. MAlE LIFE AMONG THE MORMONS; OB, THE HUSBAND IN UTAH: DETAILING BIGHTS AND SCENES AMONG THE MORMONS; WITH REMARKS ON THEIR MORAL AND SOCIAL ECONOMY. BY AUSTIN N. WARD. EDITED BY MARIA WARD, AUTHOR Of "IB KALE LIFB AMONG THB MOB MO KB." PHILADELPHIA: PUBLISHED BY J. EDWIN POTTEK, No. 617 SANSOM STREET. 1863. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by J. EDWIN POTTER, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for th Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Bancroft Library THE HUSBAND I1ST UTA.H P K E F A E . ONE year since, with fear and trembling, I gave to the world my testimony against the Mormon delu- sion.* It was not a history of that people, or the rise and progress of their singular creed. It made no pretensions even to trace them as a body through their various settlements in the Western country pre- vious to their emigration to the Valley of the 'Great Salt Lake. It was designed simply as a record of personal experience a transcript of events written from memory ; a faithful narrative of such hopes and fears, joys and sorrows, as any woman placed in such circumstances must necessarily feel. The success of that venture emboldens me to send another barque in the same track, though this time it is the experience and adventures of another of a man. Of course he takes a somewhat different view, * " Female Life Among the Mormons." V PREFACE. but his account corroborates my testimony. He pre- sents a philosophical view of the Mormons, with their moral and social condition as a community ; but that neither softens nor modifies the nature of the facts which came beneath his observation. It was not from ambition or the love of gold, but a sense of duty to my country and the world, that the other book was written. The impostors are still abroad in the land ; every month brings the arrival of their dupes from foreign shores. Again I lift the voice of warning. Beware of their arts. Enter not the circle of their fascinations ; their charms are like those of the ser- pent, and lead to the death of all that is holy and beautiful in this life, and all that can support the anxious soul in its moments of dissolution, and give it a happy and abundant entrance into the presence of just men made perfect. I have been careful to preserve the thoughts and sentiments of the writer. In no case have I changed or omitted a sentence, because it did not agree with my feelings and opinions. I wished to be true to him as I had been to myself. The writer was the nephew of my husband. Subse- quent to my escape from Mormondom, but before his family w^ere aware of the fact, he took the overland route to California, stayed among the Mormons for a PREFACE. VU time, went on to the Gold Region, caught cold from exposure in the mines, and came home to die. He was unmarried, and in the distribution of hia effects his papers were given to me. I hand them over to you, kind public, relying on your candor and gene- rosity for a charitable appreciation of the work and the motives which prompted it. MARIA WARD. THE EDITOR'S DESIGN. THE public mind has begun to appreciate, with some degiee of correctness, the evil influence of the Mormon faith, and the true nature of its institutions. It has at least commenced to perceive the extent of folly and wickedness that must naturally grow up under such a system, adverse alike to democratic institutions and the truths of Christianity. Priestcraft, in its worst phase, is the soul and life of Mormonism. The United States, as well as foreign countries, teem with these men and their confederates, whose morality is even more lax, whose delusion finds readier dupes, and whose designs are more sinister and dangerous than those of Home. Polygamy and the con- version of women are accounted among the chief instrumentalities to promote their designs. . To support the one and effect the other the most strenuous exertions are made. Nor is it always the case that efforts to secure fresh victims are confined to the use of persuasion and advice, but physical assistance can be rendered when necessary to abduct and carry off, in some emigrant train or caravan, such youth of either sex as circumstances throw in their way. If either of these volumes * should be the means of warning one individual to escape their nefarious designs, I shall have been amply repaid for all my pains and labor. * The Author here refers to the popular work entitled " Female Life among th Mormons." 1* CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. UTAH MOUNT ZION INCIDENTS AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS BROTHER UNDERWOOD. Incidents and First Impressions Brother Underwood My Accommodations Recognizing an Acquaintance An Invitation Brother Underwood's Ortho- doxy Searching for Information Large Families the Source of Disquietude 35 CHAPTER II. GLANCES AND GLIMPSES COSTUME SCENES IN THE STREETS, ETC. Glances and Glimpses Costumes An Interesting Aged Couple A Burial- American Residents A Beautiful Girl A Variety of Opinions Character- istics of the Free Trappers . . . . . .88 CHAPTER III. RURAL SCENFRY RURAL LIFE JUDGE WHITE HIS OPINION OF POLYGAMY THB BRIGHT SIDE OF THAT INSTITUTION. A Disagreeable Party Judge White's House Polygamy a Patriarchal Institu- l&m An Abrupt. Question Conversation with Judge White The Judge and his Wives Retiring for the Night Breakfast The Half Breeds . . 48 CHAPTER IV. ALEXANDER BURNHAM HIS HOUSB TRAGIC OCCURRENCES WEDDINGS DEATHS. Polygamy Mrs. Burnhara A Storm and a Calm A Mysterious Death- Death of Mrs. Burnham ........ ^ H Xll CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. DIFFERENT SENTIMENTS POOH CLASS OF MORMONS MISERY OP WIVES ETC. Comparisons are Odious Condition of the Laboring Classes A Character A Sullen Husband An Ex-PresbyterianMaria Ward's Philosophy Ill- Treatment of Wives 84 CHAPTER VI. AN ENGLISHMAN'S OPINION ENGLISH EMIGRANTS THE IB CHARACTER ETC. An Englishman's Opinion A Call on Brother Wells Brother Wells' Wives- Journey to Salt Lake Brick-Town Cold Water Scarce The Bishop's House The Bishop's Three Wives" Matches" Getting Supper The Bishop on Polygamy A Lucky Escape . . . . . .99 CHAPTER VII. THE MRS. UNDERWOOD'S JEALOUSIES, MISUNDERSTANDINGS, AND REMOVAL. Superiority of the First Wife Mr. Underwood's Jealousy Looking for Board Mrs. Hyde A Sensible Woman Mr. Inkley's Wives Different Ideas of Comfort Gathering Honey-Dew An Opinion Plainly Expressed A Sad History Frederick's Father . . . . . . .126 CHAPTER VIII. THE DINNER A NEW WIFE JAUNT TO GRANTSVILLE, AND WHAT I SAW THERE, ETC. A New Wife Dinner Talk A Terrible Storm Jaunt to Grantsville Female "Help" Dangerous Camping-out Occupations of the Women "Swap?" Disgusting Food A Family of Emigrants A Tempting Invitation A Mormon's Villainy 151 CHAPTER IX. RETURN OGDEN'S CITY, ETC. A Favorable View Brother Ripley's A Comfortable Apartment Traditions of Ogden's Hole Goodall and his Horse Goodall's Opinion of the Mormons 174 CHAPTER X. FREDERICK B THE MORMON THEATRE MRS. CANFIELD, ETC., ETC. A Call from Frederick B Death of Frederick's Father A Disgraceful Scene A Burial A Mormon Theatrs How to tell a Frenchwoman Man- ners at the Theatre Mrs. Canfield . . . . . 18'J CONTENTS. Xlll j CHAPTER XI. THE TABERNACLE FORM OF MORMON WORSHIP SPECIMEN OF PREACHING, ETC. Assemblage at the Tabernacle The Duty of Men A Plea for Marriage A Curious Guarantee of Salvation Martha Inkley's Opinions Search for Miss Scott . .202 CHAPTER XII. THE COUNCIL OF HEALTH MIRACLES DREAMS, AND SOMB OTHER THINGS. Mormon Miracles The Council of Health Sister Lippincott's Remedy An Ailing Party Sins of Omission Falsity of the Mormon System . . 214 CHAPTER XIII. REMOVAL MY NEW LANDLADY MISS SCOTT, ETC. Family Peace I Mrs. Snow, the Poetess Angling for a Husband A Direct Proposal Exchange of Gifts Mrs. Farrow's Humanity Clearing up my Character Miss Scott's Sufferings . . . . . . 226 CHAPTER XIV. CONVERSATIONS WITH AN ELDER ON POLYGAMY, AND THE FUTURE OF THE MORMONS THEIR NATIONAL AND SOCIAL POLICY, ETC. Eliza Snow Marries Brother Brigham Conversation with a Mormon Elder Prospects of Mormonism Manifest Destiny Conscious Security A Bright Future Intelligent Elders . . . . . . .243 CHAPTER XV. THE MARKETS OF SALT LAKE CITY SHOP-KEEPERS STREET-VENDERS OF MERCHAN- DISEMANUFACTURES AND MECHANIC ARTS. Shop-Keepers Second-hand Shops Manufactures Aversion to Outsiders . 256 CHAPTER XVI. SCHOOLS LITERATURE INTRODUCTION TO ELDER KIMBALL, ETC. A School-Teacher Introduction to Elder Kimball The Future foretold by the Past An Invitation accepted ....... 264 CHAPTER XVII. DECEPTIONS RASCALITIES DUPES IMPOSTORS PARLEY PRATT HIS SCHEMES TO RAISE MONEY A BEREAVED HUSBAND AND FATHER, ETC. An Opposer to Polygamy Mrs. Cunningham's Experience Dismal Prospects Misplaced Confidence Parley Pratt Detestable Practices A Traitorous Son A Heartless Wife Determination of Mrs. Hays . . .272 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVIII. THK MORMON PABTT MORMON BELLES INCIDENTAL NOTICB OF BRIQHAM YOUNQ AND HIS FAMILY, KTO. The Mormon Party A Row Brigham Young Fanaticism of the Sisterg . 290 CHAPTER XIX. EXTERIOR INFLUENCES- YOUNG MEN DISSATISFACTION WITH POLYGAMY CHAKGES TO BK WROUGHT IN THE SYSTKM OF MORMONISM, AND HOW. The Young Men Polygamy an Evil A Prophecy for the Future T . 800 EXPLANATORY NOTES SOT THE HUSBAND II UTAH. CHAPTER I. UTAH MOUNT ZION INCIDENTS AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS BROTHER UNDERWOOD. UTAH ! Deseret ! The country of the Great Salt Lake I The region of saline plants ! the abode of the beauti- ful, the wonderful, and the new. Snow on the mountains, flowers in the valleys the tall pine trees crowning the rocky heights, and the graceful cottonwood marking the margins of a hundred streams the air redolent with the fragrance of blossoms unknown to the East cattle grazing peacefully among the hills, or reposing in the shade the tall spires of the Mormon temple glittering in the rich sunlight the Mor- mon city, with its picturesque edifices, and busy inhabitants bustle, hilarity, and confusion in the streets huge family carriages filled with a mixed variety of old and young 16 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. women, and children of different ages and sizes stately Mormon elders proceeding on pedestrian excursions of busi- ness or pleasure dashing soldiers with nodding plumes, gay uniforms, and prancing steeds Indians in all the glory of their national costume loitering near places of low resort. And last, not least, a company of English emigrant con- verts to the new faith, approaching in the distance. MOUNT ZION. The Great Salt Lake City, called Zion by the Mor- mons, is pleasantly situated. They are fond of comparing it to the ancient capital of Judea, though to find any resemblance between the two, must require a great stretch of imagination. For sublime and picturesque scenery, the Mormon city has no rival in the world. Behind it, like an amphitheatre, rise the lofty summits of the Wahsatih mountains, whence never-failing streams of fresh water descend, and are conducted in small channels on either side of the streets. The city is well laid out ; the streets, which are one hundred and twenty feet wide, intersect each other at right angles, and are ornamented by rows of cottonwood trees. The houses are all adobes with the exception of the Governor's palace. They are substantial and elegant, and though generally small, a few are very large and commodi- ous ; each house stands back a short distance from the street, and is surrounded by a small garden ; each block has a bishop or spiritual overseer, whose duty it is to know INCIDENTS AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS. 17 everything passing within his jurisdiction. He must examine every week into the moral and material condition of each family, and report to the Governor. With this prelimi- nary notice of Utah, and its famous city, I shall proceed to recount whatever was most interesting, amusing, and instructive to me during my visit to that place, in the sum- mer of 1855. INCIDENTS AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS. I was one of a small company who took the overland route to California, D ore for the amusement of the thing than any other purpose. We hunted buffalo on the plains, visited trappers in the mountains, and feasted with half- naked savages, till novelty gave place to weariness, and our approach to the habitations of civilized man, was attended with feelings of decided pleasure. When the saints from the United States, or other parts of the world, arrive within sight of the city, they prostrate themselves to the earth like the Mohammedans when they discover the sacred edifices of Mecca ; in our case, however, the discovery of its gleam- ing habitations was only hailed by. a shout of joy, and accelerated speed along the well-worn road. This road, though generally good, was quite as remarkable as other things belonging to the same territory. It went bending, hither and thither, first to to the right, then to the left, winding around the mountain spurs, and the bases of hills, till finally reaching the plain on which the city stands, wo 18 THE HUSBAND IN UTAFT. entered it just as the sun was declining in the western horizon, and the shadows of night began to gather on the mountain tops. Of course our first desire was to obtain shelter and food, not only for that night, but several weeks. Zion was crowded with visitors, travellers, and emigrants, under similar necessities. There are some persons who for a consideration will supply what we want I say for a con. side ration the Mormon brethren in this respect resembling the Jews of old, who while affecting to despise the Gen- tiles, were at the same time strongly enamored of Gentile gold. We applied for lodgings at the United States Hotel, kept by the Hon. Mr. Kinney, U. S. judge for the terri- tory of Utah, but to our great disappointment his house was full. He likewise expressed regret, but gave us directions- to a smaller and much inferior establishment, kept by a Mormon Brother Underwood. " BROTHER UNDERWOOD 1" I said to myself, walking in the direction of his house, " that name sounds familiar," and I patiently strove to recall where or under what circumstances I became acquainted with its owner. Thus meditating, I reached the domicile. It was now nearly dark ; there was no candle or lamp burn- ing, and I could obtain only a very unsatisfactory glimpse of my host. Yet his manner was kind and cordial, and he spoke in a frank cheerful voice. I told him my necessi- ties. He said, very well, he would see, and disappeared. BROTHER UNDEKWOOD. 19 The formality usual in Eastern hotels was entirely dis- pensed with here. There was no registry of names, and there seemed to be no clerks or assistants, with the exception of a small boy, who acted in the double capacity of errand runner and bar-tender. At present he sat dozing behind a small counter, apparently unconscious of the presence of a stranger ; meanwhile we heard some one (whom we sup- posed to be our host) running up and down stairs, opening and shutting doors, and calling through the rooms, "Nelly, Kelly!" After an absence sufficiently prolonged to have cooked and prepared a good supper, he returned with the dismal intelligence that there was no one in the house who could get us anything to eat, but that he would show us to our apartments if we desired to remain. My companions angrily expostulated with the man. He excused the matter by throwing the blame on his wives ; they generally took turns, he said, in going out, and the one whose duty it was to stay at home, had neglected or forgotten it. He supposed she was at a neighbor's, though where, it would be impossible to tell. All but myself decided to depart. I was secure of a shelter, that was half I sought, and I hoped that the remainder might be forthcoming ; so taking up my tra- velling-bag, I bade my companions call on me the ensuing day, and with a hearty " gdfed night," prepared to follow my obsequious host. The room to which he consigned me was a sort of little cell. He had brought up in his hand a short piece of tallow candle, contained in an iron can- 20 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. dlestick, which to judge from its appearance, might have been coeval with Noah's ark. This he placed on a rude semblance of a table, and unceremoniously withdrew. I scarcely had courage to inspect the apartment. I hoped that the roof was tight, and the bed clean. I hoped too, that by-and-by I might be summoned to supper, though my better judgment rebelled against such anticipations. On rummaging my pockets, however, I found the remains of a broken cracker, and a small portion of dried fruit, which had hitherto escaped my notice. This I ate, and commend- ing myself to Divine Providence, retired to bed, though determining to lie awake, at least, until the candle .burnt out. The more I saw of Brother Underwood the more firmly I became convinced that I had been previously acquainted with him. At length, with a sudden flash of thought, I remembered the time and circumstances. It was in the State of New York. My introduction to him was merely casual, though with the woman he subsequently married . I was intimately acquainted. How exceedingly strange I Would she know me ? Would she receive me as a friend ? I questioned. Only those who have been far from home and friends can realize with what delight I anticipated meeting with an old acquaintance, in whose society some of the happiest days in my lif^had been spent. Then it occurred to me that I might be mistaken, and having by this time relinquished all hopes of supper, I saw the candle swale, flare, and flicker without reluctance. A moment MY ACCOMMODATIONS. 21 more it blazed, flashed up suddenly, then the wick fell over to one side, became saturated in the melted tallow, and all was darkness. I cannot say that my bed reminded me of any I had ever slept in before ; for to tell the truth, it did not. Though not much inclined to luxuriousness, I found it hard, cold, and uncomfortable. It was yet early in the season, and cool nights are characteristic of the climate of Utah, even in the midst of summer. I wished for a warm quilt or cover- lid, but as none could be had, determined to be satisfied without it. After all, there is no philosophy like that which prompts a man to conform to circumstances, and make the best of everything. With these feelings I composed myself to rest, and soon fell asleep. I awoke in the morning with a gnawing sensation of hunger, and actually shivering with cold. Silence prevailed throughout the house, and no one seemed to be stirring, though it was broad day. I had full leisure and opportunity to examine my room and its con- comitants. I found it a hard thing, indeed, to be satisfied therewith, and unavoidably found myself wishing that its general appearance were otherwise. Notwithstanding all my philosophy, I felt that my satisfaction would be greater were more neatness and taste displayed in its arrangements. I had been accustomed to lave my hands and face in the fresh mountain springs, and could not be content with the quart bowl of water prepared for my use. Then the napkin, had evidently grown old in some other employment before being applied to its. present purpose. I think that if the 22 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. floor had been well scrubbed and sanded, this smaL piece of old, dusty, faded rag carpet might be happily dispensed with. The uncurtained window looks unpleasant, the glass being so dingy that before looking through it to obtain a view of the mountains, I am obliged to wash it with the napkin, in which laudable endeavor to exercise the vocation of chamber-maid, I pushed out one of the panes. It fell to the ground an*l broke with a crash, probably awaking the family, as I heard them moving about soon after. In attempting to seat myself on one of the chairs, it let me sprawling to the floor, and I ascertained that, one leg being broken, it could only be retained in an upright position while standing with its back to the wall. My table had evidently been a stranger to hydropathy for a very long time. Instead of a lock, my door was fastened with a wooden button. The fireplace was filled with ashes and cinders, while the jambs were literally festooned with pendent webs. I look around for a bell. The apartment is not furnished with any such convenience. I think of ordering a fire. I wonder when breakfast will be ready. I ponder the best way of making myself known to the landlady. I muse on a thousand other things, till tired out of all patience with wait- ing to be summoned below, I hastily descended and made my way to the bar-room without formality. I found Brother Underwood in the bar. He was quietly munching a hard brown lump, designated a rusk. He looked up, and his broad features relaxed into a smile. " Got in a hurry for breakfast, eh ?" he inquired RECOGNIZING AN ACQUAINTANCE. 23 I replied in the affirmative, reminding him that I had no supper the night before. " Ah yes," he answered, " I recollect, Nelly was out." I paid no attention to this remark, but again referred to the morning meal. " Certainly, certainly," he said, " it will soon be ready." There was certainly a great rush of business going on in a neighboring apartment, and as my host seemed communi- cative, lively, and amiable, I sat down to wait patiently and converse with him. " How long have you been in Utah ?" I ventured to inquire. " About five years," he replied, musingly. " And you removed from Cortland County, in the State of New York." " Why do you ask ?" "Because your voice, and face, and name, strongly remind me of one with whom I was formerly acquainted." " Your name ?" he inquired. I mentioned it. He looked earnestly in my face for a minute or two. " Yes," he observed, " I have a faint recollection of your features, and I have heard my wife speak of you." " Her name was Maria R " He assented, and held out his hand. I met his grasp with a cordial pressure. " I shall be most happy to see her," I observed. 2-i TIIE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " You will probably meet at breakfast," he said. " I wonder whether or not she will know you ?" ' Probably an hour elapsed before we were summoned to breakfast, and then a faded woman came to the door with the announcement. I directed an inquiring glance towards my host. " My second wife," he remarked. "Oh, I beg pardon." " No apologies are necessary," he replied, leading the way to the breakfast room. Half a dozen women, all the wives of my host, were standing around. I knew Maria at a glance, though she gave me no look or token of recogni- tion. Her husband smiled, and inquired if she had forgotten an old friend ; she gazed curiously in my face, then her countenance lighted up, and she cordially offered her hand. Our meeting, however, under such circumstances was one of painful embarrassment. I could not help speculating on the appearance of Maria compared to what it had formerly been. I had known her as one of the most tidy and indus- trious of girls, and now her dress and manner were indica- tive of the utmost carelessness and negligence, to say noth- ing of the want of neatness conspicuous in every part of the house. Though my hunger gave it a zest, the breakfast was anything but good. There was not a dish on the table even tolerably well cooked. The coffee was bitter and " muddy," the meat burned, the bread half dough, and the butter but I forbear to speak of that it looked inde- Ecribably, and I did not taste it AN INVITATION. 25 " As you are an old acquaintance," said Underwood, " I shall expect you to make my house your home during your stay in this place. You can scarcely expect to "be better accommodated. Quiet is a great thing, sir, a very great thing. I have no boarders except my family, and little custom. Of course, I don't want much -just a little to bring in a trifle of change, is all that I desire. It is expen- sive living here, very so many mouths to fill," and he glanced at his wives. " How long did you design staying ?" inquired Maria. " That depends on circumstances." " You will stay with us, I will see that you have com- fortable accommodations," said Maria. "All the other houses of entertainment are full," con- tinued Underwood. " They always are. The brethren moved out here to be separated from the rest of the world, and build up a righteous and holy kingdom, but it seems that the world cannot do without them." Maria turned her eyes towards him imploringly. " I should suppose that my companions would soon be here," I observed, wishing to change the conversation ; nor was I mistaken. On rising from from the table, I heard voices in the bar-room. " They have come," I ejaculated, and taking French leave of the ladies, went out to meet them, " And what do you think of Mormondom ?" inquired Harry Buck, the moment we were out of the house. " I shall reply by retorting the same question," I answer- ed. " What do you think of it ?" 2 26 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " What will induce me to get away as soon as possible, * he said. " We are going on to-morrow." " To-morrow 1" I exclaimed with surprise. " You needn't look so scared up," he said, kughing. " Is it strange that a man should wish to leave a place where he can get no food but roasted potatoes, and no shelter but an old emigrant wagon cover." " Has this been your fare ?" " Certainly it has. We went around to the different houses of entertainment, but all were full. We could pre- sent no claim to the hospitality of the Saints, and had not an old Indian fortunately come to our assistance, we should have been compelled to pass the night in the streets, or to have sought you out with a certainty of not getting any supper." " And the old fellow took pity on your forlorn con- dition ?" " He did. He cheerfully shared his bed and food with as. It was poor and scant to be sure, and only better than none." " Is he a Mormon ?" " A Mormon 1 No ; he hates and despises the whole sect says they are thieves, liars, and devils ; in short, the greatest rascals in existence." " That may be alt true," I replied, " yet I prefer to have evidence of the fact. I have succeeded in finding an old friend, and shall remain some time, probably all summer." They tried in vain to dissuade me, but my resolution once BROTHER UNDERWOOD'S ORTHODOXY. 27 taken was not easily moved. Various reasons which it is not necessary to repeat, influenced my decision, and the matter was settled. I found a manifest improvement in the appearance of things at Brother Underwood's when I returned at night. The floors had been newly swept, the webs brushed away, and the dingy windows cleansed. When I ascended to my room of the previous evening, I found that the good work had extended even there. A cheerful fire was burning on the hearth, the broken chair had been removed, and so many little additions to comfort and convenience had been furnish- ed that the transformation was complete. I could easily guess who had done this, and what motive inspired it , Maria was ambitious to make her circumstances appear in the best possible light to one she had formerly known. There was no harm, and there might be much good in that. Just at dusk I was called to a plentiful supper, at which she presided, while tbe other wives of her husband remained in the kitchen. I subsequently discovered that Brother Underwood was not considered strictly orthodox. He belonged to the Mormon church, and practised polygamy, yet he was not so liberal with his money as the elders desired, and had on several occasions boldly refused to pay his assessment of tithes. He possessed, however, and in an eminent degree, one quality which Mormon husbands especially need, and which at all times and seasons they are required to exercise. This was good nature, and that easy sort of dis- 20 THE HUSBA.ND IN UTAH. position, which rests satisfied with getting along " som how." If things went wronpr, "oh well, never mind." 1 the meals were not prepared by the right time, or not at all it made little difference to him. He would roast a potato, or munch a crust, and expected to live just as long as though everything went on in the smoothest manner. His wives generally partook of the same qualities. They were the laziest set it was ever my fortune to behold, and the five did not perform on an average the ordinary work'of one good housewife in the Eastern States. Yet strange as it may appear, Underwood had married them solely with the view to their labor. He wished to keep a hotel or boarding- house without the extra expense of servants. When Maria's health failed, and she could not perform the duties devolving on her, instead of hiring a girl he married another wife. She refused to work, and he resorted again to the same alternative with no better success. Thus one after another had been added to his family with no advantage to him. Fortunately they bore few children, or his circum- stances would have been still more embarrassed. These women divided their tune pretty equally between visiting, sleeping, and going to church ; one attending to the house- hold affairs this day, and another the next ; while such general concerns as washing and scrubbing were utterly neglected. Though these women were actually too indolent to quarrel, they had no domestic feeling, no interest in common with their husband to preserve order, and promote the family welfare. In this apathy and indifference they strongly resemble the SEARCHING FOE INFORMATION. 29 servants, for whom they were designed to be a substitute. These things were obvious enough to a stranger ; I deter- mined to ascertain whether or not Brother Underwood regarded them in the same light. I felt little delicacy in broaching the subject, as the Mormon, unlike the Mussul- man, manifests little sensitiveness in regard to his wives. They will sit for hours relating their domestic experiences, vexations, and the motives that caused them to desire so intimate a connection with so many women. Of course there will be different views, but in many cases it is my candid opinion that the husband is more to be pitied than his wives. One day, when our acquaintance had ripened into familiarity, I inquired of Brother Underwood if he considered polygamy conducive to the happiness of those husbands who practised it. He frankly replied, " Generally speaking, I do not. One thing is certain, it has been my ruin in a pecuniary view lot that exactly either, but it has caused a stagnation in my affairs that to a person of different temperament would have occasioned madness or suioide. Fortunately I take things easy, and never suffer myself to be worried, come what may." No one, I believe who had seen his broad, smiling, good- natured coTintenance would have disputed this. " It seems to me that you might do a good business at hotel keeping under other circumstances," I remarked. "No one can be more certain of that than I am," he answered, broadly smiling ; " yet I have given up all hopes 30 THE HUSBAND DT UTAH. of that ; in fact I care no longer about it. One or two boarders at a time is quite enough. I wish to retain what little property I have succeeded in getting ; I have no expec- tation of ever obtaining more." " Candidly and truly, do not you, who have tried both, consider the one-wife system to be the best pecuniarily, as well as morally and socially ?" " Not a doubt of it," he replied ; " but uneasiness seems characteristic of human nature. Few men, I believe, are entirely satisfied with one wife. They find deficiencies in- her which they seek to remedy, where polygamy is allow- ed, by taking another, and as no woman is ever perfect, the' number from this same motive may be indefinitely increased." " And no one knows exactly what a thing is until he has tried it," I replied. " Exactly so." " Do you not suppose that many who have tried polygamy would gladly go back to the one-wife system, could they reasonably do so ?" " I know it ; but a marriage once consummated is not to be readily abandoned. Justice to the woman requires its permanency." " And you find no difficulty in procuring second, third, or even the seventh or eighth wife." " None whatever, so far as I am aware. It is even said, that the more wives a man has, the more he may have, especially in those families where labor is required of the LARGE FAMILIES THE SOURCE OF DISQUIETUDE. 31 female members. I have been told that many girls make it a condition in their courtship that their future husbands shall marry at least two other wives, in order that the cares and burdens of household duties, with the annoyance of children, may be lessened by being divided." " A practical view, certainly." " And one which serves admirably to banish whatever objections a female might reasonably have to married life. Most women strongly object to being mothers to large families, and if such is the case it is decidedly against their wishes and wills. The first child is welcomed, the second tolerated, the prospect of a third occasions tears and re- proaches, and that of the fourth is attended with exhibitions of temper, ebullitions of spleen, fits of melancholy, and not unfrequently with actual dislike or hatred of the husband. Whatever unhappiness the want of children may occasion in some families and under certain circumstances, it cannot be denied by any one even tolerably acquainted with the facts of the case, that too many of them is a source of greater disquietude and discontent to those that give them birth, and on whom during infancy and childhood the care of them necessarily devolves." " Likely enough ; yet what bearing has this on the system of polygamy ?" " Much, very much. Where polygamy is indulged, few women ever give birth to more than two or three children apiece. These are soon out of the way, and their mothers at liberty ; while at the same time the burdens of the hus- 6% THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. band are increased, and his application to labor or business is even more imperatively required." " But Maria was doubtless averse to your second mar- riage ?" Without noticing my last remark, he continued : "I could point you to many women in Utah who are strong advocates of polygamy, though their husbands are doubtful of its utility, and hesitate about practising it." I became subsequently convinced that there was much truth in his statement, and was forcibly reminded of Lady Mary Wortley Montague's remarks, where she expresses her belief that the ladies in the Turkish harems lead the easiest and happiest lives hi the world, and also of what a young lady of good sense and respectable position in society once said in my hearing, " that she would rather be the fiftieth wife of a rich man who could support her without the neces- sity of labor, or the inthrallment of family affairs, than the only wife of one who would expect her to perform all sorts of menial labors, besides giving birth to and rearing a dozen children." (a.) GLANCES AND GLIMPSES. 33 CHAPTER II. GLANCES AND GLIMPSES COSTUME SCENES IN THE STREETS, ETC. ~TT7"HILE walking the streets of Zion my thoughts con- VV stantly referred to the great changes that a few short years had sufficed to accomplish. Land rescued from savages and wild beasts ^ redeemed from the wild ; elegant structures built ; a populous city, rich in the various ele- ments of prosperity, and the resort of thousands of emigrants from all parts of the world, is a great work to be performed in half a score of years, more especially when its isolated con- dition, and the absence of all water communication with the ocean is considered. One thing is certain ; the Mormons, whatever may be the faults of their religious or social sys- tem, are not deficient in the energy and perseverance of the Anglo-Saxon race. Yet not a tithe of the country they nominally occupy is cleared or inhabited. Little colonies of Mormons are settled here and there, at fifty, forty or twenty miles from the main settlement, to which, for various reasons they pay a semi-annual visit much in the same man- 2* 34 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. * ner as the ancient Jews went up to Jerusalem. The appear- ance of these people, when seen in the streets, is much infe- rior to that of the natives of Zion, and you soon learn to distinguish them. They are coarse and rude in manner, impudent, staring and curious, miserably dressed in a cos- tume half-way between that of the Indian and white man. You are surprised at the unmistakable marks of Indian descent that many of the younger ones exhibit. The straight, well-proportioned figure, long coarse hair, high cheek bones, and wary expression of eye and countenance betray to the most casual observer the mixture of races. One thing that strikes you as remarkable, is the assem- blage of different nations to be seen in the streets. Gibral- ter itself can scarcely be more favored in this respect. Every nation in Europe, and ever^ State in the Union has representatives here. The tall Norwegian, fresh from his native pine forests ; the Dane, probably a descendant of some sea-king of old ; the blue-eyed German, meet, and probably salute you in a language whose strange unintelli- gible gibberish has no more meaning to your ears than the gabble of so many geese. These generally retain their national costume for a time, but sooner or later adopt that of the Mormons, which varies little from the usual style of English dress. Brigham Young, the patriarch, attempted to lead the fashions, and set out with a slouched yellow hat, much too large even for his large head, green frock coat, and pants large in size and loose in fit, white socks, and slippers. He was followed by some of the elders, though COSTUMES. 35 the young men and dandies were so intolerably wicked as to prefer imitating the people of the world. Zion, like other cities, has its fashionable streets. In these some are dressed with foppish extravagance, and a great many in clothes of expensive material. You are tempted to wonder how so much finery ever found its way to such an out-of-the-way place. Of course, the ladies in personal adornment must keep up with their husbands and lovers. The wives and daughters of the rich dress expensively, with good taste and effect. Many of them are attractive in appearance, and some would produce a decided sensation in any European drawing-room. These were objects of especial attention to the United States officers and soldiers, which gave great umbrage to the Mormons. Many of the poorer class of women work in the fields. These adopted a costume something like the Bloomer, con- sisting of wide pants, gathered with a band around the ankle, short skirts, and a broad-brimmed straw hat of home manufacture, yet all the better for that. They were adorned with knots of ribbon, and being rather jauntily worn on one side, had altogether a pleasant effect. The arrival of an emigrant train always occasioned a great amount of bustle and excitement, and such arrivals were of frequent occurrence. Some were bound to Oregon, others to California, but by far the greater number were foreign Mormons, who came to join their brethren in the promised land. These are hospitably entertained, and pro- 36 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. vided with homes among the wealthy saints, until they can procure some of their own. Even after that, they are sup- plied with cattle, domestic utensils, food, clothing, and other necessaries at a trifling cost, until they are enabled to get a "start." This seems to me a praiseworthy and humane policy. " Thou shalt not oppress the stranger, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt," said the great Jewish Law- giver ; a maxim too often forgotten by our own people. These emigrants are a source of great wealth to the Mor- mon Church, besides being an important addition to their numbers. Many of them bring large sums in gold and sil- ver ; others have strong hands and willing hearts to work, and thereby increase the material wealth of the country ; and all are blindly attached to their novel faith and creed. Such emigrants are precisely the kind of people required to bring out the resources of a State. Few " gentlemen *' among them, and no " ladies ;" but all true-hearted men and women, inured to toil and hardship, with brawny shoulders, firm step, and coarse hands. Deficient in the exterior graces of polite education, they generally exhibit a strong native sense of right, and what is due from man to man. They soon found employment, and in most cases, were busy and satisfied, (b.) The exceptions were those of old people, who had left their native country for the sake of ending their days in the society of their children, and who seemed to sadly miss the old familiar accociations of former years. I was always fond of the society of aged people, and some of these interested me very much, though I could neither speak AN INTERESTING AGED COUPLE. 87 nor understand a connected sentence in their language, I was deeply struck with the appearance of two old Norwe- gians husband and wife, who lived with their son and his family, in a small adobe house, on one of the principal streets. They had all the appearance of great age long white locks, and bent forms, with that indescribable something in manner and countenance, which even among the rudest peo- %ple commands veneration. They seemed inseparable that old man and his equally ancient wife. When the air was damp or chill, you could see them sitting by the window. In warm sunshiny weather they often came out on the little porch, but it was easy enough to be perceived that the old people were not happy. There was an ah- of loneliness about them. They were home-sick how could it be other- wise ? They were too old to form new friendships, or seek new pleasures. They are tired of isolation from all the habits to which they have been accustomed through a long and undoubtedly happy life, besides being disgusted with the condition of the things they find around them. The wife pines for her old neighbors, her little village church, the voice of her aged pastor, and the mounds in the tidy grave-yard, where her ancestors sleep. I missed them one day from the window, and still the next they were invisible. Then rumors came that the old Norwegian woman had fallen down in a fit. Another quickly followed, that she was dead, and I felt a certain presentiment that her com panion could not long survive. I attended the funeral, which was conducted after the manner usual in Norway 38 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. The coffin was borne on the shoulders of six stout foreign- ers, and followed to the place of burial by a large company of foreign men and women. First, and conspicuous among them, was the aged husband of the deceased, bending beneath the weight of unutterable sorrow, and looking older by several years, than when I had last beheld him. He seemed utterly decrepid and helpless, and was obliged to lean heavily for support on the arm of his son. His frame* was that of a giant, and he must have been in his best days of wonderful strength, though . now he shook and shivered as if under the influence of strong convulsions. The procession passed out into a little open plain, bounded by large rocks, and extremely desolate in appearance. It halted by an open grave, over which a solitary cottonwood waved its huge branches. After the usual preliminaries, the coffin was lowered down, when the old man tottered to the head of the grave, and sat down, with one long, earnest, straining look into its gloomy recesses. Then the son, tak- ing his station at the foot, opened a small book, and read from it in his native tongue, what I supposed to be the funeral service of the Norwegian church, during which the whole assemblage reverently uncovered their heads. Many of these were evidently illiterate, and somewhat boorish in manner, but all seemed deeply influenced by unaffected feel- ing. Several of the women sobbed and wept bitterly, and the reader himself paused at intervals, apparently overcome by the depth of his emotions. This exercise was succeeded by a few moments of silence, A. BURIAL. 39 when another person stepped from the crowd, and began a short address, perhaps eulogistic of the virtues of the deceased, 'or more probably a strain of exhortation to- the living. His manner was earnest, and the tone of his voice solemn and impressive. He finished, when a few handsful of earth were thrown into the grave, when those who had acted as bearers came immediately forward, and taking some shovels proceeded to fill the grave. While this was transpiring, the son took his former place, and some one in the assembly raised a hymn, with a long, slow, mournful air. The strain was immediately taken up by many voices, while the echoes rolled and died away in musical cadence among the hills. I was deeply affected, though unable to under- stand a syllable. Meantime, a man had gone into the ravine neac by, whence he returned with two small branches with green leaves, that he had broken off a chenopodiaceous shrub, native to the place. He approached with the apparent intention of erecting them at the head of the grave, when the old husband, who had sat immovable, his face buried in his hands, made a hasty gesture of dissent, and pointed to a dwarf pine growing on a small mound at a little distance. The man underbtood his mistake, and throwing down the shrubs, proceeded to gather the pine boughs, with their green tufts of long spiral leaves and pointed cones. These were placed upright at either extremity of the grave. A few sentences of prayer were then repeated in a low voice ; the old man, assisted by his son, rose to his feet, and all dis 40 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. persed. For a day or two I thought much of the old Nor- wegian, and the probable effect which the decease of his wife would have on him. Then I took a short trip to a neighboring settlement, where I remained nearly a week. I purchased a horse, and returned by a bridle-path, leading near the old woman's place of burial. Suddenly my horse pricked up his ears, as if listening intently, and in another moment the loud echoes of a martial strain reverberated through the woods. Riding on, I soon discovered that another funeral was proceeding. The singers were standing around a new-made grave, chanting with most impressive utterance and gestures, the national air of Norway, and simultaneously bursting into a chorus, of which the burden, prolonged in a loud, full-toned, enthusiastic aspiration was, " Gamle Norge." I reined in my horse till the pine branches were erected, when the company peaceably dispersed, and all that remained to earth of the old man, was left sleeping quietly by his wife. Upon inquiry, I found that he had been a patriot and a warrior, and that his name was honorably mentioned in his native land.(c.) Many emigrant trains on their way to California or Ore- gon stop at the Mormon city to obtain rest and refreshment. This is obviously a great advantage to the country, and con- tributes largely to its wealth, by furnishing a market for all kinds of produce. These trains are not the least remarka- ble feature of the western world. They come from all quarters Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Missouri, and such a combination of strange characters rarely and perhaps AMEKICAN RESIDENTS. 41 never meet under other, circumstances. Each family is generally furnished with a large stout wagon drawn by mules or oxen, in almost fabulous numbers, and capable of accommodating quite a number of people. Hoops, bent to form a half-circle, with a coarse white cloth stretched over them, make a passable cover. These are attended by men on horseback, with hunters and half-breeds on foot. Many a time emigrant parties double in number while journeying across the plains. The Americans, or those who had resided for several years hi the States, were usually well-dressed, though mostly rough and coarse, and generally fond of spirituous liquors. The men were not sociable, except when the prices and qualities of land, or the abundance of gold in their prospective home, was the subject of discussion. This, however, I attributed to a sort of jealous fear of the Mor- mons, whom they had learned to regard as enemies, and whose movements they incessantly watched. They took care to show the handles of concealed weapons, and man- aged fire-arms with dexterity, though carefully avoiding all altercations and disputes. One thing was particularly observable in many of them a straining after effect, and an attempt to make themselves appear more wealthy and intelligent than they really were. Their language was generally ungrammatical, idiomatic, and extravagant ; ex- cessively profane, and interlarded with obsolete phrases, and nicknames applied almost indiscriminately. Yet one of these men, who had acquired some little property, and felt 42 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. very large in consequence, though he could neither read writing nor write his name, had the impudence (what else can we call it ?) to cause himself to be nominated as candi- date for the legislature of his native State, was supported by an independent ticket, and obtained the office, after which he aspired to be governor. Failing in thL, he con- ceived the idea of going West, where his talents would be better appreciated. Hence he had gone rov-ing about, always dissatisfied because the people refused to trust him with some high office. He was evidently a singu- lar man, uniting in himself the confidence and self-possession of the well-bred gentleman, with the coarseness and low tastes of the uncivilized boor. He would exhibit in one day the most opposite qualities. Frankness and reserve, recklessness and self-control, penuriousness and prodigality. I was told of one act which he originated and carried through the legislature, and which empowered each of the members to purchase at the public expense a leather trunk, dressing case, and gold pencil of the value of ten dollars. Could anything show the man in a clearer light ? * It was amusing to witness the sharp eyes with which these men regarded the movements of their women when the Mormons were about. There is a camping-ground on one side of the city, where such travellers as choose can pitch their tents and reside with comfort during their stay at Mormondom, which is always prolonged to a month, and sometimes much longer. A BEAUTIFUL GIRL. 4:3 I used often to visit these companies, and when they had satisfied themselves that I was not a spy, or Mormon emis- sary, I was uniformly well received. In one of the trains en route for California was a beautiful girl, of most bewitching manners, slightly addicted to coquetry and remarkably fond of society. Her mother was dead, and she had inherited from her a small property, which she lavishly, expended in dress and ornaments. Her father, a man of naturally kind and humane disposition, with true parental feeling attempted to restrain the faults of his child. During their journey she had little opportunity to exercise her levity of disposition, but once encamped in the imme- diate vicinity of a populous town, and that town a military post, she determined by present indulgence to make amends for past restraint. Her beauty soon became the general topic of conversation, at least among a certain class, and her little coquettish arts delighted and excited the young soldiers in no small degree. Several of the younger Mormons seem- also struck with her fascinations. Like most other women, however, she preferred a military uniform, and when a young lieutenant became her constant attendant her happiness seemed complete. Meanwhile Mr. Scott, the father, forbade her lovers approaching his tent, and reprimanded her severely for encouraging them. A scene ensued. The father was violent, the daughter impetuous. He threatened her with punishment ; she defied his power. That night she fled. I had grown quite intimate with Mr. Scott, during his 44 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. stay at the city. Friendship among travellers is of rapid growth. Utterly ignorant of what had occurred, I went the next day to his tent, and found him in a state bordering on distraction. He knew her recklessness and impetuosity, and doubted not that she had rushed headlong into the most deplorable evils. " My daughter has gone, sir, gone," he said, bringing down his fist with great emphasis on the table ; " and I drove her away, yes sir, drove her away, my beautiful Louisa, could you believe it, sir ?" " I certainly should not, except for your own words," I replied ; " but what occasioned it ?" " Those cursed Mormons, sir, those cursed Mormons were all the time running after her. I forbade their coming, and talked rather savagely to her too much so, sir ; a father should never indulge his passions towards his children^ never sir that caused my daughter to run away.'" " Perhaps she will come back." " Never, sir ; she's too much grit for that. She'll never come back unless she's brought back, sir, brought back by main force. The Mormons " " Excuse me sir," I said, interrupting him. " But I doubt that the Mormons had any hand in this reprehensible con- duct of your daughter. It is much more probable that some one of these young officers has deluded her." " Do you think so ?" he inquired meditatively. " I certainly do." " I should like to know your reasons." A VARIETY OF OPINIONS. 45 "I believe that Miss Scott was rather partial to the military." " And I know she was," interposed the stepmother, who had been a listener to our conversation, and who manifested little disturbance at her daughter's flight. I was sincere in this belief, and circumstances, as I con- ceived, warranted the full expression of them, not only that the ends of justice might be met, but to prevent a collision between the Mormons and the exasperated travel- lers, which must result fatally to the latter. " What shall I do, sir, what can I do ?" he inquired. " The camp will be moving in a day or two and to leave my daughter, sir, I cannot think of such thing." Not knowing what better to say, I simply remarked, "I presume not." " If she prefers a rascally soldier to yourself, I should say, let her go," observed the step-mother. Her husband silenced her with a look. Others of the emigrant party came in, and expressed great exasperation. Some persisted that the Mormons had kidnapped or abducted the girl, and proposed all sorts of violent measures to effect her rescue. Others contended, with much more show of reason, that she had voluntarily sought the protection of a lover. " I've studied woman nature in my life," said one old man, " and I saw that in her eye which told me what she was up to. Lord 1 how they danced and sparkled at the 46 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. sight of a pair of epaulettes 1 It's the epaulettes that did the business." ^ " Shouldn't wonder." " She'll repent it," said a woman, who stood at the door of the tent, looking in. "Well, it's just what I expected. These beauties ; I never could bear 'em, not one in ten is what she should be." More than one of the men looked at the speaker, who was excessively homely, with a broad smile. In a few days the encampment broke up, and the travellers moved on, leaving the young lady behind them. Mr. Scott requested me to look for his daughter, and if I obtained intelligence of her to write and let him know. This I pro- mised to do. I am told that it is no uncommon thing for beautiful young girls to be abducted from emigrant trains, or per- suaded to abandon their parents for the sake of a Mormon husband. I was particularly interested in one class of men, who occasionally visit the Mormon city, and who, generally speaking, are honest, brave, and liberal ; I allude to the free trappers. During my sojourn in this country I was often thrown in contact with them, and can safely endorse all that has ever been said in their favor, though I have strong doubts of the correctness of many fabulous reports of the crime and violence attributed to them. True, they want polish and grace ; many of them are uneducated ; all are more or less deficient in the usual forms of civilized life, CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FREE TRAPPERS. 47 buv for generous feelings and the combination of noble qualities, which make a high-minded man, they are rarely to be equalled and never excelled. Generosity with them is almost a fault. Their purses, their pleasures, and their hearts are ever open to the weak, the stranger, or the needy. They have little of the sordid love of gold ; still less appreciation of caste or condition. Confide in them, and no friend can be more true. 4:8 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. CHAPTER III. RURAL SCENERY RURAL LIFE JUDGE WHITE HIS OPINION OF POLYGAMY THE BRIGHT SIDE OP THAT INSTITUTION. SOME of the Mormons are wealthy, and not a few have fine farms at some distance from the city, besides town- houses of considerable pretensions to architectural elegance. Of course they would suffer in comparison with the buildings of New York, or other eastern cities, though in this place they really look well. Usually these men have several wives with families. The first wife, with two or three others, resides on the farm probably, while the others are supported in the city, or it may be the reverse. The husband revolves between these two establishments ; blessing one place with his presence for perhaps a month, and then staying an equal length of time at the other. I understand that these husbands are greatly petted ; each wife vieing with the other to best entertain her lord. As the dispositions of women are various, in certain instances this may be the case ; in others it is not. It was a fine, warm, bright morning when I started on a A. DISAGREEABLE PARTY. 49 stroll with my fishing-rod up City Greek. This stream is rapid and beautiful. It runs from a wild gorge on the north side* of the city, along the banks of the principal canal, conducting the water for distribution into one part of the town. The stream was full of trout, which, however, declin- ed to bite, and I resolved to visit the farm of Judge White, which I knew could not be far off. Certain business connec- tions had led me to form an acquaintance with this man, who was considered a pattern saint, and who, at sundry times, had pressed me to share his hospitality. Striking into a narrow path I walked rapidly along the edge of the plateau at the base of the mountain, for about two miles, when I came suddenly on a little mud shanty of indescribable appearance. It seemed to swarm with children. A parcel were playing at the door when I approached. Seeing me, there was a hurtied ejaculation, and they ran in quickly to communicate the news. Three men immediately came out, and double that quantity of women showed their faces at the door, while the lesser ones behind were pushing and crowd- ing to obtain a glimpse. My approach had produced a sensation more than I considered safe or agreeable. Two of the men were half breeds ; the other the most villainous looking white fellow it was ever my misfortune to behold. Snaky glittering eyes, shaggy brows, and sensual mouth, with an expression of countenance at once malicious, cunning, and devilish. The women were suitable matches for such men, nearly naked and undeseribably filthy. I approached them frankly. The white man held out his hand. Not wishing 3 50 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. to encounter the grasp of such a man, I took no notice of the action, but inquired if he could direct me to the residence of Judge White. "Judge White?" he reiterated. "Really, stranger, but come in here, and we will see," motioning towards the cabin. This movement reveafed the handle of a concealed dirk. That, however, was nothing of consequence ; weapons, in this coun- try, being considered a necessary appendage to every man. " No, sir," I replied. " Have no occasion. Will you direct me ?" " Walk in, and we'll have a game/' he said, drawing a pack of cards from his bosom, where they rested side by side with the dirk. I declined in the least offensive manner I could assume, satisfied that the man had evil designs towards me. " But I say you must, stranger," he conttnued, with an attempt to be facetious, with ended in a hideous leer. " It isn't often that anybody comes this way, when they do, we must be civil and obliging. Now there han't been better liquor to be had around here since old Noah came out of the ark, than I've got in yonder. I want you to go in and taste it, come," and he grasped me by the shoulder, attempting to drag me forward. He was a powerful man, broad-chested, and long-limbed, and his grip was that of a vice ; but I shook nim off, and ran ; yes, ran, with all my might across the plain. I heard a great shouting and laughing at my expense, but no one followed me. Wandering about in one direction and another I became JUDGE WHITE'S HOUSE. 51 thoroughly wearied, when ascending a small eminence the house I sought appeared before me. I had heard it described so often that I knew it instantly. It was a large adobe house, two stories high, with a piazza running all around. A pretty stream of water coursed rapidly a short distance in the rear, and being lined with a growth of trees, it had an Eastern appearance truly refreshing. On the other side of the way was a large and convenient barn, with other out- buildings, suitable for the rearing and sheltering of stock. The house was surrounded by a good fence, with very neat gates. The yard was intersected by gravelled walks, with beds of flowers on either side. I noticed some very beautiful flowering shrubs peculiar to the country, and others also of which the seeds had been brought from the East. Two or three stout healthy-looking boys were playing on the grass, and the sound of a spinning wheel mingled with singing came through the open door. " Judge White lives here, does he not ;" I asked of one of the boys. " Yes sir," said the little fellow, with a smile of intelli- gence. " Is he at home I" I asked again. " Down at the stable yonder," said the boy, pointing to a large new building. " The Devons are there, too ; he thinks a great deal of them." While I was speaking to the child, a good-looking woman came to the door, courteously saluted me, with an invitation to " walk in." 52 THE HUSBAND IN TTTAH. " Run, boys, and tell your father that a gentleman wishes to see him," she said, addressing the children who scampered off with great glee. I followed her into a large and handsomely furnished room ; carpets covered the floor ; there was a neat, well-filled book- case, a mirror, several pictures, fancy chairs, a sofa, and elegant harp. Bouquets and vases of flowers were tastefully arranged in various parts of the room, and there was that comfortable pleasant air, in which most Mormon ' homes are sadly deficient. Handing me a chair, and seating her- self nearly opposite, she prepared to act the cheerful enter- tainer during the absence of her husband, and commenced by asking me if I was a stranger in the Mormon country, to which I made a suitable reply. " And how do you like our people ?" she asked. My answer was rather equivocal. " Better than I ex- pected." " I admire your intelligence," she said with a bland smile. "We have been greatly misrepresented. People who come among us as a general thing, are much too prejudiced to form a cool dispassionate judgment of our institutions. They see and report only one side ; this is scarcely fair ?" I answered that it was not. Tke extreme cases of female suffering and unhappiness reported in the books and papers which circulate through the Eastern States, are by no means general. I am told, however, that formerly it was much more the case than now. Opposition to polygamy is the effect of habit and education. POLYGAMY A PATRIARCHAL INSTITUTION. 53 Females become reconciled to it by custom. Perceiving that she was willing to discuss the matter, I said that among civilized nations, polygamy had generally taken the name of a crime, that I believed it was rarely attended with domes- tic happiness, and that few women would be allowed to tolerate a rival in the affections of their lord. She answered that jealousies and heart-burnings in such cases were preposterous, and that if there was a class of women on earth who were" really and truly objects of pity, it was the wives of small farmers and poor mechanics, who, generally speaking, were nothing more than household drudges doing work of half-a-dozen, though unable to work at all. " You refer to the States ?" " I do, where thousands of women are expected to bear and rear from six to one dozen children apiece, besides keeping their houses in order, and doing with their own hands all the cooking, washing, scrubbing, making, and mending for their families. Now, suppose all the sufferings of those women during ill health, all their toils, cares and annoy- ances for these must exist where there are children, with discontent and unhappiness from various other causes were all drawn in one picture, keeping the worst side constantly in view, it would show marriage hi a dreadful light." " Probably." " No one can deny that polygamy is a patriarchal institu- tion, directly countenanced by the Scriptures, and nowhere inhibited by them. The chosen people, the Jews, were 54 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. direct descendants, not simply from the wife, but the wives of Jacob. Bathsheba, the fourth or fifth wife of David, was the lineal progenitor of Christ. Here the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of Judge White. He welcomed me to his house with great cordiality, excusing himself for not coming sooner, by saying, that he had just purchased some very fine Devons, and wished to superintend feeding and stabling them. Many of these Mormon farmers pay great attention to the breeding of stock, and no country in the world can boast a superior quality of butter and cheese. The bunch grass, indigenous to the climate, gives it a peculiar yet most delicious flavor. Accompanying Judge White, over his extensive farm, I was surprised and delighted with its judicious arrangements. Whatever may be the errors of Mormon theology, or the evils of its social customs, it certainly does not disqualify a man for the business of life. I have rarely seen a place on which everything was more admirably contrived for comfort, convenience, labor-saving, and economy of space. The sta- ble was a model of its kind, and the animals were sleek, docile, and kind ; soft and pliant of skin, abundant milkers, and excessively fond of the bunch grass. There are extensive bottom lands on this farm, subject to be flooded by freshets, when the snow melts on the moun- tains. Here, the cows are pastured usually with the assist- ance of " herders," who are paid for their services by monthly wages. These fellows were sitting on rocks quietly tuning AN ABRUPT QUESTION. 55 a rude pipe, or lying at full length on the grass beneath the shade of cottonwood trees, while the cows were feeding a little way off. The whole scene was suggestive of the pas- toral ages. The lands devoted to wheat and corn, were rather ele- vated, and of very fertile soil. The wheat was heading, and gave promise of an abundant harvest, and the long sward- like leaves of the corn, were of the rankest, deepest green, and rustled pleasantly as we approached. There were extensive fields of potatoes, a large garden filled with vegetables, and a young peach orchard. Several laborers were employed on the farm, and I learned that wages were much the same as in the Eastern States. At tea-time we returned to the house, and were ushered into the dining-room, where we found a table abundantly furnished with the good things of life. The lady with whom I conversed on my first arrival, presided at the table, and I was introduced to three several Mrs. Whites whom I had not seen. We all sat down together. There were no exhibitions of ill temper or uioroseness, and I could not help wondering whether or not was this good nature affected, and what scenes were reserved for the special enter- tainment of the judge. When the supper was finished, I was left alone with the judge for a time. The conversation had flagged for a few minutes, when my host abruptly asked what I thought of Mormonism. The question was sudden and unexpected, and I hesitated to answer it. He laughed outright, saying " You do not know what to think 1" 56 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " Indeed, I do not," I answered. " And wiry not ?" " Because no one can form a just idea of a people until he has seen them, nor even then without the exercise of great sagacity and judgment, especially if their institutions should be different from those to which he had been accus- tomed." " A wise thought, happily expressed," said Judge White, " though the usual custom of tourists is to run through a country, selecting and sketching the most prominent objects, looking out extreme cases and supposing them to be general, and then, after a large blank is filled up entirely from the imagination, the world receives the benefit of swallowing the crude and ill-concocted mass. Our people are not per- fect by any means. The Mormon church requires reform. I am not perfectly satisfied with the system as it exists among us, but in this age of the world, where free opinion is universally tolerated, no two people think alike. What one considers a deformity is regarded by another as a great beauty, and the very thing that one desires to preserve, an- other will wish to purge. We must take things as we find them, though beneath a standard of imaginary excellence. The same course is necessary in your own churches." j " I am aware of that." " I used to be frequently amused, when listening to dis- cussions on the relative and comparative merit of the differ- ent churches. How common was the remark, " I don't think my Church perfectly right, but only the nearest right. But CONVERSATION WITH JUDGE WHITE. 57 whatever may be the faults of Mormonism, polygamy is not of the number." I was glad when he touched on this point, feeling some delicacy in introducing it. " Is not ?" I replied inquiringly. " One Mormon gentleman with whom I conversed, and who had several wives, objected to" the whole system, and expressed regret that he had ever been tempted to adopt it. I referred to Brother Under- wood. " Is he a man of property ?" inquired White. " Some considerable." " Then he has probably been unfortunate in the choice of his wives." " Very likely." " Still that proves nothing against the system. Have you never heard men with only one wife express regret that they were ever married ?" * , " Frequently." " Yet you never set it down as the fault of the system, but that of the individual." II Even so, though I have thought, and still think, that there is more unhappiness in marriage than in celibacy. To early marriages and the necessity of supporting large families without previous provision being made for them, nine-tenths of the poverties and miseries in our large cities may be attributed." " I believe it," he replied. " Among us it is the custom to obtain the consent of the first wife to the second mar 3* " 58 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. riage, not because the law requires it, but as a matter of domestic policy." " And do the first wives consent to this willingly ?" " Generally they do," I am told. " Of course your wife did." " Have you been conversing with her ?" he inquired archly. " A short time this morning." " She had no complaints to enter ?" " Nothing of the kind." " She gets along admirably. The same as a mother with her daughters. I never entertained a thought of taking the second wife, till she, herself, made me the proposition. We had a very large dairy ; it made abundance of work, and help was scarce, with high wages. What was still worse, the hired girls, if reproved, or required to do anything not perfectly agreeable, would get offended and go away, leaving us in the lurch. On one such occasion, when Betty ran off with a half-breed Indian without giving us a moment's warn- ing, my wife thus addressed me : " ' My dear, I am utterly disgusted with this system of hiring girls/ " ' So am I ; but what are we to do ? You cannot possibly bear the whole burden of labor/ " ' No, I can't ; but you can take another wife/ " ' Take another wife,' I said, surprised that she should propose the matter so bluntly. " ' Certainly ; why not ?' she answered. ' There is Sarah THE JUDGE AND HIS WIVES. 59 Fogg, a most excellent dairy-maid, and a girl of good dispo- sition. If you could marry her it would be much better than to hire a servant. She would take more interest in the work, and I think we could get along quite as well together. What do you say ?' " ' That I will do so, if you wish it.' And the next month Sarah Fogg became my wife. Since then, I have united with others, as it seemed expedient." " Expedience, then, is the governing principle in Mormon marriages ?" " Sometimes, though not always," he replied. " Many women are ' sealed ' to a husband for the sake of salvation." This absurdity was too much for my gravity, and I could not suppress a smile. A shade of displeasure passed over his countenance. It was but momentary, however^ and he became serene and cheerful. Is it possible, I thought, that a man of such seeming intelligence and probity can cherish ridiculous notions, or is all that I have heard of ]\ormon hypocrisy, indeed, true ? Perhaps he guessed what was pass- ing in my mind, though too well bred to manifest anger. We were soon joined by the ladies, all wives of my host. I believe they were all very industrious, and so many hands certainly made labor light. They came in, each with her knitting work, and all apparently cheerful and contented. " My dear," said the husband to his first wife, who seemed a sort of sultana, " is the milking done ?" " Certainly it is," she replied. " And the men have had their suppers ?" 60 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " They have." 11 Did you give them orders to yard and stable the cows ?" " To be sure, I did." " I thought you might have forgotten it," he returned, half apologetically. " When did I ever forget such things ?' 11 Never, that I know of excuse me." The conversation was resumed, and I soon began to sus- pect that the religion of this man, like his marriages, was founded on expedience. No man of the world could have exhibited a more utter absence of all moral principle, clothed in the most specious and sophistical language. "I think your people are fond of hair-splitting theories," he observed ; " they consider it just, and right, and virtuous for a man to have three or four, or even, six or seven wives one after the other." " But only one at a time," I suggested. " Yes, one at a tune, though if it is right to marry several at different times, it must be right also to have them at once. Virtue or vice must be inherent in the action itself, and not merely a question of time." I replied that I was not prepared to argue the subject with him. " But you can hear my reasons and arguments," he replied, and launched forth in a strain that I will not hazard the good opinion of my readers by repeating. During the evening he requested his youngest and last wife, who was very pretty, to favor us with a song. She con- RETIRING FOE THE NIGHT. 61 sented, accompanying her voice with the harp. When the music ceased, and I had complimented her execution, which was very good, her husband informed me, that she was the daughter of a wealthy New England family, who, becoming converted to Mormonism, had abandoned their home and friends, and emigrated with the saints. He considered her courage, perseverance, and eminent love of truth, as most remarkable, and said these qualities first won his regard. When bed-time approached, the ladies took leave of each other, with a friendly good-night, and retired. " Do you prefer to sit up late ?" inquired my host, look- ing at his watch, " it is now past ten." 1 1 About my usual bed-time," I replied, rising. Judge White rose also, took a silver candlestick from the table, and said that he would show me to my room. I fol- lowed him up stairs, to a very comfortable chamber, neatly furnished. He sat down the light, politely hoped that I would sleep well, bade me good-night, and went out shutting the door behind him. The bed was good and well made, the apartment fresh and airy, yet I found it impossible to sleep. Judge White and his wives, their seeming intelligence, yet absurd and depraved ideas, filled my mind. It was a new phase of human nature for which I was altogether unprepared, but it filled me with greater abhorrence of the system they denomi- nated patriarchal, than I had previously conceived. 1 had not yet learned to regard marriage as nothing more 62 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. than a civil contract a matter of mere expedience. I had beeii taught that it was a holy ordinance, instituted by the Almighty, and that a union thus consummated would be per- petuated in another world. But to sanction and excuse poly- gamy, my Mormon friend had taken an entirely different view of the subject ; he had divested it of every charm only mere practical utility ; his connections were purely sexual, with neither romance nor sentiment to clothe and adorn them. How would my pious and venerable mother regard such sophistries ? What would my venerable and white-haired father say to them ? Then I thought of the first Mrs. White ; thought, too, of F^nny Wright, and others of the strong- minded sisterhood, and their preferences for tl free love." THE MORNING. The family were early risers. The morning star was blaz- ing in the east, when I heard the judge arousing his men, and presently the whole house was astir. The females were busy milking and getting breakfast. I saw two from the window tripping across the dewy grass, each carrying a clean bright pail. Descending from my chamber to the sitting-room of the previous evening, I found the table laid out preparatory to the morning meal. It was covered with a cloth, white as the snow on the mountains. The dishes were stone china of elegant pattern, and the knives and forks had been rubbed BREAKFAST. 63 and polished until they shone like a mirror. The food was brought in by the two first wives of the judge, aftd break- fust was announced. The two milkers had not yet come in, and we sat down without them. I have rarely seen a table better provided with good substantial edibles. There were fried fowl, and fried bacon and eggs, with cold ham and game. There were preserved strawberries and honey. There were cold wheaten bread, and hot corn bread, hot biscuits, and hot short-cakes. There were home-made butter and cheese, with most excellent coffee. A pitcher of milk stood on the corner of the table, and glass tumblers were placed by each plate to receive it when wished for. Judge White made a short extemporary prayer, nowise different from those usually delivered on such occasions thanking the Lord for the bounties of nature set before them, and the revelation of divine truth which had enlightened their minds. At the conclusion, the females pronounced "Amen" with one voice, and their lord requested me to " help myself," though -without waiting for me to do so, he commenced piling the delicious viands on my plate. I ate heartily, and my host was evidently delighted. " Don't you think the patriarchal institution works admi- rably in my family ?" he inquired, (d.) "It seems to," I answered. "There is no seeming about it," he said quickly, "it is all real matter of fact. Don't you believe it ?" " Certainly I have no reason to doubt it." " And there is no reason why you should," returned the first Mrs. White. 64: THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. I mentioned my adventure at the hut on the morning of the previous day. " I know them," said my host, " they are mischievous fel- lows, and doubtless were influenced by some evil intent. I have more than once suspected them of injuring my cattle ; and once I caught them in the very act of dressing one of my sheep." " Are they Mormons ?" I inquired. " They come under the spiritual jurisdiction of our pro- phet, though they have no faith no religion of any kind. We have made great efforts for their conversion, but without success." " They seem to have adopted Mormon institutions. I saw several females with them.'? " Yes ; they have two or three wives apiece, and I don't know how many children." " Does the system do well in their case ?" I inquired. " I should expect not, very," he replied. " If I had the laws to make, such fellows should not get married at all." I looked surprised, perhaps inquiringly. " No one should have the privilege of getting married, who had not made provision for taking care of a wife." Thinking that the conversation might be profitably changed, I inquired what he thought of the general condi- tion and character of the Half-breeds. His observations and opinions might not be of much value here, though they verified my own experience of the same people. He said they combined the worst qualities of the THE HALF BREEDS. 65 Indian and white man, with little of the good belonging to either ; were lazy, shiftless, improvident, and lived wretch- edly ; rarely working at all, but depending for subsistence on the precarious supply of hunting and fishing, or the plun- der of fields and folds. I observed that they seemed quite numerous. " They are numerous," he replied, " more so than you would suppose from your short acquaintance in this country. There are hundreds, and, I verily believe, thousands of them of all sexes and ages." Mrs. White here interposed that some of the half-breeds were respectable, wealthy, independent men, far superior to the general class of Indians, and fully equal to the whites, whose opportunities for education and knowledge of the world had been no greater. " Oh, yes, my dear," he replied, " there are exceptions to the most general rule." He then stated as a grand cli- macteric to their depravity, that they were sadly deficient in religious faith ; that neither their hopes nor fears of future punishments or pleasures could be excited ; though he owned that they were disposed to relish and practise polygamy. I subsequently learned that though sufficiently numerous, their isolated condition, as individuals, precluded their form- ing a distinct class, and that the circumstances attending their births generally threw them into association with the Indians. They compose the illegitimate offspring of white hunters, trappers, and United States soldiers, and Indian, females. 66 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. As the habits of these people are migratory, and they rarely occupy permanent residences, the mother and her child, or children, is usually left among her own people. The men are generally robust, capable of great endurance, though predisposed to intemperate habits. Their complexion is sin- gular, taking, in matured manhood, the color of a dark red berry ; their features are those of the white man, with the black, snaky, glittering eye of the sons of the wilderness. Like other mongrels, they are said to be short-lived, and ex- tremely liable to the attacks of infectious diseases. Some of the half-breed females are said to be models of womanly beauty, combining in the most exquisite degree the lithe, agile figure and graceful proportions of their mother's race, with delicate features and clear olive complexions. These are frequently sought in honorable marriage by the whites, and it cannot be denied that they make good wives and affectionate mothers ; being, as an old trapper once assured me, much more modest and humble, and much less exacting and capricious, than their white sisters. The old fellow had good opportunities to know something about it, having shared his cabin with seven or eight different ones at different times, and being, according to his own account, the father of nearly a score of children. I saw many of these women in the Mormon city. They were quite as distinguishable as the Quadroon women of the South. Some were residents with Mormon husbands, though the greater part were occasional visitors. They usually wore the picturesque costume common among Indian females of THE HALF BREEDS. 67 the higher class, and many times were well-mounted on valuable horses, which they rode with ease and grace. Many of them carry on a considerable traffic with the whites. They embroider buffalo robes, woollen blankets, moccasins, and similar articles, in the most beautiful manner ; are extremely skillful in knitting bead work-pockets, necklaces, and armlets ; weave mats and baskets from the inside bark of certain kinds of trees and rushes, and practise other little arts of handicraft. These articles they barter for beads, those indispensable ornaments for the toilet of an Indian belle, needles, vermilion, and similar things, though they have learned the value of money, and prize it highly. And thus it is wherever the white man treads. Love of gold, like a shadow, follows his footsteps, and all with whom he conies in contact are infected with the same selfish passion. 68 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. CHAPTER IV. ALEXANDER BURNHAM HIS HOUSE TRAGIC OCCURRENCES WEDDINGS DEATHS. I HAVE described, perhaps with tedious prolixity, the order and decorum manifest in the family arrange- ments of Judge White, for the purpose of giving an idea of the phases which polygamy under certain circumstances assumes, and the arguments by which its votaries attempt to excuse it ; yet this aspect must not be considered as a general characteristic, but only as occurring in rare and exceptional cases, where the disposition of the parties combine with pecuniary abilities, in a manner particularly favorable. Notwithstanding all that has been said and written of the sentimentality and romantic tendencies of women, I find by observation that as a general thing they are excessively practical. They ask husbands who can support them in ease and splendor, and so long as this is obtained care little for moral character and personal habits. Do not many in all our large cities prefer living in style as the mistresses of POLYGAMY. . 69 rich men to being the lowly and industrious wives of poor tradesmen or mechanics ? Even in the Empire State I have known women not averse to polygamy. Fifteen or twenty years since there lived in Onondaga County, a man named Warner, who owned three farms, with large brick houses, and supported a wife at either place. The dwellings were in one vicinity, and the women were good neighbors to each other, frequently visiting and otherwise extending little courtesies. The younger of these women had refused the hand of a respectable, but poor man, declaring that what she asked and would have of a husband was physical support above the actual necessity of labor. Another man in the same State had two wives, who lived in two houses close together, on the same farm. Both had families, and the children ran and played together with great harmony. This man might often -be seen at public places with his wives, one on either arm. They usually dressed precisely alike, and might readily have been mistaken for two sisters. They were very friendly, and never manifested a jealous or contentious disposition. A former acquaintance of mine is now living in the State of Ohio, with his two wives. The women seem perfectly satisfied with their condition, and assist each other in the performance of domestic duties, with great alacrity. Yet none of these women or their spouses were Mormons, and I have mentioned them to show that after all the Mrs. Whites were not the unique and singular beings that some Anight imagine. 70 THE HUSBAND IK UTAH. Now, even in Mormondom, if the females would unani- mously set their faces against polygamy it might soon be be abolished. Why they do not is referrible to particular causes. They have neither the time, nor opportunity, nor capacity for concerted action on the subject. Many of them, I verily believe, are well suited with it. Others consider it necessary because the elders tell them it is, and the remain- der, being the minority, are obliged to conform. How much the former are to be pitied I leave the theolo- gian and moral philosopher to decide ; but the condition of the latter is most deplorable. Generally impulsive and passionate, they cannot view things with the cool expediency of Mrs. White, and not sufficiently superstitious to be governed in all their feelings and sentiments by the priest- hood, their souls revolt at the associations and connections in which they are placed. Their lives become a continued scene of bickerings, jealousies, and contentions, rendering themselves and all around them supremely miserable. In such cases, as Maria Underwood informed me, the most tragic occurrences are not uncommon, yet it usually happens that the affair is hushed up, and very few either hear or even suspect the truth. I requested her to relate without exaggeration the history of these events. She smiled sadly in return, and asked me if 1 ever heard of a woman in the States stabbing or poison ing her rival through jealousy and hatred ? " Certainly, I have heard of such things," I replied. II Then you can readily conceive what they do here under POLYGAMY. 71 the influence of the same passions," she answered. " Human nature is the same everywhere, and in some cases proves itself superior to spiritual wickedness in high places, though yielding perhaps to as great evils of another kind." She then went on to inform me that the most strenuous opposers to polygamy were those who came there ignorant of its existence, or those who with little or no faith in the Mormon doctrines, had accompanied their husbands thither rather than be abandoned by them. " And do women, who are not converts, ever come here ?" I inquired with some surprise. " Certainly they do," she answered. " There is Mrs. White." " And what is she ?" " A believer in the doctrines of Fanny Wright." " Is.it possible ?" " Even so. She lived in Massachusetts several years, where she lectured on Woman's rights and other issues of the day." " She seemed very intelligent." " Of course, she is intelligent, no one doubts that." " But, Maria," I questioned, " can't you relate to me some of those tragic occurrences, of which you have spoken ?" " I could, though it might occasion trouble for me to do so." " What kind of trouble ; you cannot, certainly, be afraid of your husband ?" " Not exactly afraid of him, but it is the safest here, I 72 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. believe, as it is everywhere else, to see nothing, hear noth- ing, and know nothing. By professing ignorance I have frequently avoided trouble.". " But such professions will not avail you now/' I replied. She smiled, and rising, went to the door, opened it and looked out. " \VTiom do you fear ?" I inquired. " No one," she answered, but proceeded to examine the windcws. She then remarked, as if talking to herself: " They have all gone, I believe, but Underwood, and he is in tte bar entertaining a drunken soldier, and will hardly have time to play the eavesdropper." Then seating herself, she inquired : " Did you ever know, or have you ever seen Alexander Burnham t" " Never to my knowledge ; but what of him ?" " Nothing of him, though what I am about to relate occurred in his family." " The same thing," I suggested. " Well, it makes no difference, but come to the window and I will point out his house ;" and she led the way. " You see that dwelling yonder, seemingly isolated, and occupying a picturesque situation on the elevated plateau ?" I assented, remarking that I should suppose it to be a very pleasant place. "It is," she answered. "The landscape is agreeably diversified with hill and valley, mountain and meadow, and presents altogether a rare combination of natural beauties ; but the house you just ought to see the house." MBS. BTJKNHAM. '73 " What is there remarkable about that ?" I inquired. " Nothing so very remarkable, when all things are con- sidered," she replied ; "yet to one accustomed only to the square, plain, substantial buildings of the Eastern and Mid- dle States, it would be neither more nor less than a curi- osity." . " What is it like ?" I inquired. " It is a long, rambling, irregular concern," she answered. " At first it was a plain adobe structure, with three apart- ments on the ground floor, and as many above ; but since then wings and lean-tos have been built, and domestic offi- ces, such as kitchens and nurseries, erected ; these various rooms communicating with each other by closets or small and generally dark entries. " Then you have been there ?" I said inquiringly. " Certainly, I have been there to both weddings and funerals." " And how many wives has Mr. Burnham ?" " Only three at present," she answered. " To accommo- date these wives, the rooms are subdivided into suites of apartments, wonderfully alike in their appearance and ap- pointments. To describe one will give a general idea of all. Each consists of a bed-room, sitting-room, and closet, simply furnished with such necessary conveniences as civilized life renders indispensable to neatness and comfort. Yet all the movables, the chairs, tables, curtains, glasses, beds, even to the scent-bottles and work-baskets, are precisely of the same 4 74: THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. color, quality and cost. In the living inmates of these rooms alone a difference exists, and that is difference indeed. " Mr. Burnham was a well disposed man, whose character exhibited a singular mixture of strength and weakness, wis- dom and folly. Though apparently wishing to make all around him happy, his well-meant endeavors frequently mis- carried, through his own want of foresight and judgment. He had a pleasant voice, a kind face, and was generally liked as a neighborly, good sort of man. He was probably aware of his mental deficiencies when he concluded to embark his domestic happiness amid the quicksands of polygamy. He might have considered himself able to educe order out of that chaos in the family establishment, though it is much more likely that he thought nothing about it, but married his second wife, as most men do their first, from mere pas- sional attraction," " Had he been long a resident of Utah ?" " He came in with the first settlers, bringing his wife and one daughter. Mrs. Burnham was a woman of high pas- sions, great strength of character, and unusual mental power. She was tall and commanding in stature, moved with the majesty and grace of a queen ; yet these exterior advan- tages were more than counterbalanced by a deficiency in moral and religious principle. " Though the daughter of pious parents, and educated by a mother particularly exemplary, she seemed utterly devoid of conscientious restraints. Public opinion, however, exer- MK8. BUKNHAM. 75 cised great influence over her, and while many doubted her goodness of heart, no one could point to any open infringe- ment of the laws of society, or the fact of a lax morality. She was the senior of her husband by several years, and it was whispered that the marriage on his part was one of ex- pedience, rather than affection. Whether as a consequence of this, or his knowledge of her unprincipled character, 'or both combined, Mrs. Burnham never acquired any great in- fluence over her husband's mind, though her love for him was of the most ardent and passionate nature. When the Mormon missionaries came to their native village, and his easy and credulous mind was won to the belief of their tenets, she cared little, and said less. All religions, or none at all, were the same to her, and when he openly avowed his deter- mination to emigrate to Utah, she readily declared her willingness to follow him, even to the ends of the earth, if he desired it. 41 Mrs. Burnham had always been conscious that her pas- sionate affection was not returned measure for measure> though she never found occasion to complain of neglect or ill-treatment. He was uniformly kind, and when a daughter was given to their arms, his demonstrations of tenderness were neither few nor feigned. Time, however, gradually effaced the novelty of paternity. The father relapsed into his accustomed manner of coldness and constraint, and his wife solaced herself with a mother's cares, and their reward. " Mrs. Burnham was one of those people who never weary in the pursuit of an object. She had determined during the 76 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. first year of her matrimonial life, that if she could not com- mand her husband's love, she would at least extort his praise by good management and attention to all wifely duties. And this laudable design she carried out by the most uriremitted exertions. His appetites were consulted, his tastes gratified. His home was always pleasant, neat, and cheerful, and his table spread in the nicest manner. At evening the most comfortable place by the glowing fire was kept for him, and the easy-chair, slippers and newspaper provided to his hand. " Could Mrs. Burnham have found it in her heart to be satisfied with gratitude and esteem, anything in short but passionate affection, she might have been happy, though as it was, she continually pined and longed for the good beyond her reach. She felt that gratitude and esteem were cold and commonplace. She had given love, and she asked it in return. Thus several years passed away. "It is well known that some tune elapsed after the rise of Mormonism before its peculiar doctrines were publicly proclaimed. Had Mrs. Burnham fully understood them, it is to be presumed that she would have opposed her husband's scheme of uniting with that people. But accustomed to comply with his wishes, she bade farewell to the scenes of her youth, without a tear, and almost without a sigh. " It is unnecessary to recount the incidents of their jour- ney. They arrived in Utah, and Mr. Burnham prepared a home for his family, and tried with a right good will to make them comfortable and contented. But Mrs. Burnham dis- MBS. BUENHAM. 77 covered too late that she had taken a step most fatal to her peace. For the first time she had reason to reproach her husband for neglect. He would perhaps be detained from home on business of the church, leaving her without food or fuel. Then, too, she was shocked with the develop- ments of polygamy, but true to her woman's nature, she never for a moment wavered in her resolution, to be all and everything to her husband. This she conceived would guard him against the temptation to take another wife, and through weariness and grief, and manifold discouragements she toiled and struggled. " Mr. Burnham had been absent from home two or three days, and returned unusually hilarious and cheerful, embraced his wife and kissed his daughter with a great demonstration of affection, and then sitting down, commenced a conversa- tion at once singular and unique. "'My dear/ he said, addressing his wife, 'we have a nice little place here, I think. It makes no pretensions, and it is cosy and comfortable. Amy's bright face is a great improvement to it. But Amy needs a companion. Now, my dear, would you have any objection to take a child, one of the finest and freshest creatures on earth ?' " ' A child I take a child I' echoed Mrs. Burnham in supreme astonishment. " ' Not exactly a child in years/ pursued Mr. Burnham, ' but a child of nature, simple, unsophisticated, enthusiastic, and an orphan, the daughter of my old friend. Though she can play, sing, dance, draw, sketch, and write poetry, it is 78 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. her misfortune that she could never learn to do anything really useful. She is much too delicate for household labors ; sewing she fears would spoil her fine eyes. She has no patience with children, and so is incapable of teaching, or attending on them. A being so helpless and guileless, with such a fine inaptitude for worldly affairs, must excite the sympathy of every man/ " ' I believe, however, that few women would fancy such an addition to their household/ said Mrs. Burnham. " ' It has been revealed to me/ continued Burnham, with- out noticing his wife's remark, ' that it is my duty to adopt her into my family. The will of Heaven must be obeyed, whatever may be the consequences/ " A sudden and mortal sickness shot through the heart of Mrs. Burnham at this announcement. All her previous fears seemed about to be realized. Her husband loved another, and that loved one was about to be introduced into her pre- sence, and to share her home. All her cares and toils, and the deep, deep love she had lavished on him had been of no avail. A fearful, a horrible thought flashed into her mind so suddenly and with such distinctness, that it seemed the suggestion of another. Was it the tempting of a fiend ? " That afternoon," continued Maria, " I paid Mrs. Burn- ham a visit. She received me with great friendliness, though her countenance bore the traces of great mental anguish. To my inquiries if she was ill, she returned the monosyllable ' No/ We had been on terms of intimacy for some time, and I pressed her to tell me what the matter was. At A BTORM AND A CALM. 79 length the floodgates of her soul opened, and she poured forth a perfect storm of wrath, accompanied with such bit- ter denunciations against the little simple creature designed for the second wife of her husband, that I actually trembled, while Amy burst into tears, and wept bitterly. " ' Only to think to thmk that he intends to bring such a silly, coquettish, lazy thing as she is here, and then to insult me with talking about her fine eyes, and her helpless- ness, as if I am going to be her slave her slave, indeed 1' and her countenance indicated some fearful purpose. I soon took leave, determining to watch the progress of events. "The next day Mrs. Burnham returned my visit. She seemed cheerful even joyous. I was somewhat surprised at the change which such a short time had sufficed to bring about. She laughed outright. ' What is the use of mak- ing fools of ourselves ? ; she said. ' My mind has changed much since yesterday ; and I have called to request that you will not report anything I said in reference to this pro- jected marriage. It might create further difficulties/ " I assured her that I would not, with a feeling of pleasure that the affair was likely to terminate so happily. " The next week we were invited to the wedding-feast. There was a great company present ; for Mr. Burnham was a noted man in the Church. The apostles and elders were all there some with two or three wives, and others with only one. My attention, however, was chiefly engrossed by the bride, and the first Mrs. Burnham, who, it seemed to me, were the most dissimilar beings in existence. The former 80 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. was a delicate little thing, with rather a large head ; but her face was fairy-like, her voice sweet, and she really looked charming. All she said was free from effort, and spontaneous ; and she had such a captivating gaiety in her laugh, that it was fascinating to hear her. She bandied jests with every one, and manife%ted the utmost brilliancy and enjoyment." 11 And the first Mrs. Burnham ?" I suggested. " It would be difficult to give you an idea of her appear- ance. She was calm, yet rigid ; and it was evident that her features and gestures were schooled for the occasion. Once, and once only, she was thrown off her guard, and then the nervous twitching of the muscles of her mouth betrayed a degree of internal agony painful to behold. There was a gleam, too, in her eye, as it followed the motions of the bride, that filled me with secret apprehen- sions I cared not to reveal. " The husband evidently wished the occasion to be a joy- ous one, and between demonstrations of tenderness for his new bride, and nonsensical remarks, designed to excite the mirth of those present acted, as I thought, excessively silly. One of the elders breathed an extempore prayer, when cotillions were formed, the twelve Apostles leading off in the first set." " Is it, indeed, a fact that cotillions are introduced with prayers ?" I inquired. " It is ; and the effect is most ludicrous. I could scarcely help laughing outright." A MYSTERIOUS DEATH. 81 " A fitter subject for weeping !" I replied. " Well, every one to their mind," she continued. " But I could not help thinking that both exercises were remarkably similar both seemed got up for the especial occasion. The new husband, in his zeal and fervor, quite outdid himself balancing to this one, turning that one, and then whirling round his young wife for a final flourish, till she grew quite giddy. " The first Mrs. Burnham presided at the table. The dinner was excellent and abundant. After eating heartily, the whole company resorted to dancing again, which was kept up with little variation till late at night. And the next day we were astounded by the intelligence that the bride was dead 1" " Dead ! How did she die ?" I ejaculated. " How did she die ? How often was that question asked ! but who could answer ? It was all a mystery. It was not even known when she died. An hour after the company dispersed, she was found by her husband in the portico of the dwelling, senseless and speechless. A physician was summoned, but the remedies came too late, and before morning she expired. " We went to the funeral. The husband seemed incon- solable. The first wife was rigid and indifferent, though, when she approached to look at the corpse, I either saw or fancied that a momentary gleam of malicious pleasure flitted over her countenance. Amy, too, wept with unaccountable bitterness. Ill-natured people seemed disposed to suspect 4* 82 THE HUSBAND IS UTAH. that all was not right ; but their surmises never took tangi- ble form or shape, and the affair was soon forgotten, like every other nine days' wonder." 11 And did Burnham relinquish the idea of taking another wife ?" 11 Far from it. Before one month had elapsed, his versa- tile and fickle fancy had selected another. The courtship was carried on with all that fond intercourse usual where no wife exists. The day for the wedding was set, when the bride elect suddenly sickened and died. People thought it strange. The elders condoled with the afflicted brother, and many of them advised him to try again. 19 " And his wife " " Carried herself as usual, though perhaps a close observer might have detected a greater degree of haughtiness in her manner, and a cautious reserve in her conversation, even with her most intimate friends. * That season was proverbially sickly. Bilious and other fevers extensively prevailed. Mrs. Burnham was among the first attacked. I was summoned to watch by her bed-side. She was wildly delirious, and raved in a manner really frightful. I shuddered, listening to the revelations of her guilt. She avowed herself a murderess, and called on Hea- ven to witness the truth of what she said. Her husband* stood by, livid as chalk, and trembling like an aspen. She accused him of destroying her soul, by exposing her to such horrible temptations. I never saw such a death-bed before. May I be mercifully spared from seeing such again !" BEATH OF MBS. BUKNHAM. 83 "She died, then?" " She did ; and, after what had happened, it was a great mercy. Since then, Mr. Burnham has married six different women, and no doubt finds it a relief to be without her." "And Amy" " Ran off to California, with a tourist old enough to be her father. But I have heard that her husband has become rich, and that, taken upon the whole, she did well." THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. CHAPTER V. DIFFERENT SENTIMENTS POOR CLASS OF MORMONS MISERY OF WIVES ETC. I FIND that, even among husbands, the utmost diversity of sentiment, with regard to polygamy, prevails. It cannot be disguised that the whole system is indebted, for support, to the protection and countenance of the elders. These monopolize the fairest, most healthy women, leaving the old, ugly, and decrepid to be shared among their follow- ers. I have known some of the most virtuous and intelli- gent of these people to be exceedingly disgusted with what they saw and heard, though evidently cautious not to express publicly their feelings of disapprobation. Slavery and poly- gamy, both institutions of barbaric ages and countries, have this in common, that while increasing the luxuries of the rich, they add to the discomforts and miseries of the poor. A poor man by which I mean one dependent on his daily labor for the necessaries of life will generally find the decent support of one wife, and her little brood, quite COMPARISONS ABE ODIOUS. 85 enough for his exertions. But poverty exempts no one from the passions inherent to the race ; and if a rich man indulges himself by taking six wives, his poor neighbor will imitate him as far as possible, and probably take two, though against his better judgment, and fully aware that his domestic happiness will be thereby destroyed. In conversation with an intelligent Mormon, I inquired how it happened that they were so well supplied with wo- men, as the proportion of the female population to that of the males was about as four to one. He replied that the ranks were thus filled by the female converts to Mormonism. " You would imply, then, that more women than men embrace your doctrines ?" I suggested. " A great many more," he replied. "Women, in all ages, have been the most susceptible of truth, you know." / " And of imposition, too," I replied. " The first believers and preachers of Christianity were women," he continued, without noticing my last remark. "And the first convert to Mohammedanism was a wo- man," I answered. " Your comparisons are odious and unjust," he retorted, angrily. " The truth should not be either," I replied. " Women, from their peculiarly susceptible temperaments, are ex- tremely liable to be charmed with novelties. While their devotional sentiments are more easily excited than those of the men, it holds, as a general thing, that her reasoning powers are much inferior ; hence I question whether she is 86 THE HUSBAND Iff UTAH. as capable of perceiving and appreciating the truth as are the stronger sex." My Mormon friend, however, did not seem inclined to discnss the subject further, and our interview ended with manifest displeasure on his part. Another with whom I conversed, considered this abund- ance of women as a providential interposition in behalf of ;he saints ; and when I attempted to argue with him on the absurdity of such notions, he broke out in a malediction, denouncing me as an infidel, Gentile, and heathen. It is a fact that Utah, as compared with other portions of our sountry, is disproportionately supplied with women, and many of them excuse or advocate polygamy for that reason. " Suppose," they say, " that only one woman was married to each man ; then for one married woman you have three or four single ones. What is to be done with them ? Shall we let them sink into vulgar, degraded, and abandoned habits, as they do in all your large cities ? Shall their young affections run to waste ? Shall the State be deprived of the children they ought to bear ? And last, not least, must they spend their lives in a hopeless celibacy, because certain legislators have deemed it expedient to restrict the intercourse of one husband to that of one wife ?" When I remarked that I should fancy they would be happier single than married, under such circumstances, " They don't think so," would always be the answer. "We have no difficulty in obtaining wives." I scarcely think they do. CONDITION OF THE LABORING CLASSES. 87 The laboring class in Utah are not so comfortably pro- vided for as might be wished, yet the question arises, Where, in the wide world, is not such the case ? In civilized, Christianized, and enlightened London, to marry two wives is a crime considered worthy of transportation, though to let a next-door neighbor starve, yourself rolling in luxury meanwhile, elicits no reproach. New- York, the great, the spacious, the commercial, has its free schools and churches, side by side with dens of squalid poverty and haunts of crime. Where, I say, are the comforts of the laboring classes duly considered, or where do they take the position in society they are justly entitled to ? It would be a hard thing to tell. As a general thing, however, labor is more respected in Zion, than in any other city which I have visited ; and laboring people do not form, as elsewhere, a separate and distinct class. This may be chiefly owing to the discordant elements of which society is composed, and which require mixture and fusion before the scum can rise to the top, or the dregs settle to the bottom. Yet I am inclined to think that it originates in the policy of the Mormon leaders ; and, without looking further, we can find very good reasons why they should wish to have it so. Though accused of laziness themselves, the Mormon elders are " loud " against its being practised by others, and take every occasion to enforce the duty and necessity of industry. Of course, there is a class of loafers, but these are mostly outsiders, visitors, and Gentiles. 88 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. Most of the mechanics, small farmers, and day-laborers, have each two or three wives. Some of these women are very industrious, though others are not. Indeed, I thought laziness more prevalent among them than any other class. Perhaps that is owing to polygamy perhaps to natural dis- position. I do not attempt to decide. But in this hetero- geneous assemblage from different parts of the earth, a great diversity of character necessarily exists. In walking out, one morning, I came unexpectedly to a miserable shanty, and called, to rest and look around. It was occiv pied by four women, all the wives of one man. One of them was weaving a kind of coarse cloth, and the- others did not seem to have anything to do. I ascertained that the husband was a blacksmith, who had emigrated from Cayuga county, in the State of New-York, but a few years previous. One wife only had emigrated with him. He found the others subsequent to his arrival. They were aware of his condition, and that nothing better than a hovel could be afforded them, yet each one preferred shar- ing this with the others and a husband, to living in celibacy. I inquired if the husband followed his trade, and received a negative answer. " Why not ?" " No particular reason, that I know of, except that he prefers to hunt and fish." " Prefers to hunt and fish, does he ? And yet I should suppose that a rather precarious manner of gaining a liveli- hood." A CHARACTER. 89 " Yon would, ha ? We live as well as our neighbors, sir poor people, I mean yet, if you have a trifle to give me, I should thank you, sir I should, indeed 1" I tossed a twenty-five cent piece into her lap, and bade her " good-day." My curiosity was excited to look further. The cabins which I entered were usually occupied by two or three, and sometimes six or seven, very dirty women, and a group of ragged, squalid, miserable-looking children. There was but one room and loft to each cabin, or, where there were two rooms, they were occupied by two families. They were very destitute of furniture, and without any ground floor. There was no glass in the windows ; and the whole scene was com- fortless in the extreme. I encountered one old fellow sitting near the entrance of a covered wagon-body, which had been removed from the wheels. His countenance had a simple, idiotic expression ; and I approached, accosting him with the inquiry of, " What are you doing there, uncle ?" " Nothing at all," he answered. " This is my house" pointing to the wagon, with ineffable self-satisfaction. " Your house !" I reiterated, in great surprise. "To be sure ; and a very good one it is," he answered. " I slept in it all last winter." " Didn't you suffer with the cold ?" " Not much. I had a buffalo." " Have you any family ?" I questioned. " None at all," he answered, but avowed his determina- tion to marry at least three women when his prospects 90 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. brightened a little. Thinking this idea to be a good one, I encouraged him in it, and passed on. Yet these were soli* tarj cases. Entering a small cabin by the road-side, I found ' two women, one man, and three or four children. The house and its furniture looked very well ; so did the women and children ; but a large bandage was bound over the face and one eye of the man, that gave him a grotesque appearance. " What is the matter with your face, friend ?" I inquired. " Burnt it," he answered, gruffly. The women looked at each other with ill-concealed merri- ment, while the husband rose and went out. " I 've a great mind to tell the stranger how it hap- pened," said one. " Do," answered the other. " I should like to know, certainly," I replied. "Well," resumed the first speaker, "our husband is a little queer sometimes." " He always is," suggested the other. " For three or four years, however, when anything occur- red to rumple him, he would refuse to go to bed, and actu- ally sit up the whole night, dozing away his time hi the rocking-chair." " Did he suppose that plagued any one but himself ?" " He knew very well that it plagued me ; but often I was as innocent as you were of giving him cause for offence. If the pigs got into the yard, he was mad about it, and wouldn't go to bed. If I found a word of fault with any A SULLEN HUSBAND. 91 of his arrangements, the next thing was, he wouldn't go to bed. Sometimes, by coaxing and flattery, I would succeed in getting him off ; but I grew tired of this, and concluded to let him set up till he got enough of it. Yesterday, he got sullen, as usual. Neither of us said a word, or took any notice of him. When bed-time came, we retired, leav- ing him to his meditations. In the night we were awakened by a loud shriek. We fancied what had happened, but determined not to rise or go to his assistance, unless he requested it. We heard him going about the house, but he said nothing to us, and this morning his face was bound up, as you see. I suppose he got to sleep, and fell against the stove." " It will probably be a lesson to him," I said, though I could scarcely speak for laughing. " I should think so," she replied. These women did not seem miserable. I have seen few that did. They have probably become accustomed to the prevailing state of things ; and custom, it is said, is second nature. I believe that the manifestation of deep feeling, by the wife, when her husband takes his second partner, is exceedingly rare. Are they restrained by fear, or is it actual indifference, or do both these feelings come in for a share ? Maria Underwood, to whom I mentioned the subject, declared that the greater part, though outwardly calm, were inwardly dying with grief, vexation, and jealousy, and attributed to polygamy all the shiftlessness and laziness 92 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. observable in certain quarters. I should doubtless have received the same impression, had I not been aware that similar habits existed among a certain class where polygamy was never tolerated. Yet there can be no doubt, I think, that it operates unfavorably on the mind of the wife, by removing the great stimulus to the proper discharge of her family duties. St. Paul, a wise man, and accurate observer of human nature, thus remarks : " The married woman careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband." And there can be little doubt that the chief stimulus to exertion in the female mind is the idea of pleasing the husband. " What will he say ? How will he like it ? Will it suit him ?" are the thoughts constantly recurring to her mind, though, when discouraged by his indifference, she becomes weary, careless, and aimless. Maria Underwood informed me of two or three cases where the first wife had actually poisoned or drowned herself on the advent of the second, though the second cared little or nothing when the third was taken. " Mr. Griscom formerly resided in New-Jersey, and was a member of the Presbyterian Church, yet few thought him to be a man of much principle, and many openly questioned his honesty. But he was wealthy, and wealth is respecta- ble. .Consequently his conversion to Mormonism made a decided sensation a sort of nine days 7 wonder in his native village. Mrs. Griscom had riches in her own right, but the scheming husband had contrived to get them all in AH EX-PRESBYTERIAN. 93 his possession, thus leaving her penniless for voluntary and separate support. When he proposed to unite with the Mormons, and emigrate, her friends decidedly objected to her accompanying him. To this he manifested entire indif- ference, telling her to go or stay, whichever she preferred ; but when she mentioned her property, he told her plainly that he should not voluntarily relinquish one cent, and that the law, under the circumstances, would give her nothing. Not wishing to become a burden to her friends, she deter- mined to remain with him. " After innumerable difficulties and dangers, they reached Deseret, with a company of the first settlers. The country was wild, and inhabited by Indians ; but one thing was in their favor they had the choice of pleasant localities. " Mr. Griscom made immediate preparations for extensive grazing. He justly concluded that milk, butter, and cheese would be in extensive demand ; and, to make sure of " help," in the domestic department, he hired a great, red- faced, freckled, and blowzy German girl, who immediately became a candidate for matrimonial honors. Most men are vain, and Mr. Griscom was manifestly flattered by her endearments and attentions, while his poor wife looked on in insufferable agony. 11 A year elapsed, and the consequence of their intimacy became manifest. Mr. Griscom was a proud man, and she was not exactly such a woman as he Would have selected, even for his second wife. But there was no alternative ; she refused to leave the house, and in this determination the 94: THE HUSBAND IN tTTAH. elders encouraged her. Finally and, it may be, foi the sake of his child his reluctance was overcome. They were married in the evening ; before morning she became a*mother. On this occasion, the absence of the first Mrs. Griscom was observable. Inquiries were made, but she could not be found. Two days elapsed, still she came not. A week went by, when some hunters discovered the body of a woman floating in the thermal spring. It was soon ascer- tained to be that of Mrs. Griscom. The poor lady, whose prospects of life were once fair and bright, had been reduced to the last great extremity of committing suicide." " And how did he get along with his German wife ?" I asked. " Extremely bad," she replied. " His domestic establish- ment embraces at this time six or seven more, but they are little better than slaves. He appoints their daily tasks, and when they fail in the performance, punishes them. " For my own part," continued Maria, introducing the subject which I had longed to hear her touch upon " for my own part, I didn't lay it to heart like some women would. Of course, I worried a little at first, but soon con- cluded it was no use to make a fool of myself. If Under- wood had grown tired of me, and "thought another would euit him better, why, let him try it. I was never much given to sentimentality. I always considered marriage to be of all things most exceedingly practical. I could very well be contented with beef, bread, and butter, with or with- out the husband. As the formation of matrimonial con- 95 nections with another would not cancel his obligations to me, I raised no objections, but kept all the time thinking, with a slight variation, of the old song ; " ' I think light of him as he can think of me, Not a fig for an old man who marries two or three.' " After the second wife came here, I determined to take matters easy, and I have done so." " And the others have imitated your example, I guess." " Yes ; we don't all perform the labor that onfc indus- trious woman would." Another woman of intelligence and strict propriety in- formed me that the general tendency of polygamy was to make husbands either dupes or despots. If they were of an easy and moderate disposition, their domestic concerns would be neglected, and the utmost disorder, waste, and discomfort prevail while," on the other hand, if they could and would bring themselves to treat their wives like so many servants, they might get along tolerably well, though the happiness usually experienced where one wife received all the affection and care of her lord, was out of the ques- tion. Many wives, she thought, brought themselves into a Rtate of apathetic indifference, but then they had little affection and no respect for their husbands, and generally managed to make them miserable. Her husband, she continued, had married another wife soon after their arrival in Zion, and they managed to get 96 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. along comfortably, and with little quarreling quarreling she always detested but, as for taking care of his house or clothes since, she hadn't done it, and didn't design to do it. She believed most men found it more difficult to get a but- ton sewed on a shirt, where their houses were filled with wives, than to have the whole shirt made where there was only one. " And are husbands often despotic ? That is, do they often punish their wives, to enforce labor and obedience ?" Well, she rather thought not. She did not suppose it was very common, though the Germans and other foreigners had little mercy on their women. One German that she knew, accustomed his wives to working in the fields, himself standing by, with a whip in his hand, and looking for all the world like a Southern slavedriver. When reproved for such an exhibition of unmanliness, he excused the matter by say- ing that it was the custom in Germany, and he didn't see why the women were better here than there. " But is there no law to bring husbands to account for such brutality ?" She guessed not ; had never heard of such a thing ; was pretty certain there was not. The operating laws of the Territory were all founded on the code of Mormon ; and husbands, according to that precious document, could do no wrong. " Then the safety of the wife, or wives, depends altogether on the naturally humane disposition of the husband. If ha ILL-TKEATMENT OF WIYES. 97 chooses to punish her, or make her a slave, he can do it with absolute impunity, and that, too, within a country famed for its enlightened and liberal institutions." I had frequently observed that most Mormon women were cautious in the expression of sentiments adverse to the pre- vailing customs, and, before giving information on such points, required a promise of secrecy. To account for this, I subsequently learned that some of the more orthodox husbands chastised their wives for heresy meaning -by this, the manifestation of displeasure or opposition to Mormon institutions in the presence of Gentiles. This brutality on the part of husbands, however, cannot be justly attributed to polygamy. Husbands, uneducated, low, vicious, and sensual, have manifested the same tempers in the monogamous state. The ill-treatment of wives is a common topic of newspaper and neighborhood gossip, and of such frequent occurrence that no one wonders to hear or read of it. Even in our Christianized and enlightened State, wives are butchered, are poisoned, are subjected to all kinds of brutality, that would sicken one's heart to hear of, if perpetrated in a distant country. I have never yet heard of one instance where a Mormon husband has actually and in cold blood murdered his wife. Would to Heaven I could say the same of those who are not Mormons I(e.) But there is a phase of polygamy which I have not noticed yet, and which seems really cruel, though the mono- gamous system is Tiot exempt from the same or similar evils. 5 98 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH I encountered, one morning, in my walk, a poor woman, middle-aged, and faded, through hardship and exposure. She complained that her husband had deserted her and her children ; that her house was cold, open, and exceedingly uncomfortable ; that she had neither food, fuel, nor neces- sary clothing, though her lord resided with a younger and fairer wife, in a sumptuous mansion, partaking all the plea- sures and luxuries of life. Upon inquiry, I found that provision for the wife was optional with the husband, and that if he chose to neglect or abandon her, she had no legal remedy. 99 CHAPTER VI. AN ENGLISHMAN'S OPINION-T-ENGLISH EMIGRANTS THEIR CHARACTER ETC. ii "TTOURS is certainly a most remarkable country," JL remarked an Englishman, who had been attached to the Hudson's Bay Company of traders " a most remark- able country. Don't you think so ?" I replied that few Americans would be inclined to dis- pute it. ."In looking at your system of government, and the insti- tutions which flourish beneath it, I am strongly reminded of the pseudo-philosopher whom Marryatt has rendered famous, and who contended that everything going on was simply a rehearsal of past events." " Why so ?" I queried. " Because you would probably contend that your country has made the farthest advance in liberal and enlightened institutions which I cannot deny but where has it brought you ? Right back to the patriarchal ages the practice of polygamy, the encouragement of slavery. Who, after this, 100 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. will contend for the progress of the race, when the extreme of civilization merges itself in barbaric practices 1" " But we shall probably get clear of both." " Far from it. Slavery has become already too deeply incorporated with your social and political system, and polygamy soon will be. Even now I doubt the ability of your government to get rid of it. What will be the result when Utah desires admission into the Union as a State ? She can scarcely be refused, because your Congress have no right to interfere with the domestic regulations of the States ; and if she is received, and the practice of polygamy tolerated in her case, who shall decide that in course of tune it may not become general ?" " I cannot believe such a thing possible. You think too meanly of us. Our Doctors of Divinity, philosophers, and strong-minded women would all be adverse to such a state of things." " And yet how powerless are these when acting against the inexorable law of destiny, or the equally invincible bias of human nature I" "You are not a believer in human progress ?" " I am not," he replied. " I look upon that doctrine as dangerous and deceitful. The history of the world dis- proves it. Men, systems and opinions change, but never advance. Some virtues are most fashionable in one age, and some in another. Of course, those that are most fashionable will be most practised. It is just so with vices. The ancients were addicted to some of which we are happily AN ENGLISHMAN'S OPINION. 10 1 innocent, while we are guilty of many that they never tol- erated and thus, in the words of the song, " 'Round and round we run.'" " I don't clearly understand you," I said, and, in truth, I did not. " Humanity moves in cycles, or, more properly, circles," he continued. "We who stand on one side, necessarily occupy a different position from the ancients, who were on the other side, though on a level with them. They had a class of ideas, of inventions, and opinions, precisely adapted to their tastes and wants ; and we have another class, differ- ent, indeed, but no better, and no more wisely accommo- dated to our desires. We assume to pity their ignorance, and they would have as certainly detested our folly. Here, in your age and nation, we see mankind coming directly back to the practices of the patriarchs. What a solution to the great question of ages, whether or riot the race was susceptible of indefinite perfectibility 1" Not caring to discuss a question so purely theoretical, I left the Englishman to speculate on the incongruities of our people and government, and sauntered into the streets. The Mormon missionaries seem to have driven a smart busi- ness in England, making converts and procuring emigrants. All classes of the English people are represented in Utah, with the exception of the highest aristocracy and clergymen of the Established Church. Some of them are intelligent and refined, but others are mean, selfish, arrogant, and ill 102 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. bred regular, downright John Bulls. Their general treat* Hient of women was rude, discourteous, and boorish. If a woman met one of them on a bridge, or at the street- crossings, she must turn and go back, giving him the way, at the risk of being thrust into the mud and water. In vehicles or churches, they always usurp and keep the best places. At the table, they rudely appropriate the most dainty pieces of vegetables or game. They seem to have no appreciation of any one's comfort but their own, and are quite as deficient of artificial politeness as of natural kind- ness of heart. I did not wonder that such fellows were polygamists in principle, though I really did wonder how they were ever enabled to practise it, as it does, or ought to, take two to make a bargain. ENGLISH EMIGRANT MORMONS//.) About twenty miles from Zion, near an outlet of the Great Salt Lake, a company of English emigrant Mormons had squatted down, and I determined one day to make them a visit. Informing Maria Underwood of my intention, she attempted to dissuade me, saying that she feared I would meet rough treatment. " Why so ?" I inquired. " Because they will think you a spy, or something of that character," she replied. " Are they then so afraid of strangers ?" I questioned. " Oh, I don't know what is the matter with them ; but A CALL ON BROTHER WELLS. 103 they are singular, and have such strange notions, and are so insolent and impertinent, that I shouldn't like to trust myself among them." " If that is all, it is rather an inducement to go," I replied, and accordingly determined to start the next morn- ing. I was up early, ate my breakfast with a good appe- tite, and, being abundantly supplied with cakes by Maria, took my gun and set off across the plain. Though it was rather the wrong season for game, I congratulated myself with the idea that my appearance among them would be somewhat excusable on the plea of hunting. The morning was beautiful, the breezes fresh from the mountains, and the whole scenery delightful. I pressed rapidly forward, but before five miles had been passed over, began to regret that I had undertaken such a journey on foot. Fortunately the residence of brother Wells was near. This man was a very good Mormon, had four wives, and, what was of infi- nitely more interest tc me, owned several valuable horses. Of course, I did not wish to buy, but to hire one for a day or two. As I approached his dwelling, two or three dogs ran out of their kennel, barking and yelping ; and presently a large aldermanic-looking individual came to the door, and, seeing me advance, instantly came out of the house, and withdrew around the corner. I followed him. He was standing near a small out-house, evidently awaiting my' approach. As I passed around the dwelling, I heard evi- dences that hot work was going on within. Children were screaming, women scolding, and abusing each other in the THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. most yulgar language. The man looked worried, and half frightened. I didn't wonder why ; for the horrible discord grew louder and. louder, and I could hear to distinguish the profane and obscene words. " Have I the pleasure of addressing Mr. Wells ? " i inquired ; but the noise from the house completely drowned my voice. " Sir ?" he said, coming nearer, and looking towards tho window, which was literally filled with heads. " Have I the pleasure of addressing Mr. Wells ?" I repeated, making my best bow. " Yes ; that is my name. Yes" advancing still nearer. There was a momentary pause in the domestic tempest curiosity connected with my appearance and business, over- coming anger for the time being. I took advantage of the silence to make known my errand with as little peroration as possible. " I should like to hire a horse for a day or two. Could you accommodate me with one \ n "To be sure he couldn't 1" screamed a voice from the window. " Do you suppose that he keeps horses for tht like of you t n Brother Wells' face flushed, and he made a gesture of impatience. I turned in the direction of the voice. A large, masculine-looking woman had thrown up the sash, and, leaning through the aperture, regarded me with an expression of low cunning positively repulsive. I neither bowed nor spoke to her, but turned again to the husband. BROTHER WELLS' WIVES. 105 " Could you accommodate me with a horse ?" I asked. " Begone ! you vile dog's whelp, you 1 Begone ! I say. You want to steal the horse. You'll run away with him. You'll never bring him back. You'll n 11 Sally ! Sally 1" interposed Wells, approaching the win- dow. " Go in 1 Go in, and be a good girl 1 I'll give you some money." This woman was the complete picture of a termagant. Her features large, coarse, and flushed with anger ; her uncombed hair red in color, and standing upright and her whole appearance, unpleasantly suggestive of shrewish- ness and ill-humor. She might probably have been some- what mollified by the promise of money, had not a rival at that moment appeared and put in her claim : "You pro- mised to give the next money that you got to me. You know you did ! And I'll have it, too ! So I will I" The last speaker presented an exact contrast to the other. She was little, spare, and withered, with a countenance on which vixen was plainly stamped. She spoke remarkably fluent, and all her gestures manifested a corresponding agility. The first one turned towards her with an expres- sion of intense hatred, but she responded to the glance with a more malignant scowl. " Now, do go in, while I talk with the gentleman," said the husband, coaxingly. " I will divide the money between you." " You won't do any such thing ! She shan't have the first red cent 1" screamed the vixen. 5* 106 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " I will ! that I will !" yelled the other ; and she made a plunge at her antagonist. I expected to *ee the husband rush in, to put an end to the melee, but he never stirred. " Those women are fighting, sir. They will kill each other 1" I said, with real concern. " I wish in my soul they would !" he replied. " It would to me be a happy riddance of bad luggage. It would, indeed ! They are the torment of my life always mad and quarreling, sir." " You forget my errand," I interposed. " Can I have the horse ?" " Guess you can," he said. " You will bring him back, of course, and not override or otherwise injure him ?" . " I will take good care of the horse," I replied ;. "and return him safe and sound." I was obliged to raise my voice to a pretty loud key, as the tumult from the house effectually precluded hearing common conversation. " This way," said Mr. Wells. " This way, sir." I followed, glad to escape the uproar. He led me half way down the side of a small hill, to a well-built adobe stable, in which several noble animals were standing. The master entered, and spoke to them in a pleasant voice. They recognized him with a low neigh. Surely this man cannot be utterly depraved, I thought an affection for dumb animals having always seemed to me as inherent to a noble spirit. JOUKNEY TO SALT LAKE. 107 " I keep my horses stabled," lie said, addressing me while preparing to adjust the saddle. " The flies plague them so in the field, they are very fond of the shelter. Nancy, here," he continued, " has much the easiest gait. Steady, steady, girl I" The mare seemed overflowing with an exuberance of animal spirits. " So you are going to that English settlement," he remarked. " Well, they are rough customers, but take good care of the mare." "Certainly, I will do that." He led her out. I paid him, in advance, the hire for a couple of days ; and, vaulting into the saddle, bade him " good-day," and departed. It was now near noon, and the hot rays of the summer sun were pouring down on the plain, which offered no con- venient shade. I took the main road to Salt Lake, that leads over several inequalities of ground, through a literal thicket of saline plants, which continually increased in size, abundance, and beauty. At length we came to several miry depressions, strongly impregnated with salaeratus, and two or three large ponds, filled with countless wild fowl, which rose screaming into the air. I took aim, and fired. Three fell, of which I obtained two. Antelope Island, in the Salt Lake, was distinctly visible, rearing its mountain form before me, and, though I had been approaching it for hours, seeming no nearer. Then, however, its outlines became more boldly relieved against 108 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. the sky, and the rocks, ravines, and inequalities of its sur- face assumed a shape and distinctness. Here, also, the road forked one branch leading directly to the lake, and the other bearing off to the southward. I took the southern track, leaving the lake, of which I had just obtained a glimpse at my right hand. I paused for some time, to take in a view of the scenery, it was so wonderfully sublime, grand, and impressive. The prospect to the north was uninterrupted for a great distance, but, stretching away southward, the huge Alps of the Western World towered hi majestic grandeur, the cradle of tempests and the birth- place of a thousand streams. Nestled in their deepest recesses is the Utah Lake, a broad sheet of clear, fresh water, that ever holds a mirror to the purple heaven. Here Nature seems to exult in sublimity. In outline, everything is massive, grand, and imposing. Following the slight traces of a road, we came suddenly upon a singular vehicular establishment. It was a sort of cart, consisting of a beam, axletree, and two wheels, to which a couple of unbarked saplings were fastened for shafts, and hitched in these, by attachments of raw-hide and rope, stood a single ox, meekly and contentedly chew- ing his cud. A man, poorly dressed, and with a crowuless hat, was lying on the ground, in the shadow of the wagon, while two hounds were squatting on their haunches, in close companionship. The man eyed me with a sullen stare, while the dogs growled and showed their teeth. " Good-day, friend," said I, advancing. BRICK-TOWN. 109 He barely noticed my salute. " Is this the direct road to Brick-town ?'' I inquired the settlement I sought having obtained that sobriquet, from the fact that its inhabitants were, or had been, brick-burners in their native country. "I don't see why ye can be wanting to go there," he replied, without looking up. "I don't know that it matters why," I answered ; "though if you would give me the direction, I should esteem it a great favor." " Well, yes. Keep right on, then, till you come to the sand, when you are e'enamost there," " I thought this was sand," said I ; and, indeed, it was. " No, this ain't the sand," he answered. " But you '11 know it when you reach it j and then keep right on through that, till you see the houses. You can't miss it." Not seeing any probability of obtaining more perspicuous directions, I thanked him, and rode on. * I did, indeed, know the sand when I came to it, which was very suon. It was deep and heavy, with a vegetation of large flowering cactuses ; but, fortunately, it did not extend far ; and I soon came in sight of a long, low fringe of green, which 1^ knew to be a belt of cottonwood trees, such as always in this country line the margin of the streams. I soon came to the village. It was a cluster of wretched mud-hovels, with pig-sties close to the doors, and miserabla little gardens, growing nothing but weeds. There seemed 110 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. an abundance of -women, children, and dogs, though but little of anything else. Few of the houses had either win- dows or doors, and their only furniture seemed to be old barrels, boxes, and such like lumber. Of course, I attracted great attention. Heads were thrust from the windows, and the little, low doors were crowded with women of uncouth shape and feature. I have scarce ever seen females, of any age or country, more decidedly ugly. They laughed, leered, and talked to each other in a loud voice, as I passed by. Approaching one of the hovels, which had an air of docency, compared with the rest, J alighted, hitched my horse to an old cart, and went in. The air of the apart- ment was almost suffocating, so hot and offensive, and great untidiness prevailed, though it is doubtful how far neatness is compatible with such a place. There was no fireplace, but a great, thick, old-fashioned cook-stove occupied nearly one- fourth of the room. I subsequently ascertained that it was the only oven in" the village, and quite a public concern, as all the baking required for the whole was done in it, and that, consequently, it was reeking with heat the greater part of the time. I presume the inhabitants, of the cabin had become accustomed to the sweltering atmosphere. A man, looking very dirty and dissipated, was lying at full length on the ground, smoking a short, black, stumpy pipe. A woman, with a bruised face, held to her bosom a little, gasping baby ; while another woman, who looked younger, but whose cast of feature was excessively disagreeable, sup- COLD WATER SCAECE. Ill ported a larger infant on her lap. There was a great girl washing some dirty dishes in some very dirty water, and a great boy tying np a dog, while any quantity of smaller boys and girls were lounging about in various attitudes, not remarkable for grace. All occupations, except the smoking, stopped ; and, though none welcomed, all looked at me. 11 Well, my friends," I said, assuming an air of careless- ness which I certainly did not feel, "I am something of a stranger in these parts. Can you direct me to a house where I can obtain -refreshment for myself and my horse ?" " Don't you want something else ?" growled the man on the floor. " Wouldn't you like to have some whisky now, or a swig of rum, in exchange for a broad piece of silver ?" " No, sir," I replied. " I've no occasion for anything of the kind, though I would thank you for a drink of cold water." " Cold water !" cried the man. " Ha 1 ha I that's too good I Cold water in hell I We live in hell, sir 1 that's what I call it. Run, some of ye, and get some water, such as it is." But nobody stirred. " Can you direct me to the bishop's ?" I asked, at length. " And what do you want to go there for ?" he inquired. " The bishop is no better off than the rest of us. They hadn't nothing to eat yesterday. I don't b'lieve they havo to-day." I glanced at the women. The one with the small baby looked sad and sorrowful, while the other broke out in a coarse, disgusting laugh. 112 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " Do you suppose the bishop to be at home ?" I inquired, hesitatingly. " Better look after your horse, I guess," said the man. " The bishop wants nothing of such as you." " But I want something of him," I answered. " Come, here is money, if you will tell me ;" and I drew a half-dollar from my pocket. In a moment, I saw the impropriety of this act. A telegraphic look of intelligence was suddenly exchanged all round, excepting the woman with the small baby. The boy let go his hold of the dog. The man rose from the floor, took his pipe from his mouth, and came towards me. "The bishop is no better off than the rest," he said. " Shouldn't wonder if some on us is better off than him. But Jim Leek, down here, I should think likely he'd keep you. At any rate, I'll go and see." " "Where does he live ?" I asked. " Don't worry yourself," said the man. " Set down here, if you can find anything to set on. I'll find out." And he started. I was somewhat surprised at the sudden interest he manifested in my welfare, but, raising my eyes, I encoun- tered those of the woman, who was looking at me with a gaze full of meaning.. A sudden, yet fearful, suspicior flashed into my mind. Yet I said no more. I felt that the only person who would willingly give me the desired infor- mation, durst not do so ; and so, not knowing what else to do, I went out and stood by my horse. I saw the man coming ; and, attracted by my appearance, THE BISHOP'S HOUSE. 113 several others came and stood around. They were ill-look- ing fellows, and I conld not but notice their significant glances. "Jim Leek says that he'll take you," cried the fellow, " though his accommodations ain't none of the best ; and I guess you can get along somehow. Come on." f I had had time for deliberation, however ; and, turning suddenly around to the bystanders, said, " Will some one of you tell me where the bishop lives ? I have pressing busi- ness with him, and have been already detained too long." " He lives down there, in that house standing by itself," replied a half-idiotic fellow, who did not or would not under- stand the winks and gestures around him " the house clear down furthest of any." " Thanks, my good fellow ! May you always find a friend in need !" I said ; and, loosening my horsp, mounted, and rode in the direction he had pointed out. To tell the truth, however, I began to fear that my curi- osity, like that of the wives of Bluebeard, would be the means of getting me into trouble. The sun was just sink- ing behind the western horizon. I was both hungry and thirsty, and so was my faithful animal. Even if ^ found the bishop at home, I was not certain of a welcome recep- tion ; but of one thing there could be no doubt it was a nest of thieves and cut-throats, who would not shrink from the commission of the foulest crime. The bishop's house was not a whit superior to the others, that I could discover ; and I had little hope that the char* 114: THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. acter of the man was much better. As I rode up, a man with a fiery red face came to the door. I bowed, and addressed him with, " Good-evening." He returned the salutation more courteously than I expected, though not so much so as I desired. " Have I the pleasure of addressing the bishop ?" I asked. " I am that person," he responded. " What may your business be ?" " I am a stranger in this place," I replied ; " and if you can accommodate me and my horse with shelter and refresh- ments for the night, I " " Can't do it," he answered. " This is a poor place for strangers. Don't see what they ever come here for." " Different motives call them here, I presume. But, my good friend, you see I don't ask you to give this to me. I am able and willing to pay you abundantly." His countenance brightened in a moment: " Well, well. I will see what can be done. Our accom- modations are none of the best, but such as we have is all that, we can give." " Certainly, sir." He then pointed out a sort of hovel, where he said my horse could stand tl rough the night. I requested food and water for her. " Yes, he would see how they were on it for meal," and went into the house. In a few minutes he returned, with an old water-bucket, and a tin dish, filled with coarse meal. For water, I was directed to a spring at a little distance. Though I found 115 is without difficulty, the water was foul and muddy, and nothing but extreme thirst could have induced the mare to drink. As the grass grew plentifully around the spring, I permitted her to feed till dusk, then led her to the hovel, and gave her the meal. Though somewhat apprehensive of leaving her in such an exposed situation, I could do no better. On returning to the bishop's house, he met me at the door, and invited me to enter, with apparent cordiality : " Wj.lk in, sir ; walk in ; and don't be surprised at our poor appearance. Take a seat ;" and he handed along the only chair to be seen in the apartment. " Thank you, sir ; occupy the chair yourself. I will sit here, if you please ;" and I took possession of a low bench. There was a dim light, formed by a wick floating loosely in a saucer of melted grease, and the room was swarming with mosquitoes. Presently, two women came in, saluted me coldly, and sat down. " Couldn't you prepare this gentleman a little supper ?" inquired the bishop, whom I now understood to be the hus- *band of the two. Neither deigned an answer, and I began to consider my chances rather doubtful. Presently, another woman came in, a third and younger wife, who, being reigning sultana for the time, desired to appear amiable. Again the bishop proposed that some one should get supper for me. " What shall I get, pa ?" she inquired. 116 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " Oh, anything that you can. I dare say the gentleman is not particular," he answered. " Well, I will see," she said. She did see ; but found the larder empty, with the excep- tion of a little coarse meal and a few potatoes. Then the water was gone, the fire out, and, to judge from appear- ances, I was likely to make a great deal of trouble. See- ing this, I begged them to desist, saying that I could do very well without supper. The bishop, however who pro- bably had an eye to the pay insisted that it would never do to exhibit towards a stranger such an infringement of the laws of hospitality ; that he could get the water, while she made the fire ; that it would take very little time, beginning being more than half. " Liz, go and borrow some fire, can't you ?" said the third favorite, addressing one of the others. " No ; I shan't," retorted Liz. " You go, Sally, won't you, while I peel the potatoes." Sally shrugged her shoulders, but made no move to go. " Well, I can go myself, and no thanks to you ?" she con- tinued. The two women sat like dumps, apparently sullen* or sulky. The bishop, meanwhile, went out, with a pail on his arm, and his wife followed, to borrow fire, leaving me to my meditations. These, it will readily be conceived, were not of the most -pleasant character ; but they were sud- denly interrupted by a loud scream overhead. " There ! that young un's awake," said Liz, and she " MATCHES." 117 mounted the ladder leading to' the loft. The scream was followed by others, in quick succession, and, it seemed, from four or five voices, so multitudinous and loud was the din. " Darn the. young uns, I say 1" muttered Sally, likewise ascending the ladder. The music overhead seemed momentarily to increase, between the harsh scolding of the women and the cries of the children, varied, by way of chorus, with an occasional noise of blows. In the midst, the fire-borrower whom I shall henceforth denominate my hostess returned, carrying a small handful of coals between some hollow pieces of bark. " You don't have matches here," I remarked, wishing to appear sociable. " Matches 1" she reiterated, with an accent of some sur- prise " Matches I I should think there was enough of them !" " Then why don't you use them ? They are very handy." "What do you mean ?" she said. " I thought you was talking about matches getting married." This ludicrous misunderstanding completely upset my gravity, and we laughed together, thus becoming acquaint- ances and very good friends. It is astonishing how a joke will unbend the most austere ; how it inspires patience and creates intimacies ; how, from laughing with a stranger, you get to talking to him. It is ever so with me. " The tempest overhead has subsided," I remarked. "What?" she queried. " The tempest overhead has subsided," I repeated. 118 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. "Oh, yes," she said. "I have become so used to such sounds that I don't mind them at all. Neither does pa." " No fire yet I" said the bishop, entering the house, and setting down the pail of water, with a loud grunt. " And little prospect of any," she echoed. Indeed, it was becoming doubtful whether the few bor- rowed coals, instead of kindling a flame, would not become totally extinguished. " Here, pa ; you set down and whittle up some shavings, can't you ?" she said. " Be sure, I can. I declare, these hot nights are enough to kill the devil 1" he continued. I thought so, too, and finally left the house to procure a breath of fresh air. Outside, my ears were greeted with a concert, though not of sweet sounds. Two or three dogs were barking, probably for their own amusement, while shouts and oaths of drunken profanity came from a cabin where several men had assembled to hold a debauch. The night was sultry not a breath of air stirring and I re- turned into the house. The bishop had sunk down ou a bench, and was violently fanning himself with a handkerchief. His wife was squat- ting before the fire-place, quite as violently blowing the fire with her apron, of which the corners were wrapped around her hands ; and the motion up and down puffed out great gusts of smoke and embers, completely enveloping her and filling the room. " Sit down," said the bishop. " We've got a beginning, GETTING SUITER. 119 you see, and beginning's half. There's never smoke without fire." He was disposed to be facetious. " I exceedingly regret putting your family to so much trouble," I said. " Never mind that money'll make it all square." If he could feel so, I was satisfied. At length the smoke cleared away, and its place was sup- plied by a bright, clear flame. An iron pot which did triple service, as tea-kettle, boiler, and stew-pan waa brought out from its seclusion in the corner, filled with water, and set over the flame. Then, while the Rev. Mor- mon peeled a handful of potatoes with his jack-knife, my hostess mixed a corn-cake, after the most approved back- woods fashion. The dough simple meal and water, with a little salt she flattened, with her hand, on a long, narrow, but smooth board, and placed it on one edge before the fire. In this reflection of glowing heat, the cake soon acquired the requisite tint of brownness, when it was nicely turned, and the other side exposed to the same ordeal. Meanwhile, the potatoes were being boiled ; and an hour before midnight my supper was pronounced ready. Though got up with extraordinary effort, it was not a very extra- ordinary affair. Tea or coffee was not to be thought of in such a connection. Meat was a proscribed delicacy. Sweet- cakes and sweetmeats were out of the question ; but a sharp- ened appetite gave a zest to the mort ordinary food, and I made a hearty, though frugal meal. 120 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. During the repast, I attempted to open a conversatioD with the bishop about the prospects of the Mormon Church, and its connections in Europe. He was not inclined to give me the information I desired, but I fancied that he seemed dissatisfied. I learned, however, that he was a man of small property in England, frugal, contented, and happy in the affections of a small and virtuous family. But the ser- pent crept into his Eden the tempter came. He whispered of wealth, honor, and distinction in the new church. The dormant passions of his nature were aroused. Thoughts and feelings in his heart that had always slept, came into strange and tumultuous exercise. He no longer relished the simple pleasures of his home. He shrunk from toil, and despised the honest and honorable occupations of his ancestors. The glowing accounts of the New World, with its Land of Promise, whose beauty of climate and fertility of soil was described as unequalled, induced him to emigrate. He sold his property, placed the proceeds in the general church-fund, and, with others of his countrymen, took pas- sage in a ship for New-York, under the superintendence of a Mormon priest. After many difficulties, they reached Zion, in a state of want, discomfort, and disorganization absolutely indescribable. Their national spirit, however, kept them together. They hated the Yankees, and the Yankees despised them. Brigham took the matter in hand, but could not reconcile the jarring factions. Finally, he advocated their removal and settlement in a separate col- ony thus forming a distinct branch of his church,, with a THE BISHOP ON POLYGAMY. 121 bishop, chosen from their number, to superintend their spir- itual affairs. They consented to this, and my entertainer was the one selected. Yet his promotion was merely nomi- nal, and barren alike of wealth or honor. He informed me that the Mormons were quite numerous in England, and had their chapels and places for public worship in many parts of London. " Do they practise polygamy there ?" I inquired. " No ; the laws will not allow it," he answered. " And do you really and truly consider it an advantage ?" I asked. He shook his head. "Are the Mormons in England aware of the practice here ?" " They were not, till recently," he replied. " I under- stand that it proves a great stumbling-block in foreign countries, and that many who would otherwise join us hesi- tate about doing so on that account." Having finished my supper, the bishop pointed to a sort of cot in one corner of the apartment, where he said I could sleep ; and then, after making some remarks on the lateness of the hour, and several excuses for the paucity of my accommodations, he ascended to the loft, followed by his wife, who bade me " good-night " as she disappeared. Without disrobing, I threw myself on the cot, and attempted to sleep, but in vain. The heated atmosphere grew closer and more stifling every moment. I was assailed on all sides by buzzing, stinging insects, and yet more nau- 6 122 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. seous vermin. It was near morning when I sunk into an uneasy slumber, from which the advent of half a dozen children aroused me in the morning. They were little, dirty, elfish-looking beings, only half clad r in old, faded garments. The females soon followed, and, last of all, came the bishop himself. Not wishing for a repetition of the scenes of the previous evening, I made immediate prepara- tions to depart, and inquired of my host what I should pay him for all the trouble that I had occasioned. Of course, I expected a pretty good charge, but was hardly prepared for the unreasonable demand of five dollars. However, I paid it without grumbling, and was rather amused at his appa- rent pleasure when I bade them " good-morning." I started direct for the outhouse where I had left my filly, with some apprehensions that she might have been stolen. Fortunately, in that respect, at least, I had miscon- ceived their characters. She was there, and recognized my approach with a low neigh. I adjusted the bridle and sad- dle to her head and back, and, leading her forth, was met by the man with whom I had conversed the previous eve- ning. He was evidently recovering from a debauch of the preceding night. " Going now ?" he said, with a satanic leer. " I am. Have you any objections ?" I replied, with more complaisance than, under other circumstances, I might have manifested at so unceremonious an intrusion. " Well, you can't go ; not yet," he said, taking the horse by the head. " I've a bill to settle with you." A LUCKY ESCAPE. 123 This was said with a voice, gesture, and manner that I find utterly impossible to describe. " What kind of a bill ?" I repeated, wishing to humor the fellow, though strongly inclined to knock him down. " Let go of my horse, will you ?" I continued " and tell me what I can do for you ;" and I vaulted on her back. " No ; I shan't let go the horse," he replied ; and now he was joined by three others, quite as ugly and depraved as himself. I really felt alarmed, and began to consider the best way of escaping their clutches. " You're a Dormant P said one. " A spy 1" chimed another. " I knowed that last night 1" cried a third, pleased with the idea of his superior penetration, A lucky thought occurred to me Taking a handful of loose change and coppers from my pocket, I scattered them, on the ground. The man let go his hold of the horse oil the instant. His companion.- scrambled for a share, while I quietly rode off without further opposition. I subsequently ascertained thai they practised a regular system of sponging or travellers, and that one was fortu- nate to escape as easily aa I did. I stopped several times on my homeward route, to allow the horse to feed ; and, having accidentally lost my game of the previous day, shot three more ducks. It was near night when I reached the residence of brother Wells. He was pleased to see me, probably because I brought his horse safely back. I was foolish enough to think that pos- 124: THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. Bibly he might invite me to take supper with him, though I much doubted the capability of his household to prepare anything eatable. Whether on this account, or because he was conscientiously opposed to wasting hospitality on a Gentile, he breathed no murmur of invitation ; and I plod- * ded back to Zion ; actually more hungry than I had ever SUPERIORITY OF THE FIKST WIFE. 125 CHAPTER VII, THE MRS. UNDERWOOD'S JEALOUSIES, MISUNDERSTANDINGS, AND REMOVAL. IN most Mormon families where polygamy is practised, I believe the superiority of the first wife to be involunta- rily acknowledged. Certain it is, that the others are jealous of her, and act as spies on her conduct. If they can find, or invent with the least plausibility, any cause of reproach against her, they are only too happy to communicate the same to their lord. Thus, family difficulties are occasioned, and actions really innocent in themselves become, through jealousy and misrepresentation, the cause of great domestic trouble. I had been admitted, as a boarder, to brother Under- wood's house, y'et a former acquaintance with his wife had certainly given me a right to be treated with greater consid- eration than a mere stranger. I had sought and obtained many opportunities of conversing with Maria, thoughtless that my attentions could be construed to mean more than mere friendly regard, or that the easy and amiable Under- 126 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. wood could be induced to cherish a jealous feeling. I had noticed for s<3me time an increased coolness on his part towards me, and had half suspected that a system of espionage on my conversation and conduct was being prac- tised. Latterly, when conversing with Maria, a flitting shadow, the sudden fall of something, or the echo of a retreating footstep, would indicate the presence of a third person, till I really began to think that the wives of brother Under- wood possessed a remarkable sort of ubiquity. They were ever hovering near you. If you sat in the dining-room, the doors would be left open, and your eyes delighted by the continual passing and repassing of petticoats. If you as- cended the stairs, keen black eyes watched your progress. Where you least expected their appearance, they would be, sometimes, with a meaning smile on their countenances at others, with a leer but always with an expression that seemed to me extremely disagreeable. I am not naturally suspicious^ and for a long time considered these little cir- cumstances as accidental, of course, and though excessively annoying, not sufficiently so to warrant my removal from the house. Recently, however, I began to suspect that more was meant than met the eye, and determined to be as guarded and circumspect in my deportment as possible. On the day of my return from Brick ville, I went at once to my boarding-hguse. It was near dusk ; and two drunkeu Indians, and one or two soldiers, were in the bar-room, with Underwood behind the counter. He took no notice of my ME. UNDERWOOD'S JEALOUSY. 127 entrance, not even returning my evening salutation. I passed on to the kitchen, with niy game. Two or three of the ladies were standing around, in listless attitudes. " Who is housekeeper for to-day ?" I inquired. " Mrs. Maria," answered one of them, laying a peculiar emphasis on the " Mrs." " And where is she ?" They all giggled, but returned no answer. Not seeing anything so very ludicrous in my question, I inquired what they were all laughing at. This redoubled their mirth, when, flinging the ducks at jhe feet of one, I hastily retreated towards my room. It was now duskish, and I encountered Maria on the land- ing-place. She carried a small candle, and had evidently been weeping. Instantly recognizing me, she said, " So you have returned ; but you must go away again." " Where to ?" I demanded. " Anywhere. You must seek another home." " Seok another home I Why, pray ?" " Ee^'irse because oh, we have had such another time during your absence 1 My husband was so angry ! In short, he is jealous of you." " Jealous of me 1" The idea was so ridiculous that I burst into a loud laugh. I could not help it. " Do not laugh," said Maria. " It will be heard. Some one is watching us now, I expect. I dare say that this moment there are listeners to our conversation. You must go hence immediately, and return no more." 128 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. This moment I heard footsteps and voices. " Together again \" said one whom I knew to be Under- wood. I looked around. He was standing at the bottom of the Staircase, two or three women peering over his shoulders, on tip-toe, and the bar-room group leering and staring behind them. Maria retreated hastily. I stood still, facing the group ; for I thought some explanation due myself and her. Addressing Underwood, I requested to know the meaning of such strange conduct. " You know very well what it means," he replied. " Wasn't you talking just now to Maria, and she to you ? Tell me that 1" " We certainly were conversing." "What about ?" asked one of the soldiers. " Jealous husbands, and wives who act the part of spies/' I replied, and passed on to my room. The agitation of my feelings almost precluded the idea of hunger. Then Nature asserted her rights over sentiment. I descended the stairs, went direct to the larder, and helped myself. Whether any one saw me or not, I neither knew nor cared. My first business next morning was to procure new lodg- ings, and I determined, rather presumptuously, not to go where there was more than one wife. My inquiries must have seemed ridiculous enough. In the Eastern cities, the number of children often determines the bargain in such cases, but with me it was rather the number of wives. LOOKING FOE BOARD. 129 " Do you know of any place where I could obtain board for a month or so ?" I said to an old Mormon with whom I had become slightly acquainted. "Well, I don't know," he replied. "There's brother Solomon a very good man takes in boarders sometimes. Don't know whether or not he wants any now." " How many wives ?" I inquired. " Only ten." " Won't do for me." " Why not ? the more the merrier 1 One is a good singer. Another plays the harp beautifully. I should think you would be agreeably entertained." I shook my head. He smiled. " Is there a man in this city with only one wife ?" " There may be, though I know of none." " Not one ?" " No. Stay yes ; there is Elder Hyde. I recollect hearing that he had but one." "And do you suppose that he could be induced to take me in ?" " Doubtful. His wife, they say, won't suffer any addition to the family. She fears it might lead to the consequences she most dreads." " I shall make the trial." " You can do. so, but I think it will be useless." I made the trial it was useless. 6* 130 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. MRS. HYDE. I found Mrs. Hyde, and her family, in & small, yet con- venient, adobe house, situated at the eastern side of the city, in a very public place. I say " her family ;" for she certainly seemed the ruling, reigning spirit, monopolizing the conversation, and manifesting her independence in a thousand little ways. I was quite charmed with her naive simplicity, though I saw that it augured adverse to my scheme. Addressing the elder, I inquired, "If he could find it convenient to take a boarder." "Ask her," he replied. " I have nothing to say about it." "We have had several applications for board lately," she interposed, with remarkable vivacity. " Excuse me^ sir, but are you a stranger 1" She said this flitting around the house like a humming- bird, very busy in preparing dinner. "Not exactly a stranger, madam. I have been in this place about two months." * *' Where have you been living 1" she continued, with true feminine curiosity. " At Underwood's." " Indeed ! And why don't you stay there ?" She was determined to have the whole story, while I felt such questions to be decidedly impertinent. MRS. HYDE. 131 " Excuse my freedom, madam, but I scarcely think that Bubject pertinent to our present business," I answered. Her face flushed for a moment, then her black eyes twinkled, and she finally burst into a laugh. " That's right 1" said the elder, with mirth depicted ou his countenance. " The curiosity of women is" " Now, hush !" said the little, vivacious wife, clapping her delicate hand over his mouth. The husband laughed and struggled. " There was no harm in her asking," I said. " And there was no harm in your refusing to tell," she answered. " I understand your feelings ; the rebuff was merited. Yet, in a place like this, where there is such a constant influx of strangers, it is necessary to know some- thing of one's character, especially if he proposes to become an inmate of one's family." This was said with such a charming air, and so depre- cating a manner, that I felt half ashamed of myself, and wondered that I had attributed to mere feminine curiosity what had evidently arisen from a better and nobler feeling. Mrs. Hyde, assisted by her husband, set out the dinner- table. Then she laid 4he cloth, and selected the dishes necessary to the repast, but found, in the meantime, abun- dant opportunity to talk. " I made up my mind some time ago, that nothing should induce me to receive any additions to my family j" and she glanced at her husband. " I do my own housework, and I find it quite sufficient to keep me busy." 132 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " I have told her, sometimes, that we had much better take in two or three boarders, and keep a hired girl. I think we could make it profitable," said the husband. " No hired girl comes on the premises while I stay 1" she answered quickly, her black eyes fairly snapping. "I de- test the whole tribe 1" " That is a strong expression," said the husband. " It's a true one, however," she replied. " Come, dinner is ready." I was invited to partake, and not having received a defi- nite answer to my proposal, was not prepared to depart, and in consequence accepted it. The food was excellently dished, and served with taste. There was no disorder nor disarrangement. Everything looked well, and ate well ; for all was suitable and in place. The elder was complaisant, the lady social, and I thought she took great. pains to inter- est and amuse him, though immovable in her determination on certain points. When the dinner was finished, and we had risen from the table, she again addressed me : " Now, sir, not to keep yon longer in suspense, I must firmly, yet respectfully, decline to receive you." The husband looked towards her as if he wished that she had decided otherwise. 11 1 have one question to ask, however, which I really hope you will not consider impertinent. I wish to know what induced you to make application here for a home. It A. SENSIBLE WOMAN. 183 is a perfect mystery to me why so many seem disposed to abide with us." I could not help smiling at her earnestness, but doubted the expediency of making the communication she desired. " Yu hesitate," she began. " Shall I guess ?" " Certainly." " And you will tell me then ?" " Be sure, I will." " Is it because my husband has but one wife ?" " It is. At least, that was the inducement with me." " I thought so." And she looked archly towards her husband. He sat apparently in meditative mood. " Have you seen much of polygamy ?" she questioned. " I could not be in this country without seeing enough of it," I replied. " In my opinion," she said, " it is the most abominable practice ever introduced into the world. If I had a daugh- ter, I would much rather see her shrouded for a coffin, than married to a Mormon." " But a Mormon might be a just and upright man." " Might be," she repeated. " Yes, might be, as my hus- band is ; but you have no security in law, Christianity, or public opinion. If my hushand goes out, I cannot help thinking that possibly he may return with another wife. If a single lady comes to visit me, how can I be sure that she has no designs on him ? And the worst of all is, I am under the necessity of concealing my feelings." 134: THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " That must be a vexation to one so free-spoken as your- self," retorted the husband. " I have no fears that this gentleman will ever take the trouble to report my conversation," she said. " I hope, sir, that you will not," said the elder, ad^pessing me. "It is all unfounded prejudice on her part. Many families live happily, I believe, where there are two or even more wives." " I replied that, after my hospitable reception and enter- tainment in their family, it would be the height of ingrati- tude in me to report anything that might tend to their dis- advantage ; and soon after took leave, really pleased with my visit. THE NEW BOARDIXG-HOUSE. After making repeated inquiries, I was driven to the alternative of accepting any situation that offered, without reference to the number of the presiding goddesses. Mr. Inkley had but two wives so he informed me and they were unexceptionable women. " And how many children ?" I inquired. " Only four " laying great stress on the adverb. " Very good children, too. Don't think you have ever seen better ; still and obedient, to a charm." To Mr. Inkley's I went, accordingly. Maria Underwood was not in sight when I returned for my baggage, though two or three of the others stood iround, apparently watching my motions with much satis- 135 faction. I took no notice of them not even saying " fare- well " and hurried away. Mr. Inkley was a singular man, "and some of his points decidedly laughable. He evidently considered it beneath his dignity to pay much attention to his guests sometimes rudely turning his back when inquiries were made of him, and scarcely ever heeding complaints or requests. His wives were far his superiors in manners, but as they were expected to do all the work, arid perform the duties of attendance on the boarders besides, it is not surprising that many things were disregarded that should have been attended to, and that it seemed the study of each to shirk the labors and responsibilities herself, by laying them thick and heavy on the shoulders of her companion. Thus, if the towels were not changed, or the chamber service duly performed, Martha -accused Hannah of the rernissness, or Hannah declared that all the blame was chargeable to Martha. But I was chiefly amused, though many times halt vexed, at Inkley's manner of praising himself and the arrangements of his household. It was the only subject over which he ever grew eloquent. " What an excellent supper you have got, Martha ! I declare, you beat all women for getting up good things;, with little effort, though I cannot say without cost. Wish I could ; it would be better for all concerned," he began, drawing- his chair unceremoniously to the table, and inviting me to follow. 136 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " We have little variety here," he continued. " Though I never fancied variety in food a few dishes, and good ones, I say. Martha understands that I" At this juncture, Hannah flung out of the room in high dudgeon, while Martha smiled complacently, and I looked in vain to discover some particular excellence in the dishes before me. They consisted of cold salt-meat, dry slices of bread, stale butter, and some kind 1 of wild fruit, stewed in water, without spice or sugar. The weakest nerves could not have been deranged by the tea, which was served with blue milk only, while cakes and preserves seemed unknown or forbidden delicacies. " Now, do help yourself," said Inkley, setting the exam- ple. "Make yourself at home, as Aaron used to say. Don't you remember, Martha, when we went to Aaron's, that tiin9, with your sister's family, and you, being afraid- that Susy wouldn't like so many of us coming at once, took along an old dress, to work in, and assist her about getting dinner ; and how pleased Aaron seemed, and how he tickled you by continually saying, ' Now, Matty, make yourself at home?'" ' " Oh, yes ; I remember it all," said Martha ; " but it was hardly necessary to repeat it here." " Help yourself to the butter. Excellent butter we have in Deseret far superior to that in the States," he continued, affecting to eat eagerly, though in reality devouring little. " Now, don't stop so !" he said, when I refused th** DIFFERENT IDEAS OF COMFORT. 137 second cup of tea, and drew back. " Why, I ain't half done yet I Bread and butter, and stewed berries, are good enough for a king. " We have a very nice chamber in readiness for you, sir," he said, soon after tea, " My dear," addressing Martha, " that bed has been properly aired, has it not ? I know you always have things very nice and comfortable, but thought no harm could come of mentioning it." Martha replied that if he wished to know about that, he must go to Hannah. "Well, I presume it's all right. We will go, if you please." 1 followed him up stairs, to a small room, in one corner of the house, next under the roof. To judge from appear- ances, not a soul had entered it that day. The door was closed, the windows had been shut, and the air was as hot and stifling as that of an oven. " A very nice chamber, this," said Inkley ; " convenient and comfortable." " Uncomfortable, you might have said," I suggested. " The heat is intolerable ; the room has not been sufficiently ventilated," and I threw up a window. " Strange 1" said Inkley. " This room has always been a favorite with every one. I had some thoughts of occupy- ing it myself, but the boarders always liked it so well, that I hesitated to deprive them of it. Hope you are not more difficult to suit than the others have been. Good-evening," and he withdrew. 138 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. That was a pretty good hint. I slept, as usual, with the windows open, and awoke in the morning, refreshed and invigorated. Various domestic sounds saluted my ears. The husband talking, one woman scolding, another laugh- ing, with the racing, shouting, and crying of children, quite counterbalanced my natural tendency to a morning reverie in bed. I rose hastily, but no conveniences for a gentle- man's toilet were at hand neither water-pitcher, stand, napkin, or mirror. There was no bell ; but had there been, who would have answered it ? Fortunately, I had acquired a habit of taking things as they came, and had been too long accustomed to a camp-life, to be discomposed by trivial circumstances. Taking care that my apartment should have a good airing, at least, for that day, I removed the sheets, shook up the bed, and extended the windows to their utmost capacity. . While making these arrangements, I heard Inkley's voice calling, from the foot of the stairs, " Breakfast is ready, sir." I descended, to find that breakfast was not ready, but only in a state of preparation. The kitchen was divided from the sitting-room by a thin partition ; and it was impos- sible, while remaining in the one, to be ignorant of what was going on in the other. The women were quarrelling, and applying to each other the coarsest and most brutal epi- thets ; and the husband, by attempts to reconcile them, only made matters worse. Growing vexed and wearied at this, he seized the broom, and threatened to strike the first one that opened her mouth to speak again. "And get GATHERING HONEY-DEW. 139 breakfast ready in double quick time. Don't you know that the gentleman is waiting ?" " Let him wait, then I" muttered one of them. By the time that breakfast was ready, however, Hannah had become good-natured, though Martha refused to appear at the table. The master, as usual, extolled the fare, and pronounced the lady beside him the most accomplished housekeeper in the world. During this time, the children were scrambling for the choice of pieces, and drawing the saucer of berries from one to the other, alternately, across the table. " Good children, they are," said the father, " though full of spirits, and a little boisterous sometimes. But we were all children once, I suppose, and probably no better than .those we see around us now. People don't realize this as they should, or they would exhibit more patience with the little ones.'* Having finished my breakfast, I went out to breathe the fresh air ; and, walking to the banks of a small stream, encountered a party gathering honey-dew from the leaves of the cottonwood trees growing along its banks. They were in high spirits, and the valley rang with their shouts, songs, arid hilarious laughter. There were old and young men, maidens, and boys some with spoons and saucers, and others without but all, it seemed to me, more intent on enjoyment than on obtaining the honeyed secretion, which stood in great saccharine globules on the leaves. The saints profess to consider this substance as identical with 140 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. the manna which fell, miraculously, to supply the pressing wants of the Israelites during their sojourn in the wilder- ness. Gentile eyes, however, cannot discover anything extraordinary in it. It resembles gum-arabic in color, but is of softer and less adhesive consistence, with more decided saccharine taste. To one unused to eating it, it is scarcely palatable. Several married men were in the company. One, with whom I was slightly acquainted, and knew as the husband of six wives, was flirting and ogling most unmercifully with a delicate maiden of twelve years, who seemed decidedly pleased with his attentions, practising all the arts and allurements of the most accomplished coquette. A more disgusting sight I never witnessed. Stranger still, the girl's mother was along, highly elated with the scene, and seeming to do all in her power to increase their intimacy. I did not mingle with the group, but seated myself on the trunk of a fallen tree, within sight and hearing, where I was presently joined by one of the party. He was a young man of comely appearance, and remarkably fine eyes, beaming with intelligence. I had previously seen him, and he now accosted me with an ease and grace of manner only to be acquired by mingling in good society. " You are an Eastern man, I think, sir ?" " I am." " Were you ever in New York ?" " That is my native State." " Then I must shake hands with you ; for it is mine, too, AN OPINION PLAINLY EXPEESSED. and I am proud to say it," he continued, extending his hand. We shook hands. " Excuse my liberty your name ?" I gave it. "And mine is Frederick B r. And now we may con- sider ourselves as acquainted, for the future, may we not ?" " Certainly." And we entered into conversation. I soon ascertained that he was not particularly partial to the Mormon system of religious faith, and viewed the patriarchal institution they professed to prize so highly, with supreme contempt. His allusion to that subject excited my curiosity. " Have you a family ?" I inquired. " No, sir ; and never shall have while I remain here." "Why not? I have seen several fine specimens of womanhood among your people." "When I marry, my wife must be both virtuous and intelligent. I could not find a woman here that would meet my views in that respect." "What do you mean?" "What I say." " That there are no virtuous women in Utah ?" " Just so." " I think there must be." " You have not penetrated beneath the veil." " Probably not." " I may do wrong in saying that there are none. There 14:2 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. must be some, I suppose. Sodom could furnish one right- eous man ; Noah remained a preacher of righteousness, when all flesh had corrupted their way ; and. there may be some who are really endowed with more correct moral prin- ciple than I give them credit for. Till my mother died, I knew there was one. Since then, I have had no faith in those by whom I have been surrounded." " Then you have parents here ?" " My father is here. As I have told you, my mother is dead. Love and gratitude to the authors of my being, first brought me here, and the same feelings now detain me." Meanwhile, the gatherers of the honey-dew had obtained all the sweets to be found there, and departed to look else- whore. We were not sorry to be alone. He told me of their beautiful home in New York, and how happy they were in the society of friends and neighbors, till the tempter came. " My father," he continued, " was simple in his ways and habits, unsophisticated and ignorant of the world as a child. My mother was gentleness itself, and of the most confiding, inoffensive, and placid disposition. Neither had 'enjoyed tLe advantages 'of a classical education. They were of the old school, when to read, write, and cipher to the Rule of Three, was the acme of ordinary attainment. But I have always observed that those most deficient in education themselves, seem most disposed to bestow its coveted trea- sures on their children. I was an only child, and they determined that I should be educated, whatever .might be A SAD HISTORY. 14:3 the consequence. This determination was, probably, the cause of all our subsequent misfortune ; for, had I been near my parents, instead of being at college, in the hour of their temptation and trial, they would not have fallen into *.lie snare. " A letter reached me from my mother. It breathed her usual tenderness, but I detected in it a change from the usual placid serenity. I felt, in a moment, that something had occurred to agitate or wound her feelings, though of its nature I had not the most distant idea. That day, in look- ing over the newspaper published in my native village, I saw an announcement that the Mormons were to preach in the schoolhouse, at an appointed time, with a preliminary view of the rise and peculiarities of the new faith. Yet I never dreamed that my honored parents could be seduced from allegiance to the church they had loved and honored from childhood. I had too much confidence in their stabil- ity of principle and abiding good-sense, and only thought of them as wondering at the defection and apostasy of others. What, then, was my surprise when another letter from home announced their conversion to Mormonism, and informed me that they had determined to dispose of "their beautiful home, and emigrate, with their new-found friends, to the Promised Land I The writing was, indeed, my mother's, but I knew I felt certain that the spirit it breathed was not hers. Oh, no ; I would not believe that such a change had come over her whom I had always considered the most perfect of women," 144: THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " And you went home ?" " I went home, after asking leave of absence, which was reluctantly given. The stage stopped near my father's door. I alighted, ran to the house, and entered the parlor, without announcement. It was dusk, and the apartment was lighted by a lamp. I was surprised to see so much company around, and all were too busy to notice my abrupt, yet noiseless, entrance. My mother was seated near the table, on which lay a pile of papers ; and a lawyer bending over her chair, and pointing with his finger to recent inkmarks on one of them was repeating, ' You acknowledge this to ' " I comprehended the scene in an instant : ' Stop, mother f For Heaven's sake, stop ! ' She lifted her eyes, sprung towards me, and fell, fainting, into my arms." Frederick paused for a moment, and then resumed " My father had been deluded into the rash act of signing over his entire property to the use and behoof of the Mor- mon Church ; and so great was the infatuation of my mother, that she actually seemed to rejoice that the affair was consummated. She said it was their duty to lay all their possessions at the apostles' feet, as in the days of the primitive Church ; and that whoever kept anything back, would risk meeting the doom of Ananias and Sapphira. To my reasonings she turned a deaf ear ; she was insensible to my entreaties ; and so great was the influence held bj the priesthood over her, that I verily believe she regarded me, her son, as her direst enemy. I left them in sorrow more than in anger. What else could I do ? A SAD HISTOET. 145 " After that, though I wrote frequently to them, I never received a word in answer. At length, vacation came, and I went back, my heart burning with affectionate desires. Strangers occupied the mansion where we had passed so many happy hours ; and my aged parents, I was told, had removed with the Mormons. I wept like a child, and my greatest sorrow was for the loss of their affection. " Two years elapsed. I had heard nothing from my parents, and began to mourn them as dead, when a letter reached me, superscribed from the valley of the Great Salt Lake. 1 broke the seal with a trembling hand. It was from my mother ; and such a revelation as it made I What harrowing' anxiety was depicted in every line I What bitter remorse and agonizing self-reproach I Finally, she conjured me, as her first-born and only child, to come to her, saying that she only waited to behold me once more, and then dose her eyes to the earth and its misery I "Of my father she said nothing, and I could but won- der at her silence. I knew the perfect confidence that had so long existed between them, and how fully each had endorsed the other's sentiments ; and I felt apprehensive lest a great gulf had opened between them, in some unac- countable way. However, my mother's appeal was not suffered to go unheeded. I made immediate preparations for joining them, and, after many difficulties and dangers, reached their abode. They were tenanted in a miserable hut, with few of the comforts and none of the luxuries of life. My father, in his old age, had actually been obliged 14:6 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. to work by the day for wages, and my mother to beg wash- ing of the soldiers, to obtain their daily food they, who all their lives had been above necessity or want 1 " But this was not, by any means, the greatest misfortune of my poor mother. A few months had donp the work of years on her frame. Instead of the round, full, red cheeks, like ripe winter-apples, her face was shrunken and withered ; her hands trembled, as if with palsy ; and her eye had a gleam and glitter that made me fear for her intellect. We had sat a short half-hour together, when a coarse, red-faced woman, with a flannel night-cap on her head, came in, and seemed perfectly at home. When she went out, I inquired, * Does that woman live with you ? ' " ' Yes/ " ' In what capacity ?' " Her lips quivered, her whole frame trembled, and her eyes filled with tears. It was some moments before she could reply, and then imagine my horror and astonishment on hearing that she was my father's second wife. With tears streaming down her face, and her voice broken by sobs, she went on to narrate how this ugly, greasy specimen of womanhood had been formerly attached to the harem of a priest, where she kept the whole house in an uproar. He determined to get rid of her, and so persuaded my kind- hearted parent that it- was his duty to take her. The old man hesitated, and asked time for deliberation. The next morning, she came to his house, and took up her abode, where she soon usurped all authority. My mother could A SAD HISTOKY. 147 not even have the privilege of making a. cup of coffee with- out the jade's permission, and had more than once been subjected to the indignity of blows, in her moments of ill- temper. ' Your troubles in that respect are at an end, dear mother/ I said. ' I will soon make the house too hot to hold her 1 ' She smiled sadly. " From that moment, all power in that dwelling was exercised by me ; and though naturally averse to quarrel- ing with a woman, between this termagant and myself there were some exciting scenes. My father remonstrated. He feared the power of the priests, but I did not. She was expelled the house, and went back to her former lord. " But my mother never recovered her serenity of mind, or physical health ; and the most that I could do was to smooth her passage to the tomb. I had the satisfaction of knowing that her eyes were opened to the iniquities of the Mormon system ; and it was painful to hear her, on the verge of the grave, lament that she had left her ' first love/ like those mentioned in the Revelations that she had not been content to leave ' the first principles of the doctrines of Christ, and travel on towards perfection/ but had turned - aside in the bye-paths which, she now believed, led to tem- poral misery and eternal death. She pined for the society of her old friends, especially for that of the pastor who had broken for her, in former days, the bread of life. Her 'last words were full of Christian hope and trust ' Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world/ " No Mormon priest officiated at her funeral. I would 148 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. not have her remains so desecrated. Neither would I per- mit her to be buried in their cemetery. I selected the spot myself, and caused a suitable monument to be erected, as a record of her worth." " And your father " '' Is nearly superannuated, and almost imbecile ; and that hateful woman is the torment of my life. She persists in visiting him ; and the elder, her pretended husband, encour- ages her in making the most scandalous advances. He seems determined to billet her on us for support." He concluded by inviting me to visit his father. I con- sented, and we walked back to the city in company. " I have reason to believe," said Frederick, " that the history of my parents is not a solitary one. Events as tragic, interesting, and thrilling, have probably transpired in all the families around us ; though unseen, and even unsus- pected, by the uninitiated." As we approached the cabin, a dirty, slattern-like woman, with a small bundle under her arm, darted from the door, and ran off down the street. " There she goes," said Frederick. " She knows better than to let me catch her in the house ! I'd like to know, though, what she has been carrying off." " Carrying off does she steal ?" I inquired. "To be sure, she does 1 She had been twice in the peni- tentiary before coming here, I have been credibly informed. When I reproached her with this crime, she had the impu- dence to attempt its justification, saying that the earth and FREDERICK'S FATHER. its fullness was created for man in general, and that one, just as much as another, had a right to its blessings.' "'And so that gown you have on is as much mine as yours, eh ? ' I inquired. "'Yes, if you want it. Do you want it?' she replied, with an air of the greatest insolence, taking up, and holding out for display, her ragged, draggled skirt." We entered the cabin. " I have brought you a visitor, father," said Frederick. The old man raised his head, and returned mysalutation with affability. He had mild, brown eyes, with such an easy, guileless expression of countenance, that I doubted not his complete subjection to the designs of the impostors. Strange as it may appear, his faith in Mormonism was not in the least shaken ; and when I commenced conversing with him, he answered by exhorting me to come out from the world and unite with the saints. I inquired if his happiness had been promoted by his union with them, to which he replied that, whether or not, such questions were irrelevant to the subject ; that they were not expecting happiness here, and must be contented to cheerfully bear minor trials, in consideration of the glori- ous consummation in prospect. The simple creature then proceeded to relate the marvels and miracles that had been wrought in favor of the Mor- mons. According to him, their journey was attended with events almost as wonderful and supernatural as that of the Israelites when they went up out of Egypt. Springs sprang 150 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. up in the desert when they were thirsty ; herds of buffalo approached when they were starving ; prowling Indians fled before their faces ; and, to cap the climax, he averred that he had no doubt, had there been a Jericho on the route, its walls would have fallen down at the blowing of ranis' horns, as they did in the days of old. Why shouldn't miracles be common now, as they were then ? Why shouldn't they, sure I Others than himself have asked that question. When I bade the old man farewell, Fredefick accompa- nied me a short distance towards my boarding-house. " You see my father, what he is a mere child. . I can- not leave him to the tender mercies of these creatures. Duty, honor, filial affection, forbid it. He is weak and imbecile. Still he is my father ; and not till his earthly pilgrimage closes, shall I leave the Mormon city." I commended his resolution ; and, promising to call again, arrived "at home in time for dinner. A NEW WIFE. 151 CHAPTER VIII. / THE DINNER A NEW WIFE JAUNT TO GRANTSVILLE, AND WHAT I SAW THERE, ETC. rpHE dinner was got up with unusual taste, and a new JL divinity presided at the table. She was a little, neat woman, with bro.wn complexion, and black eyes. Her mo- tions were quick and graceful ; and, flitting from thing to thing, she strongly reminded me of Mrs. Hyde. Iiikley was highly pleased, and exceedingly loquacious. He laughed and talked, told droll stories and humorous anecdotes, pinched the lady's cheek, and jogged my elbow in a man- ner quite unaccountable. Hannah and Martha were invisi- ble, but their lord did not seem to perceive, much less to regret their absence. The children, too, had disappeared, and were, probably, at that moment dining with their mam- mas, in another apartment. I subsequently learned the history of this woman. It was somewhat singular. Her maiden name was Sarah Car- ter, and she had rich and highly respectable- connexions in the State of Rhode Island. Sarah, when a child, was chiefly noted for versatility of talent and changeableness of 152 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. purpose. In her studies, before one science was half mas- tered, she flew off to another. She abandoned French for music, music for crayon-drawing, and drawing for sculpture. She gave up school-teaching and became a public lecturer on woman's rights. Wearying of this, she became a clair- voyant, then a spirit-rapper, and finally fetched up on the shoals of Mormonism. That she was witty and graceful, no one could deny, and many would have admired her style of beauty. A Mormon elder certainly did. He saw her on the ferry-boat that plies between Jersey City and the island of Manhattan, was struck with her appearance, and inquired her name. Learning this, he presented himself, without the ceremony of an introduction, was graciously received, and soon became one of her most devoted admirers, though six or seven wives pined for his embraces at home. The lover was ardent in his protestations, liberal in gifts, and the con sequences of their intimacy soon became visible. At thi* juncture, he persuaded her to follow him to Salt Lake. Change was her element, and she consented ; but immedi- ately on their arrival, he abandoned her. Among strangers, and without resources, she became a pensioner on the bounty of Parley Pratt. Here Inkley saw her, was made acquainted with her circumstances, proposed for her hand, was accepted, and the marriage celebrated all in one day. The next morning the day on which I saw her he brought her home, which was the first intimation that his other wives had received of the affair. They were surprised, but not angry, and at once abandoned all the house-keeping arrange- DINNER TALK. 153 ments to her hands. She accepted the charge with a very good grace, and doubtless with the expectation of resigning it in her turn to another. She addressed me across the table, with great good-humor, saying that she was curious to know why I came to Salt Lake City. Without waiting for my answer, Inkley replied : " The same that others come for, probably to see and be seen. Wasn't that so, sir ?" " Doubtless that had something to do with my motives," I replied. The lady then launched into a voluble strain talked of Mesmerism, spirit-rapping, and woman's rights said that Lucy Stone was the greatest woman of the age, that Mrs. Bloomer deserved a monument, and Antoinette Brown a wreath of laurel. "And yet all these women are in pursuit of an idea rather than a principle," I said. " They cannot succeed, because they oppose nature." " How oppose nature ?" she inquired. " Because man and woman never advance side by side. He leads the way she follows. He acts the tyrant she becomes the slave. He affects the noble and godlike she rises proportionately. Never has woman opened a path in literature, art, or science." Inkley laughed heartily, and the bride looked vexed. " If anything were wanting," I continued, " to prove how completely woman is subjected by nature to the caprices o 4 man, we have a practical exemplification of it directly 7* 154: THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. before our eyes. How readily she assumes the character he destines for her I How " " I do Dot understand you," she said, interrupting me. " I do," said Inkley. " I have often thought of the same. Many think polygamy degrading to women ; that is unde- niable. I can't say that I do, however. But whether it is or not, matters little. One thing is certain they are impo- tent to resist it. Man wills it, and, whether she wishes it or not, woman submits." Dinner being over, Mr. Inkley informed me that business connected with the Church would call him to Grantsville, and that he expected to be absent for several days. I im- mediately asked permission to accompany him, and inquired for the locality of that settlement. "About forty miles west," he replied, and went on to impart considerable information connected with the place and its inhabitants, which tended to increase rather than diminish my curiosity and spirit of adventure. The afternoon was spent in preparations for the projected journey. We had a cold supper, and retired early, pur- posing to start at daybreak. In the night, I was awakened by a loud clap of thunder, and sensations similar to those experienced in a shower-bath. It was raining violently ; and the roof being leaky, and the window-casements loose, the water dripped and drove in from every quarter, wetting the bed, and standing in large pools on the floor. The night was black as pitch, except the occasional gleams of lightning, followed instantaneously by the crack of thunder, A TEEKIBLE STORM. 155 loud and terrific as if heaven and earth were coming together. In a pause of the storm, I ascertained that the inmates of the house were all up and in motion. Once there was a loud crash, and fall, as of a heavy body tum- bling down stairs ; then the suppressed screams of women and children, and a man's voice, in a softer key, caught my ear. I arose, but my garments were saturated with wet. Those protected by the cover of my trunk, however, were in a better condition. After long searching in the dark, I found and put them on. Simultaneous with this, the house was illumined by a blinding flash, of which I took advan- tage, to rush out of my room and down the stairs. The family were all in the kitchen ; and a small lamp, burning on the hearth, sufficed to give a view of each blank and terror-stricken countenance. The children were weeping, the women sobbing, and all, except Sarah, huddled together, like a group of frightened sheep. She was walking up and down the apartment, wringing her hands, and making ges- tures of the wildest despair, while exclaiming, " Oh, poor sinners 1 What will become of poor sinners 1 The day of judgment has come I the great day of judgment 1 Oh, oh 1" Seeing me, she cried out, "Are you ready to stand before the bar of the great God ?" " Compose yourself, madam," I replied. " There is no occasion for all this terror. And were it as you say, though vice has always cause for fear, virtue should stand unblenched amid the ruins of the world." V " Poor sinners 1 Oh, poor sinners 1" she continued, shriek- 156 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. ing thus forcibly depicting the horrors of superstition, an n la belle France cher Paris. Den we come here." "Wb^for?" " Oui j Monsieur mustn't be curus 1 Ver good reason ; ver good, indeed." I assured her there was no necessity for telling, and turned my attention to the play. The Frenchwoman, how- ever, was not to be put off. She touched my elbow. I looked around. " Dat lady would Monsieur like to hear her history ?* she asked " Perhaps w, at some other time." " Oui ; Monsieur wishes to see de play." " I do." MANNERS AT THE THEATRE. 199 " Yer well, not hinder," and she turned away. After sitting a few minutes in silence, she arose, flirted away, and sat down by another gentloman, with whom she was soon deeply engaged in conversation. He evidently admired her, and was not bashful about making it known, while a woman, probably his wife, sat on the other side of him, and mani- fested great uneasiness. The utmost latitude in manners prevails at the theatre. The private drawing-room df Rosanna Towusend would never have tolerated such scenes as are publicly enacted there ; and the worst of it is, there is no distinction. In our theatres, the disreputable characters occupy certain places here they are mixed up with the rest. The acting was on a stage, raised three or four feet above the floor of the room occupied by the spectators. The play was the Lady of Lyons, of which the Mormons are exces- sively fond. It ran season after season, with little varia- tion, and they were dissatisfied when another was substituted in its stead. On this occasion, the performance was good, and might be relished by one able to divert his mind from other scenes passing around him. Some of the chief actors exhibited decided ability. Among these, Mrs. Canfield, as the mother of Claude, performed her part admirably, and Mrs. Wheelock, who represented Pauline, to the life. The latter is very beautiful. Her face beams with intelli- gence, and her voice is thrillingly melodious. Her husband having been absent in Australia nearly two years, a multi- 200 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. tude of saints, prophets, and apostles are in full chase after her. According to Mormon theology, the absence of a hus- band releases the wife from all obligation, and she is at per- fect liberty to form a union, at pleasure, with another man. One of the most eager in this pursuit, is the man who enacted the part of Claude, and whose passionate protesta- tions had an air of the sincerest reality. Neither were the other actors indifferent to her charms. Indeed, their mani- festations of gallantry seriously interfered with the perform- ance intended for the public amusement. s MRS. CANFIELD Is an English woman, from Bath, who, having been deserted by her husband, has been obliged to resort to the stage, to obtain bread for her children. I called on Frederick, at her house, to-day. She received me with grea't affability, and related, for my entertainment, many interesting incidents connected with her travels and adventures. The room was garnished with pictures and mementoes of her native city, and her eyes fillet 1 jyith tears, while explaining the particular points of interest, or relating the associations that gave to each its relative value. She was not a believer in Mormon- ism, as she assured me, but necessity impelled her stay among them. At first, she tried to obtain a livelihood by sewing, and found plenty of. employment, but little pay. Then she resorted to school-teaching, with even worse suc- cess ; and finally, as a last experiment, attempted the stage MRS. CANFIELD. 201 Here her fine talent for music procured her notoriety, and she might have found it profitable had it not been for the unusual number of free-tickets, which admit the elders and their families. I could not but be aware that one so good, beautiful, and intelligent, could not remain long in Mormondom without a train of suitors, and I subsequently learned that her hand had been sought by several men, some of whom were already husbands. But their offers were firmly, though respectfully, declined. Her conscience would not permit her to form a second marriage, until she was assured of her husband's death ; but, under no consideration, would she ever be united with a sensual polygamist. 9* / 202 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. CHArTER XI. THE TABERNACLE FORM OF MORMON WORSHIP SPECIMEN OF PREACHING, ETC. NEAR the Mormon theatre, and somewhat. resembling it in appearance and capaciousness, is the Tabernacle not the first one that was built, though it occupies the same situation. The first building was large on the ground, and presented the appearance of an immense oblong box. la 1854, this was taken down and removed, to make way for the magnificent temple that stands there now.* It is hand- somely built of stone, and makes some pretensions to archi- tectural beauty, though chiefly remarkable for its immense size. It is said to be capable of accommodating five thou- sand persons, with ease ; and is surrounded by a high wall, reared with immense cost and labor. You enter by large folding-doors in the east end, which face the platform occu- pied by the priests and elders in the west. The seats are arranged in the form of an amphitheatre, and all are enabled to gratify their devotion and curiosity, by a plain view of those who conduct the worship. I attended once, and but once, there being little in the service that could interest the ASSEMBLAGE AT THE TABERNACLE. 203 sympathies, and still less that could affect the understand- ing. Wanting in the plain, severe simplicity of the Protes- tant worship, it has none of the pomp and gorgeousness of the Catholic ceremonial. Yet Mormonism is in its infancy. It wants the prestige of age, to render it venerable ; it requires the combined efforts of literature and art, of good taste, sound sense, and elegant ideas, to perfect its form of worship. Centuries of toil, study, and the most approved methods of art, combined with unbounded wealth, have given to the Catholic Church its perfection in appliances to captivate the senses. What may not the Mormons in eighteen centuries become ? I could not help thinking this, as, under the guidance of Elder Snow, (g.) I went up to the Tabernacle, one Sunday morning* and saw the immense assemblage gathered there from the four quarters of the globe. Unlike the Eastern polygamists*, the Mormons do not attempt to confine their wives, or keep them secreted from the gaze of others. All entered the church promiscuously, and sat just as it hap- pened, though, generally, the husband placed himself in the midst of his wives. It was a strange assemblage, yet, who could expect anything better ? And think you the followers of Christianity, in the first century of its existence, ap- peared much more respectable to the votaries of the fash- ionable religions of thf day ? How would they have char- acterized its professors as low, debauched, stupid, ignorant, and even deficient in the common attributes of humanity 1 How would they have scoffed, and jeered, and mocked them, 204: THE HTTSBAND IN UTAH. prophesying their utter extinction in a few short years ! There was an extinction, it is true ; but who were the victims. The old faith disappeared the new triumphed. The rites of the Mormon worship open with singing and a full band of music. Many of the females had good voices, and the strain was solemn and impressive. When this was concluded, Brigham Young offered a prayer, for " Zion in the tops of the mountains" in particular, and for the saints all over the world in general. The Gentiles, of course^ were excluded from the benefits of this petition. His dis- course was short, yet pertinent. He exhorted them to obedience and union, and reminded them that many females were yet unprovided with husbands, who ought to be mar- ried, and giving children to the church. " I think," he con- tinued, " that I have set you a good example. My wives outnumber those of David, and children, like olive-plants, gather about my table." He finished, and sat down, when the music struck up " Brace's Address," followed by " Old Lang Syne." It ceased, and Elder Gumming arose. He is tall, and remark- ably strong-built. While surveying his athletic form and sinewy limbs, joined to a countenance not particularly expressive of intelligence, I thought how much better he was adapted to agriculture, or some useful mechanic art, than in dealing out harangues on subjects of which his audience were quite as well qualified to judge as himself. His discourse abounded in anecdote, all relating to what seemed of chief interest to them taking new wives. He THE DUTY OF MEN". 205 rated those women soundly, who, having the opportunity, neglect to get married ; and said that a brother was deserving of " hell-fire" if he permitted a woman to remain single without making her an offer. " Who cares if she is old, and ugly, and deformed ? her child will be young, and probably beautiful. If she has no child, why, God has ordained it, and you have done your duty. When walking along the streets, I make it a practice to inquire of every stranger woman I meet, whose wife she is. To this, many of my sisters here can testify. If she tells the name of her husband, I bless her, and say, ' Go on your way rejoicing ; have children, and rear them up for Zion 1 ' If she has no husband, I bid her begone, and get one." There was no evidence of a devotional spirit, though much that was said elicited the boisterous mirth of the audience. While listening to these discourses, I could not help thinking that the Mormons seemed to regard marriage not as a means for promoting social happiness, but solely as a method for the most convenient propagation of the race. Yet this view is not novel, and has been frequently enter- tained by restless and aspiring spirits. Augustus, after devastating the earth to promote his schemes of ambition, sought to replenish it again, by recommending, and even in some cases enforcing, marriage ; and complained bitterly of the dancing-girls, and other women, who refused to " give children to the republic." Yet, why did he wish this ? To increase the sum of human happiness, or promote the wel- fare of the race ? No such thing ; but that his empire 206 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. might be replenished with taxable subjects, and his armies filled with new soldiers. Bonaparte had the same idea in view, when he said that the greatest woman was the one who had borne the most children which is certainly a great scandal on the sex, as it must be better, nobler, greater, to bear, bring up, and suitably educate two children, than to simply give birth to a dozen poor, miserable, little outcasts, who ultimately come to the state-prison, poor-house, or gallows. The great desire of the Mormons to have children, and increase in population, displays, to us, some ulterior motive. They are looking forward, down the long vista of the future, to wealth and power to independence, rank, and distinc- tion, among the nations of the earth. The examples of Moses and Mohammed are before them, and the lessons of ages have not been lost. But the service was yet unfinished, and another speaker was on the floor. His words were nearly as follows : " Now, my dear friends, what a dreadful thing it would be, if, after all your trials and afflictions, your perils in crossing the deep (for many before me have come from coun-tries beyond the sea) after all this, and your difficul- ties and dangers in the howling wilderness, what a dreadful thing it would be to lose your inheritance among the saints ! " Other sins are venal, other transgressions may be for- given, but there is no hope for him who, having once known the good way, has turned back. And, my sisters, I hear strange reports of you, which it grieves me to mention. I A. PLEA FOR MARRIAGE. 207 hear that some of you have become dissatisfied with the institutions of our holy religion, and have dared to refuse a brother in marriage, because he had already a wife. My sisters, it is nothing to me you must not imagine that it makes a particle of difference with me whether you are married or not ; but it does make a difference to you, and that a very great one. Why, know you not that unless a woman is sealed or married to a man, and that man a true disciple, there can be no hope of her salvation ? " Consider well, then, that if you lose your souls your precious, immortal souls by remaining single, you have nobody but yourselves to" blame. I have told you. You know that. And the good brothers are ready and willing to assist you, if you will only let them. Let them ! Why, a woman, rather than remain unmarried, should ask some elder or saintly brother to bestow on her the seal of salvation. " And, my dear sisters, there are other subjects on which I wish to speak. I have been informed that some of you have laid stumbling-blocks in the way of your husbands when they have proposed to seal other females. You have tried, by tears, and protestations, and rebellion, to hinder them from performing such duties. Know ye not that these things are deserving of damnation ? Know ye not that, in all tilings, your husbands are your superiors ; that they stand to you in the place of God ; x and that obedience unqualified, unquestioning obedience is your first, I had almost said your only, duty, as in that all others are com- prised. 208 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " Now, my sisters, an important thing for yon to remem- ber is this : If your husbands want more wives, you must help to get them ; and then you must be peaceable, and not quarrel, and lie, and filch from each other, but live in har- mony, with all loving-kindness and charity. What a dread- ful thing it would be if the soul of one woman, through your opposition to her union with your husband, should be lost 1 And, being in torments unspeakable, would she not forever cry out against you ?" There was much more in a similar strain and to the same purpose, though, as literary efforts, they were beneath criti- cism. I returned home for dinner, and, while we were at table, Mr. Inkley inquired my opinion of the last discourse, declar- ing that it met his unqualified approbation. " Then you will be on the lookout for another wife, I suppose," was my reply, glancing towards Sarah, who sat at the table. She tossed her head, with an expression of the deepest scorn. " That such -is my duty, I own," he said, with affected gravity ; " though it sorely taxes my energies to provide for those I now have." " Well thought of 1" ejaculated Sarah. " It would be a pity," I said, " for any woman to lose her immortal soul, because no man could afford to find her in bread and butter. She might be sealed, to secure her sal* vation, and then left to take care of herself." " That is the way with many of them," said Sarah. A CUKIOUS GUARANTEE TO SALVATION. 209 11 Of who ?" " Why, these women that work about as nurses and assistants in families. You saw that very old lady who sat just before you, I suppose ?" " That one dressed in black, who seemed so deeply inter ested in the services ?" I asked. " The same," she answered. " Well, that old woman is eighty-five next September, and she has been sealed to Brigham Young just one month. She came on here with her children, though an unbeliever. But, recently, she became a convert, and the next thing was to be sealed. In consequence of her age and infirmities, the brothers hesi- tated to perform the duty, until the first and best one of all, touched by the consideration of her necessities, con- sented to become her husband, on the condition that she should remain with her children, and not be dependent on him for support or a home." . " Then I suppose that the prophet has many such wives, or sealed ones ?" " He has,"indeed, more than any one knows of probably more than he remembers himself." "And this is considered a certain guarantee of salva- tion ?" "It is ; and hence young girls and maidens are often sealed long before the age of puberty. I have witnessed the sealing of children not more than eight years old." " I have never heard of this before." " Very likely. There are many things among us that you 210 THE nrSBAND IN UTAH. have never heard of ; many rites and ceremonies known only to the initiated ; many plans and purposes you could never " But this sealing of young girls is against nature and religion." " Not more so than betrothals among the Jews, and yet this people had a warrant direct from heaven for all they did." " The examples of the Jews have been frequently quoted to furnish props for bad and mistaken conduct or ideas, by bad or mistaken men," I replied. " It is not for me to define or limit how far such practices were expedient under their laws, and the circumstances of their society. It is enough for us that here, and in this age, the marriage rela- tion is thereby degraded, and the happiness of thousands unrelentingly sacrificed. What sensations must the be- trothal of a child to a man old enough to be her father excite 1 How can she ever regard him with those feelings of affection which are indispensably necessary to render the marriage state one of happiness ?" " She can at least be obedient." " Seriously and candidly, Mrs. Inkley," I replied, " can you find it in your heart to approve of these things ? If you had a young and beautiful daughter, would not all the better feelings of your nature revolt against her forming such an unnatural connection ? Could you in silence behold the sacrifice of all her prospects of happiness, and know and feel that nothing in this wide world was left for her but obedience to the caprices and whims of a tyrant ?" 211 11 Really, sir, I cannot argue this question with you," she replied. " Yet the Scriptures require obedience in the wife, you know, and make the husband stand in the same relation to her that Christ does to the church." " And again I must say that how far such passages are to be received in an unqualified sense, I shall not pretend to decide, but that they were ever meant to compel any woman, immortal and accountable, under any circumstances what- ever, to submit to polygamy, and practices so detestable as these * sealings/ I venture to discredit." "And so do I," said Martha Inkley, who had entered the room unnoticed, and seemed glad of an opportunity to disa- gree with her rival. " These 'settlings 'of children are I will not say what." She had caught the expression of her husband's eye, but it could not silence her. " There was brother Haywood's daughter," she continued, " a beautiful little girl, in short skirts and pantalets, who came into the room, to be sealed to a man four times her age, while crying for her doll and baby things ; and when the new-made husband attempted to embrace her, she fled, screaming that he was big and ugly, and she did not like him. Is it likely that, as years advance, she will grow fonder of him, or more reconciled to her lot ?" "An extreme case," said Inkley, blandly. "Not exactly an extreme case, either," replied Martha. " You know very well that Hannah May had to be held by 212 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. main force while the ceremony of her sealing was going on. How she shrieked, and screamed, and protested against it, declaring that if she couldn't have Frederick Barnes, her youthful playmate, she wouldn't be married at all 1" " But she hadn't arrived at the years of discretion," said the husband. "Years of discretion or not, it was a shame and an abomination to force her into such a connection 1" I thought as much. " Why," continued Martha, " a man will marry two or three sisters, as brother Warner did. He married one, and then, to please his wife, he took her sister, and, finally, the mother of both, and they all had children. by him. I asked sister Warner what relationship the children held to each other. She only laughed." During our conversation, the people were gathering for the afternoon service. Their singular appearance attracted my attention. One man passed along with his six wives, three on either side of him, lovingly locking arms. An- other company passed, the man ahead, and his four wives following in single file. There was no established rule or fashion, but all were at perfect liberty to walk single, double, or treble, as suited them best. Suddenly, my atten- tion was arrested by a female walking alone, and without any apparent connection with the passing crowd. She looked towards the window where I sat, and I had a very distinct view of her features. She was beautiful, though somewhat faded. SEARCH FOR MISS SCOTT. 213 11 That lady who .is she 1" I asked, addressing Mrs. Inkley. "What her name may now be, I cannot say," she replied. " Her maiden name was Scott." "Miss Scott ! I have known her. Where does she live?" " I cannot say. I know nothing about her, though I have heard that that " " That what ?" "That she had been the mistress of a soldier who had deserted her, and that now she was picking up a living as she best could." The remembrance of her father's anxiety, and my pro- mise to him, flashed into my mind. " I must see her," I said, seizing my hat. " You have just seen her," said Sarah, laughing. " But I wish to talk with her." The women glanced at each other. " I was acquainted with her father," I said. " He was very anxious about her." " That was perfectly natural," said Sarah, with some- thing like a sneer. I said no more, but walked out at the door. Miss Scott, however, was nowhere to be seen. I walked up one street and down another, all to no purpose. Inquir- ing would have been useless, and I thought that possibly she might have gone to the Tabernacle. So thither I went, but the immense concourse, even greater than that in the forenoon, effectually precluded individual recognition, and T was glad to get away long before the service closed. 214 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. CHAPTER Xfl. THE COUNCIL OF HEALTH MIRACLES DREAMS, AND SOME OTHER THINGS. THREE months among the Mormons, and thus far treat- ed with consideration and respect. " Oh, I pity you," says one, " shut up in the seclusion of the Great Basin for three long months." But my good friend, there is no occasion for your pity ; my time has passed pleasantly, I might say happily. I have found, and I trust made, friends. Long ago I learned that if only one spot of sunshine appeared, to monopolize it ; if only one flower grew in my path, to be sure and notice that; to scrutinize ugly faces for the one handsome feature, and to look for something cheer- ing in all dismal prospects. I confess that sometimes my resolution has almost vanished, and that while looking at the Mormons my faith in human nature has been sorely tested. I have grown weary of describing unpleasant scenes. I would much rather write of virtues than vices ; of good, and pure, and honest men, than wicked and dishonest ones. Byron said that he described men as they were, not MORMON MIKACLES. 215 as they should be, and that nothing in his descriptions or characters had ever equalled the reality. In the propagation of a new faith it usually happens that dreams, visions, miracles, and supernatural appearances and occurrences are the stock in trade. It is comparatively much easier to influence the imagination than convince the judgment, hence credulity rather than reason is addressed. The Mormons will tell you of great cures wrought by their priests. They will tell you of instances where the sick have recovered beneath their magic touch ; they will point out on the necks and limbs of their children the scars of great sores that have been healed ; they will tell you of the blind having recovered their eye-sight, and the deaf their hearing. Shall we dispute that such things sometimes occur after the recent experiments in electro-magnetism, especially when we consider the powerful influence of imagi- nation over a certain class of diseases. The question arises, are the priests impostors, or are they the dupes of their own credulity ? I am inclined to think the latter. Few of them have any knowledge of the natural sciences, or the philosophy that traces effects to their cause. " There can be nothing supernatural," I remarked, to Mr. - Inkley. " Your people should be too enlightened to believe in miracles, in the general acceptation of that term." "The most enlightened men in your Gentile Churches believe in them," he replied, gravely. 216 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " ^N ot as you," I answered. "And yet, you must know that had not your church inculcated the belief that miracles were of common occur- rence eighteen centuries ago, the Mormons in this age would never have dreamed of promulgating such an idea. But the possibility of supernatural events being granted, the cavil all rests on a question of time, which is nothing. (h.) In conclusion, Mr. Inkley invited me to attend with him a meeting of the Council of Health, at Social Hall. To my inquiries, if I would not be considered in the light of an intruder, he replied in the negative, and said that the sisters were always pleased with the attendance of gentlemen, particularly strangers, for whom a seat was left empty. " Is it then a meeting of the sisters ?" I asked. " Certainly." "Then you have your strong-minded women here. I thought that class peculiar to the North." '* With this slight difference, your strong-minded females are* generally old maids, in whose bosoms the milk of human kindness has become sour, whereas ours are are " "Married women," I suggested, "whose lives are embit- tered by the neglect and indifference of their husbands ; a fate to which that of the old maid is ten times prefer- able." I found, on further inquiry, that the sisters assembled at this meeting to talk over their various aches and complaints, and discuss the most approved methods of cure. All phy- sicians are entitled to a seat among them, with a voice in THE COUNCIL OF HEALTH. 217 their deliberations ; so are the priests and elders, while strangers are admitted to see and be seen. We went early and obtained good seats. At least sixty-five females were in attendance, who, so far as I could discover, presented nothing remarkable in appearance. They looked exactly like any other promiscuous gathering of women, old and young, gay and sad, pretty and ugly ; coarse and vulgar iu some cases, but intelligent and refined in others. The meeting was called to order by Dr. High, who made some appropriate remarks on the blessings of health, and the violation of physical laws, to which all diseases must be attributed. He was followed by Dr. Speight, who begged leave to dissent from his worthy brother in many important particu- lars. It was very plain to him that sickness was often superinduced by a direct interposition of Divine Providence. Pestilence fell on the Israelites as a judgment from Heaven, because of the sin of David ; Job was smitten with a hor- rible disease to try his faith, and even in our own age, he contended, that similar events had happened, and might happen again. It was asy to see that the last speaker was a particular favorite with the sisters, especially those whose countenance, appearance, and manner indicated the lower class of igno- rance. The female mind is naturally prone to superstition in its uncultivated state. Sister Newman, one of this stripe, was evidently aching to get the floor. She manifest- ed great uneasiness, wringing, twisting, and rocking to and 218 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. fro. The moment he sat down she bounded up, and began a tirade against such infidel teachers as Dr. High. She knowed, indeed she did, that sickness went just where it was sent that God was pleased to afflict some people more than he did others, and that the best ones generally were most afflicted. " You know I am nearly always sick, but then I feel that it does me good. Last winter in that spell I had I could almost touch the hem of His garment " "Because I gave her so much opium," whispered Dr. High. " Could touch the hem of His garment," she continued, "and that's just the way, when I am well, if the heavenly dew descends, I am so much like a cake of tallow, that it rolls off and leaves no impression, but when I am sick, why then, my dear friends, I am just like a muslin sheet, one drop wets me all over." The 'absurdity of these comparisons excited a slight titter at her expense, when she dropped spitefully into her seat, and sister Harris arose. She was a little vulgar-looking woman, with a countenance expressive of dissipation and sensuality, and her speech Was a strange compound of superstition and absurdity. She commenced by expressing her belief that the devil was let loose, and that Mormon women were the especial objects of his wrath and hatred. This she declared to be all wrong said that they ought not to be subject to pain in any case, but that disease and even death, must be banished from among them, and go to the SISTER LIPPINCOTT'S KEMEDY. 219 Gentiles to whom they belonged that God was about to glorify his name by cutting off the rotten nations of the earth, when all would be Mormons, and in a state of felicity somewhat resembling the denizens of Mohammed's Paradise. She was succeeded by sister Lippincott, who seemed to think that all their difficulties and troubles were occasioned by their not loving their husbands enough, and being as obedient to them as they ought. It was a rambling tirade, and as often happens at female meetings, those least capable of speaking monopolized the floor. She concluded by re- commending catnip tea as a remedy in certain complaints, at which sister Gibbs started up, declaring that catnip tea was good for nothing, but that enough lobelia would drive all the devils out. The quantity necessary to perform this wonder she did not prescribe. At length she began jump- ing up and down, clapping her hands, and crying out, " The spirit is upon me, the spirit is upon me, even now as it des- cended on the Apostles at the day of Pentecost." Then she broke .forth into a strain that they called speaking in an unknown tongue. She was certainly phrenzied or intoxi- cated. I am inclined to think the latter. Her language and gestures were actually indescribable, but soon ended in complete exhaustion, when she fell to the floor. The sisters crowded around her, raised her up, and laid her at full length on one of the seats. One of the elders then arose and attempted to interpret what she said, but the noise and confusion had become so great that it was impossible for me to hear what he said. 220 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. Iiikley, who seemed amazed, and I fancied felt disgusted at the scene, proposed to go away. Several of the more re- spectable and intelligent women actually departed. I wished however, to see the end. The inspired sister soon fell asleep and order was restored. Sister Sanders then arose, and expressed her firm belief that all diseases, acute or chronic might be cured by the exercise of faith and the laying on of hands, and dealt largely in her own miraculous powers. She could ease the most violent toothache, she saii, by simply rubbing her hands over the part affected, and com- manding the pain to depart. She could stop hemorrhages of the most extravagant character, and last, though by no means least, a word from her would restore a dislocated joint, or mend a broken bone. Her sister's arm had been badly injured by some unlucky accident, and she roundly asserted that it had been instantaneously recovered by the exercise of her power. One woman had a daughter present who was afflicted with some cutaneous disease, and who desired to have the remedy applied. The sisters, with the priests and elders, crowded around her, laid their hands on her head and person, when one of the most eminent was moved to bless her in an unknown tongue. The oracular utterances were interpreted to mean the invocation of great blessings, both temporal and spiritual ; she was to possess all necessary good, all that the heart or sense could desire ; her seed was to outnumber the stars, and thence kings and priests were to arise. She looked, however, as if some guarantee for the comforts and necessaries of life would be AN AILING PAKTT. 221 much more acceptable. She was scarcely sixteen, and yet had been married for some time. One child held to her clothes, another was in her lap, and there was evidently the prospect of a third. There were unmistakable indications of poverty in her general appearance. She was poorly clad, and, I doubt not, ill-fed. After this others came forward ; some had aches in one part, others had pains in another. One was bruised, ano- ther wounded, a third was sick, a fourth had the fever ; in short, I was strongly reminded of an excellent old lady, who was great for visiting among her neighbors, and whose enumeration of the complaints incident to her family was summed up in the following amusing style : " Jemmy has a boil on his hip, and Jerry a cut on his leg ; my husband is very poorly, and so much ails me that I really don't know what to complain of." It really seemed that there was not a sound person in the community, at least in the house. All were full to overflowing of the troubles and afflictions which had befallen their neighbors or themselves. Yet this trait of humanity is not peculiar to the Mormons. For a grievous list of ailments and sicknesses, commend me at any time to a party of old women in the lower classes of life. I was once greatly amused by a woman of ordinary intelligence, who, according to her phraseology, "never saw a well day," who always kept a dish of " systic," or some other kind of herb tea in the corner, and who was exceedingly angry if the physician did not call at least 222 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. twice a week to inquire after her health, though he could never find her at home. This interesting part of the business being finished, it was proposed to adjourn. Sister Petit, however, objected, as she had a remarkable vision to narrate. This was neither more nor less than a tremendous conflict between the Lord and the devil, which closely resembled in its minute particulars the famous fight between Apollyon and Christian, recorded by Bunyan, in the Pilgrim's Progress. For a long time the battle raged witlv equal spirit on both sides, but the Lord triumphed in the end, and his sooty majesty was driven away. There was much more of similar absurdity. In review of these things, we find ourselves involuntarily asking how it could be possible for a system of religious faith, like Mormonism, to arise and flourish as that has done, unless some equally superstitious tendencies of education were at work on the public mind ? Looking at Mormonism philosophically, we shall find little in it that is original. It is an offshoot of Judaism, with a little borrowed from Christianity to make it palatable to the present age. Thus, if you deprecate to a Mormon the idea of paying tithes, he will refer you at once to Abraham, who gave tithes of all he possessed to Melchisedek. If you com- plain of polygamy, he will tell you of Jacob, -and David, and Solomon, and thus to the end of the chapter. Think you if priestcraft had not so flourished in other countries, it ever would have abounded as it does in Utah ? It is not difficult for a believer hi spirits to believe in the spirit rappings. BINS OF OMISSION. 223 Yet it argues little for the progress of the age that this spurious and prurient birth should belong to the afternoon of the nineteenth century. We might have hoped and looked for better things. Is it not significant of an unpa- latable truth ? Does it not prove conclusively that the advancement in moral and religious ideas has not kept pace with that of the physical sciences ; that, notwithstanding railroads, steamboats, and telegraphs, we are yet hanging to the skirts of the past, fettered by its superstitions, and imitating its vices. Let no one think that I am attempting to excuse or palliate the vices of the Mormons. I quarrel with na man's creed except so far as it tends to make him vicious and dan- gerous to the community. Many things are simply absurd, and an assembly of old women, like those attending the Council of Health, could scarcely have deserved a passing notice, only as tending to show how human hearts, even in this enlightened age, may be darkened by superstition. In any other view, it was probably one of the most harmless assemblages that ever convened in Utah. But there are things for which we must and do blame the Mormons, more even than for polygamy and kindred vices. Great as may be their sins of commission, those of omission are certainly greater. They will meet you on all sides with Scripture quotations, and bring the examples of patriarchs and prophets to. sanction their adoption of old cus toms and ancient usages, but it is only on the side which tends to blacken and deform humanity. The great r*nd eminent 224 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. virtues of these same men are never set up as examples fol imitation. Their honesty, their truth, their moral integrity their unflinching adherence to the right, is made of little or no account ; but the one fault into which they were betrayed by the age, or the circumstances in which they lived, oh ! that is something to copy and applaud. We must blame the Mormons for reading our Bible as they do. You cannot open this book without finding on its eldest or newest leaves the purest and holiest lessons of truth and virtue, given in words that burn after the lapse of ages, yet all this they pass over with neglect and indifference. We blame them that they have retarded the progress of the age, and blackened the development of great and good ideas in the womb of time. The world, mankind, the nine- teenth century all demanded a teacher not to instruct them in the doctrines of a new faith, but to diffuse vitality into the old. They demanded a knowledge of the Infinite God, of the real man, not the fabulous, of actual divine Scrip- tures, not pregnant with dead forms and meaningless cere- monies, but filled with love, charity, and good-will to men. They wanted a live religion that should manifest itself in all the daily walk and conversation, as well on the broad high- way of letters, business, science, politics, or morals, as in the quiet seclusion of the cloister or the domestic shade. They asked a leader in a great religious movement, a pro- gressive enterprise. All things betoken this. Never before has the world witnessed such a grand conflict between the powers of light and darkness, between science and igno- FALSITY OF THE MOKMON SYSTEM. 225 ranee, between the crumbling systems of the past, and the rising phoenix of the present. We must blame the Mormons for rising up at such a time to deceive mankind with an egregious system of folly that copies the past in its vices, and looks for its future to the worst passions of men. We must blame them, that with such opportunities fdf doing good, they failed to do it, that in such a vast field of culture they only planted the old, dry, unprofitable weeds, which civilization and Christianity bad thrown away as vile and noxious, though superstition and barbarism had preserved the seeds. What if their followers are the poor, the lowly, even the stupidly ignorant, or the vile. Publicans and sinners were the companions of our Lord at table ; it was to babes in knowledge that the glorious tidings of the Gospel were revealed. Does it not show a remissness in our churches that these weak ones, whose souls, however, are as precious, and whose happiness is as much worth caring for, as that of the monarch on his throne that these weak ones, I say, should be left to herd with impostors, and swell the number of their dupes. Does it not prove that Christianity is no longer the glad tidings of great joy to all people, but rather to the rich and great. 226 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. M : CHAPTER XIII. REMOVAL MY NEW LANDLADY MISS SCOTT, ETC. "R. INK LEY came to my room one morning before I had arisen. There had never been any lock to tho door, and entrance was readily effected. Greatly surprised, I bade him " Good morning," while he seated himself with equal composure on the side of the bed. " Your sojourn with me has been pleasant, sir, very plea- sant," he began. " I have striven to make it so. I believe I have succeeded." " Yes," I replied, in rather a stereotyped phrase. " I have been quite as happy as could be expected." " And more so," he answered. " You could not certainly have expected to find such friends as you have found. Haven't I administered to your comfort in every way ? Haven't I gratified your curiosity, even at the expense of disgracing the church of which I am a leader ? And thi room what a beautiful room it is so apt and fit for lodg ing." FAMILY PEACE! 227 I replied that the apartment was quite satisfactory. " Then you will feel regret at leaving us, if only on that account." " Leave you, when ? I had not thought of leaving you till I left the country," I said, with some surprise, " unless, indeed, you desired it." " I have not desired it, no sir, not I j but a husband, though, presumed by the law of the States to be one with wife, is rather overshadowed when the number expands to three or four. Family peace, sir, is a great thing a very great thing ; a man must make sacrifices to secure that sacrifices, too, that are sometimes very trying to his feel- ings." " Am I then to understand, sir, that your wives desire my departure ?" " Exactly so, sir ; at least Sarah does." " In what have I been so unfortunate as to offend that lady ?" " Women are captious, sir very captious, capricious, and whimsical, of course you know that. Domestic peace, sir, is a great thing. Sorry that it is so, but can't help it ; spoiled children must be humored." " I understand ; if my presence has become obnoxious to Mrs. Inkley, I can only express sorrow for the fact, without the least idea of the cause." " Nothing, sir, just nothing. I believe it all originated in that conversation the other day, in which you rather favored the opinion of Martha." 228 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " But Mrs. Inkley certainly cannot blame a man for the free expression of his opinions." " Oh, she don't know herself. She's whimsical, that's all but domestic peace " Yes, domestic peace, and the idea that even my absence would secure that in a family with three wives, had some- thing in it strangely in contrast with the nature of things. I was not disposed, however, to make ill-natured remarks, especially as he offered me a letter of introduction to Mrs. Farrow, an amiable Mormon lady, who lived at the eastern end of the city. After breakfast I started out, soon made my way to that part of the town, found the good woman, presented my letter, and was well received. I was much pleased with the situation of her adobe cottage, and her own mild, intelli- gent countenance, and we soon struck a bargain. I removed thither immediately, and was acconmiodated with an agree- able, well-ventilated chamber, the windows of which looked out on some grounds, well laid out, and planted with beau- tiful flowers, native and exotic. The prospect is extensive, and stretches away on the south to a great distance ; north and east the mountains appear, through which the emigrant trains find their way into the valley. Mountains likewise appear on the western side, their summits tipped with snow the greater part of the year. Antelope Island, in the Salt Lake, is distinctly visible, though at a distance of twenty- two miles. Thus, the sublime and the beautiful of nature are wonderfully and harmoniously blended. MISS SNOW, THE POETESS. 229 Mrs. Farrow was an active, kind, and lady-like New Englander ; a rigid Mormon on all points except polygamy, which she seemed to thoroughly detest. She held a promi- nent position in society, and her house was the frequent resort of visitors. Among these Eliza Snow shone conspicu- ously. She is a pale, mild-eyed, silly-looking girl, though she aspires to poetic honors, and many of her productions have received the unqualified approbation of the immaculate Mormon leader ; yet, considered as literary efforts, they are beneath criticism. Her conversation is not more delectable than her poetry, and for conceited egotism was really unmatchable. . " I am not appreciated here," she said. " I cannot asso- ciate with kindred spirits ; there is no one to sympathize with my feelings. I must have a field of labor. I must go where I can spread myself." This she repeated several times, to my infinite amusement, while Mrs. Farrow's fat sides fairly shook with suppressed laughter. Miss Snow, however, did not seem in the least offended, and her exces- sive vanity is rendered pardonable by her great good nature. She came one day, and brought a poem in manuscript, from which she read extracts for our entertainment. There were words without ideas, and ideas struggling through a redun- dancy of words ; figures, metaphors, and similes without order or arrangement. When she finished, not a word was spoken, though she evidently expected the homage of flat- tery. The sincerest admirers of good poetry are always f most deeply disgusted with bad, and I really had the imper 230 THE HUSBAND IN" UTAH. tinence, on a subsequent occasion, to say that young damsels could be much better employed in household labors than in stringing together unmeaning rhyme. The poetess looked at her white and dimpled hand, which she boastingly asserted had never been soiled by dish-water. Her father is a man of considerable property, and the brother of Judge Snow, mentioned in a former part of this work. He evidently desires to make a fine lady of his daughter, and for that end has had her taught certain accomplishments, which here seem rather out' of place. Mrs. Farrow grows facetious over the fact of her continual visiting here, and the repeated invitations I receive to dine at her father's house. This gentleman, who bears the title of elder, called on me one day with his daughter. He was a little bustling man, with an affected consequential air. We conversed for some time on general topics, when sud- denly, and without any preamble or apparent confusion, he introduced the subject of his business by making some inqui- ries regarding mine. " You design to stay some time in our country ?" he said, inquiringly. " That depends on circumstances." " How would you like to make it your permanent resi- dence r I wished to be guarded, and returned an equivocal answer "It is a very fine country ; great chances for men of enterprise and talent. Large families can be supported with ease." ANGLING FOR A HUSBAND. 231 41 But I have no family." " I suppose not, just now, but will have probably." " Rather doubtful" " I should think otherwise. You must be in pursuit of a wife, what else could have brought you here ?" The idea of going to Salt Lake city for a wife was deci- dedly new, and excited a broad smile. The young lady tossed her head, tried to blush, and simpered, " Oh, papa 1" " Yes," he continued. " I've hit the nail on the head- that must be it Very well, it's all right. There must be marrying and giving in marriage till the day when we become like the angels." " I am afraid there is no such good luck in store for me." " Afraid 1 why man, how silly you be. The finest belles in Utah would consider themselves honored by your prefer- ence. Just try." I shook my head, " I know it ; ask my daughter there, she has a strong predilection for Gentiles." Again came the shrug and the simper, " Oh, papa !" "I declare she has," he continued with a loud laugh, " she told me so herself." Here the young lady really blushed in earnest, and I was half tempted to kick the old fellow out of the room. " But you don't permit your girls to marry among the Gentiles, do you ?" He twisted his mouth and features into the most ludicrous and extraordinary grimace imaginable, as much as to say 232 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. what a great spoony you must be i9 take professions for more than they intend. " It is contrary to the rules of our church," he said, pre- sently, " but girls will be headstrong, and parents easy, sometimes ; indeed I know of fathers, and mothers, too, as to that matter, who would rejoice to give their daughters to Gentile husbands, provided, in all cases, that their personal connivance to the affair could be kept concealed." " I thought that according to your creed a Mormon hus- band was essential to the salvation of the wife." " Yes, according to our creed, and there are many things in the creeds of certain sectaries, which in their hearts they know to be false. At any rate, speaking for myself, I would risk that for my daughter, if she could thereby obtain an advantageous settlement for life." . He spoke seriously, and with great deliberation. " Are there no such chances for a young and beautiful woman, among the people of your church ?" I inquired, doubtingly. He scanned my countenance with an eager yet curious expression, and said : " What I want for my daughter, and what some other parents wish for their daughters, is a home, and a true, faithful, loving heart, solely and unquestionably hers that will bear with her weaknesses, and strengthen her virtues. Ask your own knowledge of us, if such prospects as these open before a woman in matrimony, where custom, public opinion, and even religion, sanctions the espousal by the A DIRECT PKOPOSAL. 233 husband of so many wives. Polygamy never looked hateful to me till my daughter had nearly become its victim." "Your daughter!" " Yes, sir, my daughter. One of our neighbors, a great burly Briton, with seven wives, is a candidate for Eliza's hand, and Brother Brigham recommends the match. But she hates and despises him, and we cannot find it in our hearts to force her inclinations. And yet, according to our creed, disobedience to the prophet is a mortal sin." All this was said with a smiling cpuutenance and affected good nature, yet it was easy to see hoV deeply the parent's heart was touched. " Is your daughter's suitor a man of property and intelli- gence ?" I inquired. " He is not," replied the unhappy father. " Last winter his family were in a state actually bordering on starvation. He will not work at his trade, which he pretends is degrad- ing, and his only ostensible means of livelihood is that of a c@mic actor at the theatre. I could not describe the huts in which his wives are kept, and though on the boards he is all fun, frolic, mirth and glee, his private life is whispered to be quite another thing. And now, to come to the point, could not you prevent the marriage between him and my daughter ever taking place." I was surprised beyond measure, and the young lady, arose and left the room. " I prevent the marriage 1 how, pray ?" 231 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. "By marrying her yourself. I speak plain, necessity impels it." " Sir, I could not do that," I replied. " I respect the lady, but never thought of her as a wife; you may com- mand my services in any way that will not compromise my personal freedom and honor." I really sympathized with the father, who seemed pained and disappointed. " I fear then, that my poor girl must go to the altar of sacrifice," he said, " Persecution will be brought to bear upon us, and ultimately we shall be forced to yield." " Has she no relations to whom you could send her ?" " She has relatives to be sure, but how could she ever reach them ? I could not think of exposing her to the diffi- culties and dangers of such a journey." " You are an elder in this Church," I said, " why not have its iniquitous practices and laws abolished ?" " They are too deeply interwoven in our social system," he replied ; " too many are interested in perpetuating thega ; polygamy, like slavery, may be regarded as an evil .by the very ones who practise it. Then, too, the real power of the church, all exists in its acknowledged head. The elder comparatively is little more than the meanest member." " But, sir, you must have sensible and honest men among you, who once convinced that polygamy is an evil, would unite their energies to extirpate it. Whether or not they regarded it objectionable as husbands, if appealed to as fathers, their hearts would respond.'" EXCHANGE OF GIFTS. 235 He shook his head doubtingly. " You have sensible and honest men in the South, who question the policy, justice, and humanity of the peculiar institution which flourishes there, yet who are utterly impo- tent to remove it." After some more desultory conversation, the elder took his leave, his daughter having previously gone, when curio- sity led me to make some inquiries of Mrs. Farrow. She informed me that Elder Snow had six wives, who resided together in one large house that Eliza was the daughter of his first wife, a woman of some intelligence who evidently abhorred polygamy, and whose matronly instruc- tions had not fallen on barren ground. She laughed heartily at the elder's absurd proposal, and s^d she had been expect- ing it, though she gave little credit to his expressions of paternal feelings, and declared that other and sinister motives were at work in his mind. " Mormon fathers," she continued, " make no scruple of offering the hands of their daughters to marriageable men, and when the girls are beautiful or wealthy, they always require a consideration. They are not yet so lost to all feel- ings of shame or decency as to call it by its proper name, a lorn fide sale." " What, then, do they call it ?" " Oh, an exchange of gifts, or the son makes a present to his new father, or lends some valuable article or animal to him, with the understanding that it shall not be reclaim- ed.' 1 236 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " Do you think such things right or honorable ?" " Noj" she replied with emphasis. " Yet they are distinctive features of your Church." " I know that very well, I know that doctrine was prop- agated as a Revelation from Heaven, by the immaculate Joseph, yet I can tell how, in my opinion, the prophet was deceived." " I should like to hear." " Why, Satan came to him iii the form of an angel, and not being sufficiently fortified by faith and prayer, he was not able to detect the cheat, but received the devil's in- structions regarding polygamy, and kindred customs, as the veritable truth." " Well, that is saddling more on the Prince of Darkness than I should think him guilty of. There is no worse devil than a wicked man." Mrs. Farrow, however, said that she was careful not to talk loud, as she should hardly feel safe if the elders knew of her heresy. " Yet you do not suppose that they would injure you ?" " No, but they would probably expel me from the church with a curse, and then I should be overtaken by all sorts of calamities." " None the more for that you wouldn't," I said. " Oh, but I should," she replied, " I well know that. One man whom they cursed and expelled from the church, was struck by lightning the very next day. Another was bit by a serpent, swelled and died in the greatest agony K 237 and Sally Harman, whom I knew much better than I do you, became insane, and wandered among the mountains where she was eaten by a wolf." " But, Mrs. Farrow," I said, " all this is superstition. Such accidents always occur in the regular course of nature. The lightning strikes indiscriminately, the serpent bites an intruder, and insanity comes as the result of disease or the violation of a physical law, but in no case can it be super- induced as the result of such agencies as you suppose." The worthy dame, however, persisted that one fact was better than a thousand theories, that she had experienced in her own person the potent influences of the blessing of the church, and that nothing should induce her to try the experiment of daring its curse. Of course I was silenced, though not conquered. Notwithstanding her superstitious motives, Mrs. Farrow was a woman of decided intelligence, shrewd, ingenious, and keen as a brier in driving a bargain, when opposed to a wealthy or speculating character, though no one would more readily melt at a tale of woe, or respond with more heartiness to calls of charity. She kept a small shop or variety store, which was tended by one of her daughters, and was altogether a profitable concern. The sale of ready made clothing was not, perhaps, the least thriving branch of her trade, and the assistance it enabled her to give poor women, was one of its most satisfactory results. She bought grain, flour, pork, beef, anything eatable, which she retailed in small quantities, to such housekeepers as worked 238 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. for her, or if they preferred money, it was readily given. II was not in her nature to grind the poor for the increase of riches, and many a blessing have I heard invoked on her head, by the miserable recipients of her kindness and charity. One day, while sitting in her snug little parlor, which was a model of neatness and comfort, I caught the glimpse of a woman just entering the store. It was but a glimpse, yet something in her carriage and appearance forcibly re- minded me of Miss Scott. The door between the two apartments being partly open, I could hear the plaintive tones of a melodious voice, without being able to distinguish the words. When she retired, I observed that she carried with her a small bundle, probably of sewing, and a basket that contained something covered by a paper. Mrs. Farrow soon came into the parlor, and her eyes were red, as if with recent tears. I was reading a novel, which observing, she remarked, with a sad smile, " How many scenes in real life exceed in misery and despair the most high-wrought crea- tions of fancy." " And yet," I answered, " misery of that description is mostly self-made." " So much the worse for the sufferer; for then to his or her .other tortures are added those of remorse. A young woman just left me, whose whole appearance was so indica- tive of sorrow and destitution, that without asking her name or requiring a reference, as usual, I gave her the work she desired, and added thereto a small quantity of provisions. CLEARING UP MY CHARACTER. 239 Poor thing ! her expressions of gratitude really overcame me." " Then you did not know her ?" "I did not." " I wish you had." "Why?" " Because I half suspect that she is a girl in whom I am deeply interested." A blank look of amazement settled on the countenance of the worthy daine. " Oh, I hope not, indeed, I really hope not," she re- plied. 11 Can you tell me where she lives ?" " I cannot," she answered, gravely. " But why should you wish to know 1" I had sunk immeasurably in her opinion, and deemed it necessary to exculpate myself from the rumor the unworthy suspicion aroused in her mind. So, without further parley, I related all that I knew about Miss Scott, with her father's deep anxiety, and the interest which, for his sake, I had taken in her fate. Mrs. Farrow listened attentively, and when I had finished, expressed her conviction that Miss Scott and the person* with whom she so deeply sympathized were identical. She would make further inquiries, she said, and if the supposi- tion proved correct, we would take measures for restoring her to her father. I was not kept long in suspense. The next day she 24:0 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. returned with the work, and Mrs. Farrow at once intro- duced the subject, by inquiring if her name was Scott. She replied, with some little hesitation, that it was. " And you came hither in an emigrant train for Califor- nia ?" continued the matron. Her auditor assented. "And would you be willing to return to your father should an opportunity present ?" " But would it be possible for my father to forgive and receive me ?" she said, bursting into a passion of tears. Mrs. Farrow assured her that there could be no doubt of it, and concluded by recommending her departure in the first emigrant train, declaring that she would supply the funds for all necessary expenses. Miss Scott expressed her readiness to go, and gave a general outline history of her trials in Mormondom. She had never ceased to regret the first false step in her life ; her carelessness and neglect of parental teaching and advice. Disobedience, she said, led her to form an acquaint- ance, and ultimately a more intimate connection with the young lieutenant. Disobedience led her to fly with him from her best and truest friend, and then, as the meed of her folly, she had met shame, desertion, and disgrace. Before she had lived a month with Fitzgerald, her seducer, he became weary of her, left her for days, and even weeks, without fuel or food, at which times she would be obliged to go out and beg a scanty supply from her neighbors. These generally were most ungracious, and never failed to express their abhorrence of her degraded condition ; for, strange as it may appear, the sixth wife of a, Mormon holds in supreme contempt the unfortunate female who may become a mother without the sacred name of wife, or one whose connection with a lover has not been sanctioned by the marriage tie. She could have borne all this, she said, as a merited punishment, but the Mormon libertines taking advantage of her unprotected condition, began to insult her with disgust- ing proposals, of which even Fitzgerald urged her accept- ance. This aroused her temper. She reproached him with her betrayal and ruin ; he retorted. Words changed to blows. He struck her with the flat side of his sword, and left the house. She never saw him afterwards. Dependent on her own exertions, without relatives or friends, she drank deeply the cup of bitterness and humilia- tion Her first efforts were at nursing, but she soon became disgusted. There was plenty of employment, but little pay. Then she was cheated by one, swindled by another, while a third would accuse her of laziness, and refuse her remunera- tion on the plea that she earned nothing. What was almost equally as bad, many families were so crowded in small incon- venient rooms, that the recovery of the patient was almost impossible, when the blame, instead of resting where it ought, would be thrown on the nurse. In one family there were three wives, eight children, and one old grandmother, witji the husband and grandfather, besides a table, chairs, one bed, two benches, a cupboard; and cook-stove, all in one small apartment, eighteen by sixteen. The bed contained 11 242 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. the sick woman, whose recovery, for a long time, wag doubtful, though the only wonder was, how, amid so much noise and heat, pestiferous vapor, and suffocating smells, she could have ever recovered at all. But Miss Scott had other difficulties. The husbands in whose families she found employment, almost invariably solicited her to become a member of their seraglios, and sometimes she found it extremely difficult to escape their importunities. For this she had been persecuted in various ways, and it was extremely difficult for her to supply herself with bread. The next day I sought the commander of an emigrant train, about to depart for California, and gained permission for her to accompany it, Frederick B also departed with, them, ELIZA ENOW MARRIES BROTHER BRIGHAM. 243 CHAPTER XIV. CONVERSATIONS WITH AN ELDER ON POLYGAMY, AND THE FUTURE OF THE MORMONS THEIR NATIONAL AND SOCIAL POLICY, ETC. FT! HOUGH a rigid Mormon, Mrs. Farrow was too much JL of a woman not to delight in speaking her mind, and her natural ideas of right and wrong were much too clear and perspicuous to be readily confused by the chaos of Mor- mon opinions and practices. Then, too, as not a particle of deceit harbored in her heart, she could not bear to see it in others. " It's just as I thought," she said, one day at breakfast, " Eliza Snow has become the wife of Brother Brigham." " I thought the governor favored her marriage with another man." " Well, I suppose he did at first, but she was averse to marrying him, and declared her determination to take a Gentile husband." " And to prevent this he concluded to marry her him- self?" " I suppose so." 24:4: THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " Rather unprofitable business," I said, and taking up my hat, went out for a walk. Sauntering along the streets, I came to a beautiful garden, the property of a man by the name of Sayres. His wife is a rigid Mormon, though he denounces the whole system as an abomination. He came here to gratify her absurd notions, and, for the sake of family peace, tolerates her ridiculous absurdities. Garden- ing is his ruling passion. He is an extravagant lover of flowers, and many a floral curiosity has he found in this region. He contemplates making a collection of all the plants native to the Basin, which will be a valuable addition to botany. A large plot of ground is thus most tastefully arranged, and clumps of beautiful and ornamental shade trees, stationed at regular intervals, with garden-chairs and benches for the accommodation of visitors. Several ladies, some bright little girls, and two or three of the elders, were promenading the walks. One of them came up, and cour- teously addressed me. He seemed an agreeable man, and we soon entered into conversation. He was decidedly intel- ligent, and appeared to anticipate all the objections that could be raised against the peculiarities of their social sys- tem. He seemed candid, sincere, and tolerant, though whether with reality or not I cannot pretend to say. In reply to some remarks of his, I said that it seemed to me that the elders and leaders of the church were permitted to exercise a permanent influence upon the character of the people, through their legislative and social power ; and that such influence could scarcely fail to be undemocratic, unjust, CONVERSATION WITH .A MORMON ELDER. 245 and unsuitable to the jurisdiction and general principles of the federal government, though not unpardonable, and pro- bably not incapable of salutary change. " It must be evident to the most casual observer, that the exercise of power by one part of the people over the remain- der will affect unfavorably the character of the whole," I continued, " and the more readily the poorer and weaker class submit to the tyranny of the richer and mightier, the greater will be the injury to their true interests, and the deeper their moral and political degradation.* He replied, with perfect good humor, by referring to dif- ferences in opinions, feelings, and sentiments, and expressed his firm belief that polygamy had been, and would be, a great blessing to both male and female, individually and socially, though, if I understood him rightly, the advantages were prospective rather than otherwise, after all. He said that polygamy would be much more salutary and effective than law, public opinion, and religion, or all combined, to eradicate certain evils, which always had, and always would flourish under a system of monogamy, to say nothing of the fearful diseases and such crimes as infanticide, which almost invariably attend illicit connections, though rarely if ever occurring under a system of marriage so extensive and complicated as that of the Mormons. "Your Eastern cities," he said, "point the finger of scorn at us in their true pharisaic spirit, yet how well might we retort by referring to the courtesans that throng their streets, to the innocent infants, mutilated, drowned, or left 246 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. to the tender mercies of strangers, that swell their criminal reports, of deaths occasioned by nameless hideous ways ; all of which prove that in their midst is a vice stalking at noonday that their most stringent laws have no power to remove or obliterate. And of all these crimes we are clear, thank God l(i.) " You mean that in name these crimes do not exist among you ; in fact, they certainly do," I replied. "As how? There is no such thing as concubinage, because all are married ; there can be no illegitimate chil- dren, because all are born in wedlock ; mothers are never induced by shame or the sternness of public opinion, to sacrifice their offspring ; how then can you say that the crimes which I have instanced as part of your system belong to ours r(j.) Our conversation was long, and his defense of polygamy sophistical and eloquent. Gradually I led him on to speak of the future of his people of their hopes and aspirations. Yet few Mormons are idealists. With the single excep- tion of the Jews, no sectaries are more truly practical. Their sermons and conversations relate particularly to pros- perity in this world. Only a part of the females, the stupidly ignorant, and the half-insane, are visionaries. The remainder are much more ambitious of honor and wealth in this world, than desirous of the treasure that neither moth nor rust can 'corrupt. The Mormon leaders, as a general thing, are cautious and discreet in the expression of their views or plans for the future. It is against their purpose PKOSPPCCTS OF MORMONISM. 247 to excite suspicion, or arouse the jealousy of a government which they secretly hate. Only on extraordinary occasions they wax eloquent, and you can gather from cautiously- worded phrases, a sufficient insight into the boldness and originality of their schemes. " Mormonism," said the elder, "has escaped the serpents that would have destroyed it in its cradle the Protestant and the Catholic church. Great events which it will take centuries to ripen, are in embryo. The beginning of the end is at hand. The miserable intrigues and subterfuges that deny to us the right of self-government, cannot always be tamely endured. We have yearly accessions of wealth and strength, and shall soon be in a position to command respect before the nations of the world." "Do the Mormons, then, desire to establish an indepen- dent nation ?" I inquired, coming at once to the point. " Such may be their destiny in the nature of things. We have all the elements of a distinct nationality. Our country is peculiarly fitted for self-reliance and defense. The Great Basin, with its own system of lakes and rivers, its fertile soil, mild climate, and mineral productions ; above all its central position on the great line of travel from east to west, from north to south, could easily support millions of people, whose mountain passes would be as capable of stern defence as Thermopylae, and whose warriors in the cause of freedom and religion might defy the world.? " But will your people have the temerity tolrebel against the Federal Government ?" 248 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " Nothing can be further from their thoughts than rebel lion in the present state of things, or while the Federal Government continues the liberal and enlightened policy which mostly distinguishes it; but secret agencies are at work, the seeds of revolution have been planted. In less than a century, two distinct and separate confederacies will arise, phrenix-like, from the ruins of your present government. Then it will remain for us, on the western border, to assert our rights, our dignity, and our independence, with a pros- pect of success." " If you wait till then, it will be a long, a very long time," I said. "But what matters that?" he continued. "We can afford to wait for great events, or the acquisition of some abounding good ; and compared to eternity, or the long lapse of future ages, how a century dwindles into insignifi- cance I Yes," he continued, clasping his hands with fervor, " we can afford to wait for that which will surely come." " But suppose it ccmes not ?" " That were impossible from the very nature of things. The clouds have already gathered on the horizon, there is the deep mutter of the earthquake which precedes the shock, the hollow moan of the volcano that indicates an explosion. Look at your Congress, wasting their time in silly intrigues and worthless cabals, while the real business of the adminis- tration, and the true interests of the people are neglected. And does not every year witness a further dereliction from duty, a more wasteful expenditure of the public money, a MANIFEST DESTINY. 24:9 more shameful and shameless disposition to discord, and the subjugation of public business to private animosity. As the states expand and the population increases, the nature of your government requires the increase of the representa- tives in exact ratio. This accession of numbers will aug- ment rather than diminish the difficulty. It is idle to sup- pose that a country so vast, with such separate interests, and clashing institutions, can be held together by the bands of a government so complicated in its machinery, and so defective in all that constitutes the true muscle of adminis- trative power. Your laws are much better adapted to secure the happiness of a small state than consolidate the provinces of a Continent in one huge Empire." " And do you believe all this ?" " Most certainly I do, and your people believe it, too> however loth to confess the fact. Very few have faith in the perpetuity of your institutions. Some openly prophesy the rupture ; others fear, yet deprecate the idea, but it has found a place in the minds of all." " That is certainly too much the case." " Manifest destiny has a meaning with us," he continued " The Mormon church has been denounced as a humbug, and compared with Millerism, and other sects of ephemeral existence, but such is not the case. It is n<*t a sect, but a faith, and the only faith at present in the world, that has a future before it." " I do not understand you," I said. " I mean," he resmed, " that as past religious history 11* 250 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. belongs to the East, the future depends on the West Christianity has had its day. It arose in Asia, passed stead- ily over Europe, and gained the Continent of America, reflecting in its passage some scattering rays over the northern parts of Africa. But the Catholic church can never be more powerful than it is. Protestantism has reached its culminating point. Mohammedanism is without either prestige or power, and the future is ours." I smiled at his enthusiasm. " You think me an enthusiast ; very well," he went on. " But great effects spring from little causes. We know that the Genoese navigator never dreamed of discovering a new world when he set sail for Cipango and the distant regions of India. When the Apostle of Mecca explained his first Revelation to a jeering, hooting crowd, what stretch of imagination would have reached the vast empires to be sub- jugated in his namel In the earliest days of Christianity, who would have thought it possible that the instrument of torture to a malefactor would become the symbol of rank and honors that warriors would carry it on their standards, and kings on their bosoms. Yet Christianity progressed with slower steps than Mormonism has done ; at the end of three years Mohammed had made one convert, and that one his wife ; Joseph Smith had as many thousand follow- ers in that length of time. Has the world ever witnessed a parallel to our success ?" " Seldom, I believe." " Yet our mission is only begun, our destiny, instead of CONSCIOUS SECURITY. 251 being accomplished is only commenced. We have a vast interior and almost impregnable country, stretching away to the north and the south, the east and the west ; and all this country is to be filled up with people of one faith, actuated by the same designs and desires." " But you forget that this country is already inhabited and occupied." " By whom ?" he inquired, with some surprise. " The natives, of course." "Oh, that is nothing," he replied with contempt. " The Indians are doomed to extirpation, or extermination. That is their future, quite as certain as the other is ours." "And the Mormons, you think, will remain peaceful members of our Confederacy until there comes a general rupture between the North and the South." " Probably, if our social and domestic institutions are not meddled with if we are not required to abolish polygamy, or the union of church and state ; but under other circum- stances our allegiance would be doubtful." "Yet, what could you promise yourselves by rebellion against a power so much stronger than yours ?" " Not so much stronger, either, when all is considered. Our mountains and deserts would supply the place of for* tresses and armies, and our triumph would be secure because defeat would be impossible." " There might be something in that." I said, wishing by a seeming harmony in views to lead him on. " You must know, and your government must know, that 252 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. our dependence on it is by a very precarious tenure, We have laws with their administration, regulations with their prescribed forms, social institutions with their ceremonies, and a religious faith with its priesthood and ordinances and all of our own. We are necessary to them, not they to us." 11 How will you make that appear ?" " How will I make it appear ?" he replied. " I should think it would be obvious to the most casual observer. What would be the fate of your emigrants if they had to traverse a hostile country, or if refused the necessary rest and refreshment after their long travel, Jtfight not a descent on the Gold Region be tempting on one side to human cupi- dity, and extremely dangerous and detrimental on the other. Your government can well afford sacrifices to conciliate us, "We ask nothing of it only to be left alone." There can be no doubt but that this man spoke the truth The Mormons desire no affiliation with us, our faith, or social institutions; all they ask is to be left alone. It is the wish of their leaders, it is in the hearts of the people. You will hear it verbally, and tacitly expressed in a thousand ways. " We can take care of ourselves," is their constant and oft-recurring sentiment " We want nothing of them," " Why do they follow us ?" These, and similar expressions are common with all. In no country have I ever heard such frequent reference made to spies. If a beggar comes to the door and solicits charity, he is instantly suspected of being a spy. If a A BRIGHT FUTURE. 253 stranger passes along the streets he is supposed to be of the same character. Such constant suspicion argues to my mind anything but the consciousness of innocence, or the firm rectitude that never shrinks from observation. " And you consider this country capable of supporting a dense population !" I said, addressing the Elder. " I do not know of one whose capabilities are greater," he replied, " or whose resources for undeveloped wealth are more vast and complicated. Extensive territories wait for # men to come and possess them. A soil never broken by the plow only asks tillage and cultivation to rival the famous fertility of the East. Hidden ores and metals sleep uncared for in the bowels of the earth. We might supply the world with salt for centuries, without exhausting the abundance of that indispensable article. Our hills are richer in pasture than the famed and famous Land of Goshen. Think of the time when all these facilities for exhaustless wealth shall be in progress of development, when tele- graphs shall span our mountains, and railroads traverse the valleys, while every ship wings to us from all quarters of the globe the glory and honor of the Gentiles, and the devotees of our faith pour out their treasures in offerings on its shrines." , Whether or not the Mormons are destined to occupy the distinguished position in the world to which they aspire, is at present problematical. That stranger things have hap- pened, is undeniable; that weaker beginnings have astounded the world with mighty results is equally certain, and no one 254 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. who has sufficiently examined their prospects and character, will be surprised if long before the vexed question of slavery is laid aside, another should arise in connection with them quite as intricate and complicated. It seems to me that few have looked on them or their creed in the philosophical light they deserve. The one is considered a humbug ; the others dupes and impostors. Yet similar humbugs have been of vigorous growth and long continuance, and what finds favor among men in the present age will probably be quite as readily received by the next. But whether these speculations have a founda- tion in fact or in fancy, the future must decide, and another generation will probably be able to judge with cer- tainty. Our long colloquy ended, and I bade my friend farewell with a feeling of regret. He was a graduate of Old Har- vard, and was closely connected with some of the most distinguished families in Massachusetts. We parted near the Tithing office, and I never saw him more. Two days after, I received intimation that he had been dispatched on a secret and highly important mission to a foreign land. Yet this man, according to Mrs. Farrow's statement, had three wives, one of them old enough to be his mother, ano ther middle-aged, and the third a mere child. I know very well that such things appear incredible, but they are no less facts, nor was he a solitary example of misdirected intelligence. Elder Snow had made the tour of Europe, and conversed with ease and elegance of the beauties of art in INTELLIGENT ELDERS. Paris and Italy, while the companion of his travels, Elder Smith, .was a graduate of Yale, and possessed an extensive acquaintance with ancient and modern languages, and gene- ral and classical literature. 253 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. CHAPTER XV. THE MARKETS OF SALT LAKE CITY SHOP-KEEPERS STREET- VENDERS OF MERCHANDISE MANUFACTURES AND MECHANIC ARTS. IN a city of twenty-five or thirty thousand stationary inhabitants, with an almost equal number of transient visitors, the markets cannot be an insignificant feature, though not connected with the most pleasant associations, or suggestive of the most refined ideas. But the markets are capital places to study the varieties of life. The work-shops and small stores present at every step subjects for characteristic sketches, and set forth the every-day aspect of the common people. The piety of the Mormon does not at all prevent his being extremely fond of a good bargain, and, ten chances to one, if it stands in the way of his committing a regular, downright swindle, should an opportunity occur. The markets are well supplied with the usual comestibles of civilized life ; fish, flesh, and fowl abound, with all sorts of vegetables, butter, and cheese. Little tables are usually SHOP-KEEPERS. 257 set out in conspicuous places, with cakes, candies, and con- fectionaries, around which gather gay groups of soldiers, women, and children, laughing and chatting with all possible familiarity. You are surprised at the quantities of foreign wares conspicuously displayed in the windows. You had ^carcely expected to find French gloves or Wellington boots. You think, perhaps, that the display of silks, costly shawls, and velvets, must be rather out of place. You begin to question in what manner they could ever have come here* forgetful that gold possesses a magic power that attracts everything which can be exchanged for it. But there are many shops of less pretention, devoted to the sale of second-hand or inferior articles,, with clothes, hose, and similar goods of home-made manufacture. You soon discover that the keepers of these establishments pos- sess a peculiar aptitude for trade. In dexterity and cun- ning they seem even to surpass the Jews. You are surrounded in a moment by a dozen eager traders, all intent on selling you something, and each seeming to vie with the others in setting forth the value and utility of his wares. You cannot help feeling amused at the strange mixture of barbarous English, guttural German, and idio- matic French that reaches your ears ; for these shop- keepers are nearly all foreigners, and by them almost every nation in Europe is represented. You are attracted by a little Frenchman, whose use of his tongue seems most dex- trous, and enter his door with the fixed determination that % you will not purchase anything, because just then there is 258 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. nothing you want. The Frenchman is all assiduity and attention. " What will you have, sir ? Boots, stocks ;" and he runs over a long list of articles with a glibness of tongue per- fectly astonishing, meanwhile watching your eye to discover on what article it fastens. As yet' you are unacquainted with his art, and look carelessly and indifferently around, till a beautifully embroidered buffalo-robe meets your gaze. Of course you have no use for that ; it is in the midst of sum- mer, and you are thousands of miles away from home. It would be preposterous to swell your baggage with useless articles, but you can ask the price. The Frenchman, how- ever, anticipates you. " Monsieur has well chosen," he says. " This is the most beautiful article of the kind in the market. Lord George Gordon, I think it was, won't be sure about the name, but at any rate he was an English lord, bought three of them from an Indian princess. One he designed as a present to Queen Victoria, the other he wished to keep for his lady, and the third I obtained as a reward for doing his lordship a very great service." " Indeed 1" " Just look, what soft, long, exquisite fur. I have been in the fur trade these many years, and never yet saw its equal." After much chaffering and bargaining, more for amuse- ment than anything else, you are induced to name a price, though not a fourth of the sum that he has named as the SECOND-HAND SHOPS. 259 lowest lie can take The words have scarcely escaped your lips, when he flings it over your shoulders, and the only course left for you is to count the gold. The shops devoted to the sale of second-hand goods are quite as characteristic and interesting. Surely such a col- lection of worn-out dilapidated merchandise was never before seen. The people are as singular as the wares offered for sale. Here are two women holding a solemn council over a superannuated frock, which one would think entirely worth- less. Close by is another, driving a hard bargain for a battered bonnet of Parisian make, which has served as an ornament and protection to probably a dozen heads, and has finally found its way into this repository of antiquities. Here is one of the few places in which you will find a crowd. In general the streets are so broad, and the houses cover so small a portion of the ground, that you might almost fancy yourself in a town deserted by its inhabitants. But here the crowd, and throng, and press, are sufficient to make it all up. You look around, and wish yourself away, and the wish preludes the attempt to get away. In this you are obstructed by some venders of street merchandise, who cry their wares in your ears with downright effrontery, or block- ade the passage, so that you must either stop or run over them ; of course you prefer the former. It is amusing to see how the associations of polygamy have entered into all their ideas of life. They do not seem to think it possible that a man can have one wife without more, and they take it for granted that he has one. If you deny it, they will 260 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. not believe you, but persist in urging you to buy combs, needles, pins, tapes, and similar articles indispensable to the female toilet, though of no possible use to a bachelor. " Buy this for your wife, sir, and this, and this all alike, or one just as good as the other ; can't be no quarrelling then." " But I have no wife, never had." " Never had a wife ; that can't be. You are joking ; you look like a sensible man, and sensible men always marry." " Do they, indeed ?" " Ah, yes." " But I am too young." " Too young ! That's a good one. Ha ! ha I ha 1 But a man who wears a moustache is always old enough to have a wife." " That may be ; but age' does not always decide these things." " Well, one thing is certain, if you have no wife, you are no Mormon." " No, I am not." " Well, let that go then, but you must buy something/ You shake your head. " Yes, you must ; these things were made to sell and to nse. By not buying, you defeat the intention of the origin- ator ; you take bread from the mouths of my wives. Buy them, for charity's sake." " Wives " you catch at the word, if only for the sake of relieving yourself of his importunities. MANUFACTURES. " How many wives have you ?" you inquire, dubiously. To suggest that he had only one would probably be con- sidered an insult, as some of the Mormons rate their respec- tability by the number of their wives. He tells you three, four, or probably six or seven, not unfrequently representing them more numerous than they really are. " Do you not find it difficult to get along peaceably with so many women ?" " I pay no attention to their squabbles. I find that much the best plan. If they get to quarrelling, I let them take it out over the face and eyes, and I tell you what, they have pretty warm work sometimes." You perhaps tell him that the whole system is an abomi- nation, when he laughs in your face, refers you to great examples, and persists in teasing you to buy. Finally, to escape the persecution, you purchase something, a trinket, perhaps, or fine-tooth comb, but be sure it is something you do not -want, and for which you have no use. Manufactures are rarely carried on in youthful communi- ties, with the approved appliances of machinery driven by steam or water power. Flour is indispensable to human life and comfort, consequently we find that mills are among the first appendages to all civilized societies. Next come the manufacture of cotton and woollen cloths, and the simpler mechanic trades of shoemaking, tailoring, and the like. Both wool and flax of very good quality abound in Utah, and many of the more extensive farmers take infinite pains 262 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. to improve their breeds of sheep. There can be no doubt that when the increase of population demands it, and suffi- cient inducements are offered, extensive manufactories rivalling those of the East will be put in operation. At pre- sent, the females card, spin, and weave much after the fashion of our grandmothers, and some of the most beautiful blankets and the finest linen I ever beheld, was shown to me, with commendable pride, as being the work of their skillful fingers. It must not be supposed that the Mormons are all concentrated in Salt Lake City. A vast extent of territory is being rapidly filled up with them. In the country, too, that is, on the farms, where the women have constant and regular employment where one weaves, and another spins, the third attends to the dairy, and the fourth is house- keeper where there is plenty of the comforts, and many of the luxuries of life, polygamy seems to be attended by fewer evils, and to be the occasion of much less discomfort than in more confined situations, though of course the immorality of the practice is the same. The attention of the Mormons seems to have been early attracted to the manufacture of sugar from the beet-root. In 1852, a complete set of machinery for that purpose was imported thither at immense cost, and, after some delay, put in operation. The raising of beets excited a, furore for the time in Mormondom, almost equal to the Multicaulis mania in the Eastern States. Gardens, fields, and even house- yards were planted with the saccharine vegetable. But the want of sufficiently experienced and competent workmen waa AVERSION TO OUTSIDERS. 263 severely felt. The cost of sugar production was found to greatly exceed that ( of importation, to say nothing of the superior quality of the latter. The experiment, though not a success, could not be considered an absolute failure. The practicability was tested, and probably some future age may reap the benefits of it. The Mormons are exceedingly adverse to dependence on outsiders, characterized by them as Gentiles. This disposi- tion might tend to facilitate their progress in the mechanic arts, but they are almost equally opposed to profiting by the superior skill, knowledge, and attainments of those who, from education or principle, are opposed to their domestic institutions and their church. 264 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. CHAPTER XVI. SCHOOLS LITERATURE INTRODUCTION TO ELDER KIMBALL, ETC. AS might be supposed, the Mormon schools have nothing to boast of, being little more than an appanage of the church, where the children and youth may be trained in its doctrines, and brought up in habits of unlimited obedience to its requirements. The elders appoint the teachers, select the books, and superintend the general affairs of all con- nected with them. The Catholic Church in its palmy days never manifested more jealousy of heretical doctrines, or was more vigorous in the expulsion of all works considered of that tendency. " What sciences do they teach, then ?" you question. " What principles of political or domestic economy are instilled into the tender minds of their youth ?" My dear friends, I cannot tell you ; but of one thing you may be sure ; it is nothing of a democratic tendency, it is nothing that can be presupposed to give them an indepen- dence of thought or feeling, but directly the reverse. A SCHOOL-TEACHER. 265 The school teachers are generally old, decrepit persons, who would be objects of charity if not thus provided for. One of these ladies, females are all ladies in this age, came one day to the house of Mrs. Farrow to purchase necessa- ries, as she termed it. These consisted of half a pint of molasses, half a pound of coffee, three candles, and an ounce of tea. I thought she must be well qualified to give the children lessons in economy. She was altogether one of the most remarkable specimens of womanhood I had seen in Utah tall, though much bent, stout, bony, square-cor- nered with cold, yet eager grey eyes, grim aspect, and great volubility. A paralytic attack had deprived her of the use of one side, her arm was useless, and she was obliged to walk with a crutch. Indeed, she was down on the list as a pauper, till Brigham Young, actuated either by motives of charity or the desire to relieve the church of a burden, gave her the appointment of school-teacher, with the under- standing that in such a situation she must take care of her- self. Yet this singular woman had seen better days. Some- where in the states she had a husband and children, but their hearts having proved too hard to be softened by the new revelation, she abandoned them in the company of the first Great Prophet's family. She had one thousand dollars in her own right, and after managing to get hold of this the rogue, by the power of a special revelation, deliver- ed her over to the keeping of another. She remained with him a year, when he died, and she was left without friends 12 266 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. or means. But she had great industry, and having cast her lot with the saints, would not be separated from them. So she floated along in the current of emigration to Salt Lake City, working all the time like a slave. " How many scholars, have you ?" I inquired, when in- formed of her profession. "No particular number, sometimes near forty, and at others not over ten." " Then the children are not regular in attendance." " I don't think it makes much difference," she replied. " They do little besides knitting, sewing, and saying their catechism." " Manual labor, and theology," I suggested. " Do you not teach grammar ?" " Grammar, no ; what's the use of grammar ? 1 never could see any sense in it, and very much doubt if any body else can. I wish my scholars to understand what pertains to their sa-lvation, rather than the wisdom of this world, which fadeth away." " But, madam, life and its trials are here." She turned curtly away and made no answer. Yet so far as I could learn, she was a tolerably fair example of the class of school-teachers; but priestcraft, all the world over, has been afraid of knowledge. The spirit of the age demands a school of some kind. It might be dangerous to refuse, hence the school is established, but is contrived to be only an accessory of superstition. The Mormons have what they call a Library, though it INTRODUCTION TO ELDEK KIMBALL. 267 i& not very well supplied with books. To make up the deficiency, however, the works, as a general thing, were well (selected. Hume and Paine found a place side by side with Robertson and Volney. The most approved histories of ancient and modern times were conspicuously displayed, but there was little poetry, and less light literature, though a few standard novels were there, among which I particularly noticed the works of Dickens and Marryatt. While conversing with the librarian, Elder Kimball was seen approaching. I knew him to be one of the first men in the place, and when he entered we were introduced. He was very sociable, expressed great pleasure at seeing me, though I doubted his sincerity, and even went so far as to insinuate a desire that I would make his country my perma- nent home, declaring that it was one of the finest places on the earth, that the beauty of the climate, the magnificence of the scenery, and the fertility of the soil were altogether unsurpassed. He then expatiated largely on the unity and brotherly love that prevailed the obedience and fecundity of the wives with the wealth and generous tempers of the husbands. I was not disposed to controvert his position, but made some inquiries about the general appreciation of literature, and whether or not the use of the library were permitted to all indiscriminately. The librarian iQoked at the elder, and for a moment his countenance changed. 268 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " To all indiscriminately," he replied, " with certain reser- vations and exceptions, that mean nothing." " But meaning nothing, why are they made ?" He laughed lightly, and turning to the librarian, inquired if I had seen " those choice manuscripts." As I had not; they were immediately produced. The one was a volume of poems by Eliza Snow, of which the- principal ones have been published in the Deseret News. They were written in a fine, though legible running hand, and were much more interesting as a specimen of chirograpliy than as poetry. The other was on the subject of theology, by Parley Pratt. " These works have never been published ?" I said. " They have not," he answered. " We prize them very highly, and that is probably the reason why they have never been published." " Indeed." " Certainly ; there can be no doubt that if given to the!" world there would be a diversity of sentiment about them ; at present there can be but- one." " An original reason, truly." " You must remember," continued the elder, " that the Mormon church is yet in its infancy. Under the pressure of persecution, misrepresentations, and false doctrines from without, there could be little encouragement for the exercise of original genius. We value these works rather for what they portend than for what they are. The Mormon people THE FUTURE FOEETOLD BY THE PAST. 269 are yet in a Chaos ; every part of the globe has contributed a quota to swell our numbers. They come with dissimilarity of tastes, feelings, sympathies, and views. When these discordant elements are blended into one, will be the time for us to produce great things in art, and make striking discoveries in physical science and not till then." " You design to monopolize the future ?" " In part, and to speak in common parlance, who has a better right ? Our people are now accomplishing the first part of their mission the conquest of material nature. Long ages antecedent to Homer, the Greeks produced nothing in literature worthy of the name, but they were preparing the way for that lord of song. What generations succeeded the advent of Plato and Demosthenes, of Phidias and Praxiteles 1 The eternal city was in the bloom of its matured strength before the birth of Cicero and Virgil, and the Italian people did not at once burst out into Dante and J^ichael Angelo. What felling of forests, maraudings, and piracies preceded in Germany the appearance of Goethe, Schiller, and Jean Paul, with wars of the Roses, Crusades, and martyrdoms in England, before a Shakespeare or Milton could see the light 1" " Heaven grant that the Mormon people may be spared such an ordeal," I said, half involuntarily. "Amen," he responded. "But do you then cherish a fraternal feeling with them ?" " As belonging to the great brotherhood of mankind, I must, and do." 270 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " I honor your sincerity," he replied. " Few come here with any other purpose in view than to turn us, and all we possess, into disgrace. They determine to be dissatisfied from the first, and with the utmost want of politeness and good breeding themselves, demand the most rigid courtesy of us. In their sight, we are no longer men, but beasts. I suppose they would deny us the privilege of living or breath- ing if they could. One woman who stopped here on her way to California, made great complaints that she was not treated with proper deference, because some men on the other side of a bridge preferred to walk over previous to her. Yet this same woman, lady I will not call her, never hesitated to quiz any one and everybody who came in her way, demanding of women how many wives their husbands might have, and questioning little children about their father's families." " Disagreeable, certainly." " Outrageous, scandalous," he persisted. " If they do not like us, all they have to do is to let us alone ; it is all we ask ; our protection and dependence is all of ourselves. We ask no assistance from an arm of flesh." I have reason to believe, indeed I know, that similar feel- ings are generally cherished. They only wish to hold com- munication with the " Gentiles " when such intercourse can be made beneficial to themselves, and contribute to forward their impious designs. After much more desultory conversation, the elder invited me to attend a cotillion party at his house, which was to AN INVITATION ACCEPTED. 271 come off in a few days, and to which the principal digni- taries of the church had been invited. In reply, I informed him that I had made arrangements for departure from that place, but would postpone my jour- ney for a few days, and should be happy to attend. 272 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. CHAPTER XVII. DECEPTIONS RASCALITIES DUPES IMPOSTORS PARLEY PRATT HIS SCHEMES TO RAISE MONEY A BEREAVED HUSBAND AND FATHER, ETC. MORMONISM, from first to last, is a system ot delusion and imposition, consequently the votaries of that faith can only be regarded in the light of impostors. Yet we cannot for a moment doubt that many of the weak-minded and ignorant men, and still more of the women, are actually sincere in their belief, and would probably endure martyr- dom rather than renounce their faith. The elders, many of whom are men of decided talent and intelligence, seem to have brought deception to an art, and to practise it sys- v-ematically. Foreign countries present, of course, the most eligible theatre for their operations, and hundreds of mis- sionaries are constantly employed. These expatiate on the wonderful facilities to acquire wealth, and possess happiness, in the Mormon country on the beauty and healthfulness of the climate, the exuberant fruitfulness of the soil, the dowry of land and stock, with the great demand for mechanic AN OPPOSER OF POLYGAMY. 273 labor. Sometimes they mention polygamy incidentally, though it is but too evident that many come here without the least suspicion of being brought into contact with such an institution, but whose disgust and horror, when informed of it, cannot shake their faith in the seductive impos- ture. I was much pleased with the appearance of a beautiful little girl, who came on errands to Mrs. Farrow's store. She belonged to an English family of the better class, was very talkative and intelligent, and so prettily dressed that with her large, limpid blue eyes and floating curls, she looked like a fairy. " Is that lovely creature's home contaminated by the plu- rality system ?" I queried of my good landlady. " No, indeed. I should as soon expect to see the summer turn to barrenness as Edward Cunningham with a second wife." " Is he then an opposer of polygamy ?" " I should think that he was." " And his wife ?" " It would kill her, at least she says that it would, and I cannot doubt it. Never was a woman more devoted to a man. Yet they do say," continued Mrs. Farrow, " that some of the elders have exerted all their influence to induce Mm to take another wife." " I cannot see why they should have so much interest ia the matter." " They say such examples are bad for the women whose 12* THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. husbands have polygamous tendencies that it makes them jealous, discontented, dissatisfied." " I presume they will conquer in the end. If he believes heir creed, it is scarcely possible that he can escape the contaminating influences brought to bear upon him." " He not only believes their creed, but is one of them," she answered, " or, perhaps I should say, one of us ; for though I am opposed to some things the elders do and teach, I am professedly a rigid Mormon/' I could not refrain from smiling. " Well, as I was saying, Mr. Cunningham is a man of busi- ness capacity, holds a subordinate position in the Legislative Assembly, and is much honored and sought after, though Mrs. Cunningham declares that had she known of polygamy and some other things, she would never have come here." " Then they did not know of it." " They never dreamed of it till somebody in St. Louis told them. But Mr. Cunningham asserted that it crfuld not be, and persisted in his belief that the whole story was a scandal, got up by the malice of their enemies, till he received ocular demonstration of the fact. Heighho, our elders are but men." Subsequently I had the pleasure of making Mrs. Cunning- ham's acquaintance, and learning further items in their his- tory. She had a family of beautiful daughters, and her maternal apprehensions with regard to their future fate were easily excited. Lascivious eyes had already been cast upon them, and John Taylor, an old man, deformed and crippled, 275 who had been wounded when Joe Smith was killed, and who was the husband of six half-starved wives, had actually pre- sumed to solicit that one of the blooming creatures might be sealed to him. "Why," said the passionate woman, her face Hushing with excitement, " I would rather see my child dying at my feet, than know that such a doom awaited her. The hideous old ogre 1" She went on to tell how they had been cheated and deceived in various ways, prefacing her account, however, with a hope that I would not betray her confidence, and saying that it was a relief to have the privilege of unbosom- ing her troubles to some one whose mind was not warped with the infatuation that had been their ruin. She had an elegant piano, sofa, and other furniture usual with people in their station of life. The boxes in which they were packed arrived safely at St. Louis, when the Mor- mon agent, into whose hands they passed, took the liberty of opening and inspecting them. He was delighted with the prospect of plunder, and succeeded in convincing Mrs. C that she had. better leave the things with him, as the dry air of the plains, and other emergencies, would render them worthless, and that he would give her a draft for their value, to be drawn on the governor. She complied with this proposition, though with great reluctance, but her surprise was greater when arriving at Utah, and presenting her draft, the dignitary protested it, saying that it " wasn't worth the first red cent." 276 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " I wouldn't have minded it so much," she said, " but we really needed the money. We were poor enough I can assure you. I had never before known what poverty was. When we started to cross the plains, a number of wagons drawn by cattle were loaded with our goods, but my hus- band had not been accustomed to such travelling, or to taking care of cattle. His hired men were brutal. Over- exertion and the want of necessary nutriment reduced the animals to skeletons. They soon gave out, and their bleaching bones mark the path for the future traveller. Worn out with suffering, and destitute, we arrived in the vicinity of the Salt Lake." It is customary with the Mormon leader, to go out a day's journey to meet an emigrating party, entertaining them with music, and fresh provisions, as a foretaste of the good things in store for them. It enables him to make a show, and gives a certain air of triumph on the acquisition of numbers to his church. " We were struggling through the mountain passes, weary and despondent," said Mrs. Cunningham, " when our ears were suddenly delighted with the sound of music, breathing and dying away among the hills, or rolling out in waves of harmony, that reverberated from rock to rock. We listened with beating hearts when a courier rode up, and informed us that the Leader was approaching with an escort to con- duct us to the city." " A token of welcome, I suppose." " And our hearts were gladdened by it ; but, oh, sir, it DISMAL PROSPECTS. 277 did not last long. A few days found us living in this little house, so destitute of comfort, that for my children's sake, I know not what to do. For myself, I could bear it, but where are the advantages and accomplishments that I had promised my daughters. What is their prospective future ? it makes me shudder to think of it." This, I am satisfied is the case with many mothers, even of those who sit down quietly themselves under the curse of polygamy. They can bear it, but their hearts bleed for their daughters. And many a father who practises it unhesitatingly himself, shrinks with horror and despair from the immolation of a favorite child. " My husband," continued Mrs. Cunningham, " in very industrious ; yet, not being accustomed to manual labor, he could do little that way. The property he invested in the church has never returned him a cent, and probably never will. A situation was offered him in the theatre, and abso- lute necessity induced him to accept it. His days are spent copying laws, and his nights are devoted to those dissolute scenes. Oh, sir, my heart aches and my brain is maddened, when I think of it." The infatuation of this woman was effectually cured, but too late too late for all practical purposes. Her hand was fairly in the lion's mouth, and she could not remove it, nor break his teeth. I subsequently beheld her husband. He looked pale, discouraged, and worn out, though evidently pleased with the attention and respect his presence always com* 278 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. manded. But more substantial comforts were needed to render his life happy, and of these he found few enough. Few people are more to be pitied -than those dupes of Mormon duplicity, who, belonging to the better class of foreigners, aud unable from ignorance and the want of habit to obtain a living by manual labor, embark their property as a speculation in the hands of the church, and are then left with their families in a beggarly state of wretchedness. Utah is rife with such examples ; yet the Mormon elders are really kind and generous to such poor emigrants as can work, and thereby increase the productive industry, and consequently the wealth of the country. They are much too politic and observant not to understand the value to any community of a sturdy, hard-working yeomanry. I was much interested in the story of a rich German family, who had been converted to Mornionism, and the idea of emigration. It is really strange to me lyrw people can be so easily induced to leave their homes, and the sweet associations of their childhood and riper years. But it is the old story of the dog and the bone. Though well off, they concluded that their circumstances might be improved. They saw the shadow in the water, leaped for it, and lost their all. When the various items of their property was collected together, it amounted to the snug sum of 15 or 20,000 dollars in gold, silver, plate,, and jewelry. And of all this the silly man was induced to resign possession in favor of the elder to whom he attributed his conversion, that worthy promising, of course, to make all right at a sub- MISPLACED CONFIDENCE. 279 sequent day, to secure state-rooms for the family ou board the ship in which they were to emigrate, and to provide them necessary and respectable accommodations on the entire route. Imagine, therefore, the surprise and indignation of this husband and father, when he found himself, his family, and all their baggage crowded into the steerage, amid filth, fever, noisome smells, and indescribable indecency. He remonstrated with the captain, but in vain. That dignitary plainly told him that it was too late to make alterations in the arrangements of the ship, and that if he confided his affairs to the discretion of a Mormon priest, there was no alternative but to abide the consequences. The elder, meanwhile, was accommodated with two state-rooms, and every convenience and luxury. Compelled to submit, but extremely dissatisfied with their treatment, they were landed at New York, and being utter strangers to the language and customs of our country, without means or friends, nothing remained for them, but to float along in the current of emigration to Salt Lake. Here they were lodged in a wretched hut, without even the commonest necessaries of life, or any prospect of a bet- ter condition. They have made some disagreeable discover- ies. They have ascertained that the property deposited by the husband in the hands of the elder belongs ' to the church, that if he wants a house, one can be built for him, for which he will be indebted to the church ; and worse than all, that their daughters are approaching a 280 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. marriageable age, and will soon be wanted to swell the number of victims to the institution of the church. They knew nothing of polygamy before coming here, and were filled with disgust and terror at the prospect before them. Yet it should not be supposed that these particular cases of individual suffering and discontent are general throughout the community, or that all, without exceptions, are utterly vile and depraved. Many, doubtless, are pure in their feel- ings, and sincere in their desires to serve God, however mistaken and unfounded the views they have learned to entertain. Many v would be glad to be freed from their bonds, and like a liberated bird, exult at their release ; but others are infatuated with their lot, and no inducement could tempt them to abandon it. In the language of the Scriptures, " they are joined to their idols." What an awful weight of responsibility rests on the heads of the reverend guides and directors of the Mormon people, and what a fearful reckoning will be theirs in the great day of accounts. As usual with their class in all ages and countries, these men are inveterate worshipers of the golden calf. They bow before it, it fills their imaginations, and concentrates their desires. Their cry for gold is inces- sant, and when this necessary article is not to be had at home in sufficient quantities, they generally start out on a mission, and thus it rarely fails that their pockets are reple- nished. It is rumored, though whether with truth or not I cannot pretend to say, that some of the elders, who have been best supplied with wives, have disposed of the super- PARLEY PKATT. 281 fluous to Indian chiefs, or half-breeds in the neighborhood ; in all cases for a valuable consideration in horses, furs, or other articles of ready merchandise. Incredible as this might appear, if related of any other enlightened community, I see no reason for disputing its occurrence here. The slavery and merchandise of women is the usual attendant of polygamy. Both are parts of one system, and in all countries where the former is tolerated, the latter comes in as coeval and co-existent. I cannot see why the example of the patriarchs might not be quoted to support the one as well as the other, and with equal propriety. Parley Pratt, a noted saint in this region, an elder, and the husband of a multitude of wives, is accused of being the originator of this scheme to "raise the wind." At any rate, one or two of the Mrs. Pratts mysteriously disappear- ed, and the elder immediately came out with a fine stud of horses, known to have belonged to Walker, the Utah Chief. As report goes, a trapper, who visited Walker's lodge some- time afterwards, found it inhabited by two or three white women, and, to his great amazement, learned the particu- lars of the affair. Parley, however, made a handsome speculation, sold the horses to some California emigrants, and employed the money in furnishing himself with an out- fit for a mission to Chili. The Mormon Missionaries make great pretensions to humility, and of going without purse or scrip, but this ia only an excuse for the mendicity they affect and practise. The initiated know very well, that large private resources 282 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. are at their command, though it is only in cases of emer- gency that they can be induced to resort to them. Parley is likewise an inveterate borrower. Mrs. Farrow informed me of several sisters, who having inherited money from Eastern quarters, were immediately assailed by the necessitated priest, whose exceedingly bland and courteous manner is seldom without its influence on the female mind. But it seems that men sometimes are quite as easily deluded as women, and this redoubtable elder seems to drive a brisk trade at wheedling and swindling them. A poor man at San Bernardina, was induced by the wily hypocrite to trust two or three hundred dollars of hard earnings in his hands. Repayment, though promised at the time, was never performed, and never will be. This man has a very even flow of language, converses with great ease, has the most perfect suavity of manner, and looks altogether as if he never did and never could do wrong. He has great command of his countenance, never gets angry, though at times you can catch the lurking devil in his eye. Indeed he is a perfect specimen of the class of sanctimonious rascals. There seems a positive cruelty in the disposition of this man, which manifests itself in the sundering of family-ties and connections. He has persuaded daughters to abandon their homes, wives to forsake their husbands, and mothers their children. He has carried blight and desolation to many a fireside, and caused pangs fiercer than those of DETESTABLE PRACTICES. 283 death to many a human heart. Many a history of wrong and shame, in which he has been chief actor, might be related. Many a tale of moral delinquency, and mental anguish and bereavement, is connected with his endeavors and success in proselyting unbelievers. Of course, many of the others are equally wicked, and the distress they occasion by the separation of friends and families is actually incalcu- lable. I saw a beautiful young woman, who had abandoned her mother's dying bed, and left her grey-haired father to descend in sorrowful loneliness to the grave, to follow one of these impostors, and become his tenth or twentieth wife. This was vaunted as a great act of heroism on her part, and her praises were sung in all their churches. Another had deserted her lover and prospective husband, who was well nigh distracted ; and a third was forcibly plucked from their clutches by her brother, who invoked the aid of the law (k). Yet so great was her infatuation, that all his prayers and entreaties were of no avail. In the night she arose, tore the sheets of her bed into strips, let herself down by them from the chamber window, and escaped to them. When sought again, she was not to -be found ; they had secreted her. Sometimes women, sometimes men, (/.) and sometimes children, fall victims to their arts. Their presence in the family circle is the sure prelude of misery and sin. The tale of Mr. Hays, an English cattle-trader, is only one amongst a thousand that might be told of the fanaticism and diabolism that ever attends the hideous and slimy course of Murnionisni in its progress over the world. _ 284: THE HUSBAJSD IN UTAH. This gentleman was wealthy and respectable. He had a beautiful cottage, situated on a small stream in the north of England ; grounds tastefully laid out, surrounded it, and peace, plenty, and domestic happiness, abode within. The wife was loving and beloved ; the daughters beautiful and obedient ; the son honorable and intelligent. One stormy night, in the autumn of 1854, two mounted strangers came to the gate, and implored, for the sake of human brother' hood, that shelter and protection might be afforded them for the night. Mr. Hays, who could never find it in his heart to refuse the shelter of his roof even to the wandering men- dicant, readily granted their request. His servants were directed to take care of their horses ; they were invited to his parlor, and made welcome at his board. The suavity of their manners, their intelligence and apparent respectability won largely on the heart of the good man, and when it came out that they were Americans, and designed to stay some days in the neighborhood, he invited them to consider his house their home. For several days the subject of Mor- monism was not broached, indeed their fifst endeavors seemed to be to gain the good will of the family. In this they fully succeeded, when their designs were gradually unfolded. However, the strong good sense of Mr. Hays preserved him from falling a victim to the delusion, but the son was easily dazzled with their glowing pictures of Mormon life and libertinism. He deserted his parents, went to Utah, was, it seems, highly delighted, was elevated to posts of A TEAITOEOUS SON". 285 dignity and importance, and with each step became more and more in love with the institutions of Mormondom. When his faith was sufficiently established, and it was deemed expedient, he was returned to England as a mission- ary. His first efforts were against his father's house, but the good man, though receiving his son affectionately, utterly forbade all mention of his heretical doctrines. Opportunities, however, were not wanting ; the mother and sisters were duped, and consented to elope and go to Utah, without letting the husband and father into the secret of their designs. Such is the effect of fanaticism ; it sears the heart, and renders it insensible to sympathy or natural affection. One Monday, after the arrival of his son, Mr. Hays started on one of his usual expeditions to purchase cattle, leaving a large sum in money, a gold watch, and other valuables in the charge of his wife. He left his home just as years of domestic quiet and happiness had endeared it to him, without a thought or misgiving of the fearful destruction awaiting his treasures. He returned on Satur- day, eager to greet his loved ones, and receive their affec- tionate welcome ; but how great was his surprise, how unspeakable his horror 1 His habitation was stripped and deserted. There was no affectionate greeting, no provision for his comfort. He called, but there was no answer, and to describe his consternation and distress would be impossi- ble. The wife had not only deserted, but robbed her hus- band, and the son had proved the betrayer of his father. They had likewise induced all the children to accompany 286 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. them ; the money, the jewels, the plate, everything portable, even to the. bed-linen, had been removed. The poor man applied to the police in a state actually bordering on distraction, and without suspecting that Mor- monism had wrought his ruin. By careful inquiries, and previous knowledge of the Mormon character, the officers were induced to believe that such might be the case. They hastened to Liverpool, and learning that a large emigrating party of that people had just departed in the ship Good Hope, Captain Sanders, for the New World, it was thought his family might be on board. A steamtug, moored at the dock, with the fires up, was put in requisition, and the pur- suit commenced. But the morning was far advanced, and the little party of pursuers were not much encouraged by the captain to hope that they would have any chance of overhauling the Good Hope, for she had been taken out to sea by a strong tug, and had all her sails set to a favoring breeze. After crossing the bar at the mouth of the Mersey, a dark object like a speck was discovered on the horizon, which the captain of the steamtug made out with his glass, and pronounced to be the ship. For two or three hours the chase continued, when it became evident that they were fast gaining on the big ship. When within hailing distance, the captain of the Good Hope slackened sail, supposing that his pursuers were the custom-house officers, and had scented something wrong. Coming alongside, the party jumped aboai'd, and when they announced their errand, the excite- ment among the Mormons was intense. The captain A HEARTLESS WIFE. 287 received them courteously, invited them into his cabin, and asked to see the warrants under which they were acting. They had none, but that a husband should be so basely deceived and robbed of his household gods and goods at once, was pronounced and felt by the captain, who declared himself no Mormon, and ignorant of the whole affair, an unendurable rascality, and he was evidently anxious to render the bereaved and nearly distracted man all the assistance in his power. The women and children, however, were kept carefully out of sight between decks. As the search went on, the excitement increased.^ The poor husband became almost a raving maniac ; alternately praying, coaxing, and threatening, sometimes actually kneel- ing at the feet of the Mormon leaders, and beseeching them with words and gestures that should have melted a heart of stone, to restore his family. His entreaties were seconded by those of the captain and officers ; but all were in vain. For two hours this scene continued, the ship all the time being carried further and further out to sea. Finally the officers declared that rather than fail in their mission, they would accompany the vessel to Boston, and denounce the whole gang of Mormon impostors to the British authorities in that city. The firmness of the officers had its effect, and the elders consented to produce the woman, and let her have an interview with her husband. The heartless creatuie manifested the utmost indifference to his distress, refused even to accept his proffered hand as a token of friendship, and turned a deaf ear to all his remonstrances, until the 288 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. % officers interposed, telling her that if she persisted in her determination, she would be denounced to the Boston authorities, and probably imprisoned. This information shook her resolution ; with streaming tears and accents of woe, she bade farewell to hei deceivers, and was handed into the tug with the youngest child. The husband still knelt on the bulwarks, the very picture of paternal distress, praying and entreating that yet more of his children might be restored to him. Even some of the Mormons were moved' at his anguish ; they began to murmur, and say that it was a shame and unnatural to separate a father from his children. At this juncture, the Mormon elders peremptorily ordered their subordinates to go below, but the captain, finding tjiat numbers were on his side, ordered the two little girls of seven and nine years to be handed to their delighted parent. Two other daughters, seventeen and nineteen years of age, absolutely refused to return. Finding it impossible to break the spell of their infatuation, the tug cast off, and returned to Liverpool, where a large number of people were collected on the docks, anxiously waiting to learn the suc- cess of the expedition. Mr. Hays returned home with a remnant of his family, but scarcely a tithe of his missing property. But his happiness is destroyed for life ; ' For sharper than a serpent's tooth it it To have a thankless child." DETERMINATION OF MRS. HATS. 289 The charms of his home have been deranged by the filial ingratitude of his son, the worse than death of his daughters, and the loss of affection and confidence on the part of his wife. She publicly avows her inflexible determination to join the Mormons in Utah with the first opportunity. Her mind, her affections, are all set on them. Oh, the folly, the wickedness, the depravity of human nature, when unpurified and unsupported by grace divine I 290 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. CHAPTER XVIII. THE MORMON PARTY MORMON BELLES INCIDENTAL NOTICE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG AND HIS FAMILY, ETC. I ATTENDED the Mormon party, to which Elder . Kimball had been so polite as to extend me an invitation. It was sufficiently unique, and the first thing that surprised ine was the great disparity between the numbers of women and the men. In my boyish days I had been accustomed to attend parties of pleasure in country places, where the invitations having been extended almost indiscriminately, resulted in raising three or four young men to every lady. In more select assemblies they were always duly paired, but here each gentleman came attended by two, three, four, or even a greater number of the opposite sex. Ladies were on the sofas, in the chairs, and there was an abundance of wall- flowers. Surely the Mormons have not to complain of a scarcity of women, as is usual with many newly-settled States. Cotillions were the order of the day, and the figures were so arranged, that each gentleman danced with two ladies. A raised platform, well furnished with seats, accommodated THE MOKMON PARTY. the band of music, and more distinguished spectators, whose habits or disinclination forbade their taking part in tho dance. Several of the elders countenanced the proceedings with their presence, attended by their wives, both old and young. A number of Gentiles were present, among whom I noticed some young ladies who were attached to a California cara- van, and whose beauty it was evident made a decided impression on the susceptible Mormon elders, and their sub- jects. Several Mormon belles were pointed out to me, and con- stant flirtations and coquetries were carried on in the inter- vals of the dance. These young ladies, however, either were or appeared decidedly partial to outsiders, and some dashing Californians were evidently made happy by the tokens of their partiality. One young fellow, ferociously bearded, and dressed in the extreme of Parisian style, attracted much attention. One ungloved hand was literally bespangled with rings, a large gold chain attached to a watch of the same metal, crossed his vest, and a diamond pin glittered on his bosom. He was evidently a gentleman loafer or gambler, and his attentions to the ladies seemed particularly displeasing in certain quarters. " These girls seem partial to the Gentiles," I observed to one of the bystanders. " Pshaw," he replied, " that fellow has gold in his pockets, as well as on his person, they are after that." 292 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. " Think so ?" " Nothing can be more certain. There will be a row soon. These Mormons are jealous fellows." Before I had time to reply, supper was announced, and there was a general scramble. The Californian gave his arm tc one of the ladies, the most beautiful in the company. She accepted it with appa- rent pleasure. He seated himself by her side at table, and helped her to the daintiest viands, receiving the brightest smiles and most beaming glances in return. The feast would have charmed an epicure, and both the elder who gave the party, and his numerous wives, seemed pleased with the hilarity and enjoyment of their guests. After supper, the dancing was resumed; the Californian meantime monopolizing the beauty, and regarding those around him with a sneer and grin, that showed his white teeth glittering through his moustache, exactly as a wolf might be supposed to regard his compeers, should they approach too near some dainty morsel reserved for him- self. " He'll haul in his horns, when Sam Sloan gets sight of him," said some one at my elbow. " I'll stake my salvation on that, any time." " Who is Sam Sloan ?" " A young Mormon, who's a match for any Californian," was the answer. I had before heard of this worthy, and waited with some impatience for his appearance. A KOW. 293 I was doomed to disappointment. He did not come, but another young fellow, flush and fiery, walked up to the lady, and asked her hand for the dance. She was engaged for the evening. He turned away, regarding the moustached Californian with a scowl of defiance, quite as black as his own. The fellow clapped his hand to his side, as if to draw thence a concealed weapon, when the Mormon deliberately trod ott his toes. There was a low growl of rage, followed by a heavy blow. The Mormon staggered, but recovered in a moment, and returned it with interest. Others rushed in, not to separate, but take part with the combatants. " As I told you," whispered one beside me. The dancing ceased ; there was a halt in the music ; ladies screamed, the elders rose. At length, when the tumult was fast becoming general, a voice rang out above the din in clear, authoritative tones. " Put those fellows out in an instant," it said, " and pro- ceed with the amusement." Fifty stout men sprang in a moment to obey the orders, while I turned to look at the speaker, and recognized Brigham Young. He had sat silent and unnoticed, crouched in a dark corner, with his hat on, though the others wero uncovered. Whether this was accidental or the result of design, I am unable to say. Certain it is, that his Mormon majesty never removes his hat in public. There he stood, the niost conspicuous person in the room, gazing calmly over the scene. In a very few minutes order was restored, and the dancing re-commenced, as if nothing had happened. 294 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. Brigham Young is a remarkable man, second to the Mohammed of the Western Continent, and like Abubeker and AH, abundantly qualified to carry out and perpetuate his scheme of imposture and fanaticism. He can enact the part of chief magistrate and supreme pontiff, or, with equal facility, he turns mountebank and astonishes the world by such antics as few civil and religious functionaries would dare to attempt. He supports by precept and example a domestic institution never before admitted among enlighten- ed people, yet his community receives monthly accessions of strength by the arrival of emigrant converts from the dif- ferent European nations. Young, beautiful, and accom- plished women ; men of property and intelligence lay their offerings on the shrine of his faith, solicitous of his benedic- tions, and obedient to his mandates. Some of his messages from the pulpit are perfect gems in their way, witty, original, in many respects decidedly laughable, and utterly unlike anything of the kind ever heard before. He chooses texts from a Bible, a newspaper, or an almanac. He quaintly touches on every conceivable topic war, com- merce, peace, industry, art, and love. These comprehen- sive addresses generally include a pretty sharp dig at the President, and rather severe criticism on governmental affairs at Washington. Indeed, it is evident that indistinct visions of future greatness, and supreme independent power, some- times float through the brain of the distinguished hierarch ; yet his strong good sense prevents any undue display of vanity or self-importance. At this time it is impossible to BRIGHAM YOUNG. 295 balance his faults and virtues, or to decide whether the title of enthusiast or impostor more properly belongs to him and his predecessor. There is but a step between the two. The warm suggestions of fancy might be mistaken for particular inspirations from heaven ; the labor of thought may expire in rapture and vision, and the inward sensation take, to the deluded understanding, the form and attributes of an angel of God. History is filled with such instances. Numa, the beloved citizen, good king, and wise legislator, believed in his Egeria, and the demon of Socrates is a memorable example of how a wise man may deceive himself, how a good man may delude others, and how quietly the conscience may slumber in a middle state between self-illusion and volun- tary fraud. It is said that a prophet never has honor in his own country, and with equal propriety might have been added nor in his own time and age. The judgment of contem- poraries is generally inflamed by passion and prejudice, and it is a trait of human nature to despise the day of small things. Yet " Large streams from little fountains flow- Tall oaks from little acorns grow." As an evidence of the talent and ability of the Mormon leader, I would let facts speak for themselves. They will reverberate through future ages, and influence the decisions of posterity. Whether famous or infamous, the name of Brigham Young is inseparably connected with the origin 296 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. and history of a numerous and remarkable sect. When strong enthusiasm impelled from within, and a fiery persecu- tion pressed from without, he led them, then numbering many thousands, to seek a safe home in the distant and almost impenetrable wilderness. Could it have been mere chance or accident, or was it an extraordinary foresight that led them thither to build a city, that, like Tadmor in the Wilderness, should be a half-way house a grand cara- vansera, to gather wealth and importance frgm the hun- dreds of thousands soon to be on their way to the Pacific shores. Peace with the Mormons was not necessary in Illinois ; it is at the great Salt Lake. This man likewise has managed to acquire and retain an almost unbounded influence over the minds of his followers. Neither envy, malice, nor rival leaders have succeeded in dethroning hirru Even the worthy President seems to have considered the experiment of forcibly ejecting him from authority as an act of dangerous tendency. Why else was the appointment of Colonel Steptoe to the territorial govern- ment of Utah and Mormondom suffered to quietly fall to the ground, when it was ascertained that Brigham would not willingly resign. This step affords a dangerous prece- dent. Either the appointment should never have beeri made, or else carried out at all hazards. If the general government cannot or does not make them respect its authority now, what are we to expect when the population of Utah has increased sevenfold ? Yet it must be confessed that Brigham Young has shown 3JEIGHAM YOUNG. 297 * much discretion in the exercise of the one man power, and has maintained a creditable city government at little expense. Setting himself above the laws of his country, and scorning the wisdom of others, his own mother wit readily served as a substitute for both. Yet like many other great men, the Mormon leader is not eminently dis- tinguished for the moral virtues. In fact, he affects no superior sanctity, but is rather all things to all men. To the man of business, he is a man of business ; to the man. of pleasure, a man of pleasure ; to that class who, above all others, obtain the first place in the affections of a hero, he is most devoted in his attentions, and liberal of his gifts here a brooch, and there a ring ; here a collar, and there a muff. To those who have property to sell, he is a liberal buyer, and, to his credit be it spoken, he always pays his debts. He is the munificent patron of artists and mechanics, especially those of his own people, and either employs them himself, or obtains employment for them. Yet Brigham Young would be a dangerous enemy, and many fearful though secret crimes have been imputed to him, with what justice it is impossible to say. Perhaps the greatest evidence that these reports are not without foundation is afforded by the fact, that he is so afraid of assassination, as to be unpleasantly suspicious of strangers. Is this mere frailty of mental constitution, or is there another cause in the promptings of a guilty conscience ? It is not only in the civil government of a people, or the rise and establishment of a new faith, that the chief of Mor- 298 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. mondom is distinguished. In his domestic relations he ia equally remarkable. The conjugal ties of Mohammed sink into utter insignificance, when compared with those of the Mormon leader. The Commander of the Faithful, could only boast a daughter^ while Brigham can point to his scores of children with the exultation of a Jewish Patriarch. It is evident, however, that motives of affection have not always governed in his choice of wives ; many of these dames being old, ill-formed, and ugly, but it frequently hap- pens in matrimonial affairs, that the solid charms of gold and silver are more highly prized than mental or physical accomplishments. It is said, too, that some of his younger brides have been, exceedingly reluctant, and that once or twice a rival disappeared in a remarkable manner. But such reports are speedily hushed up without investigation, and the rumor left to itself soon dies. The polygamistic tendencies of the Mormon leader have been the occasion of several tragic occurrences. How could it be otherwise when his insatiable appetite seems to increase with whaf it feeds on, and he is continually looking abroad for beautiful or wealthy women, whose physical or substantial charms can contribute to embellish still farther his domestic establishment. What is worse, the opposition of the female is never suffered to interfere with his arrange- ments. By fair means or by foul, by harsh or gentle measures, the reluctance of the maiden must be over- come. He never abandons an object of pursuit or desire. As a general thing, however, the believing sisters con- FANATICISM OF THE SISTERS. 299 sider it a great object to be " sealed " to him, by which, as they suppose, their salvation is ensured ; an absurdity worthy of the dark ages, and a slight advance on the doc- trine of Mohammedanism, that women have no souls to be saved. 300 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. CHAPTER XIX. EXTERIOR INFLUENCES YOUNG MEN DISSATISFACTION WITH POLYGAMY CHANGES TO BE WROUGHT IN THE SYSTEM OF MORMONISM, AND HOW. {( T71AITH, hope, and charity ; and the greatest of these JD is charity," saith the apostle. Faith in the abiding truths of Christianity, and the Rock of Ages ; Hope in the strong good sense and principle of the Anglo-Saxon people ; and Charity that covereth a multitude of sins, would lead us not to despair even of the Mormons. Influences, both exterior and internal, are at work among them that can scarcely fail to soften and modify the more peculiar doctrines of their faith, and their most obnoxious practices. Could people of other persuasions, with enlarged and benevolent views and motives, be induced to settle among them, esta- blish schools, and erect churches, there can be little doubt that in process of time a radical change might be effected in their peculiar tenets. Already the influence of the emi- grants and occasional visitors to the country, has not been lost, and we may confidently anticipate that as travel THE YOUNG MEN. 301 increases, and facilities for communication with other parts of the world are opened, while other communities and States spring up around them, the Mormons, for the sake of public opinion, and to conciliate the good will of mankind, if for no other purpose, will grow ashamed of their excesses, and lop off such excrescences as must, when known, retard the pro- gress of their faith. Customs now tolerated for mere expe- dience and the increase of numbers, will be left to become unfashionable, and finally grow obsolete, when the supposed necessity no longer exists. The younger portions of the community are evidentty disaffected to the existing state of things. With the con- siderate, the thoughtful, and the intelligent, it could scarcely be otherwise. They know it to be an occasion of reproach, and naturally shrink before the contumely and maledictions of the civilized world. Thus far polygamy and its kindred vices have been indebted to the power of priestcraft for their support. When priestcraft falls, as it surely must, in the lapse of generations, we may expect the prohibition of its attendant vice. There is one class of the community whom hitherto I have not noticed, yet who are destined to act an important part in the future. I allude to the young men, flush, fiery fellows, characterized by a defiant air and independent spirit. Between these and the elders feuds and jealousies have already arisen, in many cases, and we cannot doubt that similar causes will produce the same effects, with still more gratifying results, in the time to come. That the THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. elders should monopolize the youngest, most beautiful, and wealthy women, must of itself be sufficiently displeasing to the young men, without further aggravation from the fact, that as brothers they must witness the humiliation and unhappiness of their sisters, added 'to the dishonor and domestic annoyances of their mothers. I have heard youug fellows anathematize the whole Mormon system on this account ; while others would run off to California with their sweethearts, and there abide, in order to preserve the objects of their love from falling beneath the libidinous influence of those they hated. Brothers frequently urge their sisters to depart for California, and escape the conta- mination of living in a Mormon harem. A young man by the name of Bryce, a Mormon in sentiment, yet independent and, for a backwoodsman, uncommonly intelligent, said that he had a sister whom Elder John Taylor had married for his sixth wife. That he considered such connections abomi- nable, and no marriage at all ; that he told his sister so, and offered to bear her expenses wherever she wished to go, if she would only abandon the paramour. " And did she accept your offer ?" I inquired. " No ; she said that here she was as good as the best ;" he answered, " but anywhere else she would certainly be despised, and her child called by an opprobrious epithet, which she could not bear." A young man, whose parents were from Oneida County, in the State of New York, expressed a bitter aversion to polygamy. He had been wounded in the tenderest point. POLYGAMY AN EVIL. 303 His affianced bride, within one week of the time appointed for their marriage, jilted him in favor of one of the elders, an old man of forty years, whose house was already shared by four wives. In consideration of her youth and beauty he promised the fifth a separate establishment, which, how- ever, she never obtained. Another young man with whom I conversed, had suffered severely when a child, from the persecutions of his father's second wife. These women, it seems, are even more cruel and selfish than step-mothers are reported to be, and the helpless children of their rivals are made the subjects of their concentrated jealousy and rage. This, however, must materially depend on the natural dispositions of the females, mid would, by the Mormons at least, be referred to the faults of the individual rather than the system. A highly intelligent young man, a member of the Legisla- tive Assembly, thus expressed himself on the subject of polygamy : "Polygamy, it must be admitted, is an evil. It is an institution that presses heavily against the best interests of. our people. It banishes the best women ; it operates against the increase of our population, instead of assisting it, as has been supposed. It prevents the establishment of families, obstructs the proper education of children, and is the fruitful source of a vast amount of vice and misery. Being thus injurious, have the priests and elders any right to fasten it on our community ? Shall the free Mormon people have their best interests subverted, that these men, 304 THE HUSBAND IN UTAH. fallible and erring like ourselves, may have a better chance to gratify their libidinous desires ? What is their sensual gratification compared with the great interests of the com- mon weal ? Polygamy was first practised by the priest- hood by the priesthood it has been supported. They have rendered it fashionable, and if its existence be prolonged to futurity, it will be through their influence." Another one remarked, in language almost equally strong : " Our females can never take the rank and position among us that properly belong to them, while polygamy is tolerated. Deprived of their legitimate influence as wives and mothers of families, they lose that self-respect which is one of the strongest safe-guards of female virtue, become indolent, careless, and reckless, and it is needless to say that the consequences to the whole community are most disastrous.' 7 And again : " The experience of ages may be trusted. Polygamy is a curse, a mildew that has blighted every region it has touched since the creation of the world. It presents no new phase, but from the first to the latest periods it has been destructive of the happiness of individuals, the peace of families, and the welfare of communities." It cannot be believed that many women sit down satisfied under the existing state of things. Womanly nature must rise at times superior to the influence of priestcraft, and A PROPHECY FOR THE FUTURE. 305 though powerless in themselves to effect the change, they will be useful and efficient auxiliaries of reform. Hence, we may confidently expect that the Mormons of a hundred years hence will be very different from those to-day, and that future generations will redeem, in some degree, the errors of the past and the present. EXPLANATORY NOTES. (a.) There may be instances of such perverted feelings, though wo must hope, for the honor of human nature, that they are of rare occurrence. Married life has its sorrows and evils, but nothing that equals the immorality and crime where a shameless system of poly- gamy prevails. (6.) This refers to the general external appearance, and every one knows what a vast amount of domestic misery, or social dissatisfac- tion, may be hidden under a smiling exterior. (c.) These old people had never belonged to the Mormon Church, consequently no Mormon elders attended at their funerals, and they were refused a place in the Mormon cemetery. (d.) This egotism is a peculiar trait of the Mormons; they are excessively fond of talking of themselves, and the questions, What do you think of us ? How do you like our country ? What do you think of our institutions ? are incessantly asked of a stranger. (.) In Mormondom the murder of wives is not made a subject of newspaper comment, but the silence of the newspaper is no proof 807 308 EXPLANATORY NOTES. that such crimes do not actually exist. "Was there ever a despotic country where the press even hinted at the actually existing state of things ? and Mormondom, in its domestic institutions, is a despotism of the very blackest kind, and will probably remain so for some time to come, the efforts of the Federal Government to the contrary notwithstanding. (/.) The better class of English emigrant Mormons should not be confounded with the inhabitants of Brickville. Some of the former are quite as amiable men as it is possible for Mormons to be ; whiU the latter, evenjn their own country, belonged to the class of loafer* and vagabonds. (g.) There are two elders bearing the name of Snow ; the one numbered among the Twelve Apostles bears the sobriquet of Lorenzo ; the other's name is Erastus. (A.) The Mormons are extremely fond of recommending their prac- tices and opinions by the history of Christianity ; and they dwell with great stress on the fact that one or two chapters, and many of the sentences and sentiments, contained in their bible, are faithful copies, word for word, of the Bible of the Christians. I was once somewhat amused while listening to a conversation between a Mormon elder and a Baptist clergyman. The Baptist boldly declared that there was not a word of truth in the Mormon bible. "Not a word of truth," repeated the Mormon. "Have you ever read it?" "Never." The Mormon turned over the leaves cf his book to a chapter the exacc counterpart of one contained in the Bible of Moses, and pre- sented it to his opponent, inquiring what he thought of that. EXPLANATORY NOTES. 309 (.) It would indeed be a matter for which to thank God were these assertions strictly true ; but such is not the fact. They have restored courtesanisra to its old Roman dignity, and its female vic- tims, instead of thronging their streets, surround their firesides. This, however, is a subject much too delicate to be enlarged upon ; but unfaithfulness in wives is so common, that long ago it ceased to be a disgrace. (j.) Mothers may not sacrifice their offspring, through shame or the sternness of public opinion, but other motives may be quite as potent. Among the poor, want prevails, and the necessity of having so many mouths to fill and backs to clothe is sometimes felt as a serious evil. More than one case of infanticide came beneath my knowledge in Utah, though the affair was never made a subject of public scandal, because this of all things is most carefully avoided. (&.) A similar occurrence happened at Buffalo a short time since, and was widely chronicled by the newspapers of that period. (/.) Mr. Garrison, a resident of Cumberland county, in the State of New Jersey, became infected with the Mormon delusion some years since. He was married, was the father of several children, and the owner of a handsome property. In common with the others, he wished to emigrate, but Mrs. Garrison bitterly opposed the scheme thus their family peace was destroyed, and their hitherto happy household became the scene of misery and strife. After a time, the husband commenced turning all his available property into money, besides mortgaging his farm to the full extent of its value. With the proceeds in his pocket, he left the house one night, saying that he was going to call on a neighbor. Time elapsed, still he came not. Mrs. Garrison became alarmed at his prolonged absence, and went in search of him. The neighbor's family had 310 EXPLANATORY NOTES. retired, and her husband, they told her, had not been to their house. A search was instituted, but the delinquent could nowhere be found. Why prolong the story ? It was subsequently ascertained that he had gone with the Mormons, leaving his family to shift for them- selves. This is only one instance among a thousand of equally heart- less desertion. A BOOK FOR EVERY FAMILY IN THE UNION. THE RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES; THEIE HISTORY, DOCTRINE, GOVERNMENT AND STATISTICS ; WITH A PRELIMINARY SKETCH OF JUDAISM, PAGANISM, AND MOHAMMEDANISM. BY EEV. JOSEPH BELCHER, D. D. HONORARY MEMBER OF THB HISTORICAL SOCIETIES op PENNSYLVANIA AND WISCONSIN, AUTHOR OF "WILLIAM CAREY, A BIOGRAPHY," ETC., ETC., AND "EDITOR OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ANDREW FULLER," "WORKS OF ROBERT HALL," ETC., ETC. STANDING on the broad foundation of universal Brotherhood, this volume gives the History and Present Condition of some Fifty dif- ferent Sects, pointing out the peculiar doctrines of each, and giving all a fair, impartial, and reliable hearing. The Publications of each Denomination have been its authorities ; and where these have failed to be fully satisfactory, the information sought for has been gained by direct correspondence with some of its prominent mem- bers. Its Statistical Tables are very full and complete ; while the vast amount of information it contains, renders it invaluable to the student as a book of reference or research. A warm and genial spirit pervades the work throughout ; which, with its short and pithy memoirs and numerous illustrative anecdotes, will tend to ensure it an eager welcome to many a family circle. It is in one royal octavo volume of 1024 pages, printed in a clear and open type, is illustrated with nearly two hundred Engravings, and will be furnished in various styles of binding to suit every taste. On the following page we have annexed a few ont of many notices received, all of which show a high appreciation of it* merits. A BOOK FOR EVERY FAMILY IN THE UNION, BELCHER'S RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. "It embodies a vast amount of information relative to the Origin, History, and Missionary Opera- tions of the different Religious Denominations in this Country, presented in a remarkably interesting and attractive manner. With respect to Binding', Paper, and Typography, the Book may be regarded as a model a Beautiful, Substantial, and Attractive Volume." Rev. John Dowling, D.D., Author of "The History of Romanism," "Judson Offering," etc., etc. BELCHER'S RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. "The plan of the work is good. It contains an immense amount of very desirable information. The Author is an able and reliable Writer." J. H. Mills, President Oxford Female College, Oxford, N. C. BELCHER'S RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. "I have read a copy of Religious Denominations by Belcher, and regard it as containing a large amount of valuable information." Rev. W. E. Booth, of the Methodist Church, Talbot County, Ga. BELCHER'S RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. "To great and various learning and marked ability, Dr. Belcher adds that precious quality, an abounding charity toward all his brethren of the human race, which effectu- ally prevents his indulging in a captious or acrimonious treatment of their respective Creeds. He allows the different Sects to expound their own Tenets and give their reasons for adopting them, and treats every man as a Friend and Brother." North American. BELCHER'S RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. " It is the misfortune of American Christianity that Professors of the several Denominations know too little of the faith and doings of those not within their own pale. Such a book as this serves to contribute much desirable information to meet that need." Recorder and Register. BELCHER'S RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. "Judging from the work, it would be difficult to say what are the Religious Views of the Editor, so fairly, so dispassionately, so charitably, has he treated each and every Sect. It is plain that a noble love for Truth has animated the Writer." City Item. BELCHER'S RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. "In narrative and bio- graphical sketches, the Author ranks with the best writers of our Country. In the volume before us, he gives well-written sketches of the Rise and Progress of the Denominations in this Country, a statement of their leading Tenets, and of their Numbers, Institutions, etc., relieved by many historical and personal incidents of a highly interesting Character." Christian Observer. BELCHER'S RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. " So far as concerns Independence of Vision, there can be no question, as Dr. Belcher surveys each Sect with the same dispassionate impartiality. So far as concerns Style, it gives us much pleasure to say, that the work throughout is written with both precision and ease." Episcopal Recorder. For single copies of the Book, or for terms to Agents, with other information, apply to or address, JOHN E. POTTER, Publisher, , No. 617 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, Pa. A COMPANION TO THE FAMILY BIBLE. THE LIFE Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, FROM His Incarnation to His Ascension into Heaven, BY KEY. JOHN FLEETWOOD, D.D. TO WHICH ARE ADDED The Lives of the Holy Apostles and .Evangelists, a History of the Jews, and an Essay on the Evidences of the Bilile j THE WHOLE CAREFULLY REVISED BY KEY. JOSEPH BELCHER, D.D. An examination of the earlier English and Scotch editions of this valuable and popular work, led to a knowledge of the fact that even the most expensive of the American reprints, as well as those most largely circulated, were exceedingly imperfect. Whole pages, and frequently many in succession, were found to he altogether omitted. Thus, for no other purpose than to reduce the number of pages in the volume, omissions were made of much that was impor- tant to meet the objections of infidelity, and to silence the enemies of Christ. This edition has been thoroughly revised by the late Rev. Dr. Belcher, and with the omitted passages restored, and the manifold mistakes of successive printers corrected, the Publisher has the pleasure of placing before the public the most correct editioD in existence of this truly great work. (ill) A COMPANION TO THE FAMILY BIBLE. 11 The life of Jesus Christ is the philosophy of true religion. It exhibits the principles of Christianity in their purity and beauty. It is perfect excellence personified, that the mind of man may grasp it and be changed into the same image. It is unlike all others so sublime as to excite the admiration of an angel's mind, and yet so simple as to be intelligible to the feeblest intellect. While it is a perfect example to be imitated by all, it also affords to the sanctified scholar a lesson of untiring and unending interest. Does he admire magnanimity ? Nowhere does he find such a specimen, as in the forgiving spirit of Jesus. Does he admire sublimity of thought and grandeur of conception ? He sees it in the description of Jesus coming to judgment a God in glory and a world on fire ! Is he touched and thrilled by the magic of eloquence ? While he listens to Jesus, he is constrained to acknowledge never man spake like this ma >. Is he enamored with the beauties of style ? Nowhere can he find a richer feast than in ,the clearness, unity, strength and har- mony which characterize the Sermon on the Mount. Has he an eye to relish the beauties of painting ? Jesus as a moral painter spreads before him meadows of greenness ; and fields of lilies. Has he a taste for scenes of tenderness, for descriptions which stir the heart, and open the fountains of feeling ? He has only to behold Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, and listen to his lamentation ! He has only to read the story of the Prodigal Son. If he admires courage let him go with Jesus among those who had converted the Temple into a den of thieves ; fortitude let him follow the Man of Sorrows into the Garden, or stand by him on the Cross ; condescension let him dine with him at the table of the Publican and witness his marked attention to little children ; or humility let him stand by and behold him wash his disciples' feet. The inspired writers have given us his life in detached descriptions. Dr. Fleetwood has ar- ranged these into one harmonious whole, with such comments, ex- planations and incidental information, as to render it alike accepta- ble to the scholar as to 'him who knows no more, but knows his Bible true.' If the attentive reader finds any occasion for regret, it will only be when the last page meets his eye." It is printed in a clear and jpen type, in one Royal Octavo Volume, and is Illustrated with appropriate engravings, printed in colors, or with fine Steel Plates, engraved expressly for the work, from de- signs by the old masters, and will be furnished in various styles of binding at prices ranging from $2.00 to $5.00. ADDKESS ALL ORDERS TO JOHN E. POTTER, Publisher, No. 617 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, Pa. THE PEOPLE'S GREAT BOOK. EVERYBODY'S LAWYER AND COUNSELLOR IN BUSINESS, BY FRANK CROSBY, ESQ., MEMBER OF THE PHILADELPHIA BAB. IT TELLS YOU How to draw up PARTNERSHIP PAPERS, BONDS and MORT- GAGES, AFFIDAVITS, POWERS of ATTORNEY, NOTES and BILLS of EXCHANGE, and gives general forms for AGREE- MKNTS of all kinds, BILLS of SALE, LEASES, PETITIONS, RECEIPTS and RELEASES. IT TELLS YOU The LAWS for the COLLECTION OP DEBTS, with the STA- TUTES of LIMITATION, and amount and kind of Property EXEMPT from EXECUTION, in every STATE ; also how to make an ASSIGNMENT properly, with forms for COMPO- SITION with CREDITORS, and the INSOLVENT LAWS of every State. IT TELLS YOU The legal relations existing between GUARDIAN and WARD, MASTER and APPRENTICE, and LANDLORD and TENANT; also what constitutes LIBEL and SLANDER, and the law as to MARRIAGE, DOWER, the WIFE'S RIGHT IN PROPERTY, DIVORCE and ALIMONY. IT TELLS YOU The Law for MECHANICS' LIENS in every State ; and the NATURALIZATION LAWS of this country, and how to com- ply with the same ; also the LAW concerning PENSIONS, and how to obtain one, and the PRE-EMPTION LAWS to PUBLIC LANDS. IT TELLS YOU The Law for PATENTS with mode of procedure in obtaining one, with INTERFERENCES, ASSIGNMENTS, and TABLE of FEES; also how to make your WILL, and how to AD- MINISTER ON AN ESTATE, with the law, and requirements thereof, in every State. IT TELLS YOU The meaning of LAW TERMS in general use, and explains to you the LEGISLATIVE, EXECUTIVE and JUDICIAL POW- ERS of both the GENERAL and STATE GOVERNMENTS ; also HOW TO KEEP OUT OF LAW by showing how to do your business legally, thus saving a vast amount of property, and vexatious litigation, by its timely consul- tation. The Book gives fulj and complete forms calculated to meet almost every pos- sible business contingency. Its directions and advice are alike adapted to every State in the Union, and are not only reliable but are given in so clear and distinct a, style that it is hardly possible for a misunderstanding to occur. It should be in the hands of every man and woman throughout the country as a guide for the business transactions of every-day life. Read the Notices f the Press on the following page. (v) THE PEOPLE'S GREAT BOOK. EVERYBODY'S LAWYER AND COUNSELLOR IN BUSINESS. "It embodies in some 400 pages the facts of a whole law library, admirably con- densed, and systematically arranged. It must take a very high rank as a hand-book and business guide." Pennsylvania 1 *. EVERYBODY'S LAWYER AND COUNSELLOR IN BUSINESS. "It contains every desirable kind of legal information, and will be the means of eaving those who may possess a copy of it, a great deal of money in the way of fees, besides trouble and anxiety in the matter of litigation. The price is cheap enough in all conscience for an amount of law that will keep one out of trouble for a lifetime." Pittsburg Journal. EVERYBODY'S LAWYER AND COUNSELLOR IN BUSINESS. "One of the cheapest and best publications ever issued. It is of interest and value to every citizen, whether he is engaged in business or not. It will enable those who consult its pages to perform certain acts intelligently and without expense, which are now costly affairs. We commend this admirable work to general attention." United States Police Gazette. EVERYBODY^ LAWYER AND COUNSELLOR IN BUSINESS. "De- cidedly one of the most useful and popular books which has come under our notice. It seems to contain everything which any business man may desire and ought to know. It has been submitted to the inspection of eminent jur- ists and legal critics, and pronounced reliable and authentic in the informa- tion it imparts. Nobody should be without it." Lancaster Express EVERYBODY'S LAWYER AND COUNSELLOR IN BUSINESS. "Everything is full and to the point. There are no blanks in forms. They are filled with names, dates, recitals, and are indeed, actual instruments le- gally and actually drawn. The fact is, it is as nearly perfect as possible ; and we venture to say, that any one who purchases, would not part with it for five times the price, if it could not be replaced. Westchester Democrat. EVERYBODY'S LAWYER AND COUNSELLOR IN BUSINESS. "The book before us, as the title denotes, is just such as everybody must have to avoid litigation, and the trouble and expense incident to a lawyer's office. It must have cost Mr. Crosby some considerable effort to have put forth a work that will so materially conflict with professional fees ; and much labor to collate such a vast amount of information." National Merchant. EVERYBODY'S LAWYER AND COUNSELLOR IN BUSINESS. Thfl sale, we are credibly informed, has reached over 10,000 copies a month, and the demand for it is rapidly increasing. No man or woman in the country, no matter what their business or profession, or sphere of life, ought to be with- out it." Evening Reporter. It contains 384 pages, printed in a clear and open type, and will be sent by mail, neatly bound and postage paid, to EVERY FARMER, EVERY MECHANIC, EVERY MAN OF BUSINESS, and EVERYBODY^ EVERY STATE, on receipt of $1.00; or in law style of binding, at $1.25. Address all orders to JOHN E. POTTER, Publisher, No. 617 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, Pa. WHAT EVERYBODY WANTS. THE FAMILY DOCTOH; CONTAINING SIMPLE REMEDIES, EASILY OBTAINED, FOR THE CURE OF DISEASE IN ALL FORMS. BY PROFESSOR HENRY S. TAYLOR, M.D. IT TELLS YOU How to attend upon the sick and how t cook for them ; how to prepare Drinks, Poultices, etc., and how to guard against Infection from Gontagous Diseases ; also of the Symptoms of Fever and Ague, and Bilious, Yellow, Typhus, Scarlet, and other Fevers, with the best and simplest remedies for their cure. IT TELLS YOU Of the various diseases of Children, and gives the symp- toms of Croup, Cholera Infantum, Colic, Diarrhoea, Worms, Scalled Head, Ringworm, Chicken Pox, etc., with the best and simplest mode of treatment; also of Teething, Convulsions, Vaccination, Whooping Cough, Measles,