visit many
congratulated me, as would the followers of the Tien Wong, or heavenly
King, upon having at last seen what they consider “a per se” the most
remarkable man in the world.
Before leaving the Prophet’s Block I will describe the rest of
the building. The grounds are surrounded by a high wall of large
pebble-like stones and mortar--the lime now used is very bad--and
strengthened with semicircular buttresses. The main entrance faces
south, with posts and chains before it for tethering horses. The “Lion
House,” occupied by Mrs. Young and her family, is in the eastern
part of the square: it is so called from a stone lion placed over
the large pillared portico, the work of a Mr. William Ward, who also
cut the block of white limestone, with “Deserét” beneath a bee-hive,
and other symbols, forwarded for the Washington Monument in 1853.
It is lamentable to state that the sculptor is now an apostate. The
house resembles a two-storied East Indian tenement, with balcony and
balustrade, here called an observatory, and is remarkable by its
chunamed coat; it cost $65,000--being the best in the city, and was
finished in one year. Before building it the Prophet lived in the White
House, a humbler bungalow farther to the east; he has now given it up
to his son, Joseph A. Young.
On the west of the Lion House lies the private office in which we
were received, and farther westward, but adjoining and connected by a
passage, is the public office, where the Church and other business is
transacted. This room, which is larger than the former, has three desks
on each side, the left on entering being those of the public, and the
right those of the private clerks. The chief accountant is Mr. Daniel
O’Calder, a Scotchman, whose sagacity in business makes him an _alter
ego_ of the President. At the end opposite the door there is a larger
_pupitre_ railed off, and a gallery runs round the upper wall. The
bookcases are of the yellow box-elder wood, which takes a fine polish;
and all is neat, clean, and business-like.
Westward of the public office is the Bee House, so named from the
sculptured bee-hive in front of it. The Hymenopter is the Mormon
symbol of industry; moreover, Deserét (pronounced Des-erétt) is, in
“reformed Egyptian,” the honey-bee; the term is applied with a certain
violence to Utah, where, as yet, that industrious insect is an utter
stranger.[136] The Bee House is a large building, with the long walls
facing east and west. It is double storied, with the lower windows,
which are barred, oblong: the upper, ten in number, are narrow, and
shaded by a small acute ogive or gable over each. The color of the
building is a yellowish-white, which contrasts well with the green
blinds, and the roof, which is acute, is tiled with shingles. It was
finished in 1845, and is tenanted by the “plurality wives” and their
families, who each have a bedroom, sitting-room, and closet simply and
similarly furnished. There is a Moslem air of retirement about the
Bee House; the face of woman is rarely seen at the window, and her
voice is never heard from without. Anti-Mormons declare it to be, like
the state-prison at Auburn, a self-supporting establishment, for not
even the wives of the Prophet are allowed to live in idleness.
[136] “And they (_scil._ Jared and his brother) did also carry with
them Deserét, which by interpretation is a honey-bee; and they did
carry with them swarms of bees, and all manner of that which was upon
the face of the land, seeds of every kind.”--_Book of Ether_, chap.
i., par. 3.
[Illustration: THE PROPHET’S BLOCK.]
[THE PROPHET’S PROGENY.]
I was unwilling to add to the number of those who had annoyed the
Prophet by domestic allusions, and therefore have no direct knowledge
of the extent to which he carries polygamy; some Gentiles allow him
seventeen, others thirty-six, out of a household of seventy members;
others an indefinite number of wives scattered through the different
settlements. Of these, doubtless, many are but wives by name, such,
for instance, as the widows of the late Prophet; and others are
married more for the purpose of building up for themselves spiritual
kingdoms than for the normal purpose of matrimony. When treating of
Mormon polygamy I shall attempt to show that the relation between the
sexes as lately regulated by the Mormon faith necessitates polygamy. I
should judge the Prophet’s progeny to be numerous from the following
circumstance: On one occasion, when standing with him on the belvidere,
my eye fell upon a new erection: it could be compared externally to
nothing but an English gentleman’s hunting stables, with their little
clock-tower, and I asked him what it was intended for. “A private
school for my children,” he replied, “directed by Brother E. B.
Kelsey.” The harem is said to have cost $30,000.
[TITHES.]
On the extreme west of this block, backed by a pound for estrays,
which is no longer used, lies the Tithing House and Deserét Store,
a long, narrow, upper-storied building, with cellars, store-rooms,
receiving-rooms, pay-rooms, and writing offices. At this time of the
year it chiefly contains linseed, and rags for paper-making; after
the harvest it is well stuffed with grains and cereals, which are
taken instead of money payment. There is nothing more unpopular among
the American Gentiles, or, indeed, more unintelligible to them, than
these Mosaic tithes, which the English converts pay, from habit,
without a murmur. They serve for scandalous insinuations, viz., that
the chiefs are leeches that draw the people’s golden blood; that the
imposts are compulsory, and that they are embezzled and peculated by
the principal dignitaries. I have reason to believe that the contrary
is the case. The tithes which are paid into the “Treasury of the Lord”
upon the property of a Saint on profession, and afterward upon his
annual income, or his time, or by substitute, are wholly voluntary.
It sometimes happens that a man casts his all into the bosom of the
Church; in this case the all is not refused, but--may I ask--by what
Church body, Islamitic, Christian, or pagan, would it be? If the
Prophet takes any thing from the Tithing House, he pays for it like
other men. The writers receive stipends like other writers, and no
more; of course, if any one--clerk or lawyer--wishes to do the business
of the Church gratis, he is graciously permitted; and where, I repeat,
would he not be? The Latter-Day Saints declare that if their first
Presidency and Twelve Apostles--of whom some, by-the-by, are poor--grow
rich, it is by due benevolence, not by force or fraud. Much like the
primitive college, and most unlike their successors in this modern
day, each apostle must have some craft, and all live by handiwork,
either in house, shop, or field, no drones being allowed in the social
hive. The tithes are devoted in part to Church works, especially to
“building up temples or otherwise beautifying and adorning Zion, as
they may be directed from on high,” and in part to the prosperity of
the body politic, temporal, and spiritual; by aiding faithful and needy
emigrants, and by supporting old and needy Saints. Perhaps the only
true charge brought by the Gentiles against this, and, indeed, against
all the public funds in the Mormon City, is, that a large portion
finds its way eastward, and is expended in “outside influence,” or,
to speak plain English, bribes. It is believed by Mormons as well as
Gentiles that Mr. Brigham Young has in the States newspaper spies and
influential political friends, who are attached to him not only by the
ties of business and the natural respect felt for a wealthy man, but
by the strong bond of a regular stipend. And such is their reliance
upon this political dodgery--which, if it really exists, is by no means
honorable to the public morality of the Gentiles--that they deride the
idea of a combined movement from Washington ever being made against
them. In 1860 Governor Cumming proposed to tax the tithing fund; but
the Saints replied that, as property is first taxed and then tithed, by
such proceeding it would be twice taxed.
“This people”--a term reiterated at Great Salt Lake City _usque ad
nauseam_--declares its belief “in being subject to kings, queen,
presidents, rulers, and magistrates; in obeying, honoring, and
sustaining the law.” They are not backward in open acts of loyalty--I
beg America’s pardon--of adhesion to the Union, such as supplying
stones for the Washington Monument and soldiers for the Mexican
War. But they make scant pretension of patriotism. They regard the
States pretty much as the States regarded England after the War
of Independence, and hate them as the Mexican Criollo does the
Gachupin--very much also for the same reason. Theirs is a deep and
abiding resentment, which time will strengthen, not efface: the
deeds of Missouri and Illinois will bear fruit for many and many
a generation. The federal government, they say, has, so far from
protecting their lives and property, left them to be burned out and
driven away by the hands of a mob, far more cruel than the “red-coated
minions” of poor King George; that Generals Harney and Johnston were
only seeking the opportunity to act Burgoyne and Cornwallis. But,
more galling still to human nature, whether of saint or sinner, they
are despised, “treated, in fact, as nobodies”--and that last of
insults who can bear? Their petitions to become a sovereign state have
been unanswered and ignored. They have been served with “small-fry”
politicians and “one-horse” officials: hitherto the phrase has been,
“Any thing is good enough for Utah!” They return the treatment in kind.
[NEW INDEPENDENCE DAY.]
“The Old Independence,” the “glorious” 4th of July, ’76, is treated
with silent contempt: its honors are transferred to the 24th of July,
the local Independence Day of their _annus mirabilis_ 1847, when the
weary pioneers, preceding a multitude, which, like the Pilgrim fathers
of New England, left country and home for conscience’ sake, and, led
by Captain John Brown, whose unerring rifle saved them from starvation
when the Indians had stampeded their horses, arrived in the wild waste
of valley. Their form of government, which I can describe only as
a democratic despotism with a leaven of the true Mosaic theocracy,
enables them to despise a political system in which they say--quoting
Hamilton--that “every vital interest of the state is merged in the
all-absorbing question of ‘who shall be the next president.’” There is
only one “Yankee gridiron” in the town, and that is a private concern.
I do not remember ever seeing a liberty-pole, that emblem of a tyrant
majority, which has been bowed to from New York to the Rhine.[137]
A favorite toast on public occasions is, “We can rock the cradle of
Liberty without Uncle Sam to help us,” and so forth. These sentiments
show how the wind sets. In two generations hence--perhaps New Zion has
a prophet-making air--the Mormons in their present position will, on
their own ground, be more than a match for the Atlantic, and, combined
with the Chinese, will be dangerous to the Pacific States.
[137] The first liberty-pole was erected on the open space between
the Court-house and Broadway, New York. It is a long flag-staff,
often of several pieces, like the “mast of some tall ammiral,”
surmounted by a liberty-cap, that Phrygian or Mithridatic coiffure
with which the Goddess of Liberty is supposed to disfigure herself.
With a peculiar inconsequence, “the whole is” said to be “an allusion
to Gesler’s cap which Tell refused to do homage to, leading to the
freedom of Switzerland.”--_Bartlett._ The French soon made of their
_peuplier_ a _peuple lié_. The Americans, curious to say, still
believe in it.
The Mormons, if they are any thing in secular politics, are Democrats.
It has not been judged advisable to cast off the last rags of popular
government, but, as will presently appear, theocracy is not much
disguised by them. Although not of the black or extreme category, they
instinctively feel that polygamy and slavery are sister institutions,
claiming that sort of kindness which arises from fellow-feeling, and
that Congress can not attack one without infringing upon the other.
Here, perhaps, they may be mistaken, for nations, like individuals,
however warmly and affectionately they love their own peculiar follies
and prejudices, sins and crimes, are not the less, indeed perhaps they
are rather more, disposed to abominate the follies and prejudices,
the sins and crimes of others. The establishment of slavery, however,
though here it serves a humanitarian rather than a private end,
necessarily draws the Mormons and the Southern States together. Yet the
Saints preferred as President the late Mr. Senator Douglas, a Northern
Democrat, to his Southern rival, Mr. Breckinridge. They looked with
apprehension of the rise to power of the Republican party, which, had
not a weightier matter fallen into their hands, was pledged to do them
a harm. I can not but think that absolute independence is and will be,
until attained, the principal end and aim of Mormon _haute politique_,
and when the disruption of the Great Republic shall have become a _fait
accompli_, that Deserét will arise a free, sovereign, and independent
state.
[MORALS.--ARDENT SPIRITS.]
Should this event ever happen, it will make the regions about Great
Salt Lake as exclusive as Northern China or Eastern Tibet. The obsolete
rigors of the sanguinary Mosaic code will be renewed in the middle
of the nineteenth century, while the statute-crime “bigamy” and
unlimited polygamy will be legalized. Stripes, or, at best, fine and
imprisonment, will punish fornication, and the penalty of adultery will
be death by lapidation or beheading. As it is, even under the shadow of
the federal laws, the self-convicted breaker of the seventh commandment
will, it is said, offer up his life in expiation of his crime to the
Prophet, who, under present circumstances, dismisses him with a penance
that may end in the death which he has legally incurred. The offenses
against chastity, morality, and decency are exceptionally severe.[138]
The penalty attached to betting of any kind is a fine not exceeding
$300, or imprisonment not exceeding six months. The importation of
spirituous liquors is already burdened with an octroi of half its
price, raising cognac and whisky to $12 and $8 per gallon. If the state
could make her own laws, she would banish “poteen,” hunt down the
stills, and impose a prohibitory duty upon every thing stronger than
Lager-bier.[139]
[138] Sec. 32 (of an “Act in relation to Crimes and Punishment”).
Every person who commits the crime of adultery shall be punished by
imprisonment not exceeding twenty years, and not less than three
years; or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and not less
than three hundred dollars; or by both fine and imprisonment, at the
discretion of the court. And when the crime is committed between
parties any one of whom is married, both are guilty of adultery, and
shall be punished accordingly. No prosecution for adultery can be
commenced but on the complaint of the husband or wife.
Sec. 33. If any man or woman, not being married to each other, lewdly
and lasciviously associate and cohabit together; or if any man or
woman, married or unmarried, is guilty of open and gross lewdness,
and designedly make any open and indecent, or obscene exposure of
his or her person, or of the person of another, every such person so
offending shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding ten years,
and not less than six months, and fine not more than one thousand
dollars, and not less than one hundred dollars, or both, at the
discretion of the court.
Sec. 34. If any person keep a house of ill-fame, resorted to for
the purpose of prostitution or lewdness, he shall be punished by
imprisonment not exceeding ten years, and not less than one year,
or by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or both fine and
imprisonment. And any person who, after being once convicted of such
offense, is again convicted of the like offense, shall be punished
not more than double the above specified penalties.
Sec. 35. If any person inveigle or entice any female, before reputed
virtuous, to a house of ill-fame, or knowingly conceal, aid, or abet
in concealing such female so deluded or enticed, for the purpose of
prostitution or lewdness, he shall be punished by imprisonment not
more than fifteen years, nor less than five years.
Sec. 36. If any person without lawful authority willfully dig up,
disinter, remove, or carry any human body, or the remains thereof,
from its place of interment, or aid or assist in so doing, or
willfully receive, conceal, or dispose of any such human body, or the
remains thereof; or if any person willfully or unnecessarily, and in
an improper manner, indecently exposes those remains, or abandons
any human body, or the remains thereof, in any public place, or in
any river, stream, pond, or other place, every such offender shall
be punished by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or by fine not
exceeding one thousand dollars, or by both fine and imprisonment, at
the discretion of the court.
Sec. 37. If any person torture or cruelly beat any horse, ox, or
other beast, whether belonging to himself or another, he shall be
punished by fine not more than one hundred dollars.
Sec. 38. If any person import, print, publish, sell, or distribute
any book, pamphlet, ballad, or any printed paper containing obscene
language, or obscene prints, pictures, or descriptions manifestly
tending to corrupt the morals of youth, or introduce into any family,
school, or place of education, or buy, procure, receive, or have
in his possession any such book, pamphlet, ballad, printed paper,
picture, or description, either for the purpose of loan, sale,
exhibition, or circulation, or with intent to introduce the same into
any family, school, or place of education, he shall be punished by
fine not exceeding four hundred dollars.
Sec. 39. If any person keep a house, shop, or place resorted to for
the purpose of gambling, or permit or suffer any person in any house,
shop, or other place under his control or care to play at cards,
dice, faro, roulette, or other game for money or other things, such
offender shall be fined not more than eight hundred dollars, or
imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, at the discretion of
the court. In a prosecution under this section, any person who has
the charge of, or attends to any such house, shop, or place, may be
deemed the keeper thereof.
[139] I quote as an authority,
_An Ordinance regulating the Manufacturing and Vending of Ardent
Spirits_.
Sec. 1. Be it ordained by the General Assembly of the State of
Deserét, That it shall not be lawful for any person or persons in
this state to establish any distillery or distilleries for the
manufacture of ardent spirits except as hereafter provided for;
and any person or persons who shall violate this ordinance, on
conviction thereof, shall forfeit all property thus invested to the
state, and be liable to a fine at the discretion of the court having
jurisdiction.
Sec. 2. Be it farther ordained, That when the governor shall deem it
expedient to have ardent spirits manufactured within this state, he
may grant a license to some person or persons to make and vend the
same, and impose such restrictions thereon as he may deem requisite.
Approved Feb. 12, 1851.
[JUDGE PHELPS.]
On the saddest day of the year for the bird which has lost so much good
fame by condescending to appear at table _aux choux_, I proceeded with
my _fidus Achates_--save the self-comparison to pious Æneas--on a visit
to Mr. W. W., alias Judge Phelps, alias “the Devil.” He received me
with great civility, and entered without reserve upon his hobbies. His
house, which lies west of Temple Block, bears on the weathercock הננו
(Job, xxxviii., 35, “Adsumus:” “Here we are”). Besides Hebrew and other
linguistic studies, the judge is a meteorologist, and has been engaged
for some years in observations upon the climate of the Territory. An
old editor at Independence, he now superintends the Utah Almanac, and
gave me a copy for the year 1860, “being the 31st year of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.” It is a small duodecimo, creditably
printed by Mr. J. M‘Knight, Utah, and contains thirty-two pages. The
contents are the usual tables of days, sunrises, sunsets, eclipses,
etc., with advertisements on the alternate pages; and it ends with the
denominations and value of gold and silver coins, original poetry,
“scientific” notes concerning the morning and evening stars, a list
of the United States officers at Utah, the number of the planets and
asteroids, diarrhœa, and “moral poetry,” and an explanation of the word
“almanac,” concluding with the following observation:
“A person, without an almanac is somewhat like a ship at sea without
a compass; he never knows what to do nor when to do it.”
“So Mormon, other sects, and Quaker,
Buy Almanacs, and pay the maker.--K. J.”
The only signs of sanctity are in the events appended to the days of
the week; they naturally record the dates of local interest, and the
births and deaths of prophets and patriarchs, presidents and apostles.
Under the head of “Time,” however, some novel information is provided
for the benefit of the benighted chronologist.
“TIME.--There is a great mystery about time as recorded in the Bible.
Authors differ as to what length of time this world has occupied
since it came into being. Add 4004 to 1860, and we have 5864 years.
“Again, some authors allow, before the birth of the Savior, 5509
years, which, added to 1860, gives 7369 years since the beginning.
“The book of Abraham, as translated by Joseph Smith, gives 7000 years
for the creation by the gods, one day of the Lord being a thousand
years of man’s time, or a day in Kolob. This important revelation of
7000 years at first shows 5960 years since the transgression of Adam
and Eve, and 40 years to the next ‘day of rest,’ if the year 1900
commences the return of the ‘ten tribes,’ and the first resurrection;
or 13,000 years since the gods said, ‘Let there be light, and there
was light,’ so that the fourteen thousandth year will be the second
Sabbath since creation.
“A day of the Moon is nearly thirty of our days, or more than ten
thousand of earth’s time. Verily, verily,
“Man knows but little,
Nor knows that little right.”
The judge then showed me an instrument upon which he had expended the
thought and labor of years: it was that grand desideratum, a magnetic
compass, which, pointing with a second needle to the true north, would
indicate variation so correctly as to show longitude by inspection. The
article, which was as rough-looking as it could be, was placed upon
the table; but it would not, as the inventor explained, point to the
true north unless in a particular position. I refrain from recording
my hundred doubts as to the feasibility of the operation, and my own
suspicions concerning the composition of the instrument. I presently
took leave of Judge Phelps, pleased with his quaint kindness, but
somehow suspecting him of being a little _tête-montée_ on certain
subjects.
[THE “DESERÉT NEWS.”--NEWSPAPERS.]
As it was newspaper day, we passed by the “Mountaineer” office and
bought a copy. The press is ably and extensively represented in
Great Salt Lake City, as in any other of its Western coevals.[140]
Mormonism, so far from despising the powers of pica, has a more than
ordinary respect for them.[141] Until lately there were three weekly
newspapers. The “Valley Tan,” however, during the last winter expired,
after a slow and lingering dysthesis, induced by overindulgence in
Gentile tendencies. It was established in 1858; the proprietor was
Mr. J. Hartnett, the late federal secretary; the editor was Mr. Kirk
Anderson, followed by Mr. De Wolf and others; the issue hebdomadal, and
the subscription high = $10 per annum. The recognized official organ
of the religion, which first appeared on the 15th of June, 1850, is
the “Deserét News,” whose motto is “Truth and Liberty” under a hive,
over which is a single circumradiated eye in disagreeable proximity to
the little busy bee. It has often changed its size, and is now printed
in small folio, of eight pages, each containing four columns of close
type: sometimes articles are clothed in the Mormon alphabet. It had
reached in 1860 its tenth volume; it appears every Wednesday; costs at
Utah $6 per annum, in England £1 13_s._ 8_d._ per annum, in advance;
single number 9_d._; and is superintended by Mr. Brigham Young. It is
edited by Mr. Elias Smith, also a Probate judge; he is assisted by Mr.
M‘Knight, formerly the editor of a paper in the United States, and now
the author of the important horticultural, agricultural, and other
georgic articles in the “Deserét News.” This “Moniteur” also contains
corrected reports of the sermons spoken at the Tabernacle. An account
of a number may not be uninteresting.
[140] According to the “Elgin Courant,” there are between 700 and 800
of a fishing population in Hopeness who never see a newspaper.
[141] The first Mormon newspaper was the “Latter-Day Saints’
Messenger and Advocate,” published at Kirtland, Ohio, in the time of
Mr. Joseph Smith.
The “Evening and Morning Star,” published at Independence, Mo., and
edited by W. W. Phelps.
“Elders’ Journal,” published in 1838, in the time of Mr. Joseph Smith.
“The Upper Missouri Advertiser,” published about the same time; it
did not last long.
“The Nauvoo Neighbor” disappeared in the days of the Exodus.
“The Times and Seasons,” containing a compendium of intelligence
pertaining to the upbuilding of the kingdom of God, and the signs of
the Times, together with a great variety of information in regard
to the history, principles, persecutions, deliverances, and onward
progress of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Nauvoo
1839-1843. It was edited by Elder John Taylor (now one of the
“Twelve”) under the direction of Mr. Joseph Smith, and arrived at the
fourth volume (octavo): this journal is full of interesting matter to
Mormons.
“The Wasp,” begun at Nauvoo in 1842.
“The Frontier Garden,” published at Council Bluffs during the Exodus
from Nauvoo.
“The Seer,” edited at Washington, by Elder Orson Pratt, reached the
second volume.
“The Gospel Reflector,” published at Philadelphia, lasted for a short
time.
“The Prophet,” published at New York.
“Le Reflecteur,” in French, published at Geneva.
“Etoile du Deserét, Organe de l’Eglise de Jésus-Christ des Saints des
Derniers Jours,” par John Taylor, Paris. It lasted from May, 1851, to
April, 1852, and forms 1 vol. large 8vo, containing 192 pages.
“The Western Standard,” edited and published weekly at San Francisco,
California, United States of America, by Elder George Q. Cannon, now
an Apostle and President of the Church in Great Britain. This paper,
which was distinguished by the beauty of its type and the character
of its composition, lasted through 1856 and 1857; in 1858 it ceased
for want of funds.
“Zion’s Watchman,” published in Australia.
“Udgorn Seion” (the Trump of Zion), published in Wales, a bi-monthly
print, which has reached the ninth volume.
“The Luminary,” St. Louis, Mo.
“The Mormon,” published in New York, a hebdomadal print.
No. 28, vol. x., begins with a hymn of seven stanzas, by C. W. Bryant.
Follow remarks by President Brigham Young, at Provo and in the Bowery,
Great Salt Lake City; the three sermons, which occupy four columns and
a half, are separated by “Modern Germany, II.,” by Alexander Ott. There
is an article from the “New York Sun,” entitled the “Great Eastern in
Court.” It is followed by nearly half a page of “Clippings,” those
little recognized piracies which make the American papers as amusing
as magazines. Then come advertisements, estray notices, and others,
which nearly fill the third and sixth pages, and the column at the
eighth, which is the conclusion. I subjoin terms for advertising.[142]
The fourth page contains “News by Eastern Mail”--Doings of the
Probate Court--Special term of the Probate Court--Another excusable
homicide--The season--Imprisoning convicts without labor--Discharge of
the city police--Swiss Saints (lately arrived)--Arrival of missionaries
at Liverpool--Drowned, Joseph Vest, etc.--Deserét Agriculturing and
Manufacturing Society--Information wanted -- and Humboldt’s opinion
of the United States (comparing it to a Cartesian vortex, liberty a
dead machinery in the hands of Utilitarianism, etc.). The fifth and
sixth pages detail news from Europe, the Sicilies, Damascus, and India,
proceedings of a missionary meeting in the Bowery, and tidings from
Juab and Iron County, with a few stopgaps, such as an explanation of
the word Zouave, and the part conversion of the fallen Boston elm
into a “Mayor’s seat.” The seventh page is agricultural, and opens
with the “American Autumn,” by Fanny Kemble, four stanzas. Then comes
Sheep-husbandry No. iii., treating of change of pasture, separation of
the flock, and fall management. The other _morceaux_ are “Training
the peach-tree,” “Stick to the Farm,” an article concluding with “We
shall always sign ‘speed the plow;’ we shall always regard the American
farmer, dressed for his employment (!) and tilling his grounds, as
belonging to the order of real noblemen”--the less aristocratic
Englander would limit himself to “Nature’s gentleman;” “Why pork
shrinks in the pot,” and “Wheat-straw, its value as fodder.” The eighth
and last page opens with “Correspondence,” and a letter signed Joseph
Hall, headed “More results of ‘civilization,’” and dated Ogden City,
Sept. 8, 1860. It contains an account of occurrences resulting in the
“death of one John Cornwell, a discharged government teamster, and,
as is often the case with those Christians who are sent to civilize
the ‘Mormons’ of these mountains, a corrupt, profane, and quarrelsome
individual, who doted on belonging to the ‘bully tribe.’” Then
follows more news from San Pete County. A test of love (that capital
story out of C. R. Leslie’s autobiography). Siege of Magdeburg. A
hard-shell sermon (preached at Oxford, England), a scrap illustrating
the marvelous growth of Quincy, Illinois, and the Legend of the origin
of the Piano-forte. The latter is followed by a valuable abstract
containing a summary of meteorological observations, barometric and
thermometric, for the month of August, 1860, at Great Salt Lake City,
Utah, by W. W. Phelps, and concluding with a monthly journal.[143]
Then follow the deaths, six in number, and after one of them is
inserted [Millennial Star, copy]. There are no marriages, and the
Western papers, like those of the East, are still _bégueules_ enough
to consider advertising the birth of a child indelicate; at least that
was the reason given to me. The last column contains the terms for
advertising and the “fill-up” advertisements.
[142] ADVERTISING.--Ten lines or less constitute one square.
_Regular Advertisements._
One quarter column (four squares or less), for each insertion $1 50
Half column (seven squares or less), each insertion 3 00
One column (fourteen squares or less) 6 00
_Sundry Advertisements._
One square, each insertion $1 00
Two „ „ 1 50
Three „ „ 2 00
Thus upward, with half a dollar to the additional square for each
insertion.
[143]
The maximum of the barometer during the month is 26·100; min. 25·400
„ „ „ thermometer „ „ 95° F.; „ 60° F.
There fell of rain water 0·670 inches during five days marked
showery. Fifteen days are marked clear and pleasant, or hot and dry,
or hot and very dry, the 22d being the hottest; and the others are
partially clear, or clear and cloudy, or hazy and cloudy.
[THE “MOUNTAINEER.”]
The “Mountaineer,” whose motto is “Do what is right, let the
consequence follow,” is considered rather a secular paper. It appears
on Saturdays, and the terms of subscription are $6 per annum; the
occasional supplement is issued gratis. It formerly belonged to three
lawyers, Messrs. Stout, Blair, and Ferguson; it has now passed into
the hands of the two latter. Mr. Hosea Stout distinguished himself
during the Nauvoo troubles; he was the captain of forty policemen who
watched over the safety of Mr. Joseph Smith, and afterward went on
missions to India and China. Major S. M. Blair served under General
Sam. Houston in the Texan war of independence, and was a distinguished
lawyer in the Southern States. A description of the “Deserét News”
will apply to the “Mountaineer.” I notice in the issue of September
15, 1860, that a correspondent, quoting an extract from the “New York
Tribune”--the great Republican organ, and therefore no favorite with
the Mormons--says, outspokenly enough to please any amount of John
Bull, “The author of the above is a most consummate liar”--so far, so
good--“and a contemptible dastardly poltroon”--which is invidious.
I passed the morning of the ensuing Sunday in a painful but appropriate
exercise, reading the Books of Mormon and of Moroni the Prophet.
Some writers tell me that it is the best extant imitation of the Old
Testament; to me it seems composed only to emulate the sprightliness
of some parts of Leviticus. Others declare that it is founded upon a
romance composed by a Rev. Mr. Spaulding; if so, Mr. Spaulding must
have been like Prince Puckler-Muskau of traveling notoriety, a romancer
utterly without romance. Surely there never was a book so thoroughly
dull and heavy: it is monotonous as a sage-prairie. Though not liable
to be terrified by dry or hard reading, I was, it is only fair to
own, unable to turn over more than a few chapters at a time, and my
conviction is that very few are so highly gifted that they have been
able to read it through at a heat. In Mormonism it now holds the same
locus as the Bible in the more ignorant Roman Catholic countries, where
religious reading is chiefly restricted to the Breviary, to tales of
miracles, and to legends of Saints Ursula and Bridget. It is strictly
proper, does not contain a word about materialism and polygamy[144]--in
fact, more than one wife is strictly forbidden even in the Book
of Doctrines and Covenants.[145] The Mormon Bible, therefore, is
laid aside for later and lighter reading. In one point it has done
something. America, like Africa, is a continent of the future; the Book
of Mormon has created for it an historical and miraculous past.
[144] Behold the Lamanites (North American Indians), your brethren,
whom ye hate because of their filthiness, and the cursings which hath
come upon their skins, are more righteous than you, for they have
not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our
fathers, that they should have, save it were one wife; and concubines
they should have none; and there should not be whoredoms committed
among them.--_Book of Jacob_, chap. ii., par. 9.
[145] See Chap. IX.
[THE BOWERY.--MUSIC.]
At 9 45 A.M. we entered the Bowery; it is advisable to go early if
seats within hearing are required. The place was a kind of “hangar,”
about a hundred feet long by the same breadth, with a roofing of
bushes and boughs supported by rough posts, and open for ventilation
on the sides; it can contain about 3000 souls. The congregation is
accommodated upon long rows of benches, opposite the dais, rostrum,
platform, or tribune, which looked like a long lane of boarding open
to the north, where it faced the audience, and entered by steps from
the east. Between the people and the platform was a place not unlike a
Methodist “pen” at a camp-meeting: this was allotted to the orchestra,
a violin, a bass, two women and four men performers, who sang the
sweet songs of Zion tolerably well--decidedly well, after a moment’s
reflection as to latitude and longitude, and after reminiscences
of country and town chapels in that land where it is said, had the
Psalmist heard his own psalms,
“In furious mood he would have tore ’em.”
I was told that “profane”--_i. e._, operatic and other--music is
performed at worship, as in the Italian cathedrals, where they are
unwilling that Sathanas should monopolize the prettiest airs; on this
occasion, however, only hymns were sung.
[Illustration: SOUTH END OF THE TABERNACLE.]
[DRESS.]
We--the judge’s son and I--took our seats on the benches of the eighth
ward, where we could see the congregation flocking in, a proceeding
which was not over--some coming from considerable distances--till
10 15 A.M. The people were all _endimanchés_; many a pretty face
peeped from the usual sun-bonnet with its long curtain, though the
“mushroom” and the “pork-pie” had found their way over the plains,
and trim figures were clad in neat stuff dresses, sometimes silk: in
very few cases there was a little faded finery--gauze, feathers, and
gaudy colors--such as one may see on great festivals in an Old-Country
village. The men were as decently attired: the weather, being hot, had
caused many of them to leave their coats at home, and to open their
vests; the costume, however, looked natural to working-men, and there
was no want of cleanliness, such as sometimes lurks behind a bulwark
of buttons. The elders and dignitaries on the platform affected coats
of black broadcloth, and were otherwise respectably dressed. All
wore their hats till the address began, and then all uncovered. By my
side was the face of a blear-eyed English servant-girl; _en revanche_
in front was a charming American mother and child: she had, what I
have remarked in Mormon meetings at Saville House and other places in
Europe, an unusual development of the organ which phrenologists call
veneration. I did not see any Bloomers “displaying a serviceable pair
of brogues,” or “pictures of Grant Thorburn in petticoats.” There were
a few specimens of the “Yankee woman,” formerly wondrous grim, with a
shrewd, thrifty gray eye, at once cold and eager, angular in body and
mind, tall, bony, and square-shouldered, now softened and humanized by
transplantation and transposition to her proper place. The number of
old people astonished me; half a dozen were sitting on the same bench;
these broken-down men and decrepit crones had come to lay their bones
in the Holy City; their presence speaks equally well for their faith
and for the kind-heartedness of those who had brought the encumbrance.
I remarked some Gentiles in the Bowery; many, however, do not care to
risk what they may hear there touching themselves.
At 10 A.M. the meeting opened with a spiritual song. Then Mr.
Wallace--a civilized-looking man lately returned from foreign
travel--being called upon by the presiding elder for the day, opened
the meeting with prayer, of which the two short-hand writers in the
tribune proceeded to take notes. The matter, as is generally the case
with returned missionaries delivering their budget, was good; the
manner was somewhat Hibernian; the “valleys of the mountains”--a stock
phrase, appeared and reappeared like the speechifying Patlander’s
eternal “emerald green hills and beautiful pretty valleys.” He ended
by imploring a blessing upon the (Mormon) President, and all those
in authority; Gentiles of course were included. The conclusion was
an amen, in which all hands joined: it reminded me of the historical
practice of “humming” in the seventeenth century, which caused the
universities to be called “_Hum et Hissimi auditores_.”
[THE SERMON.]
Next arose Bishop Abraham O. Smoot, second mayor of Zion, and successor
to the late Jedediah M. Grant, who began with “Brethering,” and
proceeded at first in a low and methody tone of voice, “hardly audible
in the gallery,” to praise the Saints, and to pitch into the apostates.
His delivery was by no means fluent, even when he warmed. He made undue
use of the regular Wesleyan organ--the nose; but he appeared to speak
excellent sense in execrable English. He recalled past persecutions
without over-asperity, and promised future prosperity without
over-prophecy. As he was in the midst of an allusion to the President,
entered Mr. Brigham Young, and all turned their faces, even the old
lady--
“Peut-on si bien prêcher qu’elle ne dorme au sermon?”--
who, dear soul! from Hanover Square to far San Francisco, placidly
reposes through the discourse.
The Prophet was dressed, as usual, in gray homespun and homewoven:
he wore, like most of the elders, a tall, steeple-crowned straw hat,
with a broad black ribbon, and he had the rare refinement of black
kid gloves. He entered the tribune covered and sat down, apparently
greeting those near him. A man in a fit was carried out pumpward.
Bishop Smoot concluded with informing us that we should live for
God. Another hymn was sung. Then a great silence, which told us that
something was about to happen: _that_ old man held his cough; _that_
old lady awoke with a start; _that_ child ceased to squall. Mr. Brigham
Young removed his hat, advanced to the end of the tribune, expectorated
stooping over the spittoon, which was concealed from sight by the
boarding, restored the balance of fluid by a glass of water from a
well-filled decanter on the stand, and, leaning slightly forward upon
both hands propped on the green baize of the tribune, addressed his
followers.
The discourse began slowly; word crept titubantly after word, and the
opening phrases were hardly audible; but as the orator warmed, his
voice rose high and sonorous, and a fluency so remarkable succeeded
falter and hesitation, that--although the phenomenon is not rare in
strong speakers--the latter seemed almost to have been a work of art.
The manner was pleasing and animated, and the matter fluent, impromptu,
and well turned, spoken rather than preached: if it had a fault it was
rather rambling and unconnected. Of course, colloquialisms of all kinds
were introduced, such as “he become,” “for you and I,” and so forth.
The gestures were easy and rounded, not without a certain grace, though
evidently untaught; one, however, must be excepted, namely, that of
raising and shaking the forefinger; this is often done in the Eastern
States, but the rest of the world over it is considered threatening and
bullying. The address was long. God is a mechanic. Mormonism is a great
fact. Religion had made him (the speaker) the happiest of men. He was
ready to dance like a Shaker. At this sentence the Prophet, who is a
good mimic, and has much of the old New English quaint humor, raised
his right arm, and gave, to the amusement of the congregation, a droll
imitation of Anne Lee’s followers. The Gentiles had sent an army to lay
waste Zion, and what had they done? Why, hung one of their own tribe!
and that, too, on the Lord’s day![146] The Saints have a glorious
destiny before them, and their morality is remarkable as the beauty of
the Promised Land: the soft breeze blowing over the Bowery, and the
glorious sunshine outside, made the allusion highly appropriate. The
Lamanites, or Indians, are a religious people. All races know a God and
may be saved. After a somewhat lengthy string of sentences concerning
the great tribulation coming on earth--it has been coming for the last
1800 years--he concluded with good wishes to visitors and Gentiles
generally, with a solemn blessing upon the President of the United
States, the territorial governor, and all such as be in authority over
us, and, with an amen which was loudly re-echoed by all around, he
restored his hat and resumed his seat.
[146] Alluding to one Thos. H. Ferguson, a Gentile; he killed, on
Sept. 17th, 1859, in a drunken moment, A. Carpenter, who kept a
boot and shoe store. Judge Sinclair, according to the Mormons, was
exceedingly anxious that somebody should be _sus. per coll._, and,
although intoxication is usually admitted as a plea in the Western
States, he ignored it, and hanged the man on Sunday. Mr. Ferguson was
executed in a place behind the city; he appeared costumed in a Robin
Hood style, and complained bitterly to the Mormon troops, who were
drawn out, that his request to be shot had not been granted.
Having heard much of the practical good sense which characterizes the
Prophet’s discourse, I was somewhat disappointed: probably the occasion
had not been propitious. As regards the concluding benedictions, they
are profanely compared by the Gentiles to those of the slave, who,
while being branded on the hand, was ordered to say thrice, “God
bless the State.” The first was a blessing. So was the second. But at
the third, natural indignation having mastered Sambo’s philosophy,
forth came a certain naughty word not softened to “darn.” During the
discourse, a Saint, in whose family some accident had occurred, was
called out, but the accident failed to affect the riveted attention of
the audience.
Then arose Mr. Heber C. Kimball, the second President. He is the model
of a Methodist, a tall and powerful man, a “gentleman in black,” with
small, dark, piercing eyes, and clean-shaven blue face. He affects the
Boanerges style, and does not at times disdain the part of Thersites:
from a certain dislike to the Nonconformist rant and whine, he prefers
an every-day manner of speech, which savors rather of familiarity than
of reverence. The people look more amused when he speaks than when
others harangue them, and they laugh readily, as almost all crowds
will, at the thinnest phantom of a joke. Mr. Kimball’s movements
contrasted strongly with those of his predecessor; they consisted now
of a stone-throwing gesture delivered on tiptoe, then of a descending
movement, as
“When pulpit, drum ecclesiastic,
Was beat with fist and not with stick.”
He began with generalisms about humility, faithfulness, obeying
counsel, and not beggaring one’s neighbor. Addressing the hand-cart
emigrants, newly arrived from the “sectarian world,” he warned them to
be on the look-out, or that every soul of them would be taken in and
shaved (a laugh). Agreeing with the Prophet--Mr. Kimball is said to be
his echo--in a promiscuous way concerning the morality of the Saints,
he felt it notwithstanding his duty to say that among them were “some
of the greatest rascals in the world” (a louder laugh, and N.B., the
Mormons are never spared by their own preachers). After a long suit of
advice, _à propos de rien_, to missionaries, he blessed, amen’d, and
sat down.
[MR. KIMBALL’S STYLE.]
I confess that the second President’s style startled me. But presently
I called to mind Luther’s description[147] of Tetzel’s sermon, in which
he used to shout the words Bring! bring! bring! with such a horrible
bellowing, that one would have said it was a mad bull rushing on the
people and goring them with his horns; and D’Aubigné’s neat apology
for Luther,[148] who, “in one of those homely and quaint, yet not
undignified similitudes which he was fond of using, that he might be
understood by the people,” illustrated the idea of God in history by
a game of cards! “... Then came our Lord God. He dealt the cards:...
This is the Ace of God....” Mormons also think it a merit to speak
openly of “those things we know naturally:” they affect what to others
appears coarseness and indelicacy. The same is the case with Oriental
nations, even among the most modest and moral. After all, taste is in
its general development a mere affair of time and place; what is apt
to _froisser_ us in the nineteenth may have been highly refined in the
sixteenth century, and what may be exceedingly unfit for Westminster
Abbey and Notre Dame is often perfectly suited to the predilections
and intelligence of Wales or the Tessin. It is only fair to both
sides to state that Mr. Kimball is accused by Gentiles of calling
his young wives, from the pulpit, “little heifers;” of entering into
physiological details belonging to the Dorcas Society, or the clinical
lecture-room, rather than the house of worship; and of transgressing
the bounds of all decorum when reproving the sex for its _penchants_
and _ridicules_. At the same time, I never heard, nor heard of, any
such indelicacy during my stay at Great Salt Lake City. The Saints
abjured all knowledge of the “fact,” and--in this case, _nefas ab hoste
doceri_--so gross a scandal should not be adopted from Gentile mouths.
[147] History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century. Book iii.,
chap. i.
[148] Ditto, Preface.
After Mr. Kimball’s address, a list of names for whom letters were
lying unclaimed was called from the platform. Mr. Eldridge, a
missionary lately returned from foreign travel, adjourned the meeting
till 2 P.M., delivered the prayer of dismissal, during which all
stood up, and ended with the benediction and amen. The Sacrament was
not administered on this occasion. It is often given, and reduced to
the very elements of a ceremony; even water is used instead of wine,
because the latter is of Gentile manufacture. Two elders walk up and
down the rows, one carrying a pitcher, the other a plate of broken
bread, and each Saint partakes of both.
Directly the ceremony was over, I passed through the thirty carriages
and wagons that awaited at the door the issuing of the congregation,
and returned home to write my notes. Before appearing in the “Deserét
News” the discourses are always recomposed; the reader, therefore, is
warned against the following report, which appeared in the “News” of
Wednesday, the 5th of September.
“BOWERY.--_Sunday, Sept. 2_, 10 A.M., Bishop Abraham O. Smoot
addressed the congregation. He said he rejoiced in the opportunity
he had been favored with of testing both principles and men in the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; he was fully satisfied
that those who do right are constantly filled with joy and gladness
by the influence of the Holy Ghost. Every man must know God for
himself, and practice the principles of righteousness for himself;
learn the truth and the light, and walk therein. Men are too much in
the habit of patterning after their neighbors’ actions instead of
following the dictates of the Spirit of God; if the Saints do right
they are filled with light, truth, and the power of God. It has been
a matter of astonishment to many how we could so much rejoice in the
things of God, but the reason is our religion is true, and we know
it, for God has revealed it unto us, and hence we can rejoice in
the midst of calamities that would make our enemies very cross, and
cause them to swear about their troubles. Nine tenths of those who
have apostatized have done it on account of prosperity, like Israel
of old, but the Lord desires to use us for the advancement of his
kingdom, and the spreading abroad of light and truth. We should live
for God, and prepare ourselves for all the temporal and spiritual
blessings of his kingdom.
“President Brigham Young said if our heavenly Father could reveal all
he wishes to his Saints, it would greatly hasten their perfection,
and asked the question, Are the people prepared to receive those
communications and profit by them, that would bring about their
speedy perfection? He discovered a very great variety of degrees of
intelligence in the people; he also observed a manifest stupidity
in the people attempting to learn the principles of natural life.
Observed that God is just and equal in his ways, and that no man will
dare to dispute; also that there is no man in our government who
will speak truthfully, and according to his honest convictions, but
who will admit that we are the most law-abiding people within its
jurisdiction. Remarked that all the heathen nations have devotional
instincts, and none more than the natives of this vast continent;
and they all worship according to the best of their knowledge. The
whole human family can be saved in the kingdom of God if they are
disposed to receive and obey the Gospel. Reasoned on the subject of
fore-ordination, and said the religion of Jesus Christ is designed to
make the bad good and the good better. Argued that there is a feeling
in every human breast to acknowledge the supremacy of the Almighty
Creator. God is just, he is true, and if this were not the case no
mortal could be exalted in his presence; advised all to improve
upon the knowledge they had received of the things of God. Referred
briefly to the birth of Christ, and the attendant opposition and
threatening of the governments of the nations of the earth.
“President Heber C. Kimball followed with appropriate remarks on the
practical duties of life, the necessity of humility and faithfulness
among the Saints, and admonished all to be obedient to the mandates
of heaven, and to the counsels of the living oracles. In giving
advice to the elders who are expected to go on missions to preach the
Gospel, he said: ‘The commandment of Jesus to his apostles anciently
has been renewed unto us, viz., Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end
of the world.’”
[MR. BRIGHAM YOUNG’S SERMON.]
The student of the subject may desire to see how one of these sermons
reads; I therefore extract from the “Deserét News” one spoken by Mr.
Brigham Young during my stay in the city; it is chosen impartially,
neither because it is better nor because it is worse than its fellows.
The subject, it will be observed, is uninteresting; in fact, what
negroes call “talkee-talkee”--_pour passer le temps_. But Mr. Brigham
Young can, all admit, when occasion serves ability, “bring the house
down,” and elicit thundering amens.
REMARKS by President BRIGHAM YOUNG, _Bowery_, A.M., _August 12,
1860_. (_Reported by G. D. Watt._)--“I fully understand that all
Saints constantly, so to speak, pray for each other. And when I find
a person who does not pray for the welfare of the kingdom of God on
the earth, and for the honest in heart, I am skeptical in regard
to believing that person’s religion to be genuine, and his faith
I should consider not the faith of Jesus. Those who have the mind
of Christ are anxious that it should spread extensively among the
people, to bring them to a correct understanding of things as they
are, that they may be able to prepare themselves to dwell eternally
in the heavens. This is your desire, and is what we continually pray
for.
“Brother J. V. Long’s discourse this morning was sweet to my taste;
and the remarks of Brother T. B. H. Stenhouse were very congenial
to my feelings and understanding. Brother Long has good command of
language, and can readily choose such words as best suit him to
convey his ideas.
“Brother Stenhouse remarked that the Gospel of salvation is the great
foundation of this kingdom; that we have not built up this kingdom,
nor established this organization, we have merely embraced it in
our faith; that God has established this kingdom, and has bestowed
the priesthood upon the children of men, and has called upon the
inhabitants of the earth to receive it, to repent of their sins, and
return to him with all their hearts. This portion of his remarks I
wish you particularly to treasure up.
“If the Angel Gabriel were to descend and stand before you, though
he said not a word, the influence and power that would proceed from
him, were he to look upon you in the power he possesses, would melt
this congregation. His eyes would be like flaming fire, and his
countenance would be like the sun at midday. The countenance of an
holy angel would tell more than all the language in the world. If
men who are called to speak before a congregation rise full of the
Holy Spirit and power of God, their countenances are sermons to the
people. But if their affections, feelings, and desires are like the
fool’s eye to the ends of the earth, looking for this, that, and the
other, and the kingdom of God is far from them and not in all their
affections, they may rise here and talk what they please, and it is
but like sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal--mere empty, unmeaning
sounds to the ears of the people. I can not say this of what I have
heard to-day.
“Those faithful elders who have testified of this work to thousands
of people on the continents and islands of the sea will see the
fruits of their labors, whether they have said five words or
thousands. They may not see these fruits immediately, and perhaps in
many cases not until the millennium, but the savor of their testimony
will pass down from father to son. Children will say, ‘The words of
life were spoken to my grandfather and grandmother; they told me of
them, and I wish to become a member of the Church; I also wish to
be baptized for my father, and mother, and grandparents;’ and they
will come and keep coming, the living and the dead, and you will be
satisfied with your labors, whether they have been much or little, if
you continue faithful.
“Brother Long remarked that before he gathered to Zion he had imbibed
an idea that the people were all pure here. This is a day of trial
for you. If there is any thing that should give us sorrow and pain,
it is that any of the brethren and sisters come here and neglect
to live their religion. Some are greedy, covetous, and selfish,
and give way to temptation; they are wicked and dishonest in their
dealings with one another, and look at and magnify the faults of
every body, on the right and on the left. ‘Such a sister is guilty of
pilfering; such a brother is guilty of swearing,’ etc., ‘and we have
come a long distance to be joined with such a set; we do not care a
dime for “Mormonism,” nor for any thing else.’ The enemy takes the
advantage of such persons, and leads them to do that for which they
are afterward sorry. This is a matter of great regret to those who
wish to be faithful. But no matter how many give themselves up to
merchandising and love it better than their God, how many go to the
gold mines, how many go back on the road to trade with the wicked,
nor how many take their neighbors’ wood after it is cut and piled up
in the kanyons, or steal their neighbors’ axes, or any thing that is
their neighbors’, you live your religion, and we shall see the day
when we shall tread iniquity under foot. But if you listen to those
who practice iniquity, you will be carried away by it, as it has
carried away thousands. Let every one get a knowledge for himself
that this work is true. We do not want you to say that it is true
until you know that it is; and if you know it, that knowledge is as
good to you as though the Lord came down and told you. Then let every
person say, ‘I will live my religion, though every other person goes
to hell; I will walk humbly before God, and deal honestly with my
fellow-beings.’ There are now scores of thousands in this Territory
who will do this, and who feel as I do on this subject, and we will
overcome the wicked. Ten filthy, dirty sheep in a thousand cause
the whole flock to appear defiled, and a stranger would pronounce
them all filthy; but wash them, and you will find nine hundred and
ninety pure and clean. It is so with this people; half a dozen
horse-thieves tend to cause the whole community to appear corrupt in
the eyes of a casual observer.
“Brother Long said that the Lord will deal out correction to the
evil-doer, but that he would have nothing to do with it. I do not
know whether I shall or not, but I shall not ask the Lord to do what
I am not willing to do; and I do not think that Brother Long is any
more or less ready to do so than I am. Ask any earthly king to do a
work that you would not do, and he would be insulted. Were I to ask
the Lord to free us from ungodly wretches, and not lend my influence
and assistance, he would look upon me differently to what he now does.
“You have read that I had an agent in China to mix poison with the
tea to kill all the nations; that I was at the head of the Vigilance
Committee in California; that I managed the troubles in Kansas,
from the beginning to the end; that there is not a liquor-shop
or distillery but what Brigham Young dictates it: so state the
newspapers. In these and all other accusations of evil-doing I defy
them to produce the first show of evidence against me. It is also
asserted that President Buchanan and myself concocted the plan for
the army to come here, with a view to make money. By-and-by the poor
wretches will come bending and say, ‘I wish I was a “Mormon.”’ All
the army, with its teamsters, hangers-on, and followers, with the
judges, and nearly all the rest of the civil officers, amounting
to some seventeen thousand men, have been searching diligently for
three years to bring one act to light that would criminate me; but
they have not been able to trace out one thread or one particle of
evidence that would criminate me; do you know why? Because I walk
humbly with my God, and do right so far as I know how. I do no evil
to any one; and as long as I can have faith in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ to hinder the wolves from tearing the sheep and
devouring them, without putting forth my hand, I shall do so.
“I can say honestly and truly before God, and the holy angels and
all men, that not one act of murder or disorder has occurred in this
city or Territory that I had any knowledge of, any more than a babe
a week old, until after the event has transpired; that is the reason
they can not trace any crime to me. If I have faith enough to cause
the devils to eat up the devils, like the Kilkenny cats, I shall
certainly exercise it. Joseph Smith said that they would eat each
other up as did those cats. They will do so here, and throughout the
world. The nations will consume each other, and the Lord will suffer
them to bring it about. It does not require much talent or tact to
get up opposition in these days; you see it rife in communities, in
meetings, in neighborhoods, and in cities; that is the knife that
will cut down this government. The axe is laid at the root of the
tree, and every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit will be hewn
down.
“Out of this Church will grow the kingdom which Daniel saw. This
is the very people that Daniel saw would continue to grow, and
spread, and prosper; and if we are not faithful, others will take
our places, for this is the Church and people that will possess the
kingdom forever and ever. Will we do this in our present condition
as a people? No; for we must be pure and holy, and be prepared for
the presence of our Savior and God, in order to possess the kingdom.
Selfishness, wickedness, bickering, tattling, lying, and dishonesty
must depart from the people before they are prepared for the Savior;
we must sanctify ourselves before our God.
“I wanted to ask Brother Long a question this morning--what he had
learned in regard to the original sin. Let the elders, who like
speculation, find out what it is, if they can, and inform us next
Sabbath; or, if you have any thing else that is good, bring it along.
I wish to impress upon your minds to live your religion, and, when
you come to this stand to speak, not to care whether you say five
words or five thousand, but to come with the power of God upon you,
and you will comfort the hearts of the Saints. All the sophistry in
the world will do no good. If you live your religion, you will live
with the Spirit of Zion within you, and will try, by every lawful
means, to induce your neighbors to live their religion. In this way
we will redeem Zion, and cleanse it from sin.
“God bless you. Amen.”
The gift of unknown tongues--which is made by some physiologists the
result of an affection of the epigastric region, and by others an
abnormal action of the organ of language--is now apparently rarer than
before. Anti-Mormon writers thus imitate the “blatant gibberish” which
they derive directly from Irvingism: “Eli, ele, elo, ela--come, coma,
como--reli, rele, rela, relo--sela, selo, sele, selum--vavo, vava,
vavum--sero, seri, sera, serum.” Lieutenant Gunnison relates[149] a
facetious story concerning a waggish youth, who, after that a woman
had sprung up and spoken “in tongues” as follows, “Mela, meli, melee,”
sorely pressed by the “gift of interpretation of tongues,” translated
the sentence into the vernacular, “My leg, my thigh, my knee.” For
this he was called before the Council, but he stoutly persisted in his
“interpretation” being “by the Spirit,” and they dismissed him with
admonition. Gentiles have observed that whatever may be uttered “in
tongues,” it is always translated into very intelligible English.
[149] The Mormons. Chap. vi. Social Condition.
That evening, when dining out, I took a lesson in Mormon modesty. The
mistress of the house, a Gentile, but not an anti-Mormon, was requested
by a saintly visitor, who was also a widow, to instruct me that on no
account must I propose to see her home. “Mormon ladies,” said my kind
informant, “are very strict;” unnecessarily so on this occasion, I
could not but think. Something similar occurred on another occasion: a
very old lady, wishing to return home, surreptitiously left the room
and sidled out of the garden gate, and my companion, an officer from
Camp Floyd, at once recognized the object of the retreat. I afterward
learned at dinner and elsewhere among the Mormons to abjure the Gentile
practice of giving precedence to that sex than which, according to
Latin grammar, the masculine is nobler. The lesson, however, was not
new; I had been taught the same, in times past, among certain German
missionaries who assumed precedence over their wives upon a principle
borrowed from St. Paul.
[MR. STAINES.--ADOPTION.]
I took the earliest opportunity of visiting, at his invitation, the
Prophet’s gardens. The grounds were laid out by Mr. W. C. Staines, now
on Church business in London.[150] Mr. Staines arrived at Great Salt
Lake City an exceptionally poor emigrant, and is now a rich man, with
house and farm, all the proceeds of his own industry. This and many
other instances which I could quote prove that although, as a rule, the
highest dignitaries are the wealthiest, and although the polygamist
can not expect to keep a large family and fill at the same time a long
purse, the Gentiles somewhat exaggerate when they represent that Church
discipline keeps the lower orders in a state of pauperdom. Mr. Staines
is also the “son of ‘Brigham’ by adoption.” This custom is prevalent
among the Mormons as among the Hindoos, but with this difference, that
while the latter use it when childless, the former employ it as the
means of increasing their glory in the next world. The relationship is
truly one of parent and child, by choice, not only by the mere accident
of birth, and the “son,” if necessary, lives with and receives the
necessaries of life from his “father.” Before entering the garden we
were joined by Mr. Mercer, who, long after my departure from India, had
missionarized at Kurrachee in “Scinde, or the Unhappy Valley.”
[150] I have to thank Mr. Staines for kind assistance in supplying me
with necessary items of information.
[FRUIT.]
The May frost had injured the fruit. Grapes were but quarter-grown,
while winter was fast approaching. I suggested to the civil and
obliging English gardener that it would be well to garnish the
trellised walls, as is done in Tuscany, with mats which roll up and can
be let down at night. Bacchus appeared in three forms: the California
grape, which is supposed to be the Madeira introduced into the New
World by the Franciscan Missions; the Catawba--so called from an Indian
people on a river of the same name--a cultivated variety of the _Vitis
labrusca_, and still the wine-grape in the States. The third is the
inferior Isabella, named after his wife by “ole man Gibbs,”[151] who
first attempted to civilize the fox-grape (_Vitis vulpina_), growing
on banks of streams in most of the temperate states. A vineyard is now
being planted on the hill-side near Mr. Brigham Young’s block, and
home-made wine will soon become an item of produce in Utah. Pomology is
carefully cultivated; about one hundred varieties of apples have been
imported, and of these ninety-one are found to thrive as seedlings:
in good seasons their branches are bowed down by fruit, and must be
propped up, or they will break under their load. The peaches were in
all cases unpruned: upon this important point opinions are greatly
divided. The people generally believe that the foliage is a protection
to the fruit during the spring frosts. The horticulturists declare that
the “extremes of temperature render proper pruning even more necessary
than in France, and that the fervid summers often induce a growth of
wood which must suffer severely during the inclement months, unless
checked and hardened by cutting back.” Besides grapes and apples, there
were walnuts, apricots and quinces, cherries and plums, currants,
raspberries, and gooseberries. The principal vegetables were the Irish
and the sweet potato, squashes, peas--excellent--cabbages, beets,
cauliflowers, lettuce, and broccoli; a little rhubarb is cultivated,
but it requires too much expensive sugar for general use, and white
celery has lately been introduced. Leaving the garden, we walked
through the various offices, oil-mill, timber-mill, and smithy: in the
latter oxen are shod, according to the custom of the country, with half
shoes. The animal is raised from the ground by a broad leather band
under the belly, and is liable to be lamed by any but a practiced hand.
[151] Similarly, the Constantia of the Cape was named after Madam Van
Stell, the wife of the governor.
[THE PENITENTIARY.]
On the evening of the 3d of September, while sauntering about the
square in which a train of twenty-three wagons had just bivouacked,
among the many others to whom Mr. Staines introduced me was the Apostle
John Taylor, the “Champion of Rights,” Speaker in the House, and
whilom editor. I had heard of him from the best authorities as a man
so morose and averse to Gentiles, “who made the healing virtue depart
out of him,” that it would be advisable to avoid his “fierceness.” The
_véridique_ Mr. Austin Ward describes him as “an old man deformed and
crippled,” and Mrs. Ferris as a “heavy, dark-colored, beetle-browed
man.” Of course, I could not recognize him from these descriptions--a
stout, good-looking, somewhat elderly personage, with a kindly gray
eye, pleasant expression, and a forehead of the superior order; he
talked of Westmoreland his birthplace, and of his European travels
for a time, till the subject of Carthage coming upon the _tapis_, I
suspected who my interlocutor was. Mr. Staines burst out laughing
when he heard my mistake, and I explained the reason to the apostle,
who laughed as heartily. Wishing to see more of him, I accompanied
him in the carriage to the Sugar-house Ward, where he was bound on
business, and _chemin faisant_ we had a long talk. He pointed out
to me on the left the mouths of the several kanyons, and informed
me that the City Creek and the Red Buttes on the northeast, and
the Emigration, Parley’s, Mill Creek, Great Cotton-wood and Little
Cotton-wood Kanyons to the east and southeast, all head together in
two points, thus enabling troops and provisions to be easily and
readily concentrated for the defense of the eastern approaches. When
talking about the probability of gold digging being developed near
Great Salt Lake City, he said that the Mormons are aware of that, but
that they look upon agriculture as their real wealth. The Gentiles,
however--it is curious that they do not form a company among themselves
for prospecting--assert that the Church has very rich mines, which are
guarded by those dragons of Danites more fiercely than the Hesperidian
Gardens, and which will never be known till Miss Utah becomes Mistress
Deserét. Arriving at the tall, gaunt Sugar-house--its occupation is
gone, while the name remains--we examined the machinery employed
in making threshing and wool-carding machines, flanges, wheels,
cranks, and similar necessaries. After a visit to a nail manufactory
belonging to Squire Wells, and calling upon Mrs. Harris, we entered
the Penitentiary. It is a somewhat Oriental-looking building, with a
large quadrangle behind the house, guarded by a wall with a walk on
the summit, and pepper-caster sentry-boxes at each angle. There are
cells in which the convicts are shut up at night, but one of these
had lately been broken by an Indian, who had cut his way through the
wall; a Hindoo “gonnoff” would soon “pike” out of a “premonitory” like
this. We found in it besides the guardians only six persons, of whom
two were Yutas. When I remarked to Gentiles how few were the evidences
of crime, they invariably replied that, instead of half a dozen souls,
half the population ought to be in the place. On our return we resumed
the subject of the massacre at Carthage, in which it will be remembered
that Mr. John Taylor was severely wounded, and escaped by a miracle,
as it were. I told him openly that there must have been some cause for
the furious proceedings of the people in Illinois, Missouri, and other
places against the Latter-Day Saints; that even those who had extended
hospitality to them ended by hating and expelling them, and accusing
them of all possible iniquities, especially of horse-thieving, forgery,
larceny, and offenses against property, which on the borders are never
pardoned--was this smoke quite without fire? He heard me courteously
and in perfect temper; replied that no one claimed immaculateness
for the Mormons; that the net cast into the sea brought forth evil
as well as good fish, and that the Prophet was one of the laborers
sent into the vineyard at the eleventh hour. At the same time, that
when the New Faith was stoutly struggling into existence, it was the
object of detraction, odium, persecution--so, said Mr. Taylor, were
the Christians in the days of Nero--that the border ruffians, forgers,
horse-thieves, and other vile fellows followed the Mormons wherever
they went; and, finally, that every fraud and crime was charged upon
those whom the populace were disposed, by desire for confiscation’s
sake, to believe guilty. Besides the theologic odium there was also
the political: the Saints would vote for their favorite candidates,
consequently they were never without enemies. He quoted the Mormon
rules: 1. Worship what you like. 2. Leave your neighbor alone. 3.
Vote for whom you please; and compared their troubles to the Western,
or, as it is popularly called, the Whisky insurrection in 1794, whose
“dreadful night” is still remembered in Pennsylvania. Mr. Taylor
remarked that the Saints had been treated by the United States as the
colonies had been treated by the crown: that the persecuted naturally
became persecutors, as the Pilgrim fathers, after flying for their
faith, hung the Quakers on Bloody Hill at Boston; and that even the
Gentiles can not defend their own actions. I heard for the first time
this view of the question, and subsequently obtained from the apostle
a manuscript account, written _in extenso_, of his experience and
his sufferings. It has been transferred in its integrity to Appendix
No. III., the length forbidding its insertion in the text: a tone of
candor, simplicity, and honesty renders it highly attractive.
[Illustration: ANCIENT LAKE BENCH-LAND.]