DOMESTIC LIFE AMONG THE NEPHITES--HOUSE-HOLD
DUTIES--DRESS--ORNAMENTS--HOMES--FOOD--MANUFACTURES--TRANSPORTATION.
From the casual references found in the historic portions of the Book
of Mormon, we are led to infer that the domestic life of the Nephites
was patterned, as it very naturally would be, after the manners and
customs of their forefathers in the land of Jerusalem, modified,
of course, by time and their surroundings. The changed material
conditions, the absence of older though co-existent peoples and powers,
the new and sometimes strange animal and vegetable productions, etc.,
all had an influence in the formation and growth of their civilization;
trivial, perhaps, when considered separately, but when taken together,
and working for centuries, having a marked effect on their public
polity and home life. It is, however, necessary to explain that the
details of the latter are very meagre, and only obtained incidentally,
as they may form a link in the chain of some historical narrative,
or be introduced as an illustration in some doctrinal teaching or
prophetic warning.
In the midst of a people guided or reproved through their entire
national life by an almost continuous succession of inspired teachers,
it is but reasonable to conclude that the domestic virtues were
assiduously cultivated, and all departures therefrom severely rebuked.
Industry, economy, thrift, prudence, and moderation in dress were
evidently as much the subject of the prophet's commendation then as
in these latter days. Zeniff and others directly refer to the labors
and toils of the Nephite women in spinning and making the material
with which they clothed themselves and their households; and the same
fabrics which delight the modern daughters of Israel also appear to
have pleased the eyes of their Nephite sisters in the long ago. We
must, however, say to the praise of these ancient worthies, the mothers
of Mosiah, Alma, Moroni, Helaman, and of the two thousand striplings
who loved to call the latter father, that the beauty of their apparel
was the workmanship of their own hands. Steam looms, spinning
jennys, and their like, were unknown, so far as we can learn, to the
enterprising, vigorous, God-blessed race that for nearly a thousand
years filled the American continent with the favored seed of Jacob's
much-loved son.
The materials of which the clothing of this race were made are
frequently mentioned in the inspired record. Fine silk, fine twined
or twisted linen, and cloth of every kind are often spoken of. In one
place good homely cloth is mentioned. By the word homely we must not
understand the writer to mean ugly; the word is there evidently applied
in its original significance, as it is used today in England, for
homelike or fit for home--such material as was suited to the every-day
life of an industrious, hard-working people.
The love of ornaments has ever been a characteristic of Abraham's
chosen race. The golden earrings and bracelets that gladdened the
eyes of Rebecca, when sought as the wife of the patriarch's son, have
had their counterpart in many a more modern instance. It was so with
Sariah's myriad daughters. Time and again we read of pride and vanity
entering the hearts of the people, and of their affections being set
upon their costly apparel and their ornaments of gold, of silver, of
pearls, of precious things, (gems?) their bracelets, ringlets, etc.
Nor would it be just to convey the idea that the gentler sex were alone
guilty of these extravagances; the sacred record admits of no such
conclusion. We cannot judge by the sober drabs, greys and browns with
which the civilized gentleman of today clothes himself, of the colors,
the styles or the fashions of the raiment of the Nephite beaux. The
only safe conclusion that can be drawn is that they probably copied
to some extent the gorgeousness of tropical nature by which they were
surrounded. Nor is it reasonable to suppose that a single description
would apply to the styles in the days of Lehi, of Benjamin and of
Mormon, any more than the varied fashions of the days of the Williams,
the Edwards, the Jameses and the Georges of English history could all
be condensed into one sentence. It is not conceivable that dress, or
anything else, remained entirely unchanged throughout a thousand years,
though it is quite possible that those changes were nothing like so
sudden or so radical as have been those that have taken place among
the leading nations of western Europe. On these points, however, so
far as the record of Mormon is concerned, we can simply surmise, as
the military accoutrements, armor, etc., of the warrior are the only
habiliments with regard to which he gives any particular details. It
is this poverty of information on this and kindred subjects that makes
it so difficult for our artists to illustrate, with any assurance of
approximate correctness, scenes and incidents from Book of Mormon
history.
Nor can we learn much more with regard to their residences than we can
concerning their dress. The most detailed account given of any man's
home is that of Nephi, the son of Helaman. His house was situated
on the main highway which led to the chief market place of the city
of Zarahemla. In front of his house was a garden, and near the gate
opening upon the highway was a tower, upon the top of which the prophet
was accustomed to pray. These towers, from the numerous references made
to them, either as private property or attached to their places of
worship, as watch towers or as a part of their system of fortification,
must have formed quite a conspicuous feature in the Nephite landscape.
The residences of the rich were elegant and spacious, adorned with
exceedingly fine wood work, carving, etc., and with ornaments of gold,
silver, copper, brass, steel and other metals. From the importance
attached to the fact that but little timber existed in the northern
continent when the Nephites began to spread over it, and consequently
that the immigrants had to build their houses of cement, it is
presumable that wood entered largely into the composition of the
buildings. This idea is strengthened by the frequent reference made to
the skill of their artisans in wood working, and in the excellence they
had attained in the refining of ores and the manufacturing of metal
ornaments for their houses and persons. Regarding one monarch it is
written: King Noah built many elegant and spacious buildings; and he
ornamented them with fine works of wood, and of all manner of precious
things, of gold and of silver, and of iron, and of brass, and of ziff
and of copper; and he also built him a spacious palace and a throne in
the midst thereof, all of which was of fine wood, and was ornamented
with gold and silver, and with precious things. And he also caused that
his workmen should work all manner of fine work within the walls of the
temple, of fine wood, and of copper, and of brass, etc. This was in the
land of Lehi-Nephi.
We next turn to the food of this people. Here, also we are without
definite information, but we can measurably judge of their staple
articles of diet by noticing the grains they cultivated most
extensively: to wit, wheat, corn and barley, the latter appearing
to have been the standard by which they gauged the price of other
commodities. Great attention was also given to the planting of fruit
trees and grape vines. From the fruit of the grape abundance of wine
was manufactured, of which (we think we do the Nephites no injustice
by saying it) they were as fond as are the generality of mankind. They
were not as attached to a meat diet as were the Lamanites, who were
great flesh-eaters, but they apparently kept large flocks and herds as
a source of food supply, as well as for wool, leather, etc., and to
provide for the numerous sacrifices enjoined by the law of Moses, which
they carefully observed, until the offering of that greatest of all
sacrifices on Mount Calvary, of which all the rest were but types and
shadows.
Thus we may conclude that bread made from corn, wheat or barley, the
flesh of their flocks and herds, together with that of wild animals
caught in the chase, fruit, wine, milk and honey, formed the basis
of their daily food, differing no doubt in details, according to the
location, climate and other circumstances.
Their methods of locomotion and modes of transportation are not
described. They were very rich in horses, and doubtless made use of
them as beasts of burden. The fact that large bodies of this people
made extended journeys in their various migrations and colonizings,
is beyond dispute. From one family they filled a continent, or more
properly two continents. The use of ships is not mentioned until the
middle of the last century before the Christian era. These were then
used in conveying immigrants, lumber, provisions, etc., to the northern
continent; the first ship-building, of which we have an account, having
been done at the settlements near the Isthmus of Panama, to which point
good roads had by that time been constructed. In the earlier history of
the Nephites it is probable that most of their material was transported
on pack animals, as is done today in the regions then inhabited by
them. In the dense tropical vegetation of the wilderness, and along the
mountain slopes of the Andes, road-making was difficult and expensive,
and packing on the backs of animals (say the horse, the mule, the
llama, the alpaca, etc.,) was the cheapest and most convenient to a
comparatively poor and small people.
Chariots are mentioned but seldom, The Lamanite monarch, Lamoni, had
his horses and chariots, to which reference is more than once made;
and in after years, when the Nephites gathered with all they possessed
into one place, to defend themselves against the Gadianton robber
(A. C. 17), they removed their provisions, grain, etc., by means of
vehicles called chariots. These are the only instances, which the
writer remembers where vehicles of any kind are spoken of in the Book
of Mormon, in connection with the inhabitants of this continent.