YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY JOURNEY TO GREAT-SALT-LAKE CITY. A JOURNEY GREAT-SALT-LAKE CITY, JULES KEMY AND JULIUS BRENCHLEY, M.A.; WITH A SKETCH OF THE HISTOEY, EELIGION, AND CUSTOMS OF THE MOKMONS, AND AN INTEODtrOTION ON THE EELIGIOUS MOYEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. By JULES EEMY. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. TOttfj Em Sitezl SEttifrabtngg anb a iWap. LONDON: W. JEFrS, 15, BURLINGTON ARCADE, iForcip JSootetller tn Uje Hogal JFamtlg. MDOCCLXT. Translation reserved. PRINTED By john kdwakd tayloe, little dueen street, Lincoln's inn fields. z CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. BOOK THE THIRD. EAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. PAGE Chap. I. Docteine, Hieeaeoht, Woeship . . . . 3 II. PlUEALITT OF WiVES .... ... .... 83 III. Education and Peopagandism 173 IV. The Teeitoey of Utah . 229 BOOK THE FOURTH. JOURNEY ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. Chap. I. Feom Gkeat Salt Lake City to Fillmoee . . . 279 II. Feom Fillmoee to Las Vegas 347 III. Feom Las Vegas to Los Angeles . 416 IV, Los Angeles and the Coast of Califoenia .... 467 VI CONTENTS. NOTES. FAGS Note 1. Sketch of Me. Beenchley's Jouenet feom the Mis- soTTEi TO the Pacific 499 2. A WoED OF Teuth about Califoenia 512 3. The Laegest Teees in the Woeld 516 4. The Hot-Speings op Utah 521 5. DiSAPPEAEANCE OF ElTEES IN THE InTEEIOK OP CON TINENTS 522 6. The Lizards of Utah 524 7. The Locust-Eatees 525 8. The Fauna of Utah 527 9. Customs of the Gauls and Geemans 528 10. Music among the Savages 529 11. Chemical Qualities op the Salt Lake 530 12. The Ueim and Thummim 531 13. Chaeactebs on the Plates op the Book of Moemon . 532 14. Ceetieicates of Witnesses to the Book of Moemon . 532 15. The Six Plates of Illinois 534 16. The Golden Plate of Ohio 535 17. The Papyei of Abeaham 536 18. Baptism foe the Dead . . 547 19. The Shakees 548 20. The American Peasant- Women 553 21. Simplicity of the Polynesian Alphabet 555 22. Tbmpeeatuee of Utah 556 23. The Native Country of the Eeiogonum 559 CONTENTS. Vll P.VGK Moemon Bibliogeaphy 561 Analytical Table of the Work 571 PLATES IN THE SECOND VOLUME. Poeteaits of Joseph Smith and op Hyeum Smith . Frontispiece. The Moemon Alphabet . . 184 View of Fillmoee, the Capital of Utah 278 Indian Glyphics and the Gold Plate of Ohio 364 Papyeus No. 3 of the Book of Abeaham 545 EOOK THE THIRD. VOL. II. /^ ,-^ FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORIONS. CHAPTER I. DOCTEINE, HIEEAECHY, WOESHIP. THE THREE DISPENSATIONS. — CHARACTEB OF MORMONISM.— ITS ME TAPHYSICS. — CREED OF THE MORMONS. — PLURALITY OP GODS. SPIRITS. HEAVEN. — ADAM AND EVE. SACRAMENTS. BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD. ORDERS OF AAKON AND MELOHIZEDBK. — HIER ARCHY. WORSHIP. — PULPIT ELOQUENCE. — MIRACLES. MYSTERIES AND FREEMASONRY. — HOPES OP THE SAINTS. — TITHE.- — CONFIDENCE IN BRIGHAM A SURE PATH TO SUCCESS. HYMN. MoRMONisM is not a separate sect originating out of Pro testantism ; it is a new religion, a real religious creation, which professes to stand in the same relation to Christianity as Christianity itself does to Mosaism, that is to say, as a reform and a consummation. According to the Mormons, there have been three religious dispensations, or revelations, those of Moses, of Christ, and of Joseph Smith. The first of these had lost, through its backslidings and unfaithful ness, the gifts of revelation and prophecy, to such a degree B 2 4 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. that the world, being left without guidance and abandoned to a diversity of opinions, had need of another more power ful and more comprehensive dispensation ; and it was then that the Christian dispensation appeared. But this too, having in its turn become corrupt, and as a consequence of this corruption "the power of the priesthood and the gift of revelation having taken their flight towards the spheres of the Eternal, the world was again left during ages a prey to the sport of its own imaginations, until a third and a last dispensation should appear, which will com prehend all the others, and before which all powers of a purely earthly origin shall melt away and become as no thing." This grand and last dispensation is that of Joseph Smith. A long while expected, a long time promised, fore shadowed by the Reformation, and by the discovery of America, which prepared a field for it, it had for its mis sion "to accomplish in the social, moral, and religious world, the greatest revolution that had ever occurred since the beginning of things." There can be no mistake about it; Joseph Smith is the continuer and the successor of Moses and of Jesus Christ. " Summoned by an angel of the abodes of glory," say his followers, " to behold the sacred deposit of ages, young Joseph entered upon his career with a thorough conviction that the star of the day of universal truth had risen, and that the dispensation for a long while promised was about to commence, which would unite all things in Christ, both in heaven and upon DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 5 earth. All other dispensations were only partial ; this alone is to be universal. ... All the preceding dispensa tions were only progressive and preparatory stages, towards the reaUzation of the eternal designs of God. Tn order that these designs should be reaUzed, it was necessary that the knowledge, the keys, the power of former times should be restored. Thus the heavens, which during many ages were sealed against man, opened and revealed the Father and the Son, together ' gratifying ' the new era. An angel descends from the everlasting world to bestow the everlast ing Gospel in its purity, a favour without which the salva tion of the world could not have advanced a single step. ' But the letter killeth, and tbe spirit giveth life.' With out a proper sanction, the decrees of this Gospel could not be administered. The scene now presents another view. John the Baptist, the last man who by heirship holds the priesthood of Aaron, appears in order to confer this power on man ; and Joseph and Oliver bend down, their hearts overflowing with joy, before the representative of the Mosaic dispensation. The heavens, again opened, shower down blessings, when Peter, James, and John descend once more, bringing down to earth the keys of the king dom, and the dispensation of the accomplishment of times. The apostoHcal authority, or the power to build the king dom of heaven on earth, was now once more established, never again to disappear. The Gospel was preached, its ordinances administered, upright hearts made happy by 6 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. the accompUshment of prophecy, and blessings heaped upon them. " The dispensation was thus fully opened. The princi ples of celestial truth were gradually revealed, and men, invested with a holy priesthood, received their mission to give them force and legal effect." * According to the Mormons, therefore, true religion dis appeared from the earth seventeen centuries ago. God was abandoned by the Christians, who had altered the doctrine of Christ. God no longer spoke : "L'arche sainte est muette et ne lend plus d'oracles :" because they had everywhere strayed from his paths, and no more obeyed his commandments. A new organ of the Divine will was required j it became necessary to re establish the communication, now suspended, between earth and heaven. Smith was selected for the work. " The covenant which God made with ancient Tsrael," says Jo seph (March 2nd),t " was at hand to be fulfilled : the preparatory work for the second coming of the Messiah was speedily to commence; the time was at hand for the Gospel in all its fullness to be preached in power unto all nations, that a people might be prepared for the Millennial reign. I was informed that I was chosen to be an instru ment in the hands of God to bring about some of his pur poses in this glorious dispensation." * The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, vol. xxi. p. 37. t Deseret News, vol. v., August 15, 1855. DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 7 Parley P. Pratt, in a sermon on the 10th of July, 1853,* has very clearly characterized the new dispensation. "What is Mormonisra ?" he asks. " Tt is a restoration, by new re velation, by the authorities of heaven, by the ministration of angels, by the ordination of prophets and apostles, and ministers or elders ; by their testimony and ministry upon the earth, by the organization of Saints, by the adminis tration of ordinances, by the operations of the Holy Spirit ; it is a restoration of these ancient principles, revealed from heaven for the government of man." Hence it is really a new religion which we have to study. Is it worth the trouble ? Has it principles, a metaphysical system, a theology, a system of morals worthy of our at tention ? Assuredly, if it be true that everything apper taining to man ought to interest us, then everything which nourishes his thought and directs his life, all that responds, rudely or not, to that need of the ideal which is ever influ encing him, do what he will, and which lies at the bottom of aU religions, then all this must furnish matter not merely for our curiosity, but for reflection and inquiry. The first characteristic which strikes us when we take a near view of Mormonism, and regard it as a rehgion, is its universality, or at least its pretension to universality. Tn it there is nothing of that narrowness and exclusiveness to be found, as in the majority of religions, even the broadest and most flexible. " The most prominent * ' Journal of Discourses,' by Brigham Young, his two counsellors, the twelve apostles, and others, p. 308 : 1854. 8 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. point of difference in sentiment," said Joseph Smith to Judge Douglas and others,* "between the Latter-day Saints and sectarians was, that the latter were all ckcum- scribed by some peculiar creed, which deprived its mem bers of the privilege of believing anything not contained therein, whereas the Latter-day Saints have no creed, but are ready to believe all true principles that exist, as they are made manifest from time to time." Not only does this flexibility impart to the new religion a character of originality, but it allows it to propose to it self a higher end than does any other, to comprehend a vaster area, and to summon, if I may say so, the whole world within its embrace. Like Channing amongst the Unitarians, Smith aspires to reconciliation and fusion. He invites all communions to meet on a common ground. To confine ourselves within Jewish and Christian deism ap pears to him too restricted ; he struggles more and more to expand his framework at the risk of falling into the vague. We must hear what he says in a sermon on the 9th of July, 1843.t " It is a love of liberty which inspires my soul, civil and reli gious liberty to the whole of the human race. . . . One of the grand fundamental principles of Mormonism is to receive truth, let it come whence it may. ... If a skilful mechanic, in taking a welding heat, uses borax, alum, etc., and succeeds in welding together iron or steel more perfectly than any other mechanic, * History of Joseph Smith, " Deseret News,' March 5, 1856. t 'Deseret News,' January 21, 1857. DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 9 is he not deserving of praise? And if by the principles of truth I succeed in uniting all denominations in the bonds of love, shall I not have attained a good object ? . . . Christians should cease wrangling and contention with each other, and cultivate the prin ciples of union and friendship in their midst. . . . Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, Mohammedans, etc., are they in possession of any truth ? Yes, they have all a little truth, mixed with error.* "We ought to gather together all the good and true prin ciples which are in the world, and keep them, otherwise we shall never become pure Mormous."t Tt might well astonish us to meet in the mouth of the new Prophet, language which reminds us of that of the eclectics of the Sorbonne, were it not quite natural that the antagonism of religious sects should give birth to the same idea, and the same need, of reconciliation, as do the dissensions between different systems of philosophy. Be this as it may, it is evident that there is in Mormonism the conception of a large and ample reconciliation, a sort of comprehensive eclecticism, extremely curious to find in * Grotius had said, long before Joseph Saiith, "No sect possesses the whole truth, but each possesses a portion of the truth." t Sidney Eigdon, in a sermon, April 6, 1844, says : — " The Sectarians can not be as wise as we are, for they have only got the plans of man for sal vation ; but we have got man's plans, the devil's plans, and, the best of all, we have God's plans. . . . When God sets up a system of salvation, he sets up a system of government. When I speak of a government, I mean what I say ; I mean a government that shall rule over spiritual and tem poral affairs. For it has been a universal mistake to suppose that salva tion is distinct from government." — Deseret News, July 1, 1857. 10 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. a man of the slight intellectual culture of Joseph Smith. It must be remarked also that he proposes to himself as an end, the diffusion of truth, or of what he believes to be and presents as such, — which, as far as the individual is con cerned, is pretty much the same thing ; — and that this end is worked up to by his followers in the way he indicated. Tn its actual phase and practice, Mormonism desires what its founder did, a progressive universal religion, which shall unite in a single faith all existing religions, and all the na tions of the earth. Are the means in proportion to the end ? — have they its nobleness and grandeur? That may be questionable ; but the end itself is deserving of nothing but praise. The eclecticism we have just pointed out as a feature of Mormonism, is, as far as regards the end it proposes to itself, and its desire of laying hold of the truth wherever it can be met with, independently of all sjpirit of party and sect, a thing very fine in theory, but very difficult in practice, even for minds more independent and more able than those of the Mormons. Therefore is it that this ec lecticism hardly exists among them, save in the way I have just indicated. Except the ruling idea which hovers over the doctrine and illuminates it, all the rest is rather a coarse syncretism, a disorderly amalgamation of all sorts of superstitions and doctrines, borrowed from forms of wor ship and systems the most various. Therefore is it there is a certain difficulty in giving a complete representation of DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 11 the faith of the Saints ; and were the great majority of them compelled to make it clear to themselves, they might be just as much puzzled. Fortunately, as is the case with the believers in other religious systems, doctrine is with them a very small matter, and one of which they take very little heed. They are, however, perfectly orthodox in spite of this. To believe in Joseph, in Brigham, the Book of Mor mon, to pay tithes, to be baptized for the remission of sins, to obey the commands of the Presidency, this is all that is required of them, and is amply sufficient to make them ex cellent Mormons. People are not more difficult in Utah than elsewhere ; and there, as in all other places, they efiect their salvation extremely well without knowing the meta physics of the religion they profess. Still these metaphysics exist, and are more or less logically combined with a theology, a code of morality, and a policy, of each of which we will give an account in succession. The metaphysical system of Mormonism is not an inven tion peculiar to itself; it is a very old one in the world, and, if not the only one, it is one of a very wide range. To call it by its real name, it is the old materialism of Epi curus and Lucretius, of D'Holbach and of Lamettrie, as well as of many others, with a considerable dash of panthe ism, for the most part of German extraction. It is, in fact, the philosophy most in favour in America, and Orson Pratt, who has constituted himself its teacher amongst the Mor mons, is hardly anything more than an echo of many a phi- 12 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. losophical school in Boston and Philadelphia. Only what gives it an original character, and makes it a real curiosity, is the way in which it has been wedded to Jewish and Christian ideas, the place assigned to it in the new theo logy, and the strange alliance and compulsory union which has been forcibly estabhshed between them. Here in a few words is the exposition of the metaphysi cal doctrine of the Mormons : — According to Orson Pratt, matter has existed from all eternity. " If we admit," he says, " the contingent truth that something now exists in space, it necessarily follows, as nothing cannot produce something, that something has always existed in space." And the parts of this eternal something must necessarily occupy a finite space, and con sequently this something is matter. It follows moreover that the act of creation, such as it is presented to us by some philosophers and by Christianity, is a chimera of which reason and experience easily demonstrate the absur dity. That which is immaterial is mere nothingness. Hence God, and spirit, whatever this last may be, are matter ; they cannot be conceived of in any other way than " as occu pying space, and occupying of this space a determinate amount invariably the same." The quantity of matter in a given body can only be de termined by calculating the extent of space which it occu pies; this calculation cannot yet be effected. Weight is DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 13 not an exact measure of quantity, for various reasons, the principal of which is, that it is not a necessary force, and that matter can be conceived of independently of it. So it is with inertia, with cohesion, and all other forces, which, for analogous reasons, cannot serve for a measure. Matter, then, must be conceived of independently of all force ; the idea of force does not necessarily enter into the conception of it, but only the idea of space. But, according to this conception, matter would be eter nally motionless, or could only move in a right line. How then are we to explain motion such as it is and such as it exists in nature ? We can conceive matter independently of force, it is true ; but experience proves that force exists, since there is motion, and that there are other motions be sides the rectilinear one. If we are able to conceive the idea of matter without force, we cannot separate the idea of force from that of substance. " All forces must be the forces of something." But whence comes force ? Inert matter cannot generate it ; it is therefore eternal. Forces, when they act, can only act there where they are, that is to say, on the substance where they are, or on the parts of this substance. There is then a force of pres sure, of cohesion, but neither attraction nor repulsion is possible. These are pure fancies. It is an error to attribute the operations of Nature to an inert and unintelligent matter. Matter is not inert, other wise the state of repose, or of primary motion in a right 14 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. line, would have been eternal ; moreover, all matter, as far as we know it, is eminently active. Were matter without intelligence, how could the particles of matter move them selves of themselves, and move themselves in conformity with certain laws ? To move olieself, it is necessary to be active ; to move oneself according to certain laws, it is re quisite to be intelligent. Besides, non-intelligence is only a peculiar form of inertia ; and admitting that the laws in question come from without, how are they to be compre hended and obeyed without intelhgence ?* Matter is then intelligent. The sum of this intelligent matter is coextensive with matter itself, and it is it which governs all the parts of nature's vast domain. Intelligence is a moving cause anterior to all other causes ; consequently, is eternal just as much as the beings which it affects. This intelligence is God ; but God, as a matter of course, can only be conceived of as consisting of a certain number of the superior and most intelligent particles of the universe, existing in a state of union, which union, if it be not eternal, is the necessary result of the anterior and eternal powers of each individual particle.f However this may be, this sub- * " An unintelligent particle is incapable of understanding or obeying a law, while an intelligent particle is capable of both understanding and obedience. It would be entirely useless for an intelligent cause to give laws to unintelligent matter, for such matter could never become conscious of such laws, and therefore would be totally incapable of obedience." — Ch-eat First Cause, by Orson Pratt, p. 10, sec. 12. t " We conceive the sublime and glorious personage of Deity himself to consist of a certain number of the most superior and most intelligent DOCTRINE, HlEaARCHY, WORSHIP. 16 stance which constitutes the Divinity, exists in immense quantities, and its particles must be more or less separate from each other, in order that the infinite variety of phe nomena should be possible. But now, have the particles changed, or have they remained the same from all eternity ? Have the volume and the figure of the atoms been in any way modified ? There are many reasons for asserting that they are very diff'erent now from what they were in the be ginning. The infinite minuteness of the atoms which would seem to be requisite for the actual operations of nature, such as the phenomena of light and vision, the variations of tem perature, etc., is seemingly a sufficient reason for its being so. All the varieties of grandeur might have existed, but certain of them have been selected in order that the work of nature might be accomplished. Now choice supposes an origin. The actual minuteness, as well as the resem blance of atoms, had therefore an origin. Tt is not however supposed that substance had a beginning, any more than the power which has produced the present state of things. This power must have existed eternally in substances before they had taken the form which they now exhibit. Some atoms it has crushed, and reduced them whenever requisite, in order to adapt them to the future economy of the world, just as it has aggregated others which were too subtile, material particles of the universe, existing in a state of union, which imion, if not eternal, must have been the result of the eternal and anterior powers of each individual particle." — Great First Cause, by Orson Pratt, p. 10, sec. 12. 16 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. until they had acquired the volume necessary to the end which they had to accomplish. The actual minuteness of these atoms of the same kind, their uniformity of size, the exact resemblance of their forms, show evidently that these characteristics are not eternal, and that they have been formed ; but they have not been formed out of nothing, as certain philosophers have affirmed, but out of a substance eternally pre-existing, and out of the power inherent in this substance. As all substances and all forces are eternal, it is probable they have been eternally engaged in operations of some kind or other. But have the laws which regulate these operations been always the same ? No, for they are not necessary. And, moreover, as these are laws given for the government of intelligent substances, which, consequently, act voluntarily under the influence of wisdom and science, they must vary with the degrees of wisdom and science, and they must have varied incessantly in proportion as the sum of their experience has increased, in order to attain to that fullness of wisdom and intelligence which characterizes the operations actually going on. This is not all; it is in finitely probable that perfection is not yet reached ; there are other laws and other modes of action, which existing beings have to learn by means of a longer experience, and " as ages without end shall disclose new glories, they will for ever ascend the universal and endless scale of exist ence." DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 17 At any rate, the elementary atoms of nature, the elements of spirit, like those of hght, of heat, of electricity, of oxygen, etc., were originally formed of the same substance, a substance one, simple, elementary, possessing a living force, self-moving, endowed with sufficient intelligence to govern the force which is within it, in the infinity of its com bination and its operations, and in the immense variety of phenomena constantly occurring in the Universe. The portion of this substance which possesses the high est degree of knowledge, prescribes laws to its own action, and to that of all other portions of the same substance which possess an inferior intelhgence. And thus there is a law given to all things, in proportion to their capacity, their knowledge, and their excellence. Every law has its limits and conditions; the beings who remain in their sphere of actions and observe their laws, are, at predeter mined times, raised to new spheres of action, while those who have been disobedient to them remain stationary, or descend into inferior regions, until they shall have learnt to obey. AU the organizations of the different worlds, animals, vegetables, men, angels, spirits, and the spiritual person ages, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, if they be orga nized, must have been the product of the combinations or self-combinations of pre-existent particles of substance. These eternal forces are the great primary causes of all things, and of all events, which have had a beginning. VOL. II. c 18 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. But if it be true that the skilful arrangement of these divers organizations implies an intelhgence which must have de signed them, and that the greater the excellence of the design, the more evident the necessity for such an intel ligence ; and admitting that the spiritual personages, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, must present stronger proof of design in the skilful distribution of the substance which constitutes them, than any other beings, it will follow that the greater the evidence they afford of design, the greater the necessity for there being some one who conceived it. Now this some one can be nothing else than a substance self-acting, intelligent, capable of organizing itself into one or more personages invested with the highest glory. We are therefore compelled to admit that the personage God is eternal, and presents no mark of design whatever ; otherwise it would be requisite to suppose that the all- powerful substance which acts of itself, and which is God, could have organized itself. But, be his person eternal or not, his substance together with all his attributes must cer tainly be SO; it is this substance which is the great first cause. Tt is this which governs and regulates everything by its laws. Parts of this substance actually exist under the forms of personages ; others exist, without being orga nized, more or less mixed up with other things, compo sing here a world, there an animalcule, governing a uni- verse, and yet taking cognizance of beings of the lowest order, and communicating life and happiness to all. It is DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WOESHIP. 19 in all things, and throughout all things, and the law which governs all things ; and all things are not only by it and for it, but of it. Its majesty and its power, its wisdom and its greatness, its goodness and its love, shine through every part of creation with ineffable, immortal, and eternal glory. We shall leave to those especially conversant with such questions to fix the value of this metaphysical system, and to determine in what proportions materialism and pan theism are mixed up together in it. We shall confine ourselves to summing up and selecting its most striking and distinct features. It is evident, we see it at the first glance, that this Mor mon doctor is as much a materialist as it is possible for any one to be. According to him, matter is eternal, and there is but one substance, of which all others are but modifica tions. Consequently, there is no distinction between matter and spirit. More than this ; all the parts of matter are intelligent, and self-acting conformably to certain laws. These laws must be comprehended by them, otherwise they could not obey them, and according to the degree of ca pacity they exhibit in their attempts to conform them selves to these laws, is their status in the scale of exist ences ; stationary if they are refractory ; rising to a mode of action ever and ever improving if they know how to obey and profit by the lessons of experience. These parts do not owe their existence to themselves; c 3 20 FAITH AND WORKS OP THE MORMONS. they are formed of a single substance, self-moving, which has in itself its own force and end of existence, and on which all others are dependent. Tt is this substance that is the great first cause, which is God. It will be seen by what will be hereafter said how the theogony and the theology of the Mormons connect them selves with this metaphysical system, from which in fact anything may be evolved ; for what can be more elastic than this impersonal substance infused into everything ? Of what forms, what transformations, and, if I may so express myself, of what manipulations is it not susceptible ? But the primitive creed of the doctrine was independent of this system. On reading it we see this at a glance. "We believe in God the eternal Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. " We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgressions. "We believe that through the atonement of Christ all man kind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. " We believe that these ordinances are : — 1st, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 2nd, Repentance. 3rd, Baptism by immer sion for the remission of sins. 4th, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. " We believe that a man must be called of God by prophecy, and by laying on of hands by those who are in authority to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof. " We believe in the same organization that existed in the DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 21 primitive Church, viz. apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evan gelists, etc. "We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, etc. "We believe the Bible to be the Word of God as far as it is translated correctly ; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. " We believe all that God has revealed ; all that he does now reveal ; and we believe that he will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. "We believe in the literal gathering of Israel, and in the re storation of the ten tribes; that Zion will be built upon this continent ; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth ; and that the earth wiU be renewed, and receive its paradisiacal glory. "We claim the privilege of worshipping Almighty God ac cording to the dictates of our conscience, and allow aU men the same privilege, let them worship how or where they may. "We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honouring, and sustaining the law. " We beheve in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtu ous, and in doing good to all men. Indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul, we ' believe all things,' we ' hope all things,' we have endured many things, and hope to be able to ' endure aU things.' If there is anything virtuous, lovely, ol of good report, or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." This creed, which was drawn up by Joseph Smith, and which we insert as published on the 1st of March, 1842, has no connection with the metaphysical doctrine, of 22 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. which it presents no one leading feature ; but it has been singularly modified since, or at all events has received im portant developments from the hands of the divines, and from Joseph himself ; and it is through these developments that it allies itself with Pratt's metaphysics, as will be seen at once by the description we are about to give of the theogony and theology of the Mormons. Let us first hear Smith ; afterwards we will hear his disciple. God resides on a great Urim and Thummim, a globe like to a sea of fire, in which all things past, present, and future are manifested and are continually in his sight.* He was once a man like us ; he is now a man raised up, who sits on the throne of heaven. Were he to present himself to our view, we should find him like to us in form, and like to us in person and in face, because Adam was created in his image and likeness ; because he received instructions from him, and walked and conversed with him as one man walks and converses with another. The opening of Genesis is thus translated by Joseph Smith :— " In the beginning, the head of the gods called a council of the gods ; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it. But I am learned, and know more than all the world put together. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed ; for element had an existence from the time He had. They may be organized * Sermon of April 2nd, 1843. DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 23 and reorganized, but not destroyed ; they had no beginning and they can have no end. We should not translate, God created the world; we ought to say, God has organized the world with the materials that existed. The word create comes from baurau : now baurau does not mean to create out of nothing ; it means to organize. The mind or the intelligence which man possesses is co-equal with God himself. God did not create the soul of man, but made the body out of earth, and placed within it the spirit of man, which is co-equal with God. I am dwelling on the im mortality of the spirit of man. Is it logical to say that the intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet that it had a begin ning? The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end ; that is good logic. That which has a beginning may have an end. There never was a time when there were not spirits, for they are co-equal with our Father in heaven. "I. want to reason more on the spirit of man, for I am dwell ing on the body and spirit of man, on the subject of the dead. I take my ring from my finger and liken it unto the mind of man — the immortal part — ^because it has no beginning. Sup pose you cut it in two, then it has a beginning and an end ; but join it again, and it continues one eternal round, as with the spirit of man : as the Lord liveth, if it had a beginning it will have an end. AU the fools and learned and wise men from the beginning of creation, who say that the spirit of man had a beginning, prove that it must have an end ; and if that doctrine is true, then the doctrine of annihilation would be true. But if I am right, I might with boldness proclaim from the house-tops that God never had the power to create the spirit of man at aU. God himself could not create himself. " Intelligence is external, and exists upon a self-existent prin- 24 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. ciple ; it is a spirit from age to age, and there is no creation about it. AU the minds and spirits that God ever sent into the world are susceptible of enlargement. " The first principles of man are self-existent with God, God himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, be cause he was more intelligent, saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have a privUege to advance, like himself. "The contention in heaven was, Jesus said there would be certain souls that would not be saved ; and the devil said he could save them all, and laid his plans before the grand councU, who gave their vote in favour of Jesus Christ ; so the devil rose up in rebellion against God, and was cast down, with aU who put up their heads for him. ... I have now preached a Httle Latin, a little Hebrew, Greek, and German, and I have fulfiUed all. I am not so big a fool as many have taken me to be. The Germans know that I read the German correctly. . . . You don't know me ; you never knew my heart ; no man knows my history ; I cannot tell it, I can never undertake it. I don't blame any one for not believing my history ; if I had not ex perienced what I have, I could not have believed it myself."* Tn what precedes. Smith gives us an idea of his manner of conceiving things, and at the same time a specimen of his eloquence ; and he hardly deserves much praise either for one or the other. Let us proceed. " I will preach on the plurality of gods. ... I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a distinct personage from God the Father, and that the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit, and these three constitute * Sermon of April 1844, ' Deseret News,' July 8, 1857. DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 25 three distinct personages and three Gods. If this is in accord ance with the New Testament, lo and behold ! we have three Gods anyhow, and they are plural ; and who can contradict it ? . . . Paul says, '^ There are Gods many and Lords many.' . . . Many men say, there is one God, — the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are only one God. I say that is a strange God anyhow — three in one and one in three ! It is a curious organization. . . . AU are to be crammed into one God, according to Sec tarianism ; it would make the biggest God in aU the world ; he would be a wonderful big God; he would be a giant and a monster. ... If Jesus was the son of God, God the Father of Jesus Christ had a father also. Whenever was there a son with out a father ? or, whenever was there a father who had not first been a son ? etc.* " The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit ; were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us. ... In 1890 the face of the Son of Man wiU show itself to the world." f But let us leave these ramblings of the Prophet, and sum up the doctrine of God as it has been illustrated by his disciples. Tn this, if, as will be the case, we find somewhat more sequence, we shall hardly find fewer absurdities, or less irrationality. There exists an infinity of gods with a chief god at their head — the Head of the Gods. The gods have a body * Sermon of June 1844, ' Deseret News,' October 7, 1857. t Sermon of April 2nd, 1843, 'Deseret News,' July 9, 1856. 26 FAITH AND WORKS .OF THE MORMONS. like our own ; they have passions, members, organs ; the^ speak, they walk, they have wives. Their body is im mortal. There have been female gods from all eternity, that is to say, co-eternal with the most ancient gods. These are the queens of heaven ; they are mothers of our minds, and of the gods by a mode of generation peculiar to the celes tial regions. Jesus Christ differs from his father in this, that he is subordinate to him, and can do nothing of his own will independently of him ; but he does all things in the name and by the authority of the Father, being of the same mind in all things. The difference between Jesus Christ and another immortal man is this : man is subject to Jesus Christ, does nothing of himself or by himself, but all things in the name of Christ, and by his authority, being of one mind with him, and rendering all the glory to him and his Father. The gods, angels, and men, are all of one species and of one race, composing one great and unique family, distri buted through the planetary system, in the form of colo nies, kingdoms, and nations. The great difference between one portion of this race and another arises from the diffe rent degrees of intelhgence and purity which distinguish them, and also from the variety of the spheres passed through by each in the series of progressive being. An immortal man, possessing a perfect organization of DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 27 mind, flesh, and bone, and perfect in his attributes in all the fuUness of celestial glory, is called a God. An immortal man, in progress towards perfection, and endowed with a less degree of glory, is called an Angel. An immortal human spirit, which is not united to a tabernacle of flesh, is called a Spirit.* An immortal man, invested with a mortal tabernacle, is called a Man. Tt is manifest enough from all this, that according to this theology there exists, in a subordinate sense, a plura lity of gods, or rather, a plurality of sons of God, notwith standing there being a Supreme Head, who is above all, and in all, and in His Son by the power of His spirit. Jesus Christ and his Father are two persons, in the same sense that Paul and Peter are two persons ; each of them has an organized tabernacle, personal, composed of a ma terial substance like that of man, and possessing all the organs, all the members, all the physical parts that man possesses. All men, angels, and spirits are gods, or sons of God ; they are the kings, princes, priests, and nobles of eternity. But above them all is a presidency or great Head, who is the Father of all. Immediately after him comes Jesus Christ, the first-born, and the eldest heir of all the king doms of light. But let us pause here. Indeed, were we disposed to * In the language of the Mormons, tabernacle is synonymous with body. 28 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. follow the Mormons in their dissertations, and rambling comments on the nature of the gods, we should fill volumes without exhausting the subject. Let us once again sum up, in order that we may have fully before us their doc trine on this subject. God, hke all gods, has an immortal body, and is subject to the same passions and the same wants as man, who remains in an imperfect state, until he has exchanged his mortal body for an immortal body. The Holy Spirit and the other spirits have no determinate body, and among the gods they are the only ones who are without it. Man, who belongs to the race of the gods, will himself become, after various transmigrations, a per fect god. The gods, having both a body and passions, drink, eat, and sleep, and make love. Since the Head of the gods has begotten Jesus Christ, and the whole race of gods, it is obvious he must have had wives. And in point of fact he is married in heaven ; Jesus Christ himself was married upon earth, and, what is more, a polygamist. In heaven he rides about with his wives in a car drawn by four white horses. The definition of the Holy Ghost is very complicated. We will confine ourselves to saying that it is a spirit, a substance which like the others is one of the elements of material and physical existence, and consequently subject to the necessary laws which govern all matter. Its whole is composed of individual parts ; this substance is widely spread throughout the elements of space. This Holy Spirit, DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 29 under the control of the great Elohim, is the great moving cause of all intelhgences, and the means whereby they act. The Holy Spirit is omnipotent by reason of the infinity of its parts, and comprehends all things. This it is which by the order of the All-powerful, or of his agents, puts all worlds in motion, works miracles, raises up the dead, heals the sick, moves mountains, and changes the rotation of the earth. It penetrates the pores of the most solid substances, and moves through space with inconceivable rapidity. The other gods can never be in more than one place at a time, while this one can be at the same time in as many places as it has parts, and its parts are infinite. Should this seem difficult to comprehend, and not quite satisfactory to the reader, I will refer him to Orson Pratt, who will easily explain it to him, and it wiU be very hard if he do not come away from the lesson completely edified. " Our belief in the materialism of all we possess is founded on reason and common sense. According to our view, the doctrine of immaterialism is false, absurd in the last degree, and un worthy of any Christian philosopher. Very true ; we believe that the soul . or spirit may be separated from the body, but that it is immaterial we utterly deny. Christians say, the soul thinks, matter cannot think. But they had better prove that the soul is not matter before they maintain that matter cannot think ! The adversaries of materialism assert that God is an immaterial, indivisible substance, of which the centre is everywhere, and the substance nowhere. But the indivisibility of a substance im plies impenetrability, or the incapacity of two substances to 30 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. occupy the same space at the same time. Now, if an indivisible substance exists everywhere, as it cannot be penetrated, it will absolutely exclude the existence of all other substances. Such a substance wiU be a solid without bounds, without pores, inca pable of condensation, expansion, or motion, since there would be no unoccupied space for it to move in. Observation instructs us that this is not the case ; consequently, a substance indivi sible, immaterial, is perfectly absurd, and opposed to all true philosophy. You teach that the Divinity consists of three per sons of one and the same substance, and that each of these per sons may be everywhere present. Very good ! But, to be every where present, each of these persons must be of infinite exten- sion, or at aU events capable of occupying two or more places at the same time. If a substance have infinite extension, it ceases to be a person, for person implies limits of extension, which are called figure. But what is not limited can have no figure. It follows therefore, as a matter of necessity, that a person must be enclosed in a finite space. Now, whatever is limited by finite space, cannot at the same time be confined in another space. Consequently it is impossible for a person to be at the same time in two or more places. Whence, we conclude, that ma terialism is totally absurd and iUogicaJ. . . . An immaterial sub stance cannot exist. Immaterialists are atheists. ... A spiritual substance is material. . . . Substances can only differ by their size, form, and quahties ; they do not differ in their essences, which are necessarily alike. " The oneness of the Godhead may be in some measure iUus trated by two gallons of pure water, existing in separate vessels, representing the Father and the Son; and an ocean of pure water, representing the Holy Spirit. No one would say of these DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 31 three portions of water that they were identically the same. Every portion would be a separate substance of itself, but yet the separate portions would be one in all their properties and quali ties. The three substances would be one in kind, one in qua lity, but three in separate distinct identities. So it is with the Godhead so far as the spiritual matter is concerned. There is the same power, wisdom, glory, and goodness in every part, and yet every part has its own work to perform, which accords in the most perfect harmony with the mind and will of every other part. Each atom , of the Holy Spirit is intelligent, and, like aU other matter, has solidity, form, and size. It is because each acts in the most perfect unison with all the rest that the whole is considered one Holy Spirit."* This doctrine of the Mormon divine is subject to more than one various reading, as may be readily supposed. We may also add that, as far as the origin and- nature of beings are concerned, it is considered as mere speculation, and that, as I have already observed, it is possible to be an excellent Mormon without believing in all this, and even without having the slightest knowledge of it. The essential point is to show oneself submissive to the Prophet and his successors. One day, having several of the leading Mormons at our house, I requested one of them to give me some notion of the formation of the world and of man, and to add a few words respecting his destiny. He consented without any pressing : — " The elements of the universe are eternal, increate, self- * Orson Pratt, ' Absurdities of Immaterialism.' 32 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. existent. There is no creative power which can destroy them, nor even retrench from, nor add a particle to, them. All elements are spiritual, all are physical, all are mate rial and tangible realities. Spirit is matter, and matter is full of spirit. A general assembly of the gods, with their president at their head, constitutes the organizing power of these elements. Thousands of worlds will be in time or ganized, in order to be peopled by gods hereafter to be born. " Man has been made of earth in the same way that a brick is moulded. Woman was not made from a rib. Moses in making this statement in Genesis was forced to lie, just as nowadays mothers deceive their daughters by telling them that they are born under a cabbage, or spring up like mushrooms, on rotten trunks of trees. But man is begotten by God in heaven, and after his image ; he is brought up in the family circle, in the midst of the tender caresses of his parents. When this period of celestial edu cation is finished, the spirit quits its first stage, and is sent upon earth to be invested with a tabernacle of flesh. He now enters into his second stage, in which a veil is pru dently thrown over his previous existence. When he leaves this earth at his death, he passes into a third state, which is called the world of spirits. Then he enters into his fourth stage, in which he assumes an external body of flesh and bone, by aid of which he is qualified to enjoy all the elements of the physical and spiritual worlds which can gratify the senses, or conduce to the happiness of intel- DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 83 ligent beings. He now contracts intimacies, converses, makes love, thinks, acts, goes about, sees, hears, tastes, smells, eats, drinks, and holds property. "The evil spirits are those who, upon earth, have not shown themselves worthy of being glorified in the third state. These evil spirits torment men in this world, take possession of them, and impel them to evil. They must be expelled by exorcism. " Tf you ask an angel, when he visits you, to give you his hand, you wiU feel his hand. "Tf you ask a spirit become perfect to give you his hand, he will not stir; because it is contrary to celestial order for a just man to deceive ; but he will deliver you his message with all the glory in which he appears. " Tf it be the devil who should appear to you under the form of an angel, he will not refuse to give you his hand ; but you will feel nothing, and will know by this that it is the devil."* On another occasion, conversing with a venerable man, a Saint, about the various resurrections I had heard of as part of the doctrine of his faith, I requested him to give me some information on the subject ; his reply was this -. — " There are three general resurrections ; one past, two others yet to come. * The Mormon high-priest, from whom I learnt what precedes, no doubt here made use of the three last paragraphs of a sermon of Joseph Smith's on the 9th of February, 1843. VOL. II. D 34 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. "The first resurrection occurred at the same rime as that of Christ. Tt comprised the saints and the prophets of the two hemispheres, from Adam to John the Baptist ; in other words, it embraced all those who had died in Christ before his resurrection. " The second resurrection will take place in a few years, and will be immediately followed by the arrival of Jesus Christ, coming in great pomp with all his saints and angels. Tt will comprise the saints of the first century of our era, the Latter-day Saints, and all those who shall have received the Gospel from the time of the first resur rection. " The third resurrection will take place more than a thou sand years after the second, and will comprise the whole of the human family not included in the previous resur rections. " In the second resurrection about to take place, they who are raised, instead of going up to heaven, like those in the time of Christ, will remain upon earth, which will change its climate, soil, productions, as well as its govern ments. The mountains will be levelled, the valleys filled up, the marshes and pestilential places drained and made healthy, while the burnt-up deserts and the cold polar regions will be blessed and become temperate and fertile. The Teign of kings and priests, tyranny, oppression, and idolatry, will no longer exist ; darkness and ignorance will disappear, war will cease, and in place of sin, sorrow, and DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 35 death, will reign peace, truth, and justice. The saints com prised in the two last resurrections will then receive an in heritance on earth which they will inhabit, and improve for a thousand years. The pagan nations will then also be ransomed, and admitted to the privilege of serving the saints of the Most High ; they will become labourers, vine dressers, gardeners, masons, etc., but the saints will be the proprietors of the soil and of all property ; kings, gover nors, and judges of the earth. As the children of men wiU multiply rapidly in this period of peace, a new system of agriculture will be devised, which will spread over the whole globe, whose surface will be transformed into a vast garden of Eden, where the tree of life will abound, the fruit whereof all will be allowed to eat. Science, arts, industry, will make great progress; railways and electric telegraphs will exist everywhere, and steam and other means of locomotion be carried to the highest point of perfection. All nations will be united in one great bro therhood ; a universal theocracv will cement the whole body politic. A single king will govern ; one holy city will be the sole capital of the world; one temple the centre of its worship. In short, there will be one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, and one Spirit. Equitable, just, and useful commercial interests, founded on the necessity and opportunity of mutual exchange of products, wifl, on the other hand, furnish an important inducement to union. Gold, silver, precious stones, will be the ordinary materials D 2 36 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. of building. Man is God ; all belongs to him as he be longs to Christ, and as Christ belongs to God." The good man spoke a long while in this strain; his face was radiant with enthusiasm and happiness, as if the golden age of which he was speaking, were already spread before his eyes in all the glitter of its marvellous fehcity. I listened to him in silence, and took good care not to rouse him from his dream and his illusions, which I would will ingly have shared with him. He then spoke to me of the final state of man, which is comprised of the three following states of existence, that form the summit of the edifice : — Telestial existence. Terrestrial existence. Celestial existence. The telestial abode is the least fine of the three; its name has reference to the fact of its being compared to the stars, the most remote and least striking luminaries of the vault of heaven. The terrestrial abode is intermediate between the first and the third; it is supposed to bear an analogy to the earth and moon. The celestial abode, or third heaven, is the especial dwell ing of the gods, and of the elect who have attained the highest point of perfection. It is compared to the sun, the most splendid and visible luminary of all. " Joseph Smith and Sidney Bigdon," said the friend I was talking with, " at the close of a vision they had on DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 37 February 16th, 1832, described the conditions of admit tance to each of these three heavens. God reigns in the celestial abode with the most perfect men. As to hell, which some represent as a state of servitude for the benefit of the elect, it exists in some place unknown to any one excepting those who are there tortured by fire and brim stone ; and God has not revealed how long this punishment shall last. The legend which represents the devil as re belling against God is received by our divines." I then asked him to relate to me the history of Adam iand Eve. "When Adam entered into the garden of Eden, he came with a celestial body, and he brought with him Eve, one of his wives. He assisted in making and orga nizing this world. He is Michael, the archangel, the Ancient of Bays, whom the sacred historians mention. He is our father and our god, and the only god with whom we have to do.* When he was placed upon this earth, he was an immortal being ; his fiesh and bones, as well as his spirit, were in their nature immortal and eternal, as was the case, in the lower stage of creation, with the lion, the leopard, the cow, birds, and fishes. The earth itself, as a living being, was also immortal and eternal in its nature. Such was the principle of the earth's construction, that it was capable of existing as a living being throughout all eternity, with the swarms of animals which had been placed upon * ' Millennial Star,' xv., p. 769, Sermon of Brigham Young. 38 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. its surface, and but for the transgression of one person, it would never have been subject to death, because the works of the Lord are made to exist for ever.* This transgres sion was an act of disobedience, not to a natural law, but to God's express command. The great I am had com manded that the fruit of one tree should not be eaten, be cause he chose that man, created perfect in order to be im mortal, should show himself capable of acknowledging his Creator. The penalty attached to Adam's transgression was the death of the immortal tabernacle, of that tabernacle in which, nevertheless, the seeds of death had never been sown. If Adam, our ancient father, had not sinned, he would still be in the garden of Eden, as fresh, as brilliant, as handsome as ever, accompanied by his lovely spouse endowed with eternal youth. At the same time that the body which had eaten the fruit had to die, the spirit which had given its consent must have suffered for ever, if God had not devised a plan of redemption. But Adam failed only in order that man might exist, and men exist only to he partalcers of bliss. Had Adam not yielded to Eve, he could not have had any progeny, and God's command, increase and multiply, could not have been fulfilled; for Eve, had she alone sinned, must have been eternally separated from her husband, who would have remained in Eden. It was in consequence of his thinking of this, that he did sacrifice himself at Eve's solicitation, in order that man should exist. He compre- * O. Pratt, ' Millennial Star,' xiv., p. 642 et seq. DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 39 hended its being necessary to share with her misery and death, and the consequences of her fall, in order that both she and he might be ransomed from these penalties, and restored to the presence of God. Adam had not the know ledge of evil, only the knowledge of good. But after his fall he acqmred this knowledge, comprehended the differ ence between his former and his present state, and would have given anything to have recovered his first position. With Adam we have all been condemned to death on ac count of a fault not committed by ourselves. But God, whose bosom is full of mercy, has given us his first-born, who laid down his life for us. Through his sacrifice we have been delivered from death, that is to say, our bodies will rise again, whereas they would have slept eternally without the coming of Christ. It is from the eternal death of the body we have been ransomed, and not from an ori ginal sin that does not concern us. "After Adam's fall, there was a general council of the gods in heaven, at which the Son, and Lucifer the chief of the celestial armies, were present. The following question was submitted to this council, ' How can man be saved or redeemed from his state of condemnation ?' Each member was invited to suggest a plan. When it came to Lucifer's turn to speak, he gave it as his opinion, that man should be saved in his sins. But Christ rephed, ' I will save him from his sins.' The Father thought this last method the best, and accepted it. Lucifer, Son of the Morning, was 40 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. offended at this preference, and revolted, together with his legions, which he had previously corrupted. On account of this revolt, he was driven from the planetary palace of the Father, and became, under the name of Satan, commander- in-chief of the evil spirits, carrying off with him at the same time many of the noble qualities he had previously pos sessed. All inferior temptations and vulgar artifices are practised by the more ignoble spirits, and hence we are wrong in abusing with so httle charity as we do the Head of the devils, who is d, gentleman devil." The Mormons believe in a hierarchy of gods, which they sum up in the following way. Adam, son of God, is the greatest god upon earth. He is over all men who have de scended from him, but he owes respect and adoration to Jesus Christ, his elder, as the latter is subject to the eternal Father, or Head of the gods. This is styled the patriarchal order of government, according to which each dignitary is independent in his own sphere ; his power extending over those who are beneath him, and not over those who are above him. Every god must be honoured and adored by those over whom he reigns as god, without any violation of the laws of heaven, and without infringing the command ment which says, " Thou shalt have no other gods before me."* Let us pause here, and see what the Mormons think of the incarnation of Christ. According to them, he was not * See the ' MiUennial'Star,' xv., p. 803. DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 41 begotten by the operation of the Holy Ghost. " Jesus, our elder brother, was begotten in the flesh by the same person who was in the garden of Eden, and who is our Father in .J^eaven. Had Jesus been begotten by the Ploly Ghost, it would be very dangerous to baptize and confirm women, and to give them the Holy Spirit, lest the latter should beget children by them, whom the people would put down to the account of the elders, who would thus be put in a very awkward position." It will not be uninteresting to remark in passing, the way in which the Mormons profess to connect themselves with the Bible and the Gospel, and what use they make of . these books. While asserting that the Book of Mormon is better authenticated than the Bible, the divines of Utah much oftener have recourse to the latter for the defence and support of their doctrine. They twist its text as often as it suits them ; and when it is objected that they do not put the same sense upon it as the Christians, they get rid of the difficulty by saying that the translation is incorrect, and that it is necessary to have recourse to the version made by Jo.seph Smith, a version which, if it exists, has, at all events, not yet been published. They have in like manner an extreme respect for the Gospel ; but, just as with the Old Testament, they interpret it after their own fashion. It is not at all surprising that they rarely quote the Book ¦of Mormon, inasmuch as this book comprises only the his tory of the Hebrew nation in America, and that its moral teaching is derived almost exclusively from the Bible. 42 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. Though taking inany of the figurative passages of the Scriptures hterally, they do not hesitate to interpret in their own way, and according to their own wants or ca prices, those texts which have a literal sense. Thus, while accepting and celebrating the Eucharist, they frequently employ water instead of wine, and reject transubstantiation. In the same way, as regards baptism, they maintain that it does not wipe out original sin, which they say has been effaced in all men by the death of Christ. Hence baptism, in their opinion, has no other effect than that of remitting the sins of each individual only, and it is therefore repeated every time that any transgression has been committed. Tt at once suggests itself, that baptism, with them, plays the same part as the sacrament of repentance does among the Catholics. Nevertheless they have something analogous to confession : when a member has committed some public and scandalous sin, or offended a head of the Church, if he do not make an outward acknowledgment of his fault, manifesting at the same time signs of repentance, he is ex pelled from the bosom of the Church, excommunicated, and given up to the buffets of Satan until he is brought to a sense of repentance; if, on the contrary, he confesses his fault and shows contrition, his sin is formally remitted, on condition, however, of his being baptized again ; and he is then suffered to remain within the Church's fold. The ceremony of baptism, which is administered by im mersion, and never otherwise, to be valid, must be per- DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 43 formed by the priests. It takes place in lakes, rivers, and springs that are deep enough. Under the court of the temple now building at Great Salt Lake City, an excava tion has been made for a vast basin, in the style of that at Nauvoo, intended to serve for a baptismal font. Baptism does not confer the title and quality of Saints ; it has no other virtue than that of obliterating sin. Plence infants are not baptized. A proselyte becomes a Mormon through the ceremony of the imposition of hands, which communicates the Holy Spirit and its gifts. The imposi tion of hands has a marked analogy with confirmation in the Roman Cathohc Church; from which it differs how ever in this, that it, like baptism, may be received an in definite number of times. The hving have not exclusively the privilege of being baptized ; its administration has been extended to the dead themselves. Baptism for the dead is administered to the living for the benefit of relatives and friends who, not having been purified in this world by the water of baptism, are not able to enter into a state of justification in the third phase of their eternal existence. It would seem that a living person can receive this species of baptism but once in his life for the benefit of the dead. It must be ob served, also, that a man cannot be baptized for a woman, nor a woman for a man, "you can receive the sacrament for a person of your own sex only." To accelerate, doubt less, as much as possible the building of the temple, as well 44 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. as to attract the faithful to Utah, the Church has decided that baptism for the dead shall henceforth be administered only within its consecrated area when it is entirely com pleted. Joseph Smith, as is well known, administered bap tism for the dead at Nauvoo. Tn promulgating this doc trine as of Divine authority, the impostor touched one of the most sensitive fibres of the human heart, and gave an additional proof of the resources of his bold genius. This institution, in fact, presents a great source of attraction to the piety of the Mormons, since it permits them to save, be yond the precincts of the tomb, persons who were dear to them.* Nevertheless, this is not an absolute innovation on the part of the new faith, for we find this practice intro duced in the first ages of the Christian Church by some heresiarchs, who rested it on this passage of St. Paul : — " Else what shall they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all ? Why are they then baptized for the dead ?"\ To these sacraments of baptism or absolution, of imposi tion of hands or confirmation, of the last supper or Eucharist, must be added those of ordination and marriage, which are also recognized and practised by the Mormons. We may * We knew at the Salt Lake a Scotchwoman of more than sixty years of age, a widow, who was married again to a young English polygamist, in order to be his servant, on condition of the latter permitting himself to be baptized for the benefit of the beloved defunct, her first husband, im mediately after the temple's completion. t 1 Cor. XT. 29. DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 45 even find traces of the Catholic ceremony of extreme unction in the oleaginous frictions they are in the habit of applying to the sick for the purpose of effecting their cure, Avhich would extend the number of the sacraments admitted by the Saints to six, so that there is only one wanting to them, the true Christian baptism, to be as rich as the most richly provided religions. The marriage ceremony in Utah is like that practised in the greater part of Protestant churches. The bridegroom, having his bride on his left, presents himself before the officiating priest, who begins with an injunction to them respecting the sacredness and the obligation of the marriage tie ; then, when it is quite certain there exists no legal impediment to the marriage, he says to the betrothed couple, calling each of them by name, " Do you mutually consent to be companions one to the other, husband and wife, observing the legal rights at tached to this condition, that is to say, confining yourselves entirely the one to the other, for the rest of your lives, and abstaining from all others ?" When the two persons have replied affirmatively, the priest declares them to be husband and wife in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the name of the laws of the country and the authority with which he is invested, then adding, " May God bestow upon you his blessing, and help you to fulfil your obligations now and for evermore. Amen." The marriages are in every church entered in a special registry in the care of an ecclesiastical registrar. There is no prohibition against 46 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. being married elsewhere than in church, but they who do so, are considered weak in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. We shall have occasion to mention further on, in the chapter on polygamy, how they proceed when celebrating a new marriage on the part of those already possessing a first wife. Let us now say a few words on the sacrament of ordination, to which the Mormons attach the highest im portance, and which they pretend descends to them from heaven in a direct line. These innovators recognize two orders of priesthood, which they have borrowed from the Bible; the order of Melchizedek, and the order of Aaron or of Levites. The first was entitled, previous to the birth of the high-priest from whom it has taken its name, " the priesthood accord ing to the order of the Son of God," an appellation which was changed under the pretext of avoiding a too frequent repetition of the name of the Supreme Being ; this order is superior to the other ; it is to it belongs the right of presi dency, and power and authority over every department of the Church in all ages of the world, for the purpose of ad ministering spiritual things. The council of the presidency of the order of Melchizedek has the right to officiate and direct all the affairs of the Church, and it confers upon its high-priests the privilege of administering the spiritual things within their province, and also of exercising the functions appertaining to the Levitical order. DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 47 The second order of priesthood, the Aaronitic or Levitic, thus called because it was conferred upon Aaron and his posterity, to be enjoyed by them throughout all generations, is a sort of appendix to the former, and possesses the right and power of discharging the temporal ordinances. The episcopal body constitutes the council of the presidency of this order, of which it holds the keys and the power. No one has a right to hold the keys of this body, unless he be descended from Aaron. But as a high-priest of the order of INIelchizedek he is privileged to officiate in every depart ment of the Church ; he may also discharge the functions of a bishop, when no descendant of Aaron can be found, but on the condition, however, of his having been or dained to it by the hands of the president of the order of Melchizedek. The power and authority of the superior priesthood, or of the order of Melchizedek, consist, in holding the keys* of * To those who may desire to know what the Mormons mean by these keys, we will give the Prophet's own definition : — " The keys are certain signs and words by which counterfeit spirits and personages can be dis tinguished from genuine, which are not to be revealed to the elders before the completion of the temple. The rich man can obtain the keys in the temple only ; the poor man, like Moses, on the hill-top. The rich man can not be saved without charity, without feeding and lodging the poor, when and how God appoints. There are signs in heaven, on earth, in hell ; the elders must know them all, in order to be invested with power, and to accomplish their work and avoid error. The devil is acquainted with many signs, but he does not know the sign of the Son of Man, or Jesus. No one can say truly he knows God, until he has touched something of his hands, which cannot happen unless in the Holy of Holies." — Joseph Smith's Sermon of 1st May, 1842. 48 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. all the spiritual property of the Church, in possessing the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, in having the heavens opened, in being united in communion with the general assembly and with the church of the first-born, and in enjoying the communion and pre sence of God the Father, and of Jesus, the mediator of the new alliance. The power and authority of the Aaronitic order consist in holding the keys of the ministry of angels, in adminis tering all temporal ordinances, the letter of the Gospel, and the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, con formably to the commandments and covenants. Such are the definitions we find in the theology of the Mormons, and which we do not undertake to place in a clearer light. The order of Melchizedek was instituted "before God laid the foundations of the earth, before the stars of the morning had begun their harmonious concert, or the sons of God had sounded forth their songs of gladness," and all the other priesthoods are but its ramifications or dependencies. It is the channel through which the All-powerful first re vealed his glory when he undertook to create this earth, the channel by which he has continued to reveal himself to the children of men to this day, and by which he will make known his designs to the end of time. This priesthood began with Adam, the first man, who is spoken of in Daniel as the Ancient of Days, and elsewhere as Michael, because DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 49 he was the first and the father of all, not only by birth, but still more by the privilege of being the first to hold spiritual wealth. Adam holds the keys of the dispensation of the fullness of ages, and reveals them to man from on high, or else sends his angels to reveal them. Adam — who was a god according to this passage of Genesis (ch. iii. V. 22), " Behold, the man has become as one of us, to know good and evil"' — transmitted his powers, without interruption, through the patriarchs and prophets, as far down as Jesus Christ and his first apostles; but from the time of the latter the world rejected the spirit of reve lation, and there was no longer to be found on earth any representative of the divine priesthood until the appearance of Joseph Smith. This holy man was chosen to re-open the channel of communication with heaven by the means of revelation, and to put himself at the head of the dis pensation of these latter days. Illiterate and young as he was, he was chosen because in his veins ran the pure blood of the sacerdotal race, preserved in a direct line through numerous generations. On the 15th of May, 1829, St. John the Baptist descended in a cloud of light, and conferred on Joseph, as well as on Oliver Cowdery, his secretary, the priesthood of Aaron, at the same time apprising them that at some later period he would bring them the order of Melchizedek. Accordingly this order was conferred upon them, but at what precise time the history of the transaction does not inform us ; but it must VOL. II. E 50 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. have been within a short time of the flrst ordination, since we find Joseph communicating it to several elders on the 6th of June, 1831. Before proceeding further in our survey of the priestly orders, let us observe that the Prophet, being desirous of knowing if St. John the Evangehst, the well beloved disci ple of Christ, were still alive upon earth, received, on April 1829, a revelation on parchment, in which God informed him, that St. John having obtained permission to remain in this world for the purpose of drawing souls to the light, the Most High granted him this favour. St. John is there fore moving about in our planet ; exactly where, is not as certained, but there are certain reasons for supposing that it is in some corner of North America, where, in all proba bility, he will before long manifest himself visibly, with the keys of the order of Melchizedek which he holds by in heritance from Adam. Besides this, three other witnesses to the Church founded by Jesus Christ in America at the period of his coming to work out our redemption, must still be alive, if we are to believe the Mormons, on the new continent ; which would make four men who are still living on earth after a lapse of eighteen hundred years. , The hierarchy of the order of Melchizedek is graduated in the following manner at Salt Lake. In the first place, there are three high-priests, presidents, chosen by the whole body in order to constitute a quorum in the pre sidency of the Church. Then come twelve travelling coun- DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 51 cillors, who are no other than the twelve apostles, or spe cial witnesses to the name of Jesus Christ throughout the world. These twelve form a quorum equal in authority and power to the three presidents above mentioned. Third in rank are the Seventy, whose duty it is to preach the Gos pel, and to be special witnesses to the gentiles over all the earth ; they form a quorum equal in authority to that of the twelve apostles. Every decision come to by any one of these quorums must be carried unanimously ; nevertheless, when circumstances require it, a majority of members may constitute a quorum. Tn the event of a decision of any one of these quorums being contrary to law and right, an appeal from it may be made to a general assembly, consist ing of the various quorums which constitute the spiritual au thority of the Church, and this is the only and last appeal. The Twelve form a great council of travelling presidents, whose mission it is to officiate in the name of the Lord under the presidency of the Church, and, conformably to the rule of heaven, to build up and establish the Church, to re gulate all its affairs in every part of the world, first among the gentiles and then among the Jews. Besides this, it is a part of the functions and obligations of the Twelve, to ordain evangelical ministers in the great branches of the Church, in conformity with indications given them through an express revelation. The business of the Seventy is to act in the name of the Lord under the direction of the Twelve, to build up the E 2 52 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. church and regulate its affairs in all nations, first amongst the gentiles and then amongst the Jews ; and, as they hold the keys, it is also their office, in the absence of the Twelve, to open the door by proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. The order of Melchizedek is necessarily transmitted from father to son, and belongs to the direct descendants of the chosen race, to which the Divine promises were made. Immediately before the Seventy are the high-priests, whose attributes do not appear to be clearly defined. The bishops, who belong to the sacerdotal order of Aaron, are specially charged with the administration of the tempo ral affairs of the Church, and with the collection of tithes. The principal functions of a Mormon bishop consists in a weekly inquiry into the physical condition of the flock of his diocese ; and reporting those who are so poor as to need the temporal assistance of the Church. In the me tropolis of the Great Salt Lake, there is a bishop for each quarter ; the small towns and villages of any importance are in charge of a single bishop. Beyond the territory of Utah, unless it be at San Bernardino, the episcopal func tions are generally discharged by the missionaries. Next after the episcopal body come the inferior clergy, such as elders, teachers, and deacons. This organization, estabhshed by Joseph Smith, agreeably to revelation, and in the hierarchical order thus briefly de scribed, has not varied since the foundation. To sum it up more clearly, we have. DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 63 The Presidency of the Church, composed of a pro phet-president assisted by two councillors of the presi dency, making the number of members of this superior body of the Church three, in imitation of the Trinity ; The Twelve Apostles ; The Council of High Priests ; The Seventy ; The Bishops ; The Elders or Priests ; The Teachers ; The Deacons. Tn the public ceremonies the Grand Patriarch takes rank immediately after the Council of Presidency. This high dignitary has no other attribute than that of pro nouncing blessings on certain members of the Church, after the manner of Jacob and his children, and that of Israel with respect to Esau and his brother. Each blessing pro nounced by the Grand Patriarch is registered in a book kept specially for this purpose. The Mormons suppose that the true Church cannot exist independently of this hierarchical system, and affirm that such was the organization of the universal or Catholic Church until the death of the Apostles; so that, accord ing to them, the Church of Rome would be the true one, had it preserved apostles and prophets. The supreme pre sident of the Mormon Church, at present Brigham Young, is at once prophet, revealer, and seer. His first coun- 54 faith and WORKS OF the mormons. cillor (Heber C. Kimball) is invested with the same attri butes. Though the appointments to the great ecclesiastical dig nities are determined by popular choice, the voting must be confined to candidates proposed by the supreme presi dent. Diplomas are conferred by the presidential council on all those who have received any ordination whatsoever. There is no particular dress or uniform for any of the bodies of the Church. No external mark distinguishes the President from an apostle, or from the lowest among the faithful. Every one is suffered to dress according to fashion or his fancy. No kind of title is attached to office. As president of the Church over all the earth, and thus, de facto, pope of the Mormons, Brigham has the title neither of " Holiness " nor " Holy Father ;" and when he is styled "Excellency," this title has reference exclusively to his functions as a civil governor, which he has now discharged for many years. The apostle is not styled " Eminence," nor the bishop " Lord " nor " Grace," nor the elder " Reve rend." The only title in use among the Mormons is that of brother or sister ; and this is applied to all the faithful, from the Prophet down to the lowest in his flock. It is usual to say, Brother Brigham, Sister Emma, just as one might say Brother Nicodemus, or Sister Catherine. Ask a child in the street what its own name and his father's are, he will to a certainty reply, I am the brother of So-and-so, son of Brother So-and-so. These modes of speaking have doctrine, hierarchy, worship. 56 become a part of manners, and the stranger who for the first time hears these fraternal appeUations is much more disposed to find them touching and becoming than ludicrous. The Mormons have but one temple or one chapel for each town or village, and it would appear that it is always to be so. Joseph Smith felt that a multiplicity of churches would be prejudicial to earnestness of faith, which he proved by saying that in New York, London, Paris, Rome, cities where temples swarm, faith is more thinly sown than elsewhere, while the Jews, after a lapse of eighteen centuries, have never forgotten their only temple at Jerusalem. Tn the missions, however, as in London for instance, the Mormons have in the same city several places set apart for their worship, and this for the purpose of facilitating the preaching of their doctrines, and serving their efforts at proselytizing. The general affairs of the Church are regulated twice a year in the temple of the Great Salt Lake City, in the months of April and October, at public conferences which last several days. We were fortunate enough to assist at one of these oecumenical meetings, that which opened on the 6th of Oc tober, 1855. More than ten thousand of the faithful, con voked by an epistle from the Great Council, had come to gether from all parts of the Territory, to hear and receive the word of the Prophet -President and of the other eccle siastical leaders. The Jerusalem of the American desert dis played an animation and life resembling the movement in the Eternal City during the Carnival and Holy Week, 56 faith and works op the mormons. but then, in this case, the solemn business of the moment was, it must be acknowledged, unmixed with any profane amusements. Everywhere were to be seen rustic waggons, drawn by mules, oxen, or horses, going on fast or slow, and filled with Saints of both sexes, whose costume, — varied without any attempt at show, picturesque in its sim- phcity, — would have attracted the pencil of an artist. We most gladly availed ourselves of so favourable an opportunity to study the Mormon worship in its teaching and practice. The pope of the Saints did us the favour of inviting us to form part of his retinue on the pontifical platform; but while fully sensible of this attention, we preferred, in order to get a better notion of what was going on, to remain in the crowd. It was in the Bowery, already alluded to, that the conference took place. The faithful were expected to assemble twice a day, just as they do on Sundays. At each meeting, the religious exercises began as soon as the president announced that the business of the day was to begin. Then the choristers and band belonging to the choir executed a piece of one of our greatest masters ; and we feel bound to say that the Mormons have a feeling for sa cred music, that their women sing with soul, and that the execution is in no notable degree surpassed by that which is heard either under the roof of Westnliuster, or the fres coes of the Sistine chapel. The music finished, the officia ting priest extemporizes a prayer, often long enough, in which he returns thanks to God for his mercies, and makes doctrine, hierarchy, worship. 57 known to him the wants of the people. At the end of the prayer all the faithful respond " Amen." Then the choir sing a hymn, after which one or more sermons follow. When the preachers have done, the choristers sing a Psalm, accompanied with music, at the close of which, the officiating priest pronounces a blessing on all present, and so th-e service ends. Such invariably is the order of the religious services. When the communion is celebrated, the ceremony takes place immediately after the Psalm. One of the peculiarities of the Mormon service which most struck us was, that the officiating priests and high dignitaries, dressed in the customary way, generally kept their hats* on, the people remaining uncovered. We did not observe that Brigham Young uncovered himself once during the service, but he rose whenever he spoke ; and while pronouncing the blessing, he held his arms raised and the hands extended just as a Catholic priest does when he intones the preface. The sermons or discourses have no precise limits either in length or number. The head officiating priest, who has the title of President, allows any one to speak who desires it, according to his caprice or good pleasure. It is at the close of the sermon that the affairs of the Church are treated * However, EimbaU said one day before a numerous audience, " I never feel disposed to remain with my hat on in the presence of Brigham. It seems to me that the master ought to keep on Ms hat, or rather to hang it on the pegi which God has made for this purpose, which is, of course, his head." 58 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. of, that they proceed to the appointment of the high func tionaries and to the choice of the persons who are to be sent on distant missions into the five parts of the world. The Mormons have few preachers who can be considered accomplished speakers. The two brothers Pratt, Orson and Parley, are beyond dispute the best, and, we should say, the only orators that we heard ; what with their easy elocution, their agreeable delivery, purity of language, knowledge of the laws of composition, consecutiveness of ideas, logical deduction from the principles they lay down, they possess whatever is requisite for real rhetorical excel lence. Hence they may be listened to with interest, and without weariness ; but this is by no means the case with the other preachers, whose strange rambhngs appear to be more to the taste of the hearers. Brigham Young, as we previously observed at the end of the Second Book, is not without a certain kind of natural eloquence which is very pleasing to his people ; and though he has had but httle experience, he easily maintains a position among the Mor mon orators immediately after the two brothers we have mentioned. Just as the women take no part in the discharge of the official duties, so they are not allowed to speak in the ge neral assemblies. But the Mormon parliament for all this does not suffer from silence ; there is no end of inexhausti ble orators. It frequently happens that the preacher, no doubt out of conformity with what is customary, reads a DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 59 passage from the Bible, and makes use of it as a text for a sermon, which treats of everything excepting the matter naturally suggested by the text itself. The most grotesque incoherencies swarm in their dis courses without anybody appearing to be displeased at, or even aware of, them. These modern Demosthenes are never at a loss. We have seen some who, motionless at first, with their hands in their pockets, expressed themselves in a cold and phlegmatic way; and who then demeaning themselves like so many imps, indulged in the most violent contortions, and flung their arms about like mad men. Tt is not unusual to see some who, by violent thumps on the crown of their hats, in the fury of their inspiration, actually bonnet themselves, and who yet, in the midst of their fantastic movements, are occasionally observed to assume postures that are superb, and in the highest de gree impressive. The majority of these preachers, not ex cepting the Prophet himself at times, are not very parti cular about the decorum of their language, and frequently indulge in buffoonery and jests which call forth approving bursts of laughter from the congregation. Heber C. Kim ball, the first councillor of the presidency, and thereby vice- pope of the Mormons, is cynical and burlesque in his ser mons ; and he is unquestionably the most disgusting among the Mormon preachers. His grotesque physiognomy and punchy figure very much add to the comic character of his eloquence. He has been very often heard in his sermons 60 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. to boast of having more wives than Brigham Young. It was Kimball who exhorted the priests sent out as mission aries " to bring to the flock as many ewe lambs as possible, but to be careful to keep their hands off them until they reached the fold." Such as he is, this speaker is very much to the taste of the Saints, and exceedingly popular among them. In the conference at which we were present, we heard Brigham Young say from the pidpit, "There are more devils amongst the Mormons than in all the world- besides. . . . The assistance given to the emigrants has brought the Church into debt to the amount of 70,000 dollars ; now you must pay this sum, otherwise I will sell up your pro perty ; and if this is not enough, I will then sell your wives and children. . . . Make haste and get married. Let me see no more boys above sixteen and girls above fourteen unmarried. . . . Tell the Gentiles that I am resolutely de termined to cut off the head of the first man among them who attempts to seduce our girls or matrons." Another preacher in a discourse in which he was speaking of the persecutions undergone by the Saints, ejaculated, "All- powerful God, father of Saints ! I beseech thee, cast into damnation all the enemies of our divine religion." A mis- sionary recently arrived from India, getting up to speak in his turn, gave an account of his travels. Among other episodes, with which his narrative was crammed, was this one. A fearful storm was raging, and the ship on the DOCTRllvfE, HIERARCHY', WORSHIP. 01 point of foundering; the captain who had given up all as over, and lost all presence of mind, was about to destroy himself, when the missionary, staying him, said, " What fear ye, man of httle faith ? Are you not carrying a minister of God ?" and presentiy the wind lulled, the sea got smooth, and the ship was saved ! In short, one may say of the religious worship of the Mormons that it is as simple as it is little edifying. But we are by no means to conclude from the low level to which the greater part of their preachers sink, that the believers have little faith. They have, on the contrary, a good deal ; they show it clearly enough by their bearing, and the fer vour they put into their prayers. At home, in their mo ments of leisure, they are incessantly reading works of piety, educating their families, and engaging in prayer. Cate chisms and theological works are put very early into the hands of children, and everybody reads the Bible. They define faith to be, according to St. Paul, " The assurance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen ; and being the assurance of things unseen, is the principle of ac tion among all intelligent beings. Tt is through faith that we receive all the temporal advantages we enjoy, as also the spiritual. Faith is not only the principle of action, it is also the principle of power, both in heaven and upon earth. By faith Jehovah has worked and still works. Deprive Divinity of faith, it would cease to exist."* * Doctrine and Covenants, 2 and 3. 62 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. The Decalogue is accepted and literally observed by the Saints ; their divines have given them notice that as soon as the great temple at the Salt Lake is built, sacrifices of animals will be resumed in the same way as was done under the old law. Meanwhile the Mormons content themselves with the spiritual privileges which their revela tions have conferred upon them up to this day, and which consist in healing the sick, working miracles, driving out devils by the power of Christ, and possessing the gift of tongues. The healing of the sick, confined more especially to the prayers of the priests, may however be also effected by every believer of singleness of heart and fearing God. The laying on of hands and the application of olive oil are believed to be infallible means of effecting the immediate cure of infir mities, wounds, pains, and fevers. They are rarely under any necessity of having recourse to medicinal herbs, and in fact the science of medicine is reprobated as an empty and impious one. Independently of these more or less miracu lous cures, the Mormon Church claims for itself the power of working real miracles, which its divines explain very simply, and without admitting that the laws of nature are in the least degree violated. All historical miracles, equally with those which are daily happening among the Mormons, are due to the Holy Spirit, which is, as we know, formed of myriads of particles, by means of which it can divide it self to infinity, and be in a thousand places at once, without DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 63 interrupting the eternal harmony of worlds and things. The Mormon annals have registered thousands of miracles and cures effected in our days, carefully proved, and certi fied by (he written depositions of eye-witnesses. We ex tract two instances at random from among the shortest. Alston Marsden, of Rochdale, England, born deaf and dumb, and as such educated in the Manchester Asylum, was baptized for the remission of sins on the 28th of March, 1854, being then eighteen years of age; the next day the Saints who had baptized him administered oil and the imposition of hands. Almost immediately after his ear became sensible to sounds, and he was soon observed try ing to articulate the words ' papa ' and ' mamma,' which he had never previously heard. From this time forth he has never ceased to hear, and has learnt to speak. This fact is attested by ten witnesses, and by the youth himself. A female Saint of the name of Crowell, who lived in the State of New York at Chautaugua, had a frightful cancer in her head, that had destroyed part of the skull, which had in consequence become infested with worms. She was given up, and was every moment expected to die in the midst of her horrible sufferings, when Elder Benjamin Brown paid her a visit, and rubbed her with oil in the name of the Lord. On the Sunday following, the rescued woman went to church, and exhibited her head to every body, already covered anew with perfectly healthy flesh.* * Extracted from the ' Testimonies for the Truth," in ' Millennial Star,' vol. XV., p. 634. 64 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. The manner in which the Mormons expel the devil from those who are possessed is very simple. Tt is done by placing the hands on the head of the demoniac, and sum moning the evil spirit in the name of Jesus Christ to de camp with the greatest possible speed. An exorcism of this kind was effected in Paris, in June 1852, by two elders from the Salt Lake, on the person of a Frenchman named Junot, who had been terribly maltreated by the devil in him, and from whom he was suddenly freed by the spells of the Mormon magicians. Unluckily, this miracle had no other witnesses to it save the two operators ; but in America se veral similar exorcisms have been effected in the presence of a numerous public, as will be soon seen by running through the Church journals. The gift of tongues, which the Mormons affect to pos sess, is odd enough, to say nothing else of it. They under stand by this a faculty, a sort of grace, communicated to some persons, by which they are able to articulate strange sounds, unintelligible even to the person who utters them; and to others, enabling them to interpret this inspired lan guage, and to translate it into English, without however being able to reproduce it in the original form in which they received it. The gift of tongues is thus composed of two distinct endowments, which are never combined in the same individual at the same moment. He who interprets cannot speak them, he who speaks cannot interpret them ; but, at successive times, the same person may have the DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 65 two gifts. This mode of viefwing the gift of tongues is — I am all the more sorry for the Mormons— simply ridicu lous and silly. Brigham, their prophet, in whom this gift has frequently been manifested since the beginning of his religious career, understands no other language than his mother-tongue ; indeed we were much surprised to find he fancied we were saying something we did not wish him to hear, when we spoke French in his presence ; a liberty we should not certainly have allowed ourselves, had we not been quite convinced that his gift of tongues would have enabled him to understand us. There exists among the Mormons a sort of doctrine of reserve, which is now communicated only to the men, but which, it is said, will at some future time be communicated to the women. It is no doubt to some part of the doc trine of reserve that we must refer the ceremony caUed the endowment, a species of ordination or initiation for both sexes, which can be received only after a severe probation, and under the sanction of the most terrible oaths. We have no precise information respecting the nature of these mysteries ; all we can do is to relate what we gather from a perjured and apostate priest. We give the following de tails, indeed, without in the least vouching for their cor rectness, so utterly distasteful is it to us to place full confi dence in the spiteful depositions of people who have be trayed their fellows. This is pretty nearly the account which our informant gives us of the act of initiation. VOL. II. F 66 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. When the candidates for admission, men and women, have reached the Endowment House, their names are writ ten in a register, as well as the date of their birth, of their marriage, etc., and evidence taken of their having paid tithe. If there be any among them who have not been sealed to their wives for all eternity, they are at once so sealed by Heber IGmball, — whose peculiar function in this ceremony is to give the endowment, — before proceeding any further. This point being set right, the persons to be or dained are introduced in a body into a long room, divided by white screens into various compartments ranged in two lines. Those on the right are for the men, on the left for the women. Every one is required to leave his shoes in the outer office, with the exception of the persons officiating, who wear shppers. The deepest silence reigns ; the general instructions are given in a half-whisper : all savours of my stery. The novelty of the situation, the uncertainty and expectation of what is to follow, the perfect stillness, height ened by the murmuring whispers, the dull splash of water, the listening and serious faces, the white screens them selves, everything is calculated to excite superstitious feel ings. What now follows has reference to each individual separately. The man is undressed, and then laid in a tin bath. One of the officials washes him from head to foot in warm water, blessing each member as he goes on from head to foot ; brain, to be strong ; ears, to be quick to hear the words of God's servants ; eyes, to be sharp to perceive ; DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 67 nose, mouth, hands, arms, breast, each according to its functions, down to the feet, " to be swift to run in the ways of righteousness." When the neophyte has been thus washed and pronounced " clean from the blood " of this generation, he is conducted to an apostle seated in a cor ner, in order to receive from his lips a "new name by which he will be known in the celestial kingdom of God." He then passes into another room, and there, having first seated himself upon a stool, they pour oil over his head from a mahogany horn-shaped vessel. Two priests sprinkle oil over all parts of his body, repeating the same blessings as those pronounced during the ablution by water. After the anointing and the benediction, the candidate is dressed in a long tunic of muslin or linen, similar to a woman's night-gown. Over the tunic is put a shirt, and over the shirt a linen robe, crossing and gathered up in plaits on one shoulder, tied round the waist, and touching the ground both before and behind. To complete these accoutre ments, a small square apron is attached to them, made of white linen or silk, like a freemason's apron, and or namented with designs representing fig-leaves. To this is added a linen cap, stockings, and shoes made of cotton or thread. While this robing is going on, in another room Elohim, represented by a high-priest, consults with Jehovah, Jesus, and Michael (Adam), also represented by other high- priests, on the means of creating and peopling the earth. F 2 68 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. The object of this ceremony obviously is to represent some scene in the first chapter of Genesis. What we have now mentioned constitutes the first act of the drama, or farce, whichever it be. Then comes the second, in which the creation of man is proceeded with. Jehovah, Jesus, and Michael now go to the compartment in which the candidate is ; they touch him with the end of their fingers, which signifies they are forming his body, and breathe upon his face, implying that they are giving him life. It is now supposed that this new creature is like Adam, recently formed, and perfectly ductile in the hands of his makers. Soon after a woman is brought in, dressed in the same way as the man, and like him initiated in the mysteries, by persons of her own sex. The man is then requested to shut his eyes as if in sleep ; he is next com manded to wake and look up, on which his wife is pre sented to him. The couple then proceed to the room where Elohim has assembled the council of gods. This is Eden. Here are to be seen trees laden with fruit, cool meadows enamelled with flowers, limpid and flowing waters, mountains tinted with a soft hght, the whole of course painted. A brother and sister belonging to the officials whisper to the new born the part they have to play, to one that of Adam, to the other that of Eve. Fruits are suspended from a bush ; this is real. The devil, who it is quite possible may be also a reahty, is represented by one of the aposties (W. DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 69 Phelps), and instigates the couple to eat of the fruit offered them ; the woman, in concert with him, tempts the man, and the man yields. Elohim then appears, curses them both, drives away the devil, who makes off on his hands and knees, mimicking the motion of a serpent. The pair, now supposed to be cursed, flnd themselves in a desperate dilemma, whence there is no means of escaping save through the intervention of a higher power and the establishment of a higher law. In behalf of this man and this woman, thus dismissed and fallen, God establishes the priesthood, investing it with requisite jurisdiction, unlimited power, and indisputable authority. It is at this point that the pair take several oaths -. one, to preserve the secret in violably, under pain of being brought to the block ; another, to obey and to submit themselves in all things to the priest hood ; a third, but of course this only concerns the man, not to touch any woman unless she should have been given to him by this priesthood, through the President of the Church. A sign is then given to the initiated, consisting of a peculiar grip, and also a key-word ; and this done, they are now admitted to the third degree of endowment, or first degree of the order of Aaron. The allegory continues. Man enters into life the pos sessor of a law of purity, of a key to truth, and of a sacer dotal authority. With this he goes forth into the world, where the light has become darkness and the darkness hght. He hesitates, he gets confused in attempting to di- 70 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. vine where truth is; he is now taken into an adjoining room, where he is supposed to be placed in the midst of the numerous sects who are actually disputing with each other for the possession of men's souls. The devil, still re presented by the same apostie, of course addresses the new members in flattering terms, politely calhng them by the name of Methodist brother, Episcopahan brother, Moham medan brother. Catholic brother, etc. etc., saying to them, " I love every one of you ; you are my very good friends," etc. Then enter St. Peter, St. James, and St. John, represented by three other Mormon apostles. They jest for an instant with the devil (W. Phelps), whom St. Peter soon orders to withdraw in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the authority of the divine priesthood. The devil departs, making all sorts of grimaces; and the apostles then exa mine into the condition of the initiated, and give them instructions. Among other things, they are told that the great dignitaries of the Mormon Church are the only re presentatives of the priesthood, which Peter, James, and John conferred on Joseph Smith, and which from him has passed to Brigham Young ; that this priesthood must henceforth absorb into itself all the respect that is due to Christ ; that obedience must be immediate, imphcit, and yielded without a murmur ; and that it is necessary to be " like a tallowed rag in the hands of Brigham Young!' At this stage of the piece the couple proceed towards the kingdom of God. Adam (man) doubly lost by original DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 71 sin and by his own personal sins, has recovered powers and blessings, but wandered away from the truth. As it was the priesthood which took him up in his fall and promised him a Redeemer, so it is the priesthood which must be the instrument of his redemption. God therefore takes pity on a world wandering in darkness, and reveals his gospel to Joseph Smith, on whom he confers the divine priesthood and exacts an entire obedience to him and to each of his successors. At this moment the new members take an other oath, to keep the secret under pain of having their heart torn out and cut to pieces, together with other hor rible details. A new sign, a new grip, and a new key word, and they are thus admitted into the second order of Aaron. All is not over. Man, who is supposed to be only partly saved, is moved into a room in the middle of which is an altar. There he is sworn to be constantly faithful to his co-religionists ; never to speak ill of the Anointed of the Lord (Brigham) ; to attend upon the heads of the Church, who are the mediators between God and man as Christ is the mediator between them and God; to think as the heads think, and to act as they act ; to obey every requisition, how ever criminal, impious, or treasonable it may apparently be ; to put the Church above everything, and to love it above everything ; to be^ ready to sacrifice to its least wish, or to its interests, one's most intimate friend, one's nearest rela tives, one's most beloved wife, and even one's own life ; to 72 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. consider oneself as in nowise bound, either by the obliga tions of duty or by plighted faith, when the duty or the promise is contrary to the interests of the Church. To break this oath, or merely to reveal it, subjects one to hav ing his stomach opened and his entrails thrown to swine. After this formidable ordeal comes another sign, another grip, and another key- word, and then the neophyte enters into the third degree of the order of Melchizedek. He is nett sent into another room, in which is likewise an altar, on which are placed the Bible, the Book of Mortnon, and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants (God's revelations to Joseph). The initiated now go steadily on in the true way of salvation ; but they have next a great temporal duty to discharge, a positive immediate duty, which no longer corisists in obedience to mere albstractions. They are made to swear to cherish an undying hatred for the government of the United States, because it neither avenged the death of Joseph Smith nor repaired the outrages and losses suf fered by the Saints during their persecutions ; to do all that they can to destroy, overtiirn, and molest this govern ment ; to refuse it all submission and obedience ; to infuse this hatred into their children from their cradle, and to be queath it to them as a sacred inheritance; to make this hatred the leading idea and most sacred duty of their lives, in order that the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ may bring all other kingdoms under subjection and spread over the whole earth. The most horrible maledictions, the most DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 73 barbarous penalties, are reserved for him who breaks this oath or dares to reveal it. A new sign, a new grip, a new pass-word, and thus is reached the second degree of the order of Melchizedek. From this moment the initiated have become acceptable to God, who may now approach him hke children whose only deficiency is their not knowing how to pray. There is therefore given them a new form of prayer, which, if we may believe our apostate informant, consists of unintelligible abracadabra, words said to be extremely agreeable to Jeho vah's ear. The apostle then prays to God in a known lan guage, beseeching him to bless or curse the initiated, ac cordingly as they observe or neglect their engagements; after which the initiated slowly repeat the prayer. They are now recognized members of the divine priesthood, and admitted to a full and complete participation in all the privileges of the fraternity. They are then recommended always to wear the tunic that is next their skin, in order that it may protect them and remind them of the ordina tion they have received. But there still remains a last essential rite. The novice must now pass through the Veili a thin partition of linen, in order to "repeat the whole formula" which has been communicated to him, while the assistants are . cutting certain marks upon his shirt with a pair of scissors, and murmuring in his ears a name in so low a key, and with such rapidity, that he cannot catch it. After this, he is 74 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. made to go behind the veil, and enters into a particular room which represents God's kingdom in heaven. The men then turn round, and admit their wives, who have to repeat the whole affair once more, when the door is opened, and they are let through. They now resume their usual dress, which they put on over the sacred vestments. Then, as the length of the ceremony must have sharpened their appetites, they are made to swallow in great haste a slight colla tion, after which they are conducted straightway back into the heavenly kingdom. There, in the presence of Brigham Young, a high dignitary of the Church delivers himself of a discourse two hours in length, explaining the allegory and "enforcing the seriousness of the affair." This dis course over, then, 0 ye happy initiated, you may go and put on your shoes, and get out again into the fresh air. Are we to put any trust in what I have just described, and did all these things occur as our authority says they did ? Our opinion is, that in its essential parts the story is true. The details have too close an analogy with the dogmas of the Saints, and the facts are of too serious a nature, to suf fer us to doubt of there being- a groundwork of truth in it. The terror of the last oath is no doubt exaggerated ; but were it entirely false, we should find it difficult to conceive how a man could be at once so base and so rash as openly to disclose through the press, at the expense, he admits, of violating his oath,* the secret details here given by John * It may be, as a matter of curiosity, worth while giving his five reasons ; DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 75 Hyde.* At all events, we know to a certainty that mysteries do occur in the Endowment House, and, though not exactly acquainted with the tenor of these mysteries, they are all the more open to suspicion from there being so much pains taken to conceal them. The approach to the sanctuary is, we also know, forbidden not only to strangers, but even to those Mormons who are not thought sufficiently zealous to be favoured with the privilege of initiation. We have been able likewise to ascertain most positively that it is there they do actually go to put on the marvellous tunic which, it is said, would infalhbly have preserved Joseph Smith, if, on the day of his death, he had not stripped it off for the purpose of baulking the police-officers in search of him; we know, moreover, that it is not allowable to wear this vestment until after a most formidable ordeal. We are also informed that the Mormons carry out freemasonry to a very great extent ; that they make a long and serious study of it under assiduous teachers, who repeat their lessons se veral times a week ; that among the numerous oaths and they are as foUows : — " First, as no One knew what Were the oaths pre vious to hearing them, and no one on hearing could refuse to take them, they are not binding in justice. Secondly, as the obligations also involved other acts of obedience as well as secrecy, and as I do not intend to obey those other obligations, it can be no more improper to break the oath of secrecy than the oath of unlimited obedience. Thirdly, as the obligations involved treason against the United States, it becomes a duty to expose them. Fourthly, the promise of endowment being a principal bait held out to the Mormons to get them to Salt Lake, it is well they should know what it is worth. Fifthly, it is better to violate a bad oath than keep it." Mr. Hyde, it is obvious, had better have suppressed his reasons. * ' Mormonism, its Leaders and Designs,' pp. 89-97. 76 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. pass-words which have been added to the ancient order, they retain for the first grades the words employed in all masonic lodges. But, in spite of all these ascertained facts, we are of opinion that the masonic lodge of the' Mormons is not at all more dangerous than the harmless institution of Freemasonry in other parts of the world ; and we much suspect they have been as greatly misrepresented as ever the Templars were. The zealous enemies of the Saints affirm, that it is in this Endowment House the sinister meetings are held, in which decisions are come to respecting the life or death of individuals reputed dangerous or hostile to the Church; that it is in these infernal councils they appoint the san guinary executioners commissioned to blot out from the face of the earth the unhappy victims who have been sen tenced by this horrible tribunal. Though these monstrous charges are extensively circulated and credited amongst the " gentiles," We could not discover the smallest evidence whatever for them. They no doubt originated in the calumnious libels of Dr. J. C. Bennett, the apostate, who persuaded the inhabitants of Illinois that the company of Danites was expressly charged with the office of putting to death, in the most secret way possible, all the most rabid of Joseph Smith's adversaries. The Danites have never de served this frightful reputation, and if there be still any members of this society amongst the freemasons of Utah, they are as little to be feared now, as they were at the DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 77 time to which Bennett alludes. An attempt has been made to bolster up the suspicions and accusations of religious assassination, perpetrated in the name of Jehovah, by the fact of some individuals having suddenly disappeared in the valleys of the Salt Lake ; but these chance disappear ances are not more common in Utah than elsewhere, and never to this hour has the shghtest evidence been adduced in support of these surmises. Moreover, Brigham Young is far from being of a cruel disposition, and his ability is much too unquestionable to admit our supposing him for an instant capable of having recourse to such odious mea- , sures, which would certainly be revolting to the conscien tious feelings of his flock. It is true, the Mormons are not . quite mild enough to bless a government which has three times driven them away from their lawful possessions ; but it does not follow from this that they make light of human life. Their wounds are still bleeding ; their resent ment cannot be expected to grow cool faster than it does ; and as long as their personal wrath is content to find vent in menaces only, the great American republic has no rea son to be disquieted at it. We have no right to demand that the Mormons should lick the hands of their execu tioners. We have now passed in review what we know of most striking in the doctrine of the new religion. We shall hardly be expected to note the contradictions and combat the absurdities which abound in it. To the Mormons it is 78 FAITH AND WORKS OP THE MORMONS. truth, — truth, plain and clear as the five fingers of one's hand ; and if they are not always capable of agreeing among themselves respecting their articles of faith, what signifies it ? Is it not enough for them to believe in their prophet and to be subject to him, in order to feel assured that by adding to this the performance of a few good works, they will ascend the thrones of the gods ? The believers, in Utah, are convinced that all the pro phecies of the Old Testament have been literally accom plished, or, at all events, if there still remain any unfulfilled, they are in the way of fulfiment in our times ; that the predictions of the Mormon prophets will, in like manner, come to pass, and that the dispensation of which Joseph Smith has been the instrument, is foretold in various pas sages of the Apocalypse. While recognizing the Roman Catholic Church as being the one of all the sects which has the least diverged from the Gospel and apostolical tradi tion, they at the same time look upon this Church as the modern Babylon, the great harlot spoken of in Scripture, and they suppose, iu conformity with their own revelations, that the war of Gog and Magog, in which all sects will conspire against Romanism, is soon to break out, and that the Pope of Rome will come out of it triumphant, but only to fall afterwards under the assaults of the Latter-day Saints, who are the chosen people of God. We add one thing more. Tt is a firm conviction among the Mormons that the Lord will re-establish in their pos.- DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 79 sessions all the Saints who shall remain faithful to his law, after having been ejected from their heritage in Jackson county. This generation will not pass away before the raising of another temple in Jackson county in honour of the Most High God. The Lamanites (Indians) will assist in building this temple, in which the glory of Jehovah will rest. Finally, the little stone {sic) will continue to roll from the top of the mountain, until it shall have filled the whole earth ; and the kingdom is given to the Saints of the Most High, and they possess it for ever and ever.* The faith of the Mormons in this brilliant future is so great, that they often get into trouble with the United States by the haughty way in which they give expression to these anticipations. Of good works, the principal, or rather the most essen tial, is the exact payment of tithes. This tax, which is received in a building especially appropriated to this pur pose, consists in each man's setting apart yearly a tenth of all his revenues, gains, or profits, which is made over to the Church as its natural right. This is what is entitled the current tithe. But on joining the society of the Saints, there is a much heavier tithe to pay, and that is the tenth part of all one possesses, of whatsoever kind it be. There are Mormons who, whether from want of will or want of means, are behindhand in paying their contributions ; they are on this account regarded as people whose faith is not to be depended on ; however, they are never forcibly com pelled to discharge this sacred obligation. The amounts * Millennial Star, vol. xiv. p. 12. 80 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. received from the tithes, which are paid both in kind and money, are appropriated to the wants of the Church, to the building of the temple, to tiie succour of the poor, to find work for those that want it, to provide for the wants of pubhc worship, and to assist emigrants. The priesthood, from the deaconship up to the pontificate, is entirely un paid, and receives no compensation whatever ; purely ec clesiastical functions have no salary attached to them. There are other good works besides the payment of tithe. They most frequently are prescribed by the circumstances of the moment, and are the results of the passive obedience which every beUever owes to the Church. When the pro duce of the tithe is not sufficient to meet the demands of the public works required for religious purposes, each man is called upon to contribute towards making up the deficiency. To believe in Brigham Young, to pay tithes, to go forth as a missionary when ordered, — here, in three words, is what constitutes an exemplary Mormon. Of course it is also necessary to observe the Ten Commandments. We might still considerably extend this chapter, were it not too long already. We will finish it by quoting the words of a Mormon leader which we find in the ' Millennial Star' of August 28th, 1858.* " The Latter-day Saints are the people of God ; they are, by adoption, the Israel of the latter-day, and they are guided and led by a prophet, seer, and revelator, whose voice is to them the voice of God. They also have an inheritance in a promised land, and * Vol. XX. p. 546. DOCTRINE, HIERARCHY, WORSHIP. 81 hope to realize the numerous benedictions and privileges which God has declared he will grant them if they will remain faithful to the covenant they have made with Him. Like ancient Israel, they too have enemies in their way, who, though brethren in the flesh, are hostile to them in the spirit, and seek to destroy them, in spite of the fraternal bonds which unite them by articles of confederation and perpetual union. ... A cry of war and exter mination has resounded from all parts, directed against the Saints, but the God of Israel is with them ; his Prophet is their legislator and guide, and they are destined to triumph over their enemies, and to become literaUy and spiritually the head of all nations. Meanwhile the Saints of God are well aware that they can be victorious only through obedience to the Most High, as it is revealed by His Prophet, Brigham Young, who is now the com mander-in-chief of the camp of Israel, with the sceptre of power and authority. If the Saints do not confide in him as a chief recognized of God, and follow his counsels and instructions, they can never prosper as a people. Brigham Young is their Moses, and if his hands be raised, Israel will be successful, but if his hands be lowered, the opposite result wUl follow. The only means by which we can, as Saints of God, raise up the Prophet^s hands, is by giving him our entire and unanimous confidence, faith, and prayers." I cannot help thinking there is in this language some thing more than rhetoric. I seem to hear in it the accent of conviction and sincere belief; and though we may pity those who listen to it, and who think they hear in it the voice of truth, it would require more courage to blame them than I possess. Let us then be satisfied with pitying them, VOL. II. G 82 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. and suffer them to sing in their temples the following ap peal to all nations :* — " Lo ! the Gentile chain is broken ; Freedom's banner waves on high ; List, ye nations ! by this token Know that your redemption 's nigh. " See, on yonder distant mountain, Zion's standard wide unfurl'd ; Far above Missouri's fountain, Lo ! it waves for all the world. " Fi-eedom, peace, and fuU salvation Are the blessings guaranteed ; Liberty to every nation, Eveiy tongue, and every creed. " Come, ye Christian sects and Pagan, Pope, and Protestant, and Priest ; Worshipers of God or Dagon, Come ye to fair Freedom's feast. " Come, ye sons of doubt and wonder, Indian, Moslem, Greek, or Jew ; AU youi- shackles burst asunder. Freedom's banner waves for you. " Cease to butcher one another, Join the covenant of peace ; Be to aH a friend, a brother, This will bring the world release. " Lo ! our King, the great Messiah, Prince of Peace, shaU come to reign ! Sound again, ye heavenly choir, Peace on earth, goodwill to men." * • Sacred Hymns and Songs,' ninth edition, hymn 89. 88 CHAPTER IT. PLUEALITY OF WITES. GiENEEAL CONSIDERATIONS. — NATUBE OF MAN. — POLYGAMY TESTED BY JUSTICE AND KEASON. — APOLOGY FOE THE DOCTRINE BY A PEETTY WOMAN. EARLIEST INDICATIONS OF THE POLYGAMIC IN STITUTION. ORSON PKATT's HOMILY IN FAVOUR OF POLYGAMY. SERMON OF BRIGHAM YOUNG ON THE SAME SUBJECT. — TEXT OP THE KETELATION. — POLYGYNIC MARRIAGE-RITE. THE THREE FORMS OP DOMESTIC LIFE AMONG THE MORMON POLYGAMISTS. SCANDALOUS FACTS. — MORALITY OF THE MORMON WOMEN. FAVOURABLE IMPRESSIONS ON THE MIND OF THE TRAVELLER. — PENALTY INFLICTED ON ADULTERY. — STATISTICS. — THE FUTURE OF POLYGYNY. In this chapter we arrive at the most piquant, if not the most curious, of all the doctrines of Mormonism. In fact, who is there that was not startled when he heard that a sect, affecting to be Christian beyond all other sects, which had sprung up in broad day from amidst the civihzation of the United States, and which draws its adherents from the most enhghtened nations of Europe, was asserting in the name of natural law, of written law, of the Bible, and the G 2 84 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. Gospel, the lawfulness of a plurality of wives ? Who would have thought such a pretension possible at an epoch of brilliant civilization, when all well-ordered societies regard polygamy as a barbarous and bestial thing, a crime to be punished by their laws ? Nevertheless he who has learnt not to be astonished at anything in the way of absurdity, and who knows that everything has been contested, from the existence of God down to that of the existence of man, looks with an unmoved eye on the appearance, or rather the resurrection, of a system which Europe imagined was to be found only in the records of ancient history, or among nations not yet converted to Christianity. He coolly weighs the facts, their nature and their causes, and attempts to estimate them dispassionately in order to fix their proper place in the history of man. This is what we ourselves propose to do, according to the measure of our strength. But before entering upon the exposition of Mormon polygamy, which we shall henceforth call, for the sake of greater precision, polygyny, we must frankly make our own profession of faith, generally and sincerely, on the subject of plurality of wives, in order that no one may take a wrong view of the unbiassed judgment we are about to pronounce on this system, as it exists among the Latter- day Saints. Promiscuousness of sexual relations, or community of women, the state most opposed to the end which society has in view, has existed, though rarely, among several PLURALITY OP WIVES. 85 people, as, for instance, according to Diodorus, among the Taprobanians of Ceylon. Tt still exists, in a certain de gree, among a few savage tribes. Judged by natural law only, it cannot be shown to be absolutely unlawful, and such is the opinion of jurisconsults. Polyandria, which is limited community, and consequently a first step towards monogamy, has existed to a much greater extent. It was to be found in various nations ; and Caesar* informs us that in Britain the father and sons, whatever their number, had often but one wife amongst them. Even at this day, we know that polyandria is practised by a tribe in the Himalaya, as is also the case among several savage tribes in the Pacific. Polygyny, which is an immense step beyond community of women and polyandry towards the true ends of society, has existed from the earliest historical periods amid several nations, some of them possessed of a certain degree of educar tion, as a state of things lawful, natural, and sanctioned by religion. It is to this day still lawfully practised through out a great part of the world. But it must be borne in mind that it everywhere seems restricted to a limited num ber of rich people. Must we, with certain jurisconsults, admit that polygamy is not contrary to nature, and come to the same conclusion on this point with St. Augustine himself ? Perhaps not ; but we must first come to an understanding about the * Bell. Gall. v. cap. xiv. 56 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. word nature, and distinguish between the social and the animal nature of man. If man be nothing but an animal, superior to other animals only by his instincts and passions, well and good ; all he has then to do is to give himself up entirely to the lavvs of his animal nature ; to live after the fashion of brutes ; to couple at random, or according to his convenience ; and to abandon his little ones, the fruit of these promiscuous relations, to the care of their mother, or to nature. But if man, as we believe and maintain, is, according to the fine definition of a celebrated philosopher, an intelligence served by organs, a soul in a body ; if his intelligence be everything, and his body a mere instrument, a purely material envelope, then is his nature other than that of animals; it is that of inteUigent beings, and it is in this noble nature we must go and search for the laws which are to govern him, and not in that which he has in common with the dog, the bull, the ram, the cock, the crocodile, or the fish. It is superfiuous to prove that man is above all an in tellectual being. I am not meaning to speak of what philosophers call the necessary laws of reason, nor of the impressive testimonies of conscience ; but of his innate irresistible tendencies towards social existence, his need of sympathy and union with his fellow-beings ; his love of the true, the good, and the beautiful; his thirst for the ideal, that sense of the infinite which is found even among savages,— all which characteristics would, if we required PLURALITY OF WIVES. 87 them, be most striking proofs of it ; and his heart would suffice to demonstrate his intelligence. And finally, how are we to account for those immense conquests which man has made over nature, the changes he daily forces it to undergo, and which have modified, and are still modify ing, the primitive work of the Creator ? We have no desire to indulge in fine phrases; but only think what man has done, and of the extent of space he has overrun. Forced at first to live by hunting, lying on the bare earth, living in caverns or in the trunks of trees ; he then became a shepherd, multiplying his flocks at will, and living beneath a tent ; then a tiller of the soil, compelling the herbs of the field to yield increase for his support, and building himself a house ; then the inventor of mechanical occupations, arts, commerce, and science. After first dragging about his load or toihng with it on his shoulders, he ends by taming animals and converting them into beasts of burden. He next invents the wheel, the first of levers, and the most effective of any. He has now diminished the necessity for his own personal exertions, by the subjugation of animals and by the aid of the mechanical arts. But stop ; he will soon diminish it still more, and almost, as it were, annihi late it by mastering the elements, by bending them to his will, by forcing them to serve him ; the winds for his sails, steam for his arm, electricity for his signal, light for his pencil ; and what not ? See this planet traversed in every direction, nations brought into communication with each 88 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. ' other by a messenger swift as hghtning. See the populous and opulent cities, which at each step we meet upon our globe, and in these sumptuous cities mark the divers monu ments, the immense libraries which are incessantly accu mulating treasures of human thought. See, on every side, the earth modified, transformed, subjugated, and submitted to the limitless will of man the insatiable. See the ocean subdued, the lightning disarmed, the deserts pierced and crossed, the wild beasts of the forests brought to bay, and without means of escape ; the laws of the stars wrested from the firmament ; and everywhere luxury and well- being ! Ts it by the power of his intelligence, or by that of his animal life, that man has accomplished all these things ? Is it by what he has in common with animals, or by what he differs from them ? Where is the animal, even among those who are the most cunningly framed, that is able to display such results and such creations ? Has th6 ant in any respect improved or modified the architecture of those mansions in which through all time it has gar nered its stores ? Has the bee, through its long stages of existence, made any improvement in the form of its cells ? Has the beaver ever varied the plan of its habitation? The lion, the king of animals, what handiwork has he to show us ? The monkey, so like to man that some have taken him for his brother, where are the industrial victories that he has achieved? Can he display them to the ad miration of his posterity? And how many similar ques- PLURALITY OF WIVES. 89 tions could we not crowd together, without ever exhausting them ? INIan, then, we must repeat it, differs more from animals by his intelligence than he resembles them by his body. And if we have proved that man is an intelhgence, have we not a right to conclude that it is intelhgence which mainly constitutes the nature of man, and that it is conse quently in his inteUectual, not in his animal nature, that he is commanded to seek for the laws which are to govern his life? What, then, if we find polygamy existing in the dawn of certain societies, and in the midst of people ex isting in our own time who have remained stationary, or have declined, and must therefore be considered as being still in their cradle, are we to regard this as an argument that we can warrantably use in favour of the plurality of women, and of its establishment in civilized countries, in societies which time and the accumulated industry of ages have improved, unless indeed we concede to man, that after having ascended to the summit, he has the right of " aspi ring to descend?" The truth then is, that man differs from the other beings of creation by his intelligence ; consequently it is from this superior and distinctive faculty that the laws which govern him are derived, and from nowhere else. Now, what laws are more imperative than those of reason, when it prescribes justice to us, reciprocity of good offices, and respect for ourselves and others ? And how can these laws be recon- 90 FAITH AND WORKS OP THE MORMONS. ciled with polygyny ? Where there is no reciprocity there can be no justice ; and there is no reciprocity where one of two parties gives himself up as a whole, and another in re turn gives but a trifiing portion of himself. Marriage, in polygyny, is the lion's contract sealed with the right of the strongest, wherein no sophism, cover it as you will with religious sanctions, can conceal or efface the marks of the lion's claw. Prom the mere fact of there being an abuse of force, there must be personal degradation and moral debasement; and it is to be observed, moreover, that this debasement, this degradation, is duplicate. Polygyny is a two-edged sword that wounds him who strikes as well as him it strikes, — the tyrant (and such he is, even when not aware of it,) and the slave whom his tyranny oppresses. And looking at the matter from a different point of view, what becomes of the moral dignity of man in the midst of that atmosphere, vexed by a tumult of passions, in which polygyny compels him to pass bis life ? I cannot say how it will turn out, but I have great difficulty in supposing he will be master over himself, his will, and his feelings ; that it will be possible for him to maintain his sentiments and instincts at a high level ; that he will be able, without damage to his own character, and without having recourse to hypocrisy and falsehood, to keep the peace between so many rival affections and so much impassioned competi tion ; but even admitting that he can, even giving man cre dit for being such a prodigy of impossible heroism, how PLURALITY OF WIVES. 91 can we conceive it possible in the woman, — in that nature which is so much more feeble, and of a so much more de licate fibre ? Pears, jealousies, dark suspicions, will inces santly torment them, and will inevitably bring in their train, together with worse passions, resentments and ha tred, the habit of lying, of treachery, and betrayals, every thing in fact, which, undermining in the long-run their mo ral being, must end by corrupting and utterly destroying it. It is a law of moral sensibility, especially of love, that in order to develope itself and acquire all the power of which it is susceptible, it must confine and concentrate itself. Suffered to disperse, it grows weak, goes out Httle by little, and dies. Physical desire may survive, moral love will expire. It will happen to it as to those plants which can not be transported far from the places where they have taken root without losing their bloom and perfume. We may affirm, without fear of contradiction, that true love is unknown in those unfortunate countries where polygamy has fixed its empire; what goes by this name there is merely a phantasm, an appearance, and, if I may say so, a counterfeit. As it exists there, it may be justly defined to be what Marcus Aurelius called it, a brief spasm. That union of souls, which constitutes the essence of love, is there a myth or a prodigy ; it is the fiower of that fabulous plant which blooms but once in a century. How can the heart of man, distributed among so many objects, drawn to and fro in every direction, contended for on all sides, have 92 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. any possible experience of those delicate effusions of feel ing, those intimate and trustful interchanges of thought which, to be perfect, must be exclusive, and which are the essential conditions of love. Tt is an ascertained fact, that the relations in marriage, which are established by children between their parents, are powerful bonds which bind them faster in mutual affection ; hence the family is, as it were, a fountain of youth, in which love is ever getting strength and growing younger. Now polygamy dries up this spring ; the mother seeing the father share her caresses, and then transferring them to children which are not hers, at first feels her heart grow faint, then by degrees she becomes har dened, and, if her love for her offspring endures, — nature taking good care of that, — the affection she bore to their father becomes embittered, changes, and finally disappears. This leads us to remark how much less compact and firm that association called the family is in the factitious medium of polygamy than in the system of monogamy. The family is a moral association which, under a diversity of relations of all kinds, forms a harmonious, homogeneous, and com plete whole, bound together by a joint responsibility of feelings and interests. If the family be not this, it is no thing ; if it be not a joint responsibility in pleasures and interests, it is but the shadow of itself ; if equality be not found in it, it is nothing more than a physical aggregation, from which the moral element is absent ; if all the elements which compose it are not interconnected bv a common ten- PLURALITY OF WIVES. 93 dency to union, by affection, by feeling, it carries within itself a continuous ferment of dissension and discord ; and harmony becomes impossible. Now this is the aspect un der which the polygynic family presents itself. Tt is but a bastard association, which subsists only because man is a flexible being who can accommodate himself to the most different moral combinations, in the same way that he does to physical combinations ; but, and it is necessary to re mark it, this is not the moral atmosphere in which nature summons him to live ; he finds himself ill at ease there ; he suffers as he does in his physical nature when cast by chance, or the force of things, among the icebergs of the Pole or the deserts of the torrid zone. A consequence of all that we have been saying is that the moral education of man is not possible in the midst of a fa mily so constituted. We read in Montesquieu, " They say the King of Morocco has in his seraglio, women white, black, and yellow. Poor creature ! any one colour is perhaps more than enough for him ! " True, the polygamist is not necessarily obliged to support such a burden ; everybody is not born a sultan. But, at all events, he has several duties to fulfil ; he has to be subject to, or to combat, various pas sions, the most powerful of which perhaps are not those con nected with the conjugal duty, properly so called. He has to protect a thousand different interests, to make a thousand different wills converge to the same end. Thus surrounded by ties of every kind, by endless imperceptible threads 94 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. which lace him in on all sides, and which form an inex tricable net around his mind and heart, how can he have his intelhgence free enough to admit elevated subjects of refiection, and to turn to the contemplation of the ideal ? High intellectual culture is unavoidably wanting in a so ciety where man is thus manacled and absorbed by a variety of interests ; where his superior faculties have scarcely time to come into play and exhibit themselves. In order to become active, to move freely and with suc cess, they have need of calm and repose ; they require an atmosphere that is pure and serene ; instead of which, they are buffeted about by a continual tempest, whirled along by that eternal movement to which Dante, in his ' Inferno,' has sentenced all guilty pleasures : — " La bufera infernal, che riiai non resta, Mena gli spirti con la sua rapina ; Voltando, e percotendo gli molesta. Intesi ch' a cosi fatto tormento Eran dannati i peccator camali, Che la ragion sommettono al talento."* There is no concealing the fact, the roof of the harem has no outiook upon the heavens, nor does it carry up wards the soul thither. Besides, high intellectual culture has need of prepara tion. Genius, like man, has a childhood ; it does not spring up in a night like certain cryptogamous plants. It requires * Canto v., ver. 28, 39. PLURALITY OF WIVES. 95 the delicate care of a mother; the vigorous lesson of a father, or a public school. The mind of man, in order that its great instincts and superior faculties should be de- veloped and spring upwards, should be sown, if I may say so, in a soil prepared beforehand, watered by the rains of heaven, and sheltered from the north wind and the mid day's sun. Ts it in a family where the lowest and most vicious passions are incessantly fermenting that these fa vourable conditions can be found? Tt is surely not be tween an enslaved and degraded mother, and a father cor rupted, and, perhaps without his own knowledge, a cor- ruptor, that the child born with a love of intellectual things can grow up to a full stature, and attain that superior de velopment of intelligence which makes great peoples and great civilizations. There is no risk in saying that, if society in the East be so much in arrears of that in the West, it is in a great measure to polygyny that this in feriority must be ascribed. Progress is not possible un less accompanied by morality and liberty ; and high mora lity, no more than liberty, is to be found where polygyny exists. Plurality of women, which is not a good thing anywhere, has, at all events, in certain climates, some rea sons for existing; if our moral nature everywhere rejects it, our physical nature may sometimes render its presence explicable. Montesquieu has pointed out this;* but the reasons given by this great intellect, and which he gives * L'Esprit des Lois, liv. xvi. ch. 2 et 4. 96 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. without supporting them, have they any status in those climates where Mormonism was first set up, and had its principal seat ? Certainly not ; the women of North Ame rica are not marriageable at eight, nine, or ten years of age, and, thank God ! they are not old women at twenty. Neither, as far as I know, is there such a disproportion between the births of girls and boys as to require several females for the same male. Polygyny appears to us, there fore, a contradiction in a new society hke that of Mormon ism ; hence there is little probability of its having any chance of duration there. If by some accident it should succeed in maintaining itself, it must be in virtue of a miracle ; and such an interposition would be a better proof than any other of the divine nature of Joseph Smith's dispensation. Nevertheless, and whatever be the value of the objec tions which can be made to polygyny, it possesses a great influence over the Mormons; and such is the infatuation produced by it, that women, even the best educated, — wo men brought up in the principles of Christianity, — have suffered themselves to be seduced into it, and, whether it be from impulse of feehng, or aberration of intellect, have be come its sincere converts. I had the opportunity of con versing on this dehcate subject with a woman who is con sidered extremely ladyhke among the Mormons, and would be so esteemed everywhere. It is impossible to conceive with what earnestness of mind, with what an air of sin- PLURALITY OF WIVES. 97 cerity and conviction she defended the new doctrine and met the objections made to it, and what a modesty of manner and language she brought to the support of so bad a cause. " Why then," she said to me one evening, when the con versation had recurred to this subject, " why should T blush to accept this dogma of our faith which the majority of Christians reject with so much contempt and disdain ? Have I not the Bible on my side ? That Bible, which I have been accustomed to consider sacred from my child hood, does it not sanction polygamy ? I there see, in that very Bible, that a man unquestionably holy, the friend of God, a man faithful in all things, a man ever obeying God's commandments, who is called in the New Testament the Father of the Faithful, — in a word, that Abraham was a polygamist. That some of his wives were called concubines matters not ; they were not for this the less his wives, and the difference in the name does not alter the thing. And Jacob,' his grandson, was not he also a man according to God ? Did not the Lord bless him ? Was he not com manded to become a stem and to multiply ? Now Jacob, unless I am much mistaken, had four wives, who bore him a dozen sons and one daughter. Who will dare to say that God ever condemned these several marriages, and the fruits which came from them? The twelve sons which Jacob had by his four wives, became princes, heads of tribes, patriarchs ; and their names have been preserved VOL. II. H 98 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. throughout all generations. Then again, God had frequent interviews with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; his angels also visited them, conversed with, and blessed them, their wives, and children. Did they do wrong ? God rebuked them. He chided them for their sins when, from hatred, they sold their brother Joseph; neither did he spare them when there was any question of adultery. But in his communi cations with them, it never once occurred to him to con demn the organization of the family, such as it then was among them ; on the contrary, he approves of it at every opportunity, and never refuses it his blessing. He even tells Abraham that he will make him the father of many nations, and that in him and his posterity all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. At a later period I find plurality of wives perpetuated, sanctioned by the laws of Moses, and every thing ordered in conformity with it. David, the Psalmist, not only had several wives, but the Lord himself, speaking through the mouth of the Prophet Nathan, told him that since he had been guilty of adultery with the wife of "Uriah, and had committed murder, he would take away all the wives he had bestowed upon him, and give them to one of his neighbours. Is not this to be read at full length in 2 Samuel, chap. xii. ver. 7-11 ? Thus we have the ex press word of God ; and not only does he sanction poly gamy, but we even see him interfering in some degree in the matter, and giving David the wives of his master Saul, and then taking them away and handing them over to an- PLURALITY OF WIVES. 99 other man. Consider if this fact be not conclusive : in this instance, God blames and punishes adultery and murder, while he authorizes and approves polygamy. If we are to believe the Bible, surely it seems indispensable that we should take account of all this." As I did not appear to be much struck by her argument, my fair preacher, who no doubt perceived it, added : — "But it must not be supposed that the views of the New Testament differ from those of the Old on this sub ject. See how approvingly Jesus Christ, who had himself married three tvives while on earth, speaks of Abraham and his family : — ' Many will come from the east and the west, and from the north and from the south, and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God.' And remark this too :— ' If you were of the seed of Abra ham, you would do the works of Abraham.' The Apostle Paul also holds up Abraham and Sarah as models of faith and good works, as the father and mother of believing Christians. Now, call to mind the works for which Sarah is presented to us by the Apostle as worthy of the admira tion and imitation of Christian women. (Here the Mor mon lady quoted the three first verses of the sixteenth chapter of Genesis.) Thus, according to Jesus Christ and the Apostles, the only way to be saved is by being adopted into the great family of the polygamists, and scrupulously following their examples. But not to admit these conse quences from the Gospel, consequences that inevitably fol- H 2 100 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. low, is to reason according to one's caprice and pleasure', and, whatever may be thought of it, is, in fact, to break a lance both with religion and logic. Yes, Sir, there is no answer to be made to ,this ; the Christians on this point are very bad logicians ; they admit the premises and shrink, like children, from the consequences." I was tempted to remind my excellent logician that to many Christians the consequences would not be very alarm ing, especially if all the Mormon ladies resembled her, and that I knew more than one to whom they would be sin gularly agreeable. But my fair sermonizer, though, as it seemed to me, a woman quite capable of understanding a little gallantry, might perhaps not have relished my com pliment, and, besides, she might possibly have drawn from it an argument in favour of her own views. I therefore contented myself with saying that I gave up my objection, as far as the Old and New Testament were concerned, but that the thing appeared to me contrary to the law of nature. " Such a conclusion," she replied, " surprises me as coming from a naturahst, from one who must have pro foundly studied the laws of nature. But what then is the end of marriage ? Of course, to multiply the species, to bring up and educate children. Now, to effect this end, nature requires — it is you who force me to enter into these details, to which I do not allude without a certain degree of reluctance, but I am compelled to do so in the interests PLURALITY OF WIVES. 101 of truth and of our rehgion ; — nature, I say, requires that the husband should abstain from his wife at certain periods, if he would not expose her to very serious consequences. What ! is the wife then to be nothing more than the in strument of physical desires and pleasures ? Has nature intended her for no nobler purpose ? But the ethics of nature teach the mother that during the phases of develop ment through which the child in her womb must pass, her heart should remain pure, her thoughts and affections chaste, her mind calm and tranquil, while her body should engage in all sorts of exercises calculated to keep up its health and strength, and avoid everything hkely to disturb, irritate, weaken, or exhaust the functions of its organism. Yes, the husband, when he is good, will feel it his duty to nurse, sustain, comfort the wife of his heart by every form of kind ness, and by every manner of attention which his position allows, and all this with the utmost tenderness ai\d affec tion ; but it is also his duty to abstain from those unsea sonable familiarities which are precluded by the laws of the female constitution, laws to be met with, moreover, throughout almost the whole economy of animal life. Alas, is the human species to exhibit the only exception ? Was it not one of your own clever countrymen who said, that ' what distinguishes man from the brute is, that he drinks without being thirsty, and makes love at all seasons' ? But such a monstrosity would never have entered the head of a polygamist ; or, at all events, in the term man, he would 102 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. not have included woman, as your Beaumarchais does, nor have imagined such a distinctive characteristic and, as it were, privilege of species. Oh ! do not smile. Sir, the matter is grave enough. Polygamy, contrary to what is thought of it in your country, practised as it was under the patriarchal law, tends directly to female chastity, and a sound physical and moral constitution in children. You may read in the law of God, in your own Bible, the periods and circumstances at and under which a wife should be separated from her husband.* The polygamic law of God throws open a door to all vigorous, healthy, and virtuous women, by which they may become the honoured brides of virtuous men, and the mothers of dutiful, virtuous, healthy and vigorous children. Let me ask you. Sir, what woman there is in the whole of France who would be in clined to marry a drunkard, a debauchee, a spendthrift, an idler, a man tainted with hereditary disease ? — what woman would ever consent to become a prostitute, or to pass all her hfe unmarried, and in the privation of the natural affec tions, if the polygamy of Abraham, or, in other words, the patriarchal law of God, were adopted in your country, and accounted by every one honourable and sacred ?" I confess I began to be interested in the conversation, and to be exceedingly amused at hearing this apology for polygamy from the lips of a woman by no means deficient * Apud Hormones, concubitus per totum gestationis et lactationis tern- pus prohibetur, ac pro nefanda pollutione habetur. PLURALITY OF WIVES. 103 in cleverness. After a time, T asked permission to inter rupt her for an instant. " This is all very well. Madam," I said, " and I now understand how a woman may permit herself to apologize for polygamy from the point of view at which you place the question before me. But the reasons you give for separation from the wife under the interesting circumstances to a\ hich you allude, are they not equally ap plicable to the man ; not, indeed, on precisely the same con siderations, — his position not inspiring the same interest, — but on considerations of morality and self-respect? And, sup posing this to be so, is not polygamy at once condemned?" " No," she replied, without hesitation ; " in the first place, independently of the laws of their physical constitution, which are different, there are other laws belonging to the domain of religious ideas, which our prophets will explain to you. For myself, my only object is to instruct you respect ing the nature of polygamy, such as it exists amongst us, and which, whatever you may think of it, allots to woman in our society a much higher moral status than is assigned to her in Christian communities. Let us, if you please, for a moment compare the two cases, and see on which side the balance of morality is. You find fault with our polygamy ; but what would you say were I to accuse your Christian societies of being twice as much addicted to polygamy, of presenting the spectacle both of plurality of women, and plurahty of men? Tf we violate nature, you violate it doubly, and in the most monstrous way. In fact, plurahty 104 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. of husbands, polyandry as you term it, or rather, the condi tion of one woman for several men, is it not at this moment practised, has it not been for ages practised, in the prin cipal cities of Christendom ? Why, it is the spirit of your institutions falsely called Christian. Behold the result to which you are brought by the Babylon of mystery, the great harlot of the earth ; in other words, behold the conse quence of abandoning the sacred laws of marriage appointed by God; behold the consequence of the adoption of the laws of Rome, which forbid marriage to priests and nuns, and do not allow others to marry more than one wife. This law compels a number of women to pass their lives in single blessedness, without husband, without children, without a friend to protect and comfort them ; or, still more, it con demns them to a life of poverty and loneliness, in which they are exposed to temptations to culpable connections, to. the necessity of selling themselves, to . . . Man, on the con trary, rich in means, is tempted to squander them in secret with his mistress in an unlawful way, while the law of God would have given her to him as an honourable bride. All this engenders murder, infanticide, suicide, remorse, de spair, wretchedness, premature death, and, at the same time, their inevitable accompaniments, jealousies, broken hearts, dissensions in the bosom of families, contagious maladies, etc. ; in fact, all which leads to that horrible system of lega' tolerance by which governments, that call themselves Chris tian, give licenses to their prostitutes, authorizing them, I PLURALITY OF WIVES. 105 wUl not say to imitate the brutes, but to degrade themselves far beneath them; for all other created beings, with the exception of man, abstain from such abominable excesses, and in the acts of reproduction, observe the wise laws of nature. I have known it sometimes asked why plurality of husbands is not found amongst us just as well as plura lity of wives. Though this question be but a subordi nate one, I will ask permission to say a word on the sub ject ; it will put in a still clearer light a principal reason for the existence of the system which we prefer. The strength of the female constitution is designed to become a stream of life, to expend itself in nourishing and sustaining the embryo, in bringing it forth into existence, and after wards rearing it at the breast. When once her period of fertility is over, the woman gives herself up to repose, and leads a calm and tranquil life, in the midst of a family, which surrounds her with numberless affectionate atten tions. But it is not so with the man. His strength knows no stoppage, and it is his fate to move within a much larger sphere. Should God think him worthy of being recompensed one hundredfold in this life, he may have a multitude of wives and children, so as to be able, like Abraham, to send forth his hundreds of warriors born beneath his own roof. A good man, a man of God, able to educate his children in the knowledge of eternal truths, better deserves a hundred wives, than a wretched slave to vice does one. In the patriarchal system, as respects the direction of the family. 106 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. the wife is submitted to the authority of the husband. She' honours him, and stvles him her lord. She lives for him, to increase his glory, his greatness, his kingdom, or his family ; her affections are for God, her husband, and her children. Her children are also under her government throughout all eternity. As to the man, he must keep the commandments of God, and observe his, law. He must not marry any woman unless she be given to him by God's ordi nances and authority ; he must not commit adultery, nor take , liberties with any other women than those which become his property agreeably to the sacred institutions of marriage. Hence it follows that the law of Abraham and of the patriarchs tolerates neither licentiousness, nor adultery, nor fornication, nor the brothels in which a traffic is made of woman. In our society, neither money nor pleasure can tempt a woman, because she can always find an easy ac cess to the honourable relations of mother and wife in the midst of some virtuous family, where she will meet with love, peace, and well-being, where the practice of virtue gives her a claim to be transplanted to the soil of eternity, there to multiply her family to infinity, without sorrow or suffering, and without being ever again subject to death." "Ah! Madam," I exclaimed, after this long effusion, "this fehcity to which you look forward in another life, will it be not too dearly paid for by the self-denial you im pose upon yourself in this one?" " T am aware. Sir," she replied, " that in the opinion of PLURALITY OF WIVES. 107 strangers, we women, wives of polygamists, seem much to be pitied ; and people fancy that happiness is no more possible among us than it is in an Eastern seraglio. This is a prejudice which you also share, Sir. Well, I will now disabuse you of it. Our condition is as happy as it is pos sible for any human lot to be ; mine, for instance, I would not exchange for that of any of your women, either in France or England. I have for my husband a good and virtuous man whom I love with all my heart, and by whom I have four little children, who are inexpressibly dear to me. • Besides me, my husband has seven other wives living, and one who has gone to a better world, and in addition to this he has not less than tive-and-twenty children. All these mothers and all these children are attached to me by the sweetest ties, by mutual affection, by our relations and asso ciation. The mothers have become particularly dear to me on account of their sisterly tenderness for me, and the fatigues and sufferings we have shared in common. We have each of us our little defects in this hfe, but I know that they are good and worthy women, and that my husband is a good and worthy man, who governs his family like a second Abraham. He provides with equal energy for the wants of all of us ; he loves us all with his whole heart, and strives to make us all happy. He teaches us the law of Christ, and morning and evening assembles us in family prayer. He possesses the esteem of everybody in the country, and that of all persons who knew him in Europe when a minister of the Gospel ; 108 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. and he is now a useful member of the legislature of our Territory. He is still in the prime of youth, and will, I hope, live long enough to see you a convert to our doctrine." " But," I then said to her, " your husband being a bishop, and even something more, is he not in contradiction with St. Paul, when this apostle says, that the bishop must be the husband of no more than one wife?" " T know not," she replied to me, " what the Apostle Paul exactly meant to say by that. But it was he also who said that ' when we live in Rome we must do as they do in Rome,' and this, perhaps, will be the reply to your objec tion. Rome, in the time of Paul, governed the world ; and, in spite of its gross idolatry, practised monogamy. The circumstances being such, the Apostle Paul, no doubt, ob serving that there were a good many polygamists in the Church, would naturally recommend the Christians to select for the episcopacy, which is not a temporal institution, men who had very small famihes, in order to avoid giving offence to the prejudices of the place. This is precisely the line of conduct which we Latter-day Saints follow in the countries where Roman institutions are still in the ascen dant ; our elders there, in order to conform themselves to human laws, have only one wife. Ah ! Sir, take care that your prejudices, and your respect for certain traditions, do not carry you away from the true sense of the Bible ! May your eyes be opened to the hght ! Do not permit pride, false shame, respect for human things, to make you lose PLURALITY OF WIVES. 109 your place in the kingdom of heaven, in the midst of the royal family of the polygamists." The young matron felt so convhiced of all she had just been saying to me ; she had such a look of happiness, ap peared so content with her position, that I abstained from further opposition. But neither her reasons nor her ap parent happiness had at all shaken my opinion on the ques tion of polygamy in general; and I went away with the impression that I had just quitted, either a fanatical dupe, or an exceptional case. On returning to my hotel, as I reflected on this singular conversation, I recollected, by an association of ideas natural enough, something I had read in an interesting work by Dr. Alexander Mayer : — " In the conjugal state, it would perhaps be better that the husband should not approach the wife during the period of preg nancy and lactation. Under these circumstances, when all nervous emotion of a certain intensity has its dangers, ab stinence would no doubt be a prudent course. But, in fact, it would be difficult to reconcile this act of expediency with purity of manners and with monogamy." * The Doctor had thus indicated, without intending it, the principal reason which had been just given me for the lawfulness of * A Mormon apostle one day said to me, " Monogamy forces upon man an alternative which is contrary to the laws of nature, and to the great principle that nothing should be done in vain; thus, during the wife's pregnancy, and while she is nursing, he must either live in a sort of celi bacy, which is contrary to nature, or have commerce with his wife, which is at once contrary to modesty, to nature, and to the health of the wife and the child." 110 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. polygyny. I should, I confess, have felt considerably em barrassed to explain to a lady, even a Mormon lady, and one who had just spoken with so much good sense, the means suggested by the learned Doctor for remedying these defects in monogamy; it is quite possible that Mormon modesty would have been shocked at them. But whatever may be the reasons which militate against polygyny, it is, nevertheless, an accepted and established fact among the Mormons, and one which tends to extend itself in a notable way. But it may be easily conceived that an innovation like this, so opposed to the habits of thought and social hfe in the Christian societies in which Mormonism was born, and from which it is recruited, could not at once be extemporized into a combination with the new faith, and that it required a long preparation, and con siderable delicacy of management, before it could be openly recommended and introduced. We get glimpses of its first germs at Nauvoo. At the period of the ephemeral splen dour of this Mormon metropolis, Sidney Rigdon invented the theory of the spiritual wife, which, though publicly dis avowed by the Prophet, may be considered as a step to wards polygyny. What was meant by the spiritual wife is this : it is an article of faith among the Saints, that woman without man, and man without woman, cannot be saved, and that the more wives a man has, the more acceptable he must be in the sight of God, and the greater, therefore, the fullness of his eternal glory. In virtue of this principle, the PLURALITY OF WIVES. Ill Mormon desirous of securing in this world the greatest possible amougt of glory in the other, was in the habit of secretly contracting, apart from carnal marriage, spiritual alliances which, in theory at least, were to be platonic. This union for all eternity was called a sealing, in order to distinguish it from marriage, or a union in time. It Vi'as, of course, quite natural to seal oneself to one's carnal wife, and this was the first step in the process. She then became a wife both for time aud for eternity. According to the apostates, and enemies of the new religion, the congrega tion of women which Joseph Smith had founded at Nauvoo under the name of the Female Rehef Society, had no other object than that of training some select female Saints to comprehend and contract spiritual marriage. We will not make ourselves the echo of the endless jokes, and more or less calumnious assertions, which have been circulated on this subject. If the doctrine of the spiritual wife was ever taught, it must have been confined to the high dignitaries of the Church, in order to avoid giving too much offence ; and now that polygamy is openly avowed and authorized, there is no longer any reason for its existence. Besides, the Mormons have always denied that the doctrine of the spiritual wife was either known or put in practice by them. Without either receiving or rejecting their dis claimer, we shall here confine ourselves to saying that Joseph Smith practically carried out polygyny in the flesh about 1 843 at latest. 112 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. But plurality of wives did not really take its place among Mormon institutions until after the pubhcation of Joseph Smith's revelation, in 1852. This document, which we shall presently give, was preceded by a special conference of the elders, which took place on the 29th of August, 1852, at Great Salt Lake City, in the Tabernacle. The ceremony was sufficiently important, and the thing it self is sufficiently curious to justify our giving a few de tails. After a choral hymn, a prayer, and canticle by the Elder Ezra T. Benson, Orson Pratt, who is the philosopher and show-speaker of the Mormons, delivered a discourse in which he indicated the object of the new doctrine, and set forth the grounds on which it rested : — " Tt is quite unexpected to me, brethren and sisters," so he began, " to be called upon to address you this forenoon ; and still more so to address you upon the principle wbich has been named, namely, a plurality of wives. It is rather new ground for me; that is, I have not been in the habit of publicly speaking on this subject ; and it is rather new ground to the inhabitants of the United States, and not only to them, but to a portion of the inhabitants of Europe. ... It is well known, however, to the congregation before me, that the Latter-day Saints have em braced the doctrine of a plurality of wives as part of their re ligious faith. It is not, as many have supposed, a doctrine embraced by them to gratify the carnal lusts and feelings of man; that is not the object of the doctrine. We shall endea vour to set before this enlightened assembly some of the causes why the Almighty has revealed such a doctrine, and why it is PLURALITY OF WIVES. 113 considered a part and portion of our religious faith. And I believe they will not, under our present form of government, —I mean the government of the United States, — try us for treason for believing and practising our religious ideas. I think, if I am not mistaken, the Constitution gives the privilege, to all the inhabitants of this country, of the free exercise of all their religious notions, and the freedom of their faith aud the practice of it. Then, if it can be proven to a demonstration that the Latter-day Saints have actually embraced, as a part and portion of their religion, the doctrine of plurality of wives, it is constitu tional."' After this exordium, in which he barely touches on the delicate point of the constitutionality of the doctrine, he comes to the marrow of the subject. He first calls to mind the dogma of the pre-existence of souls, and then enters upon an argument which is curious enough to induce us to give an extract from it. " Do the Scriptures declare that the spirit was formed at the time the tabernacle was made ? No. . . . We are of the earth, earthy. . . . Now where do you suppose all these tabernacles got their spirits? Does the Lord make a new spirit every time a tabernacle is made ? If so, the work of creation, according to the belief of Christendom, did not finish on the seventh day. If we admit their views, the Lord must be continually making new spirits to inhabit all the tabernacles of the children of men. He must make something like one thousand millions of spirits every century, and must be working at it every day and hour. . . . This does not look reasonable or godlike. . . . That which dwells VOL. II. I 114 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. within this tabernacle is much older than what the tabernacle is. That spirit which now dwells within each man and each woman of this vast assembly of people, is more than thousands of years old. . . . We should say that our spirits were formed by gene ration, the same as the body or tabernacle of flesh and bones. . . . The Sons of God, recollect, shouted for joy, because there was a beautiful habitation being built, so that whenever the foundations of the world were laid, they could get tabernacles and dwell therein. . . . We have ascertained that we have had a previous existence. Solomon says, that when the body returns to dust, the spirit returns to Him who gave it. Now all of this congre gation very well know, that if we had never existed there, we could never return there. I could not return to California, why? Because I never have been there. ... In Joseph Smith's inspired translation of the Bible, we find the pre-existence of man clearly laid down, and that the spirits of all men, male and female, did have an existence before man was formed out of the dust of the ground. But, who was their father ? I have already quoted a saying that God is the Father of our spirits. "In one sense of the word, there are more gods than one; the Scriptures speak of more gods than one. Moses was called a god to Aaron, in plain terras ; and our Saviour says, in sub stance, that those to whom the word of God came, are called gods.* ... If one God can propagate species, and raise up spirits after his own image and likeness, and call them his sons and daughters, so can all other gods that become like him, do the same thing; consequently there would be many fathers and many famihes, and many sons and daughters ; and they will be the children of those glorified celestial beings that are counted * He cites John x. 33-36. PLURALITY OF WIVES. 115 worthy to be gods. In the Book of Abraham, translated by the Prophet Joseph Smith, we read that among the great and numerous family of spirits, there are some more intelligent, nobler, and greater than others. . . . The Lord had ordained that spirits should come here and take tabernacles by a certain law, and that law Avas the law of marriage. . . . The first mar riage was between Adam and Eve, two immortal beings, and originally made capable of enduring for ever and ever in their organization. Consequently they were married for eternity. . . . Hence, we who are a peculiar people about marriage, believe in marrying, not only for time, but for all eternity ; inasmuch as the first marriage was instituted between two immortal beings, before death entered into their tabernacles by sin and sin alone. Their descendants have been ransomed from the Fall by redemp tion, which includes a complete restoration of all the privileges lost by the Fall; hence marriage for eternity is re-established. God promised Abraham that his seed should be as numerous as the sand on the seashore. Now, if our earth were to continue eight thousand years, with an average population of one thousand miUions per century, then three cubic yards of sand would con tain a greater number of particles than the whole population of the globe from the beginning. If men then cease to multiply, where is the promise made to Abraham ? Is it fulfilled ? No. For his posterity must be endless, and therefore there must be an infinity of worlds for their residence. According to the Pro phet Enoch, if to all the particles of this earth were added the particles of millions of earths like it, it would not be a beginning of God's creations. "We read that those who do the works of Abraham are to be blessed with the blessings of Abraham. Through the restora- i'2 116 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. tion of the priesthood, these blessings are placed upon our heads; . . . But how did Abraham manage to get a foundation laid for this mighty kingdom? Was he to accomplish it all through one wife? No. He had Sarah, Hagar, and Keturah, and also a plurahty of wives and concubines, from whom he raised up many sons I think there is only one fifth of the population of the globe that believes in the one-wife system ; the other four •fifths beheve in the doctrine of a plurality of wives. The former have done away with the promises, and deprived themselves of the blessings of Abraham ; the only care of their little hearts is to avoid, if possible, a numerous family ; they do not know that a man's posterity in the eternal world are to constitute his glory, his kingdom, and dominion. . . . They consider it an awM thing to raise up a posterity from more than one wife; this is wrong indeed ; but to go into a brothel, and there debauch themselves in the lowest haunts of degradation, they consider only a trifling thing : nay, they can even license such institutions in Christian nations, and it all passes off very well. ... In Israel, in ancient days, adultery was punished with death ; now people laugh at it.* But they who call themselves the people of God must have done with all these things, for the Book of Mormon says: 'Woe * " Christians of our days will no doubt admit that adultery was a de testable crime in the time of ancient Israel, when the offenders were put to death. However, they now attach little or no criminality to adultery, and many are seized with a holy horror at the bare idea of men being put to death for such an offence. Plurality of women was altogether right, accordiug to their notion, in the time of Abraham, Isaac, and good old David, and now they declare it to be altogether intolerable, infamous, and degrading, when at least one-half of the world is giving itself up to licen tiousness and prostitution. Future generations will ask with astonishment, why this principle of redemption is now rejected." — Millennial Star, vol. xvii. p. 211. PLURALITY OF WIVES. 117 unto them that commit whoredom, for they shall be thrust down into hell.' But how are they to be prevented? for we have a fallen nature to grapple with. In the way the Lord devised in ancient times, that is, by giving to his faithful servants a plura lity of wives. "But again, there is a second reason why this plurality should exist among the Latter-day Saints. The first, as I have said, is that y.ou may inherit the blessings and promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and have a posterity as numerous as the sand upon the seashore. The second is a good one too. It is this, that the spirits of men and women have pre-existed for thousands of years ; and that among these were some more noble, more intelligent than others, called the great and mighty ones, reserved for the dispensation of the fullness of time, to come forth and enter their earthly tabernacles among the people that are most righteous on earth. But among the Saints is the most Hkely place for these spirits to take their tabernacles, through a just and righteous parentage; . . . they are appoiuted to come and take their bodies here, that in their generations they may be raised up among the righteous ; for the Lord has not kept them in store for five or six thousand years to send them among the Hottentots, Negroes, or idolatrous Hindoos, or any other of the fallen nations which dwell upon the face of this earth. No, they will come among the Saints of the living God. . . . " Then is it not reasonable that the Lord should say to his chosen servants, ' Take unto yourselves more wives, like the an cient patriarchs who walked in my steps and kept my command ments '? But plurality of wives is a matter not to left at ran dom. Every one is not at liberty to seek out the daughters of men as wives without any restriction, law, or condition. There 118 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. is however but one man in the world who holds the keys con cerning this matter, and that man is the President of the Church. " Now, as to marriage, whosoever has not his marriage sealed for eternity cannot claim his wife at the resurrection, because he never married that person for eternity. If he and his wife had made covenant and agreement to live together to all eternity, it would be to no purpose; and unless it were sealed by the Lord's sealing power, by the holy priesthood, they would have no claim on each other in the morning of the resurrection." After this long preliminary discourse, of which I have merely given the substance, and which ended with an allu sion to the magnificent destiny of the Saints, who were to become "a kingdom of kings and priests," or, in other Words, a kingdom of gods, if they would but hearken to his law, the meeting adjourned. In the afternoon the con ference again met, H. C. Kimball presiding ; a hymn was first sung, and the communion then administered; and while this ceremony was going on, Brigham Young ad dressed the meeting. He first called attention to the ex cellency of Joseph Smith's doctrine throughout all its parts, as far as it was revealed ; the inability of the gentiles to offer a serious argument, a substantial reason, against it, and the shouts of disapprobation which met the Prophet when he brought forward his earhest innovations; after which he came to the business of the day. -" The doctrine which Orson Pratt discoursed upon this morning PLURALITY OP WIVES. 119 was the subject of a revelation anterior to the death of Joseph Smith. It is iu opposition to what is received by a small mi nority of the world ; but our people have for many years believed it, though it may not have been practised by the elders. The original of this revelation has been burnt. William Clayton wrote it down from the Prophet's mouth ; it found its way into the hands of Bishop Whitney, who obtained Joseph Smith's per mission to copy it. Sister Emma burnt the original. I men tion this to you because such of you as are aware of the revela tion, suppose that it no longer exists. I prophesy to you that the principle of polygamy will make its way, and will triumph over the prejudices and all the priestcraft of the day ; it will be embraced by the most intelligent parts of the world as one of the best doctrines ever proclaimed to any people. You have no rea son whatever to be uneasy ; there is no occasion for your fearing that a vile mob will come hither to trample underfoot the sacred liberty which, by the Constitution of our country, is guaranteed to us. It has been a long time publicly known, and in fact was known during his life, that Joseph had more than one wife. A senator, a member of Congress, was well aware of it, and was not the less our friend for all that ; so much so, as to say that were this principle not adopted by the United States, we should live to see human life reduced to a maximum of thirty years. He said openly that Joseph had hit upon the best plan for re-invi gorating men, and assuring a long life to them ; and, also, that the Mormons are very good and very virtuous. We could not have proclaimed this principle a few years ago; everything must abide its time, but I am now ready to proclaim it. This revela- tiou has been in my possession for many years, and who knew it ? No one, except those whose business it was to know it. I 120 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. have a patent lock to my writing-desk, and nothing gets out of it that ought not to get out of it. Without the doctrine which this revelation makes known to us, no one could raise himself high enough to become a god."* Immediately after this discourse by Brigbarn Young, one of the elders, Thomas Bullock, read the following revela tion, before the two thousand elders present at the confer ence : — "REVELATION ON POLYGAMY. " Eeoeived bt Joseph Smith at Nauvoo, July 12th, 1843 ; PEOCLAIMBD Attgitst 29th, 1852. f " Verily thus saith the Lord, unto you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand, to know and understand wherein I the Lord justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also Moses, David, and Solomon my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines, behold and lo ! I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as touching this matter ; therefore, prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you; for all those who have this law revealed unto them, must obey the same ; for behold ! I reveal unto you a new and everlasting covenant, and if ye abide not in that covenant, then are ye damned ; for no one can reject this covenant and be * " Christians know not what they are doing when they oppose the principle of a plurality of women. They do not know that they are op posing the ordinances of the most high God, and the very means by which man becomes heir of the blessings promised to the faithful. They know not that they are opposing the most pious and upright men that ever adorned this planet." — Edit. Millennial Star, vol. xv. 1853. t Deseret News, vol. vi., 21st January, 1857. PLUR.'VLITY OF WIVES. 121 permitted to enter into my glory, for all who will have a blessing at my hands, shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as was instituted from be fore the foundation of the world : and as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fullness of my glory ; and he that receiveth a fullness thereof, must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God. " And verily I say unto you, that the conditions of this law are these : all covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made, and entered into, and sealed, by the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time aad for all eternity, and that too most holy, by revelation and command ment, through the medium of mine Anointed, whom I appointed on the earth to hold this power (and I have appointed unto my servant Joseph to hold this power in the last days, and there is never but one on the earth at a time, on whom this power and the keys of this priesthood are conferred), are of no efficacy, virtue, or force, in and after the resurrection from the dead ; for all contracts that are not made unto this end, have an end when men are dead. " Behold, mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion. Will I accept of an offering, saith the Lord, that is not made in my name? Or will T receive at your hands that which I have not appointed ? And will I ap point unto you, saith the Lord, except it be by law, even as I and my father ordained unto you before the world was ? I am the Lord thy God, and I give unto you this commandment, that no man shall come unto the Father but by me, or by my word, which is my law, saith the Lord ; and everything that is in the 122 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. world, whether it be ordained of men, by thrones, or principali ties, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they may be, that are not by me, or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God : for whatsoever things remaineth, are by me ; and whatsoever things are not by me shall be shaken and destroyed. " Therefore, if a man marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not by me, nor by my word ; and he covenant with her, so long as he is in the world, and she with him, their cove nant and marriage is not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the world ; therefore they are not bound by any law when they are out of the world, therefore, when they are out of the world they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are appointed angels in heaven, which angels are ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more and an exceeding and an eternal weight of glory ; for these angels did not abide my law, therefore they cannot be enlarged, but re main separately, and singly, without exaltation, in their saved , condition, to all eternity, and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God for ever and ever. " And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife, and make a covenant with her for time and for all eternity, if that covenant is not by me or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, through him whom I have anointed and appointed unto this power, then it is not vahd, neither of force, when they are out of the world, because they are not joined by me, saith the Lord, neither by my word ; when they are out of the world, it cannot be received there, because the angels and the gods are appointed there, by whom they can- PLURALITY OP WIVES. 123 not pass ; they cannot, therefore, inherit my glory, for my house is a house of order, saith the Lord God. " And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting cove nant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power, and the keys of this priesthood, and it shall be said unto them, ye shall come forth in the first resurrection ; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection ; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths, then shall it be written in the Lamb's Book of Life, that he shaU commit no murder, whereby to shed inno cent blood; and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time and through all eternity ; and shall be full of force when they are out of the world, and they shall pass by the angels and the gods which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fullness and a continuation of the seeds for ever and ever. " Then shall they be gods, because they have no end ; there fore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue ; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them. " Verily, verily I say unto you, except ye abide my law, ye cannot attain to this glory ; for strait is the gate and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world, neither do ye know me. But if ye receive me in the 124 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. world, then shall ye know me, and shall receive your exaltation ; that where I am, ye shall be also. This is eternal lives, to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. I am He. Receive ye, therefore, my law. Broad is the gate and wide the way that leadeth to the death, and many there are that go in thereat, because they receive me not, neither do they abide in my law. " Verily, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife accord ing to my word, and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of pro mise, according to mine appointment, and he or she shall commit any sin or transgression of the new and everlasting covenant whatever, and all manner of blasphemies, and if they commit no murder, wherein they shed innocent blood, — yet they shall come- forth in the first resurrection, and enter into their exaltation ; but they shall be destroyed in the flesh, and shall be delivered unto the buffetings of Satan, unto the day of redemption, saith tbe Lord God. " The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost which shall not be forgiven in the world, nor out of the world, is in that ye commit murder, wherein ye shed innocent blood, and assent unto my death, after ye have received my new and everlasting covenant, saith the Lord God ; and he that abideth not this law, can in no wise enter into my glory, but shall be damned, saith the Lord. " I am the Lord thy God, and wiU. give unto thee the law of my holy priesthood, as was ordained by me and my Father be fore the world was. Abraham received all things, whatsoever he received by revelation and commandment, by my word, saith the Lord, and hath entered into his exaltation, and sitteth upon his throne. " Abraham received promises concerning his seed, and of the PLURALITY OF WIVES. 125 fruit of his loins, — from whose loins ye are, viz. my servant Joseph, — which were to continue, so long as they were in the world ; and as touching Abraham and his seed, out of the world, they should continue; both in the world and out of the world should they continue as innumerable as the stars, or, if ye were to count the sand upon the seashore, ye could not number them. This promise is yours also, because ye are of Abraham, and the promise was made unto Abraham, and by this law are the con tinuation of the works of my Father, wherein he glorifieth him self. Go ye therefore, and do the works of Abraham ; — enter ye into my law, and ye shall be saved. But if ye enter not into my law, ye canuot receive the promises of my Father, which he made unto Abraham. " God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abra ham, to wife. And why did she do it? Because this was the law, and from Hagar sprang many people. This, therefore, was fulfilling, among other things, the promises. Was Abraham therefore under condemnation ? VerUy I say unto you. Nay ; for I the Lord commanded it. Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac ; nevertheless, it was written, thou shalt not kill. Abraham however did not refuse, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. " Abraham received concubines, and they bare him children, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness, because they were given unto him, and he abode in my law ; as Isaac also and Jacob did none other things than that which they were com manded; and because they did none other things than that which they were commanded, they have entered into their exal tation, according to the promises, and sit upon thrones ; and are not angels, but are gods. 126 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. "David also received many wives and concubines, as also Solomon, and Moses my servant; as also many others of my servants, from the beginning of creation until this time; and in nothing did they sin, save in those things which they received not of me. " David^s wives and concubines were given unto him, of me, by the hand of Nathan my servant, and others of the prophets who had the keys of this power ; and in none of these things did he sin against me, save in the case of Uriah and his wife ; and therefore he hath fallen from his exaltation, and received his portion ; and he shall not inherit them out of the world, for I gave them unto another, saith the Lord. " I am the Lord thy God, and I give unto thee, my servant Joseph, an appointment, and restore all things ; ask what ye will, and it shall be given unto you, according to my word; and as ye have asked concerning adultery, — verily, verily I say unto you, if a man receiveth a wife in the new and everlasting covenant, and if she be with another man, and I have not appointed unto her by the holy anointing, she hath committed adultery, and shall be destroyed. If she be not in the new and everlasting covenant, and she be with another man, she hath committed adultery, and if her husband be with another woman, and he was under a vow, he .hath broken his vow, and hath committed adul tery ; and if she hath not committed adultery, but is innocent, and hath not broken her vow, and she knoweth it, and I reveal it unto you, my servant Joseph, then shall you have power, by the power of my holy priesthood, to take her, and give her unto him that hath not committed adultery, but hath been faithful ; for he shall be made ruler over many ; for I have conferred upoji you the keys and power of the priesthood, wherein I restore all things, and make known unto you all things in due time. PLURALITY OF WIVES. 127 " And verily, verily I say unto you, that whatsoever you seal on earth, shall be sealed in heaven, and whatsoever you bind on earth, in my name, and by my word, saith the Lord, it shall be eternally bound in the heavens ; and whosesoever sins you remit on earth, shall be remitted eternally in the heavens ; and whose- , soever sins you retain on earth, shall be retained in heaven. " And again, verily I say, whomsoever you bless, I will bless ; and whomsoever you curse, I will curse, saith the Lord; for I the Lord am thy God. " And again, verily I say unto you, my servant Joseph, that whatsoever you give on earth, and to whomsoever you give any one on earth, by my word, and according to my law, it shall be visited with blessings, and not cursings, and with my power, saith the Lord, and shall be without condemnation, on earth and in heaven ; for I am the Lord thy God, and will be with thee even unto the end of the world, and through all eternity: for verily I seal upon you your exaltation, and prepare a throne for you in the kingdom of my Father, with Abraham your father. Behold, I have seen your sacrifices, and will forgive all your sins. I have seen your sacrifices, in obedience to that which I have told you : go, therefore, and I make a way for your escape, as I accepted the offering of Abraham, of his son Isaac. " Verily I say unto you, a commandment I give unto mine handmaid Emma Smith, your wife, whom I have given unto you, that she stay herself, and partake not of that which I com manded you to offer unto her; for I did it, saith the Lord, to prove you all, as I did Abraham, and that I might require an offering at your hand, by covenant and sacrifice, and let mine handmaid Emma Smith receive all those that have been given unto my servant Joseph, and who are virtuous and pure before 128 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. me ; and those who are not pure, and have said they were pure, _ shall be destroyed, saith the Lord God : for I am the Lord thy God, and ye shall obey my voice ; and I give unto my servant Joseph, that he shall be made ruler over many things, for he hath been faithful over a few things ; and from henceforth I will strengthen him. "And I command mine handmaid Emma Smith to abide and cleave unto my servant Joseph, and to none else. But if she will not abide this commandment, she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord ; for I am the Lord thy God, and will destroy her, if she abide not in my law ; but if she will not abide this commandment, then shall my servant Joseph do all things for her, even as he hath said; and I will bless him, and multiply him, and give unto him an hundredfold in this world, of fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, houses and lands, wives and children, and crowns of eternal lives in the eternal worlds. And again, verily I say, let mine handmaid forgive my servant Joseph his trespasses, and then shall she be forgiven her tres passes, wherein she hath trespassed against me : and I the Lord thy God will bless her, and multiply, and make her heart to rejoice. " And again, I say, let not my servant Joseph put his pro perty out of his hands, lest an enemy come and destroy him, for Satan seeketh to destroy : for I am the Lord thy God, and he is my servant ; and behold and lo ! I am with him as I was with Abraham thy father, even unto his exaltation and glory. " Now as touching the law of the priesthood, there are many things pertaining thereunto. Verily, if a man be called of my Father, as was Aaron, by mine own voice, and by the voice of him that sent me, and I have endowed him with the keys of the PLURALITY OF WIVES. 129 power of this priesthood, if he do anything in my name, and accord ing to my law, and by my word, he will not commit sin, and I will justify him. Let no one, therefore, set on my servant Joseph ; for I will justify him, for he shall do the sacrifice which I require at his hands, for his transgressions, saith the Lord your God. " And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood ; — if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent ; and if he espouse the second, and they are rirgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified ; he cannot commit adultery, for they are given unto him ; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to none else. And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery ; for they belong tq him ; and they are given unto him; — therefore is he justified. But if one, or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused, shall be with another man, she has committed adultery, and shall be de stroyed ; for they are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfil the pro mise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world ; and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men, for herein is the work of my Father continued, that he may be glorified. " And again, verily, verily I say unto you, if any man have a wife who holds the keys of this power, and he teaches unto her the law of my priesthood, as pertaining to these things, then shall she believe and administer unto him, or she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord your God, for I wiU destroy her ; for I will mag nify my name upon all those who receive and abide in my law. Therefore it shall be lawful in me, if she receive not this law, for him to receive all things, whatsoever I the Lord his God will VOL. II. K 130 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. give unto him, because she did not believe and administer unto him, according to my word ; and she then becomes the trans gressor, and he is exempt from the law of Sarah, who adminis tered unto Abraham according to the law, when I commanded Abraham to take Hagar to wife. And now, as pertaining to this law, verily, verily I say unto you, I will reveal more unto you hereafter ; therefore let this suffice for the present. Behold, I am Alpha and Omega. Amen."* Unintelhgible, and often barbarous, as is the language that the Prophet here puts into the mouth of the great Elohim, the reader's compensation for wading through such a document is, that it presents him with a new and re markable proof of the fraud committed ; a proof however which, in spite of its cogency, is insufficient to open eyes which faith has bandaged. It appears, then, from what we have just seen, there are two forms of marriage among the Mormons. The first, simple marriage; the second, that which we shall call polygynic marriage. The first is, as we stated in a * This revelation was received, as we have already mentioned in the historical portion of this work, in presence of Clayton and Hyrum. The same day, the 12th of July, 1843, Hyrum was commissioned to go and read it to Emma, his sister-in-law. But this worthy woman seemed not at all in the humour to submit to this command from on high ; and the Prophet was actually obliged to pass the whole of the next day in conver sation with his wife, in order to induce her to look with composure on the rivals already selected to divide his attention with her. Tired of preach ing to her in vain, Joseph wound up by saying to his dissatisfied wife, " Fmma, attend to yowr own affairs, aud let the Anointed of the Lordfidfil the works for which God has raised Mm up.'' PLURALITY OF WIVES. ]31 former chapter, celebrated pretty much as Protestant mar riages usually are. The forms of the second are somewhat different. Though several polygynic marriages took place during our stay at the Salt Lake, we could not obtain per mission to be present at any; but, according to the in formation we received from the mouth of an elder, himself the husband of three wives, the following is the way in which things are managed : — Every person already married to a first wife, and desi rous of having another, must, before he makes a proposal of marriage to a widow or spinster, consult the Supreme President of the Church, and obtain through him a reve lation, in which God is supposed to manifest his pleasure on the subject. Tf such revelation be adverse to the de sired marriage, the affair ends there. If, on the contrary, it be favourable to it, the petitioner considers himself at liberty to proceed ; but even now he is not at liberty to consult the wishes of the person whom he is seeking in marriage ; he must first obtain the consent of her parents, if they live in Utah. If they refuse, the affair goes off; but if, on the contrary, the parents or guardians freely give their consent, the suitor may then make his proposal to the lady herself. If she accepts him, the thing is settled, and the day fixed for the celebration of the marriage ; but her power of refusal is free and final. It is necessary to remark that before taking a single step towards getting another wife, the man must consult the K 2 132 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. wishes of his first wife, and obtain her assent, in order to be in harmony with the revealed law. On the day fixed, the bridegroom elect, accompanied by his wife, his betrothed, their parents, and friends, proceed to the place where the ceremony is to be performed. A church registrar writes the name, age, and places of abode of the contracting parties, in a book kept for this purpose; The Supreme President, to whom alone the revelation gives the power of administering the polygynic marriage rite, addresses the bridegroom, his wife, and his betrothed, who stand fronting him, the wife being on her husband's left, and the betrothed on her left. Then the President says to the wife, " Do you consent to give this woman to your hus band as a lawful wife for time and for all etornity ? If you consent, signify it by placing her right hand in your hus band's right hand." The right hands of the betrothed couple being thus the one in the other, the wife takes the , husband's left arm. Then the President, addressing him self to the man, says, " Brother So-and-so, do you take Sister So-and-so by the right hand, in order to receive her as yours, in order that she shall become your lawful spouse, and you shall become her lawful husband for time and for all eternity, with the undertaking and promise on your part that you wiU fulfil all the laws, rites, and ordinances which relate to this holy marriage in the new and immortal cove nant ; doing this in the presence of God, of angels, and of these witnesses, out of your own free will and consent? PLURALITY OF WIVES. 133 The bridegroom replies, " Yes." The same words are then addressed to the bride elect, who answers in the same way, " Yes." Then the officiating minister says, " In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the authority of the holy priesthood, I declare you to be legally and justiy husband and wife for time and for all eternity, and I apply to you the blessings of the holy resurrection, with power to appear on the morning of the first resurrection clothed in glory, immortality, and life eternal ; and apply to you the bless ings of Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Powers, Might, as well as the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; and I say to you, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, in order that you may find in your posterity, joys and re joicings in the day of the Lord Jesus. All these blessings, together with all the others wbich follow from the new and immortal covenant, do I here shed upon your beads through your faithfulness unto the end, by authority of the priest hood, in the name of the Pather, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen." The registrar now inserts the date and place of the mar riage, as well as the names of the two or three required witnesses, in the Great Book, and then the ceremony is over. We have observed that the Mormon President is the only one who has the power of celebrating the polygynic union. In the event, however, of his being prevented, he may depute a high functionary of the Church to officiate in 134 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. his place ; but, in all cases of this nature, he must have been beforehand consulted by the parties, and his sanction, as an indispensable preliminary, obtained. When a married man with a single wife has taught his wife the law of God, as revealed to the patriarchs of old, and as manifested by a new revelation, should she re fuse to consent to his intermarrying with another woman agreeably to this law, she is summoned before the Presi dent to declare the grounds of her refusal. Tf the reasons adduced by her be plausible and satisfactory, and if the husband be convicted of wrong or transgression, the po lygynic marriage does not take place, and the man re quiring it is never again permitted to take a single step to wards getting another wife. But if the wife cannot show any valid ground for her refusal to conform to the law which Was given to Sarah of old, it becomes lawful for her husband, after the Prophet has granted him permission through revelation, to go on without noticing her, and to marry himself to other women without her consent. " In the latter case,'^ says the Mormon law, " he would be jus tified, and she would be condemned, because she has not bestowed them on him as Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham, as Rachel and Leah gave Bilhah and Zilpah to Jacob their husband." The man who has married several wives is bound to watch over the welfare and prosperity of them all, and to secure them the comforts of life. " We ought to do this," PLURALITY OF WIVES. 135 say the Mormons, " because Holy Scripture enjoins it in these terms, ' If he take him another wife, her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage shall he not diminish.' "* The Saints, it will be seen, sometimes use Scripture to good purpose. But it is not always easy to fulfil the law, espe cially when, as in this case, it is so contrary to reason and na ture. But let us now visit the interior of a polygynic house hold, and endeavour to discover what is going on there. Tf we could depend upon what has been published by the renegade John Hyde, with respect to the polygynic practices of Utah, we should say the Mormon polygamist had no domestic hearth, no home ; that home, in fact, so dear to Americans and Englishmen, so dear also to every people, though all have not a word in their language which so specifically expresses the idea connected with it. The apostate priest paints the polygamic household in colours much too revolting, and too far from the truth, to permit of our transferring them to our canvas. The privilege we have had of seeing with our own eyes, authorizes us to say that matters proceed in a very different way, and in deed do not, at a first glance, appear to warrant the as sumptions on which we had, by anticipation, condemned the system of the plurality of women. We are bound to declare that the three forms of polygynic household we met with in Utah, presented nothing which was contrary to * Exod. xxi. 10. In the Vulgate, Quod si alteram acceperit, providebit puellcB nuptias, et vestimenta, etpreiium pudicitim non negabit. 136 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. public decency, or wanting in external decorum. Let us, in a few words, state what, according to the information we received, these forms are.* The first — that which we might call the system of the harem — consists in assembhng all the wives of the same husband under the same roof, where they live in common, apart from the common husband, who visits them accord ing to his good pleasure, but who himself f'esides in a separate house, to which he retires for the transaction of his business, and where he sleeps. This is the kind of life adopted by Brigham Young. At the period of our visit, the seventeen wives of this great polygamist lived together in the same house. Brigham is always present at meals, conducts the daily prayer, instructs his children, visits each of his wives daily, and when bedtime comes, withdraws and sleeps alone in a little room behind his offices. Each of his wives has her own bedroom, and all of them are bound to obey, in the everyday affairs of life, the com mands of the wife who occupies the first rank by seniority of marriage. As may be conceived, Brigham has in his harem women of all ages. When he goes out upon a journey, he selects one or more of his sultanas to accompany him ; in the same way, when her is indisposed, he gives that one of his wives whom he chooses to have for a nurse, an * In the three categories which we here adopt, we are happy to find ourselves in accordance with a judicious English traveller, Mr. W. Chand- less, whom chance had thrown among the Mormons almost at the same time as ourselves. See ' A Visit to Salt Lake,' p. 261. PLURALITY OF WIVES. 137 express invitation, without which none are permitted to enter his private dwelling. Tt is said, and we have no dif ficulty iu believing it, that whenever the Mormon President is ill, the most affecting scenes take place in his harem ; the greater part of his wives, who are rigorously prohi bited from approaching his pillow, rush restless and anxious to his antechamber, in the hopes of being able to cast, through the half-open door, a furtive look of affection on their beloved sultan. The second form of polygynic household, the one most usual in Utah, and which approximates the nearest to the former, is that in which the husband lives under the same roof with all his wives. This mode is adopted, among others, by Kimball and the Brothers Pratt. This is essen tially the polygynic household ; here life goes on com pletely in common, save that each woman has her own bed room. The husband cohabits with them in rotation, and for one night at a time only. It is in this form that it is more particularly necessary that the husband should show himself just and impartial. Finally, in the third system, the husband boards and lodges for four-and-twenty hours at a time with each of his wives, who live in so many separate houses, and sometimes at a considerable distance from each other. Whatever be the form of th# polygynic household, the obligations of its head remain always the same, at least in theory ; he is due to each of his wives in rotation. Tt is a 138 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. duty imperative upon all these women to nurse, rear, and watch over their children. AU the wives of the same Saint are required to look upon each other as sisters, and their religion commands them to take a maternal interest in aU their husband's children, who are taught to consider their father's wives, with the exception of their own mother, as aunts. To distinguish the wives of a polygamist from each other, the Christian name of each is prefixed to the husband's name ; as, for instance, Mrs. Anna Young, Mrs. Mary Young, etc., or else they distinguish them by a number, as Mrs. Young, No. 1 ; Mrs. Young, No. 15, etc. It is said the Prophet prefers this latter mode, no doubt as a help to memory, a kind of mnemonic system. It is very difficult, to say nothing stronger, to conceive that a man can have a completely equal affection for all his wives; and, even when he distributes his attentions conscientiously among them all, it is hardly possible to understand how he should be without any preference what ever : hence jealousies and rival contests must arise ; and, in fact, these are not absolutely unknown among the Mor mons, in spite of the admirable resignation which the women profess. To obviate these evils, the husband restrains the natural warmth of his feelings, and confines himself to a chilly, formal dignity, prescribed by the exigencies of jus tice and peace, but which is hardly compatible with love. It is true that as the conjugal relations must, and do, as every one might anticipate, under these circumstances PLURALITY OF WIVES. 139 model themselves upon the example of the lower animals, polygamy makes very light of moral affection. Moreover, and in conformity with the same model, the husband being no longer bound to discharge the conjugal duty to the wife after she has conceived, his tenderness must necessarily be restricted to those of his wives who have yet shown no signs of pregnancy. The Mormons have, in a remarkable way, restricted the degrees of relationship within which marriage is prohibited in all Christian countries. There are persons, and we ourselves have met with them, who have married all the daughters by the same father and mother. Others again, and we have known some such too, have at the same time married both the mother and daughter. One Watt, even married his half-sister.* The circumstances are worth mentioning. Arriving from Scotland at the Salt Lake with his sister. Watt presented her to Brigham Young, with a request that he would permit him to take her for his second wife. The Prophet objected, but Watt insisted. "Abra ham," he said, " married his half-sister ; surely I have as much right to marry mine. God blessed Abraham, though he contracted such a marriage; surely he must bless me if I do the same thing." The question was a knotty one ; but, as it happened, the girl was pretty; Brigham took * We cannot exactly say if this were a sister by the mother's or the father's side. On this subject it is apposite to remark, that Solon per mitted a brother to marry his sister by the mother's side. 140 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. her to himself, and so the Gordian knot was cut. How ever, at the end of some weeks, the Prophet, whether he changed his mind on the subject, or that the young giri was not over-pleased with her union, said to Watt, that, after all, there was sense in his argument ; that it was, in fact, just as lawful for him as it had been for Abraham, to marry his half-sister. Watt, without any more pressing, accepted his young relative for a wife on her leaving the arms of Brother Brigham. Marriage, it must be acknowledged, is among the Mor mons in general, destitute of all that gives it a character of delicacy and purity among Christians, and imparts to it its essential charm. Tt has but one object, to multiply the family. Tt is an article of faith with them that in the world to which they will go on leaving this one, each man wiU reign over his children, who will constitute his kingdom ; that the more the children, the more the glory ; and that if they have neither wives nor children upon earth, they wiU enjoy no glory whatever in their eternal dweUing- place,* where no new marriage can be contracted. Brig ham Young said, in a sermon on the 20th of September, 1856, "It is the duty of every honest man and of every woman, to prepare as many tabernacles as they can for spirits ; therefore, in case my wives should choose to quit * The savages of the Feejee Islands have a doctrine somewhat analo gous to that of the Mormons. At the gate of their heaven they place a female Cerberus, the " Great Woman," who mercilessly prevents any un married person from entering. PLURALITY OF WIVES. 141 me, I would go and seek for others who would submit themselves to the celestial law,* and I would allow aU those I now have to go where they liked, but which, neverthe less, should not hinder me from sending them the Gospel." It follows naturally from all this, that the Mormons pro create as much as possible. But it is also much to be feared, that something else follows, and this is, that mar riage is not an association of souls, but of bodies, wherein everything turns to the advantage of a monstrous egotism,! at all events on the husband's part ; and, besides, to the grossest materialism. For how can a man, metamorphosed into a procreator, preserve anything of affection, and seek in the complicated relations which polygyny imposes on him, anything else than his animal gratification? An other necessary consequence is, that the faithful are un duly occupied with the task of getting as many wives as they can. Montesquieu has observed, "that it is with luxury as with avarice, its thirst increases with the acquisi- * The polygynic law — and we ought to have remarked it before — is in formal opposition with this passage of the Book of Mormon : — " David and Solomon had in truth many wives and concubines, which was abominable in my sight, said the Lord. . . . Hearken, my brothers, to the word of the Lord; for no man amongst you shall have more than one wife, of concubines there shall be none ; because that I, the Lord God, take delight in the chastity of women." — Book of Jacob, brother of NepM, ch. 11, § 6. t The reproach of egotism we have just made, wiU very little concern the Mormons, if we are to judge by this apophthegm of one of their apostles (Lorenzo Snow) : — " God is the most egotistical of all existing beings.'' 142 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. tion of wealth."* The Mormons daily furnish evidence of this truth. They have one principal, if not sole care, and that is to increase the number of their wives, without being very scrupulous as to the way in which they bring this about. Tf they are poor, they calculate that the wives they wish for will be able to "keep themselves by their own labour. When they are on their missions, without their wives or with them, they are often tormented with the de sire to bring back as many young girls as they can, in order to marry them. There are however some persons, even in Utah itself, who are more reseryed on this point ; but they pass for men of little faith, and are but very moderately considered. As salvation in eternity depends upon the ex tent of the family, it is quite reasonable that reputation in this life should be also measured by it. We may easily picture to ourselves what must be the condition of women in polygynic marriage ; what chances of happiness they can have; how much there must be gaUing to the affections, to self-love, and to self-respect; in a word, how much there is that must tend to engender petty and bad passions in this unwholesome atmosphere. Mr. John Hyde cites facts which rend the heart. I think it useful to mention a few, throwing the responsibility en tirely upon him : — " I will narrate a few instances as to the first wives. Mrs. T. W. Richards is an interesting and inteUigent lady at Salt * Esprit des Lois, liv. xvi. c. 6. PLURALITY OF WIVES. 143 Lake City. She accompanied her husband among the early emigrants. In 1852, he went to England as a Mormon mis sionary, and was absent several years. During his absence, in the love of her husband, she laboured for her own support, and that of his children. He returned, and to prove to her his appreciation of her fidelity and affection, he took three other wives ! one was his cousin, a mere girl, and the other a lady who ran away from the heart and arms of her father in Liverpool, and whose attentions during his stay in that city, had often con soled him for his absence from home. Mr. Richards took his wife round to her share of the balls, theatres, and other amuse ments ; but no one could help remarking in the wasted and saUow wreck of a woman, all the withering effects of an an guished heart, wounded in its keenest susceptibility, and sinking unloved, unpitied, and with its griefs untold. Here is another instance : — "Mr. G. P. Dykes accompanied the Mormon battalion to Mexico, leaving his family at Council Bluffs, Iowa. On re turning through Salt Lake, he was appoiuted to go to Europe as a missionary, which he did. During his residence in Europe, Mrs. Dykes and family toiled their way to Salt Lake, so as not to be burdensome on her husband on his return. They sustained themselves and made some little provision for the future, hoping and expecting to welcome him on his return home. He returned accompanied by a lady who had run away from her husband in England. He was married to this person at Council Bluffs City, and amidst the first greetings between himself and his wife at Salt Lake City, was, of course, an introduction to the woman who had supplanted her in his affections ! The first wife was 144 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. neglected till her wrung heart demanded a divorce, which was readily accorded. " A Mr. Eldredge had a very handsome lady for a wife. She had shared her husband's sufferings and privations. Together they had toiled happily and affectionately. They had amassed some property around them, and were very comfortable, too comfortable for Great Salt Lake City. On their dream of peace Brigham Young rudely broke, by a command that ' Brother Horace must take another wife' ! Disobedience would be con tumacy, contumacy is to be cut off, and that is taught to be perdition. He chose to obey. He married a second, who was inferior in everything except in age, to Mrs. Eldredge. She, however, speedily weaned his affections from the first wife, whom he soon after turned out of the apartments she had toiled to fur nish, and installed his second wife therein."* Mr. Hyde further states, that having one day asked a lady at Salt Lake how it never happened to her to be jea lous of the attentions which her husband paid to his three other wives, she replied : — " My husband married me when we were both very young, in England; I was very fond and very proud of him. We came out here, and he took another wife. It made me very wretched, Mr. Hyde, but I am not jealous now, for I cease to care any thing about him." Though, trying these stories by their internal evidence, there is considerable reason to doubt their accuracy, yet, admitting them to be true, we should have difficulty in * Mormonism, etc., by John Hyde, pp. 58-63. PLURALITY OF WIVES. 145 understanding how women could conform to such a sys tem, if not aware of the power of fanaticism. They have, in this case, been taught that polygyny is a divine insti tution ; that, if their instincts rebel against this doctrine, this is the result of traditional teaching and of false edu cation. They soon reach the point at which their pride is flattered by their supposing that the exaltation of man depends on them ; and they learn to sacrifice themselves under the persuasion that they are powerfully contributing to the glory of their husbands. The desire of ascending to the highest stage in the hfe to come, impels them to stifle their desire of being happy here below. Their emu lation is excited by inspiring them with the ambition of surpassing one another, and this it is which induces them to bear with patience, disenchantment of their hopes, pri vation, and wretchedness. Under the stimulus of faith,' many women in Utah sacrifice their dearest affections, and give other women to their husbands. Thus the only wife of a rich man, urged by the desire of augmenting his glory, has been known to press him, of her own accord, to take a second wife, to give herself all imaginable trouble to pre vail upon young girls to marry him, and to weep bitterly when unable to succeed. On another occasion, a young English girl fell' in love with Brigham at first sight. She had read in the Old Testament that Jacob had served seven years in order to get a wife, and, in the New Testa ment, that in the latter days all old things would pass VOL. II. L 146 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. away and be changed. She made use of this last passage by inverting the parts, and went and proposed to Mrs. Young, No. 1, to serve her for some years, in order to have the right of afterwards marrying Brigham. The Mormon pope, informed of this singular proposal, gave his consent. The young Englishwoman faithfully dis charged her duties as a servant, and at the close received for her wages the honour of becoming the thirtieth wife of thei Prophet, to whom she has already borne several children. Let us here add an account which we borrow from Mr. Hyde :— " Mrs. Howard is an intelligent person, but madly infatuated with Mormonism. Her husband saw a young lady and admired her, got acquainted with, and fond of her. He told his wife the affair, and desired her to call on this young lady and request her to marry him. The wife wept bitterly at this singular com mand. She had lost her power to longer please; another had supplanted her in the affections of the man whom she devotedly loved, and to whom she had borne four children. She felt as a woman in such a position only can feel, but Mormonism was stronger in her soul than her nature itself. She went and asked this girl, who directly refused. She informed her husband of the result, and this man bitterly reproached his madly devoted wife for not succeeding in persuading her, attributing the failure to his wife's jealousy. Mrs. Howard did not murmur, but only wept ; while he blubbered like a boy, told her how much he loved this young woman, how miserable he must ever be without PLURALITY OF WIVES. 147 her. I believe he induced this heart-wrung woman to visit and again make this offer, but was again refused. With these women Mormonism is inwound in their hearts, every hope is centred in it; out of it they fancy there is nothing but despair."* Tf we can bring ourselves to understand how the first wife consents, or is obliged to consent, there remains the difficulty of explaining how it is that young girls marry old polygamists in preference to young bachelors. This would seem all the more inexplicable as unmarried men are by no means scarce in Utah. A few words will suffice to make us comprehend this remarkable result of fanaticism. The old polygamists are regarded as holy personages, who save aU belonging to them. Possessors of numerous wives, who are accounted as so many blessings, these old men have received from the Church the assurance of attaining to eternal glory on the one condition of not sinning against the Holy Ghost; that is to say, on condition of not denying the faith, of not disclosing the mysteries, and of not shed ding innocent blood. Tt being thus but little probable that these venerable Saints will sin against the Holy Ghost, their salvation is regarded as certain, and theirs involves that of their whole family. Hence it is that young girls excessively anxious about their eternal welfare, are seen to marry elderly sultans ; young men running much more risk of falling away from the faith, and casting themselves out of the eternal dwelling-place, together with their wives * Mormonism, etc., p. 69. L 2 148 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. and children. Such, among a thousand others, are the pro digies which faith can operate ! But, if fanaticism be powerful, there are other feehngs which are still more so. It happens sometimes that wo men, after having drunk the cup of polygamy, become sen sible of its deadly effects, and end by opening their eyes to the pitfall into which a blind confidence in their mis sionaries has lured them. They weep bitterly, and would fain fly ; but they are mothers, and how can they abandon - their children ? Maternal love rises up stronger than the shame which overwhelms them. Moreover they feel them selves dishonoured and betrayed ; and innocent as they may feel themselves to be by the verdict of their own con science, yet in spite of this, they do not think themselves the less degraded. The marriages they have contracted are purely religious ; no civil authority has ratified them ; everywhere else they would be considered as concubinage. How, after this, will they be received in their native coun tries ? Then too they are poor ; they could not find the means of crossing the vast desert which separates them from the civihzed world. Possibly they might be allowed to join company with compassionate emigrants ; but this would be to expose their protectors to the terrible ven geance of the Mormons. Then again, in general, they have friends nowhere but in Utah. They remain there fore where they are ; and what they see around them, at last hardens their feelings. PLURALITY OF WIVES. 149 Divorce, which is everywhere else had recourse to as an antidote — a very problematical one indeed — against ill- assorted unions, is easily obtained amongst the Mormons, and does not turn out to be more effectual there than else where. The case of a woman is cited, who has been mar ried six times, and who has four husbands still living in Utah. The fees to the Church for a divorce, in 1854, were from ten doUars when it was a question of marriage for time, and fifty dollars if it were a marriage for eternity. If it be remembered that at this period coin was extremely scarce, it will be easily understood that this tax was enor mous, and that Brigham Young, when imposing it upon discontented couples, hoped through it to render their legal separation difficult. Tt is scarcely necessary for us to say, so self-evident is it, that the Mormons, though maintaining polygyny for the avowed purpose of having more children, do not attain this end in individual cases save at the expense of frustrating the general increase of the population. We do not deny that a man can have more children with ten women than with one only ; for this would be to contradict aU received evi dence. But these ten women, are they likely to have more children by one husband in common than by a husband apiece ? We have not a moment's hesitation in answering in the negative. There can be no doubt that the wives of Brigham Young, who have certainly borne him more chil dren than he would have had by one woman only, would 150 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. have had as many, if not more children, had each had a husband. It is quite certain, too, they each of them could have found this husband amongst the numerous bachelors of the Salt Lake. A fact which it is important to notice, is that the births of girls exceed those of boys, a result directly opposed to what is observed in all countries where the system of a single wife obtains, and in perfect confor mity with what has been noticed amongst the Mussulman polygamists. It must further be remarked, that in spite of the salubrity of the climate, the mortality among chil dren is greater at Great Salt Lake City than in many less healthy countries. Brigham Young has scarcely more than thirty children living, and several of his wives are bar ren. Of all Joseph Smith's descendants there is but one surviving. The effects of polygyny on the amount of the population lead us to consider those which, regarded from a moral point of view, they have upon the children. Tt is certain that the Mormon children are far from being models of candour and innocence- Is it time or capacity which is lacking to the parents, that they cannot bring up their children properly ? Is it the examples they have under their eyes which corrupt them ? Ts it the school instruc tion, which, though sufficient in quantity, leaves something to be desired in the matter of quality ? These, no doubt, are the predisposing causes. But whatever the causes may be, the effects are incontestable, and they have passed PLURALITY OF WIVES. 151 under our own eyes, as we shall show in detail in the fol lowing chapter. Among the women who have been converted to Mor monism out of Utah, there is a certain number who have left their husbands for love of the missionaries. One of the wives of the great apostle Parley Pratt is in this pre dicament. This, in a few words, is her history : — She was married to a respectable American, Mr. M'Lean, by whom she had several children. Her husband having gone to settle in California, she joined him, and there became a convert to the new faith. Soon after her conversion, she made the acquaintance of Parley Pratt, for whom she con ceived so violent a passion that she deserted her husband, after ineffectually trying to deprive him of his chUdren. She then went to the Salt Lake, and married the apostle. In 1856, having learnt that her chUdren were living with theu- grandfather and grandmother in Louisiana, she went with her husband to New Orleans, with the intention of carrying them off. She succeeded, by trick and falsehood, in deceiving the old people to whom they were entrusted, and triumphantly brought her children away with her to the Salt Lake. But she paid dear for her triumph; M'Lean, furious as a lioness deprived of her cubs, slew, without compunction. Parley the apostle, while engaged on a mission to Arkansas, in 1857. The Mormon pope has himself in his harem women in the same predicament as that of Mrs. M'Lean. Amongst others, a lady from Boston 152 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. is mentioned, who saw Brigham Young when on a mission there, embraced Mormonism for love of him, and deserted her husband to betake herself, together with an only daugh ter, to the Salt Lake. There she married the Prophet, who is thinking, they say, of also marrying the daughter, young Charlotte, one of the loveliest persons it has ever been our fortune to see. Tt is generally supposed in Utah, that if Brigham does not himself marry the lovely fair one, he will wed her to one of his sons. Could we depend upon some apostates, we must believe that, according to the Mormons, a woman married only for time to one man, can be married for eternity to another man of her choice. Some people go so far as to say that these so-called spiritual marriages are sometimes contracted without the knowledge of the temporal husband. It is added, that in case the husband for time should desire to seal himself for eternity to his wife already secretly sealed to another, the apostles would celebrate the ceremony in the usual way, but only for form's sake, in order that the husband might have no suspicion of the real state of his wife's affections. To excuse this trickery, the Mormons would say that it is better to deceive a man than to bring scandal on the Church. These sorts of marriages would prove the existence even at this day of the spiritual wives of whom we have before spoken. We merely mention the thing, without being at aU in a position to affirm it, again remarking that the Mormons generally deny it, and that, at any rate, there is no external indication of the fact. PLURALITY OF WIVES. 163 Other rumours stiU more extraordinary circulate re specting certain monstrous practices, to which the principle of polygyny, pushed to its consequences, has given rise. We call them rumours, for we have no proof of the ex istence of the enormities we are about to describe; and which we should have passed over in sUence, if the pub licity elsewhere given them did not necessitate our alluding to them in this chapter. They refer to conjugal duties which may be discharged by power of attorney, by proxy. For greater clearness we will divide these proxies into four classes : — 1st. The glorifying proxy ; 2nd. The retroactive proxy; 3rd. The substitutive proxy; 4th. The redeeming proxy. By the glorifying proxy is meant the act by which a be liever marries for time the female survivor of a marriage made for eternity. The children born under this form of proxy would in heaven belong not to their natural father, but to the first husband who was sealed to their mother. The reasoning which would be brought forward to justify this usage is as foUows : — Tt is an article of faith that the kingdom of a man depends exclusively on the extent of his family ; it is equally so that all the chUdren a woman may have, belong to the husband to whom she has been sealed, whether begotten by him or not; now after the husband's death, all his anticipated glory becomes inter rupted or stopped ; it is therefore just, to adopt a plan by which the Saints may in the capacity of agents continue to glorify the husband after death. 154 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. The retroactive proxy applies to women who, desirous of becoming in eternity the brides of persons who have died in the odour of sanctity, marry a living man, who contracts this union in the name of one deceased. It was thus that Brigham Young consented to marry in time a woman who desired to be in eternity one of the queens of Joseph Smith. -The children who are born of marriages contracted under the system of retroactive proxy, belong naturally, ac cording to Mormon principles, to the eternal husband, and not to their natural father. Some forward spirits would go so far as to say that the retroactive proxy permits wo men of the nineteenth century to become the eternal wives of Abraham, and to rear up in Utah little ones who wUl be the legitimate children of the blessed patriarch. Other divines assert that this not admissible, and that the benefit of this proxy is confined to the generations born under the reign of the new revelation. The substitutive proxy is not the least curious. Every Mormon who goes out as a missionary for several years is most generally obUged to separate himself from his wife or wives, amounting sometimes to as many as a dozen ; now this separation necessarily involves a loss of chUdren, and consequently a great sacrifice of eternal glory, according to the received principle that the famUy of the man constitutes his kingdom in the other world. But this inconvenience and injury is obviated by substituting an agent or proxy, who wUl discharge the duties of the absent husband to his PLURALITY OF WIVES. 155 wife and chUdren. It is asserted that more than one chUd of this kind has been born in the Mormon commonwealth. John Hyde, the apostate, who in his capacity of elder must have been initiated in the most hidden mysteries, informs us that this principle is still clung to, though under the rose ; that it is never talked of except in privileged circles, and in the most private manner ; and that when alluded to it is only in the form of parables. He also informs us that the Mormons base their principles on the injunction given of old by Moses, " to raise up children for the deceased bro ther," and that they reason in the following way : — "Since .death is a temporary absence, temporary absence is the equivalent of death ; now, in the case of demise, not only is it not a crime, but a thing suitable ; therefore, in the case of absence, the thing is equaUy lawful and extremely advantageous." Hyde assures us that the principle was carried into practice at Nauvoo. It would seem, according to the same authority, that the opposition raised in the first instance against the estabUshment of polygyny, has put Brigham Young on his guard against a too abrupt promul gation of the substitutive doctrine. We are informed, how ever, that it wiU not be long before it is made public. Finally, this is what is meant by the redeeming proxy. We have already seen that baptism for the dead is an in stitution peculiar to the new rehgion. But baptism only does not suffice : it is further requisite that the salvation of the dead should be effected by the same means as that of 156 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. the living. Now, there can be no perfect eternity without wives, that is to say, without marriage in this world. Con sequently, they who undertake to be baptized for the dead ought also to marry for them, otherwise the salvation they confer would remain incomplete. And this marriage being but a transitory affair, it is necessary they should go a step further, and be sealed for the dead. Finally, as the glory of the dead, like that of the living, depends entirely upon the size of their families, it follows that these agents of sal vation must raise up children to be placed to the account of those deceased persons they wish to ransom from eternal damnation. The invincible repugnance we have for the polygynic doctrine, the profound disgust we entertain for the practices to which it has given rise, and for those attributed to it with or without reason, must not prevent our saying that the Mormons appeared to us less licentious than we were naturally inclined to suppose. The careful minuteness with which we have set down everything that has come to our ears of a nature to disparage polygamy, should render our testimony all the less suspicious when we affirm that per sonally, during our stay at Utah, we saw scarcely anything which seemed to be at variance with the strictest morahty. No question, polygyny is extensively practised by the Mor mons, and we believe it to be a bad and horrible thing. StiU, if we may trust exclusively to our own observation, we are in no position to condemn the practiqe, however PLURALITY OF WIVES. 157 ruthlessly we may persist in rejecting the theory. Love of truth compels us to say that we were, generally speaking, edified with all that we saw, and that as far as external appeai'ances go, Utah is the most moral country in the world. All the males in it are usefully employed ; we met neither sluggards, idlers, gamblers, nor drunkards. The polygamist-Saints, almost without exception, left upon us the impression of being good fathers and husbands. All that passed under our eyes was decorous, and we have a decided objection to supposing that we had to deal only with hypocrites. Besides, how are we to reconcile their industry, their love of work, their continual occupation, with the debauched habits that are ascribed to the Mor mons ? Experience has sufficiently proved that the indus trious man is not thinking of what is evil. Polygyny — we cannot repeat it too often — is a detestable thing ; but these men have embraced it in all sincerity, and we have had the opportunity of ascertaining that they observe it with chas tity and propriety as a Divine command. Some excep tions we have remarked, or, at least, some equivocal lan guage has now and then reached our ears from the lips of one or two heads of the Church ; but perhaps we should be wrong were we to judge these high dignitaries too severely, for it appears to us they were either enthusiasts or deficient in that common sense with which Divine Pro vidence has endowed the majority of men. We are satis fied that the Mormons are, in general, better than their 158 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. system, and in our appreciation of them we must make a large allowance for fanaticism, and acknowledge that the majority of them are honest men, entitled to our esteem on more grounds than one, in spite of what is revolting and absurd in some of their superstitions. If, OT} the other hand, we were called upon to furnish an estimate of the moral value of the Mormon women, we should not have the slightest hesitation in asserting that they are much superior to the reputation assigned to them, while at the same time we as little hesitate to say that they surpass in fanaticism anything we could possibly have con ceived. In emphaticaUy declaring that they are pious, modest, chaste, faithful, devoted, sincere, laborious, honest, honourable in all respects, it is satisfactory to find our selves agreeing with- every traveller who, like us, has spent some time on the borders of the Salt Lake. One testimony amongst others, the value of which will not be disputed, is that of Hyde the apostate, when he says : — " The women are all sincere; their sufferings and their sacrifices prove that."* For our part, we affirm that after travelling for ten years over almost every part of the globe, it is stUl a question with us if there be any country in which the wo men are generaUy more virtuous, and more moral, than they are amongst the Mormons. Assuredly we have not the presumption to suppose that our judgment is infallible; neither do we pretend to have been in a position to * Mormonism, etc., p. 66. PLURALITY OF WIA'ES. 169 see t6 the very bottom of polygyny; what we do is to give simply, dispassionately, without fear, without flattery, dispassionately, and without prejudice, the sum of the impressions we have brought away from the country to which we went for the purpose of observing its singular people. Indeed, but for the moral condition of the male chUdren, which seems to present some unpleasant features, we should have no fear in stating that nowhere else have ,we ever seen a society in which public order, pure morality, and external decorum, are more striking than amongst the Mormons. This naturally is the more calculated to cause surprise, because, in setting foot on their soil, people are imbued with an entirely contrary impression, and count upon a very different spectacle. Is it, perhaps, that their illusion being so abruptly dissipated, there foUows a sort of hallucination which shows everything under a favourable aspect, and in a deceptive light ? Such an hallucination might be possible for some hours, but could not last for weeks and months. No act of immorality came directly under our cognizance ; and the gentUes we visited, though they would have been glad to do so, were unable to point us out a single one. Far as we may be from approving and sharing the doctrine of the Mormons, we nevertheless beheve that their women are of a purity beyond all re proach. Prostitution, that frightful cancer which eats into the vitals of other societies, is unknown at Utah. Adultery, that monster which brings aU kinds of crimes in its train. 160 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. and which civihzation has not yet sufficiently branded, is so rare amongst the Mormons that it may be said not to exist ; and it is more just to attribute its absence to female virtue than to the punishment of death, which is the penalty attached to it. Nor let it be supposed that these disgrace ful irregularities are unknown merely because polygamy gives each man several wives ; for many of the Saints have but one wife, and many, too, not even one. We must admit then that the women of Utah are worthy of our esteem, and vastly superior to that barbarous doctrine which has led them to repose an unfortunate trust in the imposture of Joseph Smith. After having rendered the Mormon women this homage — most certainly a disinterested one — let us inquire if they find in their lot the happiness which they merit. I should with difficulty bring myself to assert that they are happy ; I do not think so, even after severely scrutinizing my own impartiality for the purpose of discovering if my doubts on this matter be not attributable solely to a preconceived idea, to the idea that happiness in polygyny would be in manifest contradiction with one of the leading laws that regulate our affections. Still I am bound to acknowledge that the immense majority of female Saints say they are happy, and that many of them appear to be perfectly con tent. Contented with their lot, that T understand, since they see in it a path which is to conduct them, without fail, to unspeakable and eternal joys; but are we to beheve PLURALITY OF WIVES. 161 them when they declare they are truly happy ? I am well aware that there are certain persons to whom it is enough to imagine that they possess happiness in order really to pos sess it. But, at the same, we cannot admit that all the Mor mon women belong to this exceptional class. Besides, unless we suppose a state of permanent madness, which T should have no objection to call sublime, such illusory happiness could not be durable; even the most heated minds are overtaken by moments of exhaustion, when all enchantment disappears, when the spectre of reality rises up before them, when the veil is torn off which was interposed between them and the light, and a fathomless void seems yawning at their feet. I am quite aware, too, that ardent faith will inspire, as it were, supernatural strength ; the martyrs of Christianity, the austerities of Ann Lee,* the prestigiatory worship of the Aissaouas, furnish numerous examples of this. Moreover, I am also well aware, because I have seen it, that many of the female Saints live in a state of at least apparent cheerfulness, that they are almost always singing when pursuing their different occupations, that they watch over their children with affection, and that their lot does not appear to differ from that of their fellow-women in Christian countries. All this, however, is not sufficient to convince me that they are as happy as they affect to be. I I find a nearer approach to the exact state of things in the remark made me by a young Roman Catholic prelate who * The foundress of the Shakers. See Note XIX. at end of the volume. VOL. II. M 162 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. had turned hermit : " Happiness is not made for our voca tion ; it belongs only to those who live for God, according to the laws of nature. My heart often reproaches me with the sacrifice I have imposed upon it. I am not happy ; I shall never be happy in this world, but I shall be so in the other." Tt seems to me, if the Mormon women dared to speak out as frankly, their language would be the same. Are they not restrained by the need, or the desire, of justi fying themselves to our unbelieving eyes, for the kind of union they have contracted ? AU the female Saints of Utah with whom we had the opportunity of conversing, assured us that their position is full of charms ; that the polygynic form is for woman here below the essential condition of true felicity ; that jealousy is never met with in their society, save in those women only who have not received the faith in all its fullness. The young women of marriageable age did not speak otherwise. "We certainly prefer," they said, "to be married to a polygamist ; we do not know what you mean by rivals. No matter how many wives : the more the merrier." One only, an English girl, added this quahfication, " Most assuredly I wish to marry a polygamist ; but I want to be his first wife ; then I care not, let him marry as many as he will." To explain the feeling of this young girl, it wUl be enough to say that, according to their catechism, the first wife of a polygamist is a sort of president here upon earth, and that in heaven she wiU reign as a queen over the other wives of her husband. PLURALITY OF WIVES. 163 We must not confound love and friendship, although these two feelings spring up side by side in the heart like two plants, varieties of the same species, growing side by side in the same border. Friendship is a shrub which blooms in every season. Love, on the contrary, has a single delicate stem which bears but one only flower ; and this fiower, full of life if gently caressed by the zephyr's breath, may wither down to its root, and never shoot up again, if bruised by an angry wind, or stified by the vapours of a poisonous atmosphere. Tt is to be feared that the flower of love is rare amongst the Mormons, and that all the women do there, is to sow and to reap friendship. For how can it be possible that the woman who shelters in her bosom this tender flower of love, should consent to give her whole heart, knowing that she will receive in ex change but the smallest fraction of a heart ? No ; love — that " one egotism between two persons," she and he, he and she — cannot exist in Utah, on a soil where man claims egotism for himself alone ! Faith, or fanaticism, as it may be, has then fascinated the companion of man ; has robbed her of that treasure of love which God entrusted to her heart ; has, in fact, thrown her into a state of servitude in which she actually hugs her chains. Thus impoverished, the female Saints,whatever they may please to say, are deprived of the element on which the charm of life most essentiaUy depends. Their happi ness, if we must reaUy beUeve them when they boast of M 2 164 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. possessing it, is nothing more than the negation of wretched ness, or rather in some sort an abasement of the soul pro duced by the abdication of its finest attribute. Moreover there are to be seen occasionally amongst them, women who, having preserved in their hearts the sacred flame of love, are a prey to horrible sufferings. These instances, it is true, are rare, and appear only from time to time, like those tufts of grass which the traveller sometimes sees in the midst of the most dreary deserts. Tt is, however, in our power to single out one which chance made known to us. Tt was towards the close of our stay at Great Salt Lake City. We were returning from duck-shooting in the reeds which spread over a great area to the north-west of the city. On our reaching the borders of the Jordan, not far from the city walls, we perceived two women sitting on a heap of Indian corn stalks, who appeared to be plunged in the bitterest grief. After a little hesitation, we went up to them, and immediately recognized them as persons we had several times met at their own houses. They were a mother and daughter. The mother, the widow of a near relative of Joseph the Prophet, had been married a second time to a priest whom we had once met with on a distant mission. She was an Englishwoman, and, independently of an edu cation little usual in the class to which she belonged, she was endowed with all those qualities which make her countrywomen so respectable. Her daughter Mary, the PLURALITY OF WIVES. 165 only child of her first marriage, was a young person from sixteen to eighteen years of age, as inteUigent as she was pretty; it was impossible to grow tired of observing in her face that graceful blending of beauty and innocence, which inspires in every man of feeling a respectful admira tion. Under the hospitable roof of these women, where the missionary had more than once invited us to share his hospitality, it appeared to us their lives were passing hap pily, and free from care. We had even been touched at the harmonious union which seemed to exist in the family ; and our old acquaintance the missionary had also appeared to us worthy of the happiness which he seemed to be enjoy ing. How great then was our surprise, when, after pressing these women to tell us the cause of their suffering, they made the following statement. In the spring previous, the missionary returned home, after having been preach ing to the savages for the space of three years. He was received with open arms, as he had every right to expect. However, it did not appear to him that the sacrifice of his long absence was sufficiently compensated by the affection of a woman who could not bear him chUdren, and he re quested and obtained from the Presidency a revelation authorizing him to marry a second wife. So far no one had reason to complain, since aU this was in conformity with the manners of the place, and according to law. But the missionary took it into his head to ask the hand of his step-daughter Mary. The poor chUd 'refused at first very 166 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. timidly and gently, in hope that her step-father would not insist upon it. Alas ! she was mistaken. Tf passion had not yet entered into the missionary's heart, this refusal awoke it there. He tormented his wife to use her authority over her chUd, to make her consent to this marriage ; but as her mother-heart utterly rejected this office, she did nothing, and the consequence was dissension in the family. The inffuence of several leading persons was brought to bear upon poor Mary, to induce her to give up her opposition. Even the supreme authority of Brigham was invoked ; but the pontiff, whose good feehng on this occasion is worthy of praise, refused to do anything more than give his advice. Neither menaces, nor caresses, nor counsel, had any effect upon the young girl, whose noble instincts revolted at the idea of her becoming her mother's rival, and who moreover was passionately in love with a man who had solemnly pro mised to marry her, and her alone. The missionary found at last that there was no making head against so deter mined a wiU, and, out of spite, went and selected a woman from amongst the waiting-women attached to the harem of H. C. Kimball. But a new storm was now on the point of bursting. The second wife was no sooner instaUed in the conjugal dwelling, than she found out that she was only a makeshift. Calling to her aid every artifice which hatred could suggest, she succeeded in captivating her husband's heart ; and the latter had so far forgotten himself as, on the very morning of the day on which we met these weeping PLURALITY OF WIVES. 167 women, to maltreat them so grossly as to compel them to abandon the roof they had assisted in building and orna menting with the fruits of their industry. Ah ! aU is not rosy in the life of these female Saints ! But how deep a faith, and what self-denial, did these unhappy Avomen dis play 1 They made no one responsible for their misfortunes ; they inveighed neither against Pleaven, nor their religion, nor the new wife, nor the missionary. They prayed God to forgive this man his blind violence, and to read in their hearts the good feelings which animated them ! They be sought him that death might sever the thread of their Uves, just as misfortune had snapped the chain of their earthly joys. Then suddenly horrified, as it were, at the indis cretion which grief, surprise, sympathy perhaps, had just caused them to commit, the poor women supplicated us to put them down as mad, and not to give the least heed to what they had told us. Unfortunate creatures ! How much less would you have been objects of pity, if you had in fact been mad ! But, alas ! we were able, without diffi culty, to ascertain that v^ry evening, that unfortunately they were anything but mad. I know not which is most worthy of admiration, the self-denial of the Mormon women or their discretion. The preceding anecdote seems to us on the one hand to prove how difficult it is to get a clear insight into the in timate relations of a famUy, and on the other hand to con firm what we said when we declared the female Saints to be deserving, by their virtues, of aU our esteem, and by 168 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. their sufferings of all our pity. We might also estabhsh from it, were it necessary, that Mormonism is for women a terrible tyranny, which we have not been able to sound in all its depths. But let us take good care not to push our inferences too far, and let us confine ourselves to recogniz ing in the fact just alluded to, — an exceptional, one it may be, — a proof that love may still exist in some of the female Saints of Utah. It is commonly enough supposed in Europe, that the wives of the Mormons are ignorant and half-savages. This is an error vvhich must be corrected. It is trGe that the ma jority of thein are born in the lower classes of our civihzed societies, but we should be singularly mistaken in suppos ing they are coarse persons, void of any mental cultivation. They are far from being without intelhgence and acquire- nients. Tt may be even asserted that they are in general Superior to the men. Among them are to be found musi cians, writers, pOets even. WhUe passing through the streets of Great Salt Lake City, the traveller's ear is often struck by the sounds of the piano, which transport him, as it were by enchantment, to his distant home. In reading the journals of the sect, are to be found, on almost every page, verses and articles signed with female names. The conversation we quoted at the beginning of this chapte certainly savours of anything but ignorance. Cleanhness, which is a kind of reflection the soul casts upon everything around it, and which is deserving of praise wherever it is found, is an honour to the Salt Lake, and gives us a high PLURALITY OF WIVES. 169 idea of the moral standard of the women. We never, amongst the Mormons, met with women so coarse as those of our market-places, nor so rude as those we still see in many of our provinces. Is it that the Europeans who cross the Atlantic and the deserts on their way to Utah, imbibe the civUizing influences of travelling, or get polished by con tact with the Americans ?* I cannot say ; but I certainly refuse to believe that the distinguished air which gives the ' Mormon women such a superiority over our female peasants, is to be put down to the account of their religion. As we have already stated, the females in Utah are not sufficiently numerous to make it passible for all the Saints to indulge in a plurality of wives. We even met with many who were obhged to remain bachelors from not hav ing been yet able to find wives. A census, taken at the end of 1858, during th'e last campaign of the Americans against the Mormons, states the number of male polyga mists in Utah at three" thousand six hundred and seven teen. This number, as we learn from the ' New York Weekly Herald,' is made up as follows : — " Husbands tFith seven wives and upwards . . 387 Husbands with five wives 730 Husbands with four wives 1100 Husbands with more than one wife, and less than four 1400 3617" * See Note XX. at the end of the volume. 170 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. We have no information as to the number of husbands with one wife only, nor that of marriageable men forced to remain unmarried. According to the census made in 1851, it appears there were in that year, in Utah, six hundred and ninety-eight more males than females, a difference which, taking into account the number of women appro priated by the polygamists, would suggest that the total of unmarried men must reach a very considerable number. Emigration, it is true, must have remarkably modified the numerical relations of the sexes since 1851, when the Mor mon population of Utah scarcely reached twelve thousand souls, whereas at the beginning of 1859 it amounted to about eighty thousand. By very considerably increasing the proportion of women, the annual immigration must ne cessarily have diminished the number of bachelors. Before quitting the subject of plurality of women, it re mains for us to offer a few considerations on the future prospects of this institution. In the first place, to sum up our impressions, we repeat that the Mormons appeared to us to be free from licentiousness ; that they seemed to be solely stimulated by their faith to desire a great number of wives and chUdren, a desire which, we must be permitted to say, presents a striking contrast with what is seen in other parts of the world, where, to the shame of our species, fe cundity is too often regarded as a calamity which ought to be averted. The Mormon women, too, on their side, we again assert, command admiration by their virtues. All PLUR.^LITY OF WIVES. 171 this we acknowledge, and do so the more readily because we are convinced of it. But this testimony, which we render to the truth, without caring for the risk we run of having our opinion treated as paradoxical, should not lessen the contempt which the polygynic doctrine ought always to inspire. Men can be better than the principles which guide them. Thus the Shakers,* the complete antipodes of the Mormons, exhibit the aspect of the purest and saint- liest people upon earth, even while professing a doctrine eminently opposed to the designs of Providence. The re gularity of manners which we remark with surprise among the Mormons, by no means demonstrates the excellence of their doctrine. Tn spite of appearances, polygyny remains what it is, a monstrosity, a degradation, a decline. We remarked that under it more girls are born than boys. It seems at first sight as if this result ought to be favour able to the institution ; but the very contrary happens. As respects births, a considerable inequality in favour of fe males indicates a degeneracy which the laws of physiology perfectly account for. Consequently it is obvious that if the sources of emigration were to be dried up, all things remaining the same, the males would almost totally disap pear after the lapse of a few generations. Other conside rations, drawn from moral grounds, do not promise a better future for polygyny. Wherever woman does not occupy the position which Providence has assigned her, society * See Note XIX. at the end of the volume. 172 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. languishes and wastes away. Holy Writ informs us that woman is a good thing ; the Mormons say, in their sophis tical way, that one cannot have too much of a good thing, and fancy they grow great in proportion to the number of women they take. The truth is, they deteriorate and de base this good thing by making mere animals of themselves, by casting man down, from the intellectual sphere in which God has placed him, to a level with the brutes. There can be no greatness, no future, no life for societies, without the emancipation of the woman, that soul which has been given as a sister to our souls, to relieve them from the weight of isolation. Tf Mormonism would avoid disappearing hke a phantom, after having for an instant paraded itS' shadows round the world, it must ask of Jehovah another revelation which shaU suppress or limit that of July 12th, 1843. 173 CHAPTER III. EDUCATION AND PEOPAGANDISM. MOETALITY OF THE YOUNG MOKMONS. — IDEAS OF THE SAINTS ON EDU CATION. — FEIMARY SCHOOLS. TEACHERS. DANCING AND MUSIC SCHOOLS. — UNIVERSITY OF DESERET. — MOEMON ALPHABET. — ASTRO NOMERS. — PUBLIO LIBRARY. — MUSEUM. — THEATRE. — LITERATURE. DEMI-SAVANTS. — INTUITIVE SCIENCE. IGNORANCE. — MISSIONS AND MISSIONARIES. — CONVEESIONS. — HALLUCINATIONS AND VI SIONS. SINCERITY OF THE NEOPHYTES AND TENACITY OF THEIE FAITH. NUMBER OF ADHEEENTS OF THE SECT IN ALL PAETS OP THE WORLD. CONVERSION OF A FRENCH MAN OF LETTERS. — EMI GRATION. — THE WHEELBARROW IN THE DESERT. — TABLE OF EUEO- PEAN EMIGRATION, FROM 1840 TO 1860. — REFLECTIONS ON THE MISSIONS. It has been ascertained that in Utah, as we have already remarked, the mortality of children is above the average of that in the most healthy States of the Union. Ts this ex cessive mortality to be attributed to the effects of poly gamy ? Are we to suppose that these individuals, bringing with them into life a feeble organization, are unable to eke out their feeble existence in a climate that is fine and 174 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. healthy, but too keen for weak constitutions ? Our re searches on this subject have not led to any satisfactory results, and we are compeUed to accept the fact without being able to point out the cause. But however this may be, it is quite certain, on the other hand, that all the chil dren we saw were handsome, well-made, and robust. Un fortunately they are not so noteworthy in a moral point of view. They appear to us very often to deserve the impu tation of being godless, hcentious, and immodest. There are to be found in all countries children who, whUe appear ing very ingenuous in the family circle, display an excessive forwardness and a coarse freedom of manner before stran gers, for the purpose, apparently, of giving themselves manly airs and attracting attention : but these are everywhere ex ceptions ; in Utah the exception has become the rule. Here is a grave and alarming symptom, which makes us fear that the wise precept of Juvenal has been lost sight of : — " Maxima debetur puero reverentia : si quid Turpe paras, ne tu pueri contempseris annos, Sed peccaturo obsistat tibi filius infans." Like a fresh-blown flower, whose delicate petals are de filed and discoloured by contact with the slightest impurity, so is chUdhood, in the bosom of a corrupted home, seen to fade and wither under the poisonous breath of evil example. The depravity which we have more than once observed in the young offspring of the Saints, is it not engendered in that domestic sanctuary, into the recesses of which, as will EDUCATION AND PROPAG ANDISM. 175 have been seen, we had no opportunity of examining ? Are not the mysteries of the harem here partiaUy revealed? Does not polygyny here hft up a corner of its veU ? To what cause, — to what principle, are we to refer this lament able result ? With all deference to what the future may disclose, we must at present regard it as one of the fruits of Mormonism. The evU exists; the parents themselves, to a certain degree, confess it ; but, blind as most parents are, the defects, or we should rather say the vices, of their chil dren seem to them nothing more than good qualities pushed to their opposite extremes. In what decidedly appears to us to be depravity and libertinism, they see nothing more than a precocious maturity, a sort of laissez-aller, which is by no means disagreeable to them ; for if they are to be believed, they regard it merely as an indication of their future spirit and self-reliance when grown up. Many Mor mons, reasonably enough perhaps, attribute their children's boldness and love of mischief to their long journeys through the vast deserts, to the vicissitudes of their social existence, and the numberless sufferings they have had to undergo. " Our boys," they say, " are only more advanced than other chUdren ; that is all. And how can it be otherwise, since they are of the race of Ephraim, and that the Holy Spirit has so early enlightened them ? As to their language, that is not always decent ; but this wUl mend itself hereafter." As a remedy for these evUs, the system of education ad opted by the Mormons is very inadequate, as we shall now 176 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. see. If the number alone of schools sufficed to furnish a measure of the instruction and civilization of the people, we should be obliged to form a high idea of the inteUectual standard of the Mormons ; for they have everywhere esta blished, even in their smallest villages, the means of pri mary instruction. But this is pretty nearly all they have done, and they take hardly any pains to make these esta blishments useful. Were we to believe that instruction is honoured in Utah simply because the schools are numerous there, we should commit the error into which the vulgar fall when they suppose that an ample and rich library is a certain indication of its owner being immensely learned. The leaders of Mormonism set too high a value on material industry, and are too much inclined to make it their very first consideration, to render it at all likely that public in struction will maintain a high position at the Salt Lake, or that habits of study will be encouraged. The sove reign pontiff himself, in whom a vast intelligence makes up for the almost total want of instruction, has but a very mo derate opinion of books and scholars. He is persuaded that the personal revelation which accompanies the grace of the Holy Spirit so abundant among his disciples, suflBces for the instruction of men. He was one day heard to say, before a numerous audience, " Professor Orson Pratt has told you that there are many books in the world, and I tell you that there are many inhabitants in the world ; he tells you that there is something in all these books, and I tell EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 177 you that each of these inhabitants has a name ; he tells you that it vi^ould be weU for you to learn this something, and I teU you that it would be quite as useful for you to learn the names of these inhabitants. Were I to live as long as Methuselah, and were I to learn every hour of my life some thing new from these books, and were I able to remember all that I had learnt, I should not after all know as much as I could learn in five minutes from revelation." With such ideas it may be easily conceived that Brigham Young should attach little importance to the improvement of schools and the diffusion of education. His people, who only think as he directs them, and have no difficulty in swearing by the word of the master, suppose that know ledge impairs faith, and willingly believe that " the keys of the kingdom communicate all that is necessary to be known." They are so convinced of the danger of the in formation acquired by study, that the frankest among them are often heard to say, with an air of serious conviction, that Orson Pratt is much too learned to keep for any length of time out of perdition ; and in fact they expect to see him apostatize from one day to another. These barbarous ideas have not prevented the establish ment of numerous schools and so-called scientific societies, and the wide distribution of the titles of professor and teacher ; but in truth these are mere words we must take good care not to interpret too literally. At Great Salt Lake City there are thirty schools, of which nineteen are VOL. II. N 178 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. regularly endowed. In them are taught reading, writing, arithmetic, a httle history, and geography. Were the classes regularly attended, the children would receive the same instruction as that given in our primary schools in France ; but this does not happen ; the young Mormons attend school generally only through the three winter months, and the result is that during the nine months they are absent from them, there is every chance of their forgetting the little they have learnt. Independently of the indifference to education arising from the religious policy to which we have just adverted, and from the carelessness common to the lower classes in all societies, the poverty of the parents is partly a cause why the school period is hmited to only three months in the year; and this is a reason which should surprise us less in Utah than anywhere else, since there are there a larger proportion than usual of fami lies obliged to live by their daily toil. It is not necessary to insist on the iU effects of such a state of things. The instruction derived from the schools is next to nothing, and the education absolutely nothing. It is therefore in the family that the child's mind and heart must be moulded. Tf we admit that some mothers may be excellent teachers, we are obliged to acknowledge that a much greater number are hardly able to correct the vicious instincts of their children ; and again and again we are brought to think of polygyny as the source to which all these lamentable evUs are to be referred. Instruction being EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 179 held in such moderate estimation by the great dignitaries of the Church, the teachers employed upon it are in conse quence also very moderately considered. A powerful means of inspiring a taste for education, of propagating know ledge, and of facilitating instruction, would be to honour the teacher, to elevate his calling, important as it is modest ; in a word, to make the schoolmaster as much an object of respect as the priest. Experience has shown that a good schoolmaster, when he obtains from those in authority and from the public the esteem due to his occupation and his zeal, is not less precious than a good priest. If, on the other hand, it were an object to beget indifference and contempt for whatever can stifle ignorance, nothing would tend more directly to such an end than lowering the pro fession of the teacher ; and this is what the Mormon leaders seem to have clearly comprehended. Among them the condition of schoolmasters is precarious, made ridiculous, and depressed to such a degree that it has become a prover bial expression, " Beggar enough to be a schoolmaster f The pay of the teacher is pretty nearly optional, is almost always levied with difficulty, and most frequently paid in kind. Tt will be now easily conceived that very few persons of capa city are candidates for a position so depreciated and so un profitable in every way. Tn fact, a man must be absolutely devoid of any other resource, or be compelled by an irresis tible call for it, before he is likely to choose such a career.* * It is but just to say that, since these remarks were written, a great N 2 180 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. The following characteristic notice, which we once saw pasted on the door of a viUage school in Utah, wUl give some idea of the way in which schoolmasters are supported in these new countries : — "NOTICE. " I, schoolmaster, to all the brethren, greeting. " Monday, the 19th of November, the anniversary of the mas sacre of one hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians by the angel of the Lord, has been fixed upon for the re-opening of my course on the divine sciences and reading, and on writing, with the art of orthography ; and whereas we are in a state of famine, in consequence of the seventh year after our establish ment in the country, the charges will be fixed for each scholar, girl or boy, in the following way : — " For one month, a bushel of wheat or maize, or two bushels of potatoes. And whereas it is winter, each must bring a cedar log every fortnight. And whereas those who cannot pay in grain or Irish potatoes, may be able to do it in some other way, bears' flesh, squirrels, and dried pumpkins will be received, as well as salt pork and cheese. And whereas I have nothing whatever to eat, I must be paid a month in advance, inasmuch as I am in want." ir The schools, where elementary education is going on during the day, are open in the evening for courses of music and dancing, which are in great favour with persons change seems to have come over 'the spirit of the heads of the Mormon Church, and that, according to the last advices from Utah, they are zeal ously devoting themselves to the task of improving and advancing the elementary instruction of their people. EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 181 of either sex. Dancing is a favourite amusement of the Mormons, who have even invented some new figures, among others a double quadriUe, in which each gentle man has two ladies, — in fact a polygynic quadrUle. The Prophet has no objection to be present at dances, or even to join in them. In his view, dancing is a salutary and lawful recreation, a mode of honouring God, by expressing our gratitude to him in the form of pleasure ; hence all balls are preceded by a prayer, and often interrupted by a sermon. But while affirming that dancing is a wholesome, amusing, agreeable, and lawful recreation, the Saints say "that the balls, crinolines, and soirees dansantes of the gentUes are not made for the people who have some re spect for themselves, their religion, and their God." Music is not less prized among the Mormons : the violin is their favourite instrument ; it may be heard on all sides in the evening as one passes by their houses. Music and dancing masters are in high favour, and have the pri vilege of getting their money paid in advance. Tf the instruction given to the boys be very scanty, that to the girls is not less so. Brigham thinks that know ledge is useless to women. He belongs to the school of that personage in Moliere, who desires that all the know ledge of women " Sehausse A connaitre un pourpoint d'avec un haut-de-chausse." This is his manner of treating the subject : — " The best 182 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. education for girls consists in teaching them to sew, to knit, to garden, to cook, to be handy in the dairy, and to keep their houses perfectly clean. If you stuff them with read ing, they cram themselves with romances, tales, and such like rubbish; they neglect their duties, are obedient nei ther to their husbands nor their fathers. Teach them to work ! Teach them to work !" But while turning to ac count this admirable advice, the women, more studious than the men, contrive to educate themselves, and some are often to be met with who are really well-informed. Above the elementary schools we find nothing among the Mormons that resembles our colleges. All those who desire to obtain a knowledge of the classics are obliged to do so by their own exertions ; and it is thus that the best instructed among them have acquired it. There are, however, some adult schools in which well-qualified mas ters — in general, persons who have exercised the vocation of teachers in England — give from time to time instruction in the higher mathematics, physics,- history, and theology. But these courses, from the want of sufficient attendance, are frequently suspended, and consequently are but little profitable. An apostle distinguished by his general know ledge, has, in spite of all his efforts, been known to fail in his attempts to get together as many as ten students to attend a gratuitous course of lectures on tbe planetary system, attached to a professorship founded entirely at his own expense. EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 183 Several scientific and literary societies formed at different periods, have either died in their cradle or are dragging out a painful existence without being good for anything. Even the University of Deseret, though it has maintained itself up to this day, is a body which has come into the world before its time, and has in it but the merest spark of life. Nor is this owing to the want of a thorough or ganization : we see at its head a chancellor, twelve regents, a secretary, and a treasurer. But in this consists the in stitution; for it has neither a roof to dwell under, nor a professorship through which to speak. It is a sort of in discernible phantom; and yet it counts among its mem bers men of substantial knowledge, capable of imparting a variety of instruction, and who are wanting in nothing but pupils and a little money to enable them to devote them selves to teaching. Some of them have several times un dertaken to give, in the Social Hall, public lectures on astronomy, Hebrew, comparative physiology, and religious history. But under the penalty of otherwise speaking to empty benches, they were obliged on these occasions to confine themselves to lectures in which they treated the sub ject in the most general way, without being ever able to succeed in establishing a systematic and continuous course of instruction. It is therefore to the temple only that the people go to receive their information, and it is there, too, that their heads talk to them politics, literature, arts, science, just as well as morality and dogma. It is at the foot of 184 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. their altars that the people go to seek their whole nourish ment, whether of their souls or their intelligence. This mental nutriment suffices, since it contents them. What do I say ? Why, they believe themselves the best-instructed of all people in the world, because they have been talked to on every subject, because the names of all the sciences have been miscaUed in their presence whUe being turned into ridicule, and because they have been made to believe that what with their Bible and their Book of Mormon, they are more learned than anybody among the Gentiles. The only discovery of which the University of Deseret can claim the honour, is that of an alphabet composed of forty characters, as simple, as they are inelegant. Some persons have supposed that the object of this alphabet was to prevent access to the Mormon books and writings ; but it is more probable that the only thing intended was to simphfy the reading of the English laiiguage by establishing a determinate and uniform relation between the sign and its sound ; in fact, & phonetic alphabet. The new characters, intended for the printing-presses of the Salt Lake, were cast at St. Louis ; but up to this day nothing has been pub lished, as far as we know, with these singular types. We have known them used in private correspondence, and seen them on some shop signs. As much as it may be a matter of regret that there should be in most languages, and espe cially in the Enghsh, a discordance between the sound and the sign which represents it ; desirable as it may be 9 3 8 6 0 E long A long AH long AW long 0 lon(7 (D 00 long E bref A bref AH bref AW bref 0 bref 9- 00 bref I .01 ow u w woo YE f H 7 p a B 1 T 0 D c CHE G 0 K © GA P F V ETH THE S 6 z D ESH s ZHEE r^ I ") 1 M ///]/, a A:/ y^v NG ,- < ^-y L r ? '/// f'?/ ,j The Mormon AlphateL. f,nf' r C/iariion .-mi^. Jo. r.f/oiit^r"''^^^. P-"- EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 185 to adopt a character which would make the sounds in variable; praiseworthy even as are the efforts directed to this end, — it is nevertheless probable that the ortho graphic innovation proposed by the Mormon philologists will have no success, and will be abandoned bv its own authors, on account of the difficulty that uiust be experi enced in its application, not to speak of the inconveniences to which it would give rise, such as the effacement of etymologies, and the disconnection of roots from their deri vatives. The engraving we place in face of this page is a facsimile of the Mormon alphabet, which we had executed at San Francisco, in January, 1856, after some genuine specimens we brought from the Salt Lake. To give to every man his due, we ought to say that the idea originated with the apostle W. W. Phelps, one of the regents of tbe University, and that it was he who worked out the letters. Mr. Phelps, in an intellectual point of view, is one of the most singular persons in Utah, and pos sibly also the most erudite, if not the really best informed. The eccentricity of his manners, the singularity of his cha racter, the originality of his ideas, the suppleness of his opi nions, the variety of his aptitudes, make him pass among his co-religionists for a crack-brain. It is he who plays the part of the devU in the mysterious ceremonies of the endowment ; it is he also who edits the ' Deseret Almanac,' and who, in this capacity, foretells rain and fine weather, calculates the risings and settings of the sun for Utah and 186 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. its territory. He is the author of a great number of poems and of several fables. We are indebted to him, if we are to believe the Mormon newspapers, for the invention of a machine which corrects the variations of the needle, shows exactly the apparent time, finds the latitude and longitude without the aid of logarithms, calculates the true position, the latitude and longitude of the planets and fixed stars, as well as of the sun and moon, with their risings and settings. This machine will at once be a substitute for the compass, the quadrant, the level, the theodolite, the sextant, the sun dial, the goniometer, the circle of reflection, etc. This is a good deal for one instrument, and it is certainly not extraordinary that only ten years should have been spent upon its construction. We sadly regret that Mr. Phelps, who sometimes did us the honour of joining our parties, and who by no means appeared to be the man to hide his light under a bushel, never thought of bringing his wonder ful discovery under our observation whUe we were in his observatory. Phelps the apostle is not the only astronomer that the Mormons can boast of. There is also Albert Carrington, chief editor of the ' Deseret News,' who assisted Captain Stansbury in a part of his topographical labours; Orson Hyde, President of the Council of Apostles, a geometrician and judge at Carson Valley, several times an apostate, and as often brought back to the fold, even after having, like St. Peter, solemnly denied his master ; Orson Pratt, apostle, EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 187 philosopher, theologian, a man of considerable learning, more especiaUy in mathematics and astronomy ; a pure and upright-minded man, moreover, whom it is impos sible, without regret, to see plunged into the darkness of Mormonisra. It is highly probable that these pUlars of the new Church may, some day or other, become able and ex ceUent professors ; they have already made several efforts to communicate their acquirements to the people, and to create a taste for serious studies ; but the resistance they have met with from the ignorance -favouring policy of Brig ham Young and of H. C. KinibaU, his right hand, has de prived them of any other audience than the echoes of empty walls. The people, however, though not rallying around these professors, point them out with pride, and are fond of chaUenging a comparison between their knowledge, which often really deserves the name, and that of the Gen tUes. I should not wish, however, that there should be any mistake about the extent to which I am disposed to push my praise ; I, of course, do not mean to have it in ferred that these illustrations of scientific knowledge in Utah are to be placed on the same level with the distin guished representatives of European science. Such an in ference would be quite inadmissible; all that I desire to do is, to pay a tribute to those forward minds among the Mormons, who have been able, in the atmosphere into which they have strayed, to keep up the sacred fire, and preserve the love of study and intellectual acquirements 188 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. with a noble zeal which is an atonement for many errors. The Federal government, in one of those fits of genero sity, all the more valuable to the Mormons because they are little accustomed to them, has endowed the city of the Great Salt Lake with a valuable pubhc library. In it are to be found excellent books of aU kinds, accessible to everybody. Unfortunately, as may easily be conceived, the majority of the Saints do not properly estimate these ad vantages as they ought to do ; hence they are of little use to anybody, save a few studious individuals and travellers, who, as far as they are concerned, bless the beneficent hand which has prepared such a banquet for them in such a quarter. Tbe Mormons have for some time been occupied by the idea of founding a universal museum. They have already got together a considerable quantity of objects, and their numerous missionaries to all parts of the world materially contribute to their opportunities of forming a very valuable collection. Brigham Young, who thinks this a useful and practical institution, takes a particular interest in its de velopment ; but it is much to be regretted that for want of a person sufl[iciently qualified to direct the coUectors and classify the objects, the institution is to this day nothing more than a mere lumber-room of disorder and confusion. The Mormons, as our readers are aware, cultivate dancing with a sort of passion. But this is not their only social amusement ; they have a great esteem for the drama, and EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 189 take a lively pleasure in theatrical representations. Not having yet succeeded in getting a company of professional actors, they meanwhile represent in their own theatre, plays belonging to the American repertory, and sometimes, too, pieces of their own composition. They fiatter them selves with having, in the persons of some of their priests, performers who would not be despicable on a stage less humble than theirs ; but, be this as it may, their acting as yet has not gone beyond emphatic declamation, or the humble merits of farce and drollery. Mormon literature presents nothing remarkable apart from its theological vagaries. Their newspapers are un doubtedly their most literary productions, and are managed in a way to supply the place of all other kinds of reading. They contain sermons, editorial articles, facts and events occurring throughout the world, historical fragments, bio graphy, poetry, fables, aUegories, curious anecdotes, nar ratives of travellers and missionaries, political and religious correspondence, description of machines and objects, scien tific discoveries, sketches of manners, accounts of battles, culinary and other receipts, hints to farmers and gardeners, perplexing enigmas, ambitious anagrams turning most fre quently on the names of their leaders, finally advertise ments, notices, marriages, as so many savoury morsels. The ' Deseret News ' is the only journal which the Church pubUshes in Utah. Tt appears every Wednesday, and con tains eight large quarto pages of four very close columns ; 190 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. it is very difficult, without having seen it, to conceive the quantity of matter crowded into its pages, or the avidity with which it is read. Tt is this newspaper which is the law and the. prophets to the great majority of the people; it is the ' Moniteur Universel ' of the Church. The sect also publishes other journals of the same kind and in the same spirit, in America and Europe, an enumeration of which will be found in the list of books at the end of this work. The various but confused notions which the Mormons derive from their newspapers, only serve to cover their ignorance with a semblance of general knowledge. They may sometimes surprise us by the amount of acquirements they display in conversation, but these acquirements are but a collection of odd bits and iU-assorted ornaments, which turn their brain into a receptacle filled with the worst confusion of chaos, ' as is soon manifest whenever we pin them even to the subject with which they seem the most conversant. Their reasoning is without consecutive ness, and the disorder of their ideas quickly betrays the absence of any solid grounds for their pretensions. Their whole erudition is nothing better than pedantry, or even less than that, the mere empty chattering of a trained parrot. The greatest evil which results from this half- knowledge is, that good sense is so obliterated by it as often to disappear without any chance of a revival. Nothing is more calculated to warp the mind, and to throw it into a state of confusion, than this heaping up of unconnected EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 191 facts in the memory of people whose education has been defective. Our vUlage literati furnish many examples of this ; it is infinitely more difficult to find our way to their common sense, than it is to get access to the reason of ignorant simple men. This undoubtedly, together with the existing faith, is one of the principal causes which keep the Mormons in error, and make their restive and superficial minds fortresses against which the assaults of sound reason are directed in vain. There can be no question, then, that education is ex tremely neglected among the Mormons, and that the knowledge they acquire, whether in their schools, their temples, or their publications, is not solid. They assert, as might be expected, that the Holy Spirit has communi cated to them all its gifts and all its lights ; but we must not accord our confidence to what they say of themselves, without making the largest allowances. If indeed we are to take them at their own value, they alone have the pri vUege of knowledge ; it is they only who have intuitive knowledge on all subjects, whUe at the same time in pos session of absolute religious truth. They maintain, in fact, that, by a sort of grace attached to their baptism, and their submission to the laws of the Church, their intelligence is marvellously unfolded, attains intuitively to even the highest knowledge, and finds all the difficulties smoothed away which make its acquisition so laborious to other mortals. Hence it is we often hear them say, that after conversion 192 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. they were able to learn more in one day than before it they could do by a whole year of application and study. I have met with Mormons who have assured me, on their honour and their sacred books, that they were unable to learn to read before their baptism, in spite of all the pains taken with them, but that immediately after their admission into the Church, their faculties were suddenly opened in such a way that it only required a few hours' study to enable them to read with facUity. Facts of this nature, in which the sincerity of the witnesses compels me to believe, astonish ing as they may appear at first sight, do not precisely prove the pretensions advanced by the Saints any more than they can prove the truth of their doctrines. To teach any one to read in the short space of a day is a rare occurrence anywhere, thanks, perhaps, to some defect in our mode of teaching, and to defects in our languages, especiaUy in our orthographies ; stiU, examples of it have been seen here and there ; and I know amongst the savages, a queen who, at the age of sixty, learnt to read perfectly in less than a week.* There is no reason therefore for our seeing any thing supernatural in this, nor for referring to Mormonism an efficient power which has its origin solely in energy of wiU. It is true, that it is not only in this facility of learn ing to read that the privileges which the Saints attribute to the special favour of their gods are displayed ; these pri- vUeges in fact extend to everything, to the most difficult * See Note XIX. at the end of the volume. EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 193 as well as to the most elementary knowledge. From such unfounded assumptions wc must take the liberty of simply withholding our assent; we cannot do the new faith the honour of believing that it really possesses all that it fancies it does. We are perfectly satisfied that nothing is more empty and more open to question than the acquirements pretended to by the disciples of Joseph and Brigham. If it so happen that we meet amongst them some men of real knowledge, as Orson Pratt, for instance, it is certainly not to any virtue in Mormonism that we must ascribe their ac quirements, but rather to the many years which they have devoted to study. The only concession we can make to the Mormons with respect to their capacity is, that they have a memory sufficiently accommodating to enable them to learn the Scriptures by heart from one end to the other. Indeed, one is every moment surprised at the facility with which they quote from it, mentioning, at the same time, without a mistake, both chapter and verse. We do not wish to lessen their merit in this respect, by saying that we have known the natives of Tahiti do just as much; but we must reduce it to its just value by asserting that aU this mass of quotation serves no other purpose than that of per verting their intelhgence, and leading it off into a thousand arbitrary interpretations. The gross ignorance, or, what is but another form of ignorance, an incomplete, false, and spurious instruction, covered over with a varnish of universal knowledge resem- VOL. II. o 194 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. bling a gaudy piece of patchwork, — this is at present the intellectual balance-sheet of the Mormons. It is a state of things made up at one and the same time of the degrading ignorance of the Neapolitans, and of the superficial, though general and diversified, instruction of the people of the United States. In this singular medley, a phUosopher might easily find amusement by trying to separate the part representing the American element from that which repre sents the purely fanatical element coming from other coun tries. But what he would see with regret is the large pro portion of the latter element, a portion not likely to dimi nish while the ignorance which pepetuates it is suffered to exist. Tt is ignorance which entraps men's minds into the net of a new religion ; it is ignorance also which must keep them there. Were it still necessary to demonstrate to European Governments the necessity of diffusing educa tion through all classes, what is now passing in Utah would furnish a decisive argument in its favour. In point of fact, it is in the least enlightened portions of our own societies that the Mormon missionaries do the most mischief, and recruit the most proselytes. The man destitute of all instruction permits himself to be easily led away by one less ignorant than himself. Almost invariably poor, in want even, rare is it that the high ones of society condescend to treat him as an equal, rarer stiU that they give him any proofs of their kindness. Missionaries pre sent themselves, fuU of zeal and devotedness, animated EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 195 by the keenest possible desire to make conquests by any possible means. They show an interest in his lot, and in that of his family ; they cheer him, they encourage him, they raise him in his own opinion, they give him nume rous proofs of friendship. Then, having thus obtained his confidence, and furnished grounds for his gratitude, they talk to him of their Gospel, explain their doctrine, and finally press him to join their Church. The poor pa riah may hesitate at first, object timidly, and shrink from apostasy, but he is not able to refute the sophisms which tempt him, and too frequently takes them for what they are represented as worth, without any misgiving. He may perhaps be stopped by the respect he entertains for the hereditary religion of his fathers, and he may not like to outrage then- memory ; but he is then told that his ancestors were the dupes of priests ; that they will certainly obtain God's pardon, because it was not in their power to know the truth, but that it wUl go very differently with him should he reject the living word which they bring him. Finally, those terrible words, necessity of salvation and everlasting heU, which are constantly sounded in his ears, achieve the rest ; he overleaps every consideration, and is converted. And why should we be surprised ? Would not the opposite course by a thousand times less natural? Is the vanquished disgraced when he has been left with out arms to defend himself? It may appear trivial to repeat what has been so often o 2 196 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. said, namely, that the devotedness of the Christian mis sionaries is above all praise. StiU, I do not think it is given to everybody to be able to appreciate the extent of their sacrifices, or to form even an approximate idea of the nature of their labours. For this we must have seen them on the distant and too often inhospitable shores on which the love of God and man has cast them, in order to under stand their astonishing and sublime charity. The Catholic missionaries especially, reach a height which we should think inaccessible, had we not with our own eyes seen them reach it. We are bound to salute them as heroes who very far surpass the heroes of our battle-fields. The Mormon missionaries, they too astonish us by the enor mous amount of their sacrifices, and the extent of their devotedness. It grieves us deeply, beyond all question, to see them making such efforts in the cause of error and imposture ; but the painful feeling we have in thus behold ing so many valiant hearts engaged in the service of a de testable doctrine, must not impose silence on us with re spect to the means employed in its diffusion. The grand council of the Church at Salt Lake, whose duty it is to direct the universal propagandism, does not consult the Saints whom it intends to send upon' missions. It chooses them according to its own good pleasure in all ranks of the people, and does not acquaint them with their destination, untU it sends them an order, signed by- the presidency, to depart with the shortest possible delay. The EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 197 IMoruion chosen as a missionary has perhaps no caUing for the part thus forced on him ; he may possibly have em barked in an enterprise which would occupy him for many months ; he has perhaps not yet recovered from the fatigue he has experienced in coming from Europe to join his bre thren of the valley ; he was perhaps married only the day before, or his wife may be in the pains of travaU ; no mat ter ; he obeys without a murmur, if not without a regret ; he is poor, his family wUl fast during his absence; his flocks and budding prosperity wiU disappear ; his very roof will be dilapidated on his return, arid the field he had cleared with so much toil will be again overrun with briars and weeds ; aU this passes through his mind, but nothing can make him fiinch. Heaven has spoken ; he must go. As the Church apprises him that he must provide for the wants of his family during his mission, he leaves behind him the whole of his property and his money, if he has any ; God will do the rest : he bids his brethren farewell, he tears himself from the arms of his wives and chUdren, casts a parting look on his cottage and his garden, then, not unfrequently, the very next day after receiving the notice, rushes to the ends of the earth to go and teach nations the word of life, and to announce to them that the coniing of Jesus is at hand. He departs without baggage, and without a farthing, armed only with a pil grim's staff and the Book of Mormon, strong in his cou rage, and relying on the protection of Jehovah. As long 198 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. as he treads the soU of Utah, he partakes, after a long day's journey, of the frugal meal of his brethren in the faith ; then, having reached the extreme limits of habitation, he begs a little flour and dried meat for his sustenance in the desert, and until he can reach a seaport. There, work ing either as a carpenter, a mason, a gunsmith, a saddler, or in a hundred other ways, he scrapes together as quickly as he can the means of engaging the humblest berth on board some ship, which will bear him to the coast where he is to preach the Gospel. Sometimes he finds the means of paying for his passage on board the ship itself. Once in the act of cleaving the waves, these hardy missionaries consider that the worst is over. Some spread through the different countries of Europe, where, frequently tracked by the police, they have recourse to pious frauds in order to elude the obstacles which the laws of the country present to their preaching. Others, after a longer voyage, reach the Cape of Good Hope, India, China, and New Holland. Others pass by the Mediterranean as far as Turkey and Pales tine. Others again make for the different groups of islands of Oceania, or land upon the seacoast of South America. During the Crimean War some were known to have found their way among the regiments of the British army. On reaching the scene of their evangelical labours the Mormon missionaries take to some trade, and do not shrink from even domestic service itself in order to gain their bread. The moment they have learnt, by dint of hard EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 199 study, the language of their future flocks, they begin to divide their time between preaching and the manual labour upon which their livelihood depends. They frequently travel on foot from district to district, stopping wherever they think there is a chance of their getting a hearing, and of finding food, even though it be only roots. There are more thorns than roses in this kind of life, but their faith prompts them to give blessings to God even in their heaviest tribulations. After a long march under the rays of a tropical sun, the drop of water trickling from the mosses of a rock, the sweet or acid berries which hang upon the bushes, seem to them a banquet served by angels ; they return their thanks to Heaven in hymns, and, re-ani mated with fresh ardour, deriving too a gentle consolation from the recollection of their cherished Zion, they go forth once again upon their course. It is not only in the midst of savage tribes that these intrepid soldiers of Mormonism are exposed to all sorts of sufferings and privations. They require not a whit less courage to face the trials to which they are exposed in the most civUized countries. Many of them have been cast into obscure dungeons, where for weeks they have been compeUed to live on bread and water. I knew a Mormon at the Salt Lake, of the name of Curtis Bolton, who had been for eight years a missionary in Paris, and I have heard him say, that in spite of aU his efforts he was often unable to gain more than ten francs a month, and that this was all 200 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. he had wherewith to provide his food and lodging. He was then living in a garret in the Rue de Tournon, where he was engaged on a French translation of the Book of Mor mon, which he pubUshed in 1852. His resources subse quently were sUghtly improved, and he began to give him self up successfully to preaching, when the police was put upon his track in order to stop the progress of his conver sions. But in spite of all the annoyances to which he was exposed, he made, if we are to believe him, more than four hundred proselytes, and did not quit his post untU he re ceived an order to do so from" his pope. Mr. Bolton, for whom the Mormons will no doubt one day find a place in their Martyrology, is a remarkable illustration of the power of conviction. Son of one of the richest ship-owners of the United States, he embraced Joseph Smith's doctrine in spite of the threats, now realized, of his father to disinherit him. Married to two women, mother and daughter, he had great domestic sorrows, and even involuntarily drew down upon his head the thunders of the Church ; but for all this he remains not the less convinced that there is no salvation out of Mormonism. While Mr. Bolton was endeavouring to sow his doctrine in the very heart of France, the head of the European mis sion, the apostle John Taylor, the same that was wounded at Joseph's side when the Prophet fell under the blows of his assassins, made several visits to Paris. In one of his offi cial reports, Mr. Taylor said things about France of suffi- EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 201 cient interest, I think, to justify me in quoting some jias- sages, at the risk of prolonging this digression. " ' Liberty, Equabty, Fraternity, and Brotherhood,' was writ ten almost upon every door. You had liberty to speak, but might be put in prison for doing so. 'You had liberty to print, but they might burn what you had printed, and put you into con finement for it. The nations of Europe know nothing about liberty, except England ; and there it is much the same as here, that is, liberty to do right. ... At the same time there are in France thousands of good-spirited, honest-hearted men, as I ever met in any part of the world ; they are quiet, calm, peace able, and desirous to know the truth and be governed by it ; and if we had only liberty to preach to them the principles of truth, thousands would flock to the standard of truth. Infidelity pre vails there to a great extent, and at the same time a great deal of a certain kind of religion, a sort of Catholicism ; not the Catho licism that was, but which is. Men have got sick of it, and look upon it as moonshine and folly. You may divide the people into three classes : — the most religious class are the women ; from observation you would judge that they attend to the affairs of the souls of their husbands as well as their own. The fact is, the men care little about it themselves. You will find nothing but women in the places of worship there, while, on the other hand, if you go out to the public promenades and theatres, and public amusements on Sunday, you will see men by thousands. . . . The Protestants talk a great deal about Catholic priests, but I believe they are much more honest in the sight of man, and will do more for their pay, than any Protestant minister you can find. ... I used to think there was a good deal of intelli gence among the world, but I have sought for it so long, I have 206 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. given up all hopes of ever finding it there. Some philosophers came to visit me in France, and while conversing, I had to laugh a little at them, for the word philosophy is about every tenth word they speak. One of them, a Jesuit priest, who had come in the church, a well-educated man, was a little annoyed at some of my remarks on their philosophy. I asked them if any of them had ever asked me one question that I could not answer. They answered in the negative. But, said I, I can ask you fifty which you cannot answer. " Speaking of philosophy, I must tell another little story, for I was almost buried up in it while I was in Paris. I was walking about one day in the Jardin des Plantes — a splendid garden. There they had a sort of exceedingly light cake ; it was so thin and light that you could blow it away, and you could eat airday of it and never be satisfied. Somebody asked me what the name of that was. 1 said, I don't know the proper name, but in the absence of one, I can give it a name — I wiU call it philosophy, or fried froth, as you like ; it is so light you can blow it away, eat it all day, and at night be as far from being satisfied as when you began."* The duration of the Mormon missions has no fixed hmits ; it depends, as does the selection of the missionary himself, on the will or the caprice of the great CouncU of the Church. Generally speaking, for distant missions, the time is hardly under three years, and rarely exceeds six. When they are numerous in the same country, the mis- sionaries assemble twice a year at a general meeting. They * Elder John Taylor's report on his mission to Europe in 1849-52.— Journal of Discourses, vol. i. pp. 19-28. EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 203 are bound to make, on such occasions, a report to the pre sidency of the Church, in which, in a Summary way, they describe their personal condition, and the result of their missionary efforts. They are not allowed to abandon the scenes of their labours untU recalled by a special order, issued by the same power which appointed them. Then, to effect their return to the valleys of Utah, they have to traverse anew seas and deserts, procuring, by their own exertions, the means of travelling, unless the charity of some of their new converts should be at hand to assist them. Restored to their famUies after escaping so many dangers, they resume, without delay, their labours as set tlers, but ready to obey any new order which may again send them, whether upon the same mission, or a new one. The only recompense they expect for so complete a self- denial, for such entire obedience, is, to obtain a place in the abode of the elect, by giving proofs in this world of their unalterable attachment to the Church, their mother, which prizes nothing so highly as this full and absolute submission. Are we to be astonished that men animated with such a faith, so unreservedly devoted to the cause they have em braced, and to which they sacrifice their weU-being and even their dearest affections, should succeed in infusing into good and single-hearted^ men the sacred fire which over flows in them ? There is nothing more contagious than con viction, especially when the head and heart are full of it, for 204 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. ' it then acts like a powerful and attractive magnet. Where is tbe man of the world, however gpdless he may be, who has heard Ravignan without listening respectfully to his powerful eloquence, and without being deeply impressed by the expression of fervent piety which is so conspicuous in his face ? God forbid that I should for a moment think of placing the fanatical Mormon on a level with this supe rior spirit ! But it is through a virtue akin to his, though infinitely less pure in its source, that the missionary of Utah draws to him the poor credulous creatures who yield themselves to the force of his persuasion, and who come like moths to singe themselves in the torch he has lit amid the surrounding darkness. No doubt the apostle of the new faith does not" always fascinate on a first hear ing; he is, on the contrary, very often scorned by anticipa tion, and kept at a distance by the very fame of his pre vious success. But soon curiosity awakens ; he is observed, approached, and heard ; at length people comei-all the faster to him, from having been first prejudiced against him, and, by a reaction which does more honour to their hearts than heads, suffer themselves to be carried away, as a sort of atonement for prejudices of which they now are ashamed. It is impossible, no matter how slight one's acquaintance with the Mormons may be, not to hear numberless extra ordinary accounts of the manner in which their conversions have been effected. It would be difficult to find any one EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 205 of these narratives pcrfectiy free from the marvellous, and by choosing the most ,striking of them we could easily form a selection quite as attractive as the legends of the middle ages. The character of mysticism, and we may say of mesmerism, which is so remarkably conspicuous in the greater part of these conversions, is not confined to race or country ; it is to be found under every latitude and in aU nations. We have remarked the same magnetic charac teristics in the accounts given us by Normans, Swiss, Scotch, Danes, Germans, as well as those by Americans, Polyne sians, Chinese, and Hindoos. There is nothing in these phenomena which ought to be matter of surprise to those who believe that all human souls are derived from a com mon source ; at most, all they cail'see in them is only fresh evidence in favour of this opinion. I have often had ex ceeding pleasure in hearing from the lips of the believers the particulars of their conversions. Tbe recital wiU some times continue for hours ; but the beatified look of the narrator, the visions, the revelations, the miracles, of which his narrative was full, so captivated my attention, that I never knew what it was to be fatigued. Tt would occupy too much space to give the instances here ; as, however, the subject is one extremely important in a psychological point of view, I will briefly sum up the principal facts noticeable in the phases of a Mormon conversion. Putting aside those whose convictions are fixed and im movable, religious ideas may act upon two great and oppo- 206 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. site classes, the indifferent and the inquisitive. With the indifferent or careless, in the sphere of ideas with which we are now engaged, may be combined the debauched, the dissipated, all men, in a word, who take no interest in seri ous things, or scorn them, but who can be brought to re flect upon them, either by calamities which unexpectedly overtake them, or by a sudden infusion of better opinions and feelings. In the second class, that of the inquirers, to whom may be added the godless, who are but inquirers misled by pride or else laggards on the way, are to be placed those who, aUotting to serious things the fair share they ought to have in the business of life, become anxious about their destiny. To these two classes may be attached a third, which would be in some sort intermediate, and which we are glad to pass over without notice, because it has hardly any representatives among the Mormons, that is, the class of hypocrites who are not converted, but who cover themselves with a mask from motives of interest and ambition. The indifferent and the inquisitive, brought, the latter by a very natural impulse of curiosity, the former by the concurrence of a thousand fortuitous circumstances, into contact with a Mormon missionary, who with aU the emphasis of sincerity is narrating the marvellous origin of his faith, become aUured and, as it were, seduced by dain ties which to the merit of novelty add the attraction of being foreign produce. They return eagerly to the ban quet which is always going on, and soon become enamoured EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 207 of the highly-seasoned viands which stimulate and tickle their palate. Their imagination, excited by this highly sti mulating food, soon gives itself full play ; it riots day and night, untU it comes to confound dreams with reahties ; then these dreams assume a singular and prophetic charac ter, which throws the revellers into a state of inexpressible anxiety, and disturbs their rest. To these dreams succeed wonderful iUusions, which toss the visionary's mind about like a ship at the mercy of the waves. There are apparitions of gods, cherubims, angels, spirits, phantoms, patriarchs, ghosts which flit near them in the deep recesses of a wood, which brush by them on the edge of a sohtary path, and pursue them to their very homesteads. Sometimes there is a little bird perched on the top of a tree, which is suddenly metamorphosed into one of the beasts of tbe Apocalypse. Sometimes these illusions take the form of strange noises and inexpUcable sounds in the air, now soft as the breath of a playful zephyr, now terrible as the roar of a thousand cataracts ; occasionally they exhibit dazzling spectres which, swift as lightning, vanish away into the depths of the fir mament. Finally, at other times, it would seem as if the sun, alternately passing from grey to crimson, were bound ing and rebounding like a baU on the edge of the horizon, or as if the moon were distorting her disk and stretching it out into three long fleshless arms, whose gigantic fingers pass backwards and forwards over the heavens, casting wan, fitful, ghastiy gleams of hght upon the earth. 208, FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. To these signs, indicative of supernatural agency, suc ceed others stiU more marvellous, inasmuch as they assume a vocal character, address admonitions in all possible lan guages, and with a loud voice reveal your most secret thoughts. You are perhaps quietly intent upon your work, thinking of nothing or next to nothing ; suddenly a cold shiver you cannot account for comes over you, goes to your very heart, and a voice, issuing you know not whence, com mands you to go at such an hour and at such a place, to be present at a manifestation of Divine power. Overwhelmed by this imperious order, the half-convert, covered with cold sweat, flies precipitately to the place indicated, and there with his own eyes sees the Mormon priests, those Magi that herald a new Messiah, operate by the force of their prayers alone the healing of a cripple, of one that is deaf or blind, or dropsical, or possessed with a devil, or catalep tic ; and even resurrection from the dead.* From this mo ment all doubt and further resistance become impossible ; there is no alternative but to yield to evidence, and acknow ledge oneself conquered. The next step is an anxious re quest for baptism and confirmation, and to be enrolled in the legion of Saints. From this moment a thorough change * The Mormon wonder-workers have teen sometimes accused of making use of confederates to assist them in playing upon the credulity of the by standers, and especially iu the cases of resurrection from the dead. It is by no means impossible that such sacrilegious frauds may have been com mitted ; still, in the absence of proof, it is possible that the charge is a calumny on the part of their adversaries. In fact, they assert they never do attempt this miracle. EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 209 has taken place in the feelings; the old man has disap peared. A delicious calm succeeds the tempest ; the moral and physical forces of the new converts are increased ten fold ; the celestial happiness which is diffused around them beams in every feature ; the earth is for them transformed into a rich enchanted palace, the delights of which are ever lastingly renewed by the magic ministration of unseen genii. I should be overstating the fact were I to leave on the reader's mind an impression that no conversion is ever made without being preceded by all this phantasmagoria and this multitude of iUusions. I am bound to say that there are less excitable minds, which suffer themselves to be convinced by the special arguments that are skilfully employed by the Mormon missionaries. It may however be asserted, without fear of contradiction, that an immense majority of the conversions take effect only after a series of delirious and prolonged haUucinations, which remind us of the excitement of the convulsionists, and other fanatics whose acts have been transmitted to us by ecclesiastical history from the time of TertuUian down to our own days. Moreover, the possibihty of the greater part of these Ulu- sions wUl easily be admitted by all who have remarked in those around them, the tendency there is in certain minds to experience a sort of intellectual faintness whenever they are greatiy troubled by doubts or scruples. The imagina tion once launched into the perUous path of mysticism, is not slow to lose itself amid treacherous and destructive VOL. II. P 210 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. transports of excitement, and they who fall a prey to its dan gerous influence are not all of them confined in madhouses. Now that we know by what a series of inducements, by what a succession of magical acts the greater part of its foUowers are brought under the banner of Mormonism, we can have no difficulty in comprehending the tenacity of their faith, and the absolute devotedness they profess for their Church. How, in fact, could they avoid remaining faithfid to their creed, when the powers of heaven and nature have been so prodigal of miracles for the purpose of triumphing over their incredulity, and bringing them into the path of salvation ? Is it not manifest at a single glance that to tear away a Mormon from his faith must be almost an impossibility? A weU-grounded course of instruction might no doubt reopen his eyes ; but such as he is, with his prejudice against the study of science and the acquisition of knowledge, he will never consent to give up a doctrine which has been forced upon him by prodigies with which he is personally conversant. Hence it is that these fanatics, whenever they are driven into their last corner by solid arguments, are heard to say, " No, it must be so. I have seen, I have heard, it is impossible for me to doubt." Tt results from what has been said, that the sincerity of the Mormons is beyond all question ; and this alone would screen me, if it were necessary, from the reproach of having wasted so much time upon them, and of too indulgently handling their extravagance. Had I found them cheats EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 211 and hypocrites, as the founder of their Church was, I should have felt for them nothing but disgust, and should have been content to denounce and brand them ; but I discovered them to be dupes more deserving of pity than blame, upright minds that have fallen into an abyss from .which God alone can rescue them. My weapons would fall from my hands were I to attempt to attack men ; all therefore that is left for me is to attack principles. Let the philosopher or sectarian, who feels that he has been free from all aberration in the course of his own specula tive life, throw the first stone at the Mormons. The success of the missionaries is far from being the same in every pai't of the world where they preach their doctrine. Their finest harvests have been reaped in Great Britain, in the north of Europe, particularly in Denmark. Tn Oceania they cite with pride the Sandwich Islands as the spot in which their labours have had great and rapid success. Within a few years they have attempted to found a tropical colony in the little island of Lanai, but it does not appear that the resuUs of this enterprise have answered theu- expectations. Tt would naturally be supposed that the United States of America, in which Mormonism first saw the light, ought to return an abundant harvest to the labourers of the Prophet ; however, as if to justify the old proverb which says " a prophet is not honoured in his own country," it is precisely the soil that is most unfavourable to the new seed ; for the proselytes obtained from it belong 212 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. almost exclusively to the class of newly-arrived emigrants. This significant fact is a most decisive proof that it is riot liberty, but ignorance, which delivers up men a prey tci\\ gross imposture. Another fact equaUy deserving of notice, and which rests on observation and statistics, is, that yp to this day the sects which admit the Bible as the funda mental and indeed only rule of their faith, are precisely those which furnish the largest contingent to the Church of Joseph Smith. In Catholic countries, where the Bible is of course a revered book, but only possessed of a secon dary importance, the number of neophytes who join the Mormons is comparatively insignificant, as if the authority to which they submit rendered them less susceptible of being led away by innovation. The whole amount of adherents belonging to Mormon ism in all parts of the world is not oflacially known. In 1855, the computations differed from each other to an amount of not less than from 100,000 to 500,000. The latter calculation is evidently too high. The minute re searches we have made on this subject give us an approx imative total of 186,000 believers in 1859, which are thus distributed : — Territory of Utah 80,000 State of New York 10,000 Other Eastern States, together 20,000 California, New Mexico, Oregon, and Ar kansas 10,000 EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 213 Canada and British America 8,000 South America and the West Indies . . . 2,000 England and Scotland 32,000 Ireland 1^000 Sweden, Norway, and Denmark .... 5,000 Germany and Russia 3,000 Switzerland and Piedmont 1,500 France 500 Italy 50 Cape of Good Hope and Coast of Africa . 350 Palestine, India, and China 1,200 Austraha and New Zealand 1,500 Sandwich and Society Islands 7,000 Other Islands of Oceania 1,500 Schismatics* ^ , Texas, Pennsylvania, and Mi- •, and J / -^ ' 1 2,000 Independents J .......; Total 186,600 We cannot of course guarantee the absolute accuracy of these figures, and our opinion is that they are rather above than below the mark. They to whom the amount may appear insignificant in comparison with the population of the world, and who may be surprised at our devoting so much attention to a sect so little considerable in a nume rical point of view, may as weU be reminded that in April, * The Mormon schismatics include the Strongites, the Eigdonites, the Wightites, and the Gladdenites, who have taken their names from the leaders they followed after the defection from Nauvoo. 214 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. 1830, Mormonism counted but six followers, and that in less than' thirty years it has been able to extend itself to a degree which history shows us lio other example of at any period. Christianity itself, iii spite of its incontestable and incomparable superiority, did not advance with greater rapidity, and when we come to think that it is in the midst of that faith, and after eighteen centuries of its ascendency and popularity, that Mormonism has been able to make so wonderful a start, we are struck with astonishment, and scarcely know what to- think. Tt seems as if the intellec tual world were crumbling to pieces, and as though a great number of minds, wearied of epidemical scepticism, and impatient in some sort to haU the advent of a second Messiah, were throwing themselves blindly aud unreflect ingly into a gross novelty. We beg permission to cite the preface which a Frenchman known to French journalism, prefixes to the narrative of his conversion : — " It is the duty of every man who thinks he is in possession of the truth, who has embraced a new creed unknown in his own country, to set before his friends and the public the grounds on which his sincere convictions rest. ... I have traversed the globe in all directions, I have endeavoured to solve many a problem, I have examined numerous systems, I have studied the Utopian theories of the day, I have devoured thousands of volumes; but truth, like a receding shadow, has constantly baffled my re search. What, then, are we to do ? What is to be done without a compass on this tempestuous and fathomless ocean of life ? When we consider the actual state of the world, we are struck with the EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 215 extreme confusion which reigns in it, and we anxiously inquire of ourselves by what means humanity, whieh now seems aban doned to itself, can rise up and escape from this dark and seem ingly inextricable chaos. God, the beginning and end of all things, pitying my distress, has shed upon me an illuminating ray of his intelligence. A writing of only a few pages, ' The Voice of Joseph the Prophet,' has unsealed my eyes. The torch of revelation has suddenly enlightened my spirit with its inefia- ble brightness. I have received the baptism of fire and water. I am a bebever, I have faith. ..." A few pages further on we find our neophyte bestriding Pegasus, and thundering out the ' Chant du Depart pour Sion,' from which we extract the following verses : — " Kls de Brennus, vaillants Gaulois, Heros fameux dans cent melees, Venez vous ranger sous nos lois, Venez envahir nos vallees. " La, le travail est en honneur. Loin des soucis et des entraves ; La, le sol est au travailleur ; Plus de tyrans et plus d'esclaves ! " Remede unique a tous nos maux ; Erangais, embarquons nos famiUes ; 1 De nos sabres forgeons des faux, Et de nos mousquets des faucilles." Unless I am much mistaken, there is a tone in .these verses which betrays a socialist reduced to his last shift, a poet bewUdered by hopes inspired by the revolution of 216 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. February, a restless and discouraged mind, which will get rid of Mormonism as of everything else which does not realize its aspirations. The object of those engaged in the propagation of Mor monism is not exclusively the diffusion of the gospel of Joseph ; their further purpose is to induce their converts to leave their country and go and settle at Utah. The most pressing solicitations, the most earnest entreaties, seduction of all kinds, and even the threat of divine chastisement, are employed when required to fix the resolution of the waver ing. But as respects the great majority of converts no such means are required. Many of the neophytes are well aware beforehand that iri embracing the faith of Joseph and of Brigham they must renounce their nationality. The im pediments which the laws and manners of their country oppose to the free development of their principles soon bring them, moreover, to understand that they must resign themselves to exUe in order to be one with a people which is visibly attempting to constitute itself a distinct nation in the depths of the American wilderness. Accordingly, im mediately after their baptism, they are seen busy with ar rangements for emigrating.- Their resolution once taken, nothing stops them. Hard labour, ruinous sacrifices, re nunciation of country, of family, of friendships as old as them^lves, of a comfortable livehhood more or less certain, of the roof under which they were born and have inherited from their fathers, all this is submitted to ; they consent to EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 217 everything in tiie hope of their salvation ; tiiey plunge into the hazards and fatigues of an immense pUgrimage, sus tained by the thought of a duty to be accomplished, ex cited by the charm of the unknown, and the hope of a peaceful future, and cheered in their moments of despon dency by the missionaries who guide them on their way. Often are their hearts, bursting into sobs, almost broken, when from the distant horizon they see the coasts of their deserted country disappearing. But the die is cast, their tears are soon dried, and their eyes are turned to the dis tant Zion which is henceforth to be the object of their whole affection, and which has become all the dearer by all that they have sacrificed for it. Sometimes the bitter remembrance of the sarcasms which their friends, relations, and fellow-countrymen have levelled at them in consequence of the course they have adopted, leaves them cold and in sensible to the regret of parting, and they have not a sigh for the old country that is fast fading away from their sight. In one way or other, at the end of a few days their feelings and their purpose are in harmony, and their most ardent wish is, to make use of their favourite expression, to " rejoin the brethren who have retired into the valleys of the mountains ; " that is to say, to plant their tents around the modern Zion, where their traditions tell them that Christ will soon inaugurate his kingdom. Some of them land at New York, and go by rail as far as the banks of the Mis souri. Others disembark at New' Orleans, and ascend the 218 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. stream of the Mississippi as far as St. Louis, to plunge afterwards into the tracks which have been made by those who have preceded them over the vast prairies, deserts, and mountains which separate them from the Salt Lake. After a journey of four or five months through this im mense wilderness, where they have often to fight their way in the face of plundering tribes of Indians, they reach the bosom of the distant valleys for which they have so often sighed, and blend their hallelujahs with those of the brethren who have preceded them into the promised land. We have had the privilege of being present at one of those touching ceremonies which take place upon the ar rival of a batch of Mormon emigrants ; and though we had no part to take in these manifestations of fraternal joy, they produced upon us a charming impression. On these re markable occasions, the President advances to the centre of the square in which the pilgrims are encamped, and by a few feeling and electric words, pours a balm into their hearts, which banishes from their minds all traces of the fatigues and privations of their toUsome journey. A band of music also contributes to exhilarate them by its cheerful wel come. The residents mix with the new comers ; frequently they recognize one another as old acquaintances, and rush into each other's arms ; then follow questions and answers about the old country, about friends and brethren who have been left behind ; and when night comes, a common prayer is offered up in the public square, thousands of EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 219 voices are heard uniting in a hymn of thanksgiving, and they then separate ; next morning each of the emigrants is informed on what part of the Territory he is to locate his family. Almost the whole of the converts to Mormonism being drawn from the poorest classes, the difficulty which they must have in finding money for emigrating is obvious ; the persons therefore at the head of the missions, have devised a plan of assisting the indigent, by forming, as we have already mentioned in the second book, a bank for the spe cial service of the emigrants, under the name of The Per petual Emigrating Fund Company. Established in 1849, and officially approved the year foUowing by the " State of Deseret," this bank, which was intended only to be a chari table institution, and is in fact nothing else, had a very humble beginning ; but thanks to the contributions which poured in upon it from the beUevers in various countries, it soon got a considerable amount of capital, and was able to give effectual assistance to the emigrants. This institu tion still exists, and is operating in spite of the great mis chief done it by the state of war during these last few years. Tt procures for persons whose destitution renders it impossible to emigrate at their own expense, the means of going to the Salt Lake ; and whatever advances it makes, are repaid, after a period mutually agreed upon, whether in money or kind, or days of labour at a rate of wages, which is a matter of agreement between the parties. 220 FAITH AND AVORKS OF THE MORMONS. The Church has not confined itself to making emigration- possible to the poor ; it has also taken measures to secure to those who can emigrate at their own cost, the means of doing so in the most economical way. For this purpose it has established in all countries where there are missions, agents who organize the travelling companies, and have them conducted on the lowest possible terms by expe rienced guides as far as the Holy City, regulating every expense, and making wholesale purchases of everything required for the journey. By means of the good manage ment of its agents, the Church has often reduced the cost of the journey to a tenth of what it might otherwise have been, and moreover has, by compeUing the converts to go in large bands, been able to protect them from being way laid and plundered by the Indians. It is owing to this paternal care, which shows as much ability as integrity in the administrators, that the expense of a journey from Liverpool to Great Salt Lake City has been reduced to the astonishing minimum of £20 for each adult, and even sometimes so low as £10. To comprehend this extraordi nary cheapness, we must first take into account the in calculable advantages of association, and then be aware that wherever the emigrants stop to victual, they find mis sionaries who, aware of their coming, have so arranged everything as to avoid aU delay, and make any overcharge or extortion impossible. During the last few years, Brig ham Young, taking a hint no doubt from the example set EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 221 by an American who had come from St. Louis to California on foot, with his luggage and jjrovisions in a wheelbarrow, has organized convoys of emigrants, who travel with Ught trucks, which a man can easily draw, containing his pro visions and even his chUdren ; and this cheap means of traveUing has succeeded so well as to be preferred to the more costly use of waggons, which are constantly breaking down, and of animals dying of starvation on the way. Now it does appear to me that in this economical way of emi grating there is something weU worthy our admiration. It suggests that, with courage and goodwill, the very simplest expedients are sufficient to enable a man to accomplish the most difficult undertakings. Figure to yourself a band of these pious pUgrims, guided like the Magi of old by a new star which shines in the west, raising up the dust in the desert as with their own hands they are dragging along, for weeks and for months, their food, their clothes, and even the water required for their use, which this inhospitable wilderness denies them. You would suppose that such was the profound wretchedness by which they were enslaved on their native soil, as to have made it impossible for them to purchase the waggons and oxen necessary to transport them, with their wives, chUdren, and provisions, into the unknown valleys which attract them. And yet, departing without waggons, without beasts of draught, without beasts of burden, they reach for almost nothing, and just as quickly and with less trouble than if they had them, those 222 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. distant spots which the rich man can only attain after over coming a thousand difficulties at a most heavy cost. Such are the results of faith. Nor is it the expectation of being able to pass a contemplative and lazy life that aUures the Mormons to this distant place of exile ; they well know that they will have to gain their bread by the sweat of their brow, and that they must depend for the morrow on their la bour and the favour of Heaven. They are weU aware, too, that on these conditions only can they enjoy the privilege of worshipping their God in liberty, and that the field they cultivate can become their own. There is in this a sugges tion of which the Phalansterians, the Icarians, and other socialists might profit ; by summoning the rehgious senti ment to their aid, they would be saved the necessity of misattributing to the indifference of governments the little success which attends the application of their theories. Our Algerian colonists also might find in it a lesson of pluck worth their studying if they are anxious to attract the ca pital necessary to the prosperity of their colony. Labour is a force, the prolific results of which are certain, and this force, when guided by a persevering spirit, masters difficulties apparently the most insurmountable. The mar vels daily worked under our eyes by the Mormons, gave ample proof of the truth of this assertion. Tt wUl not be uninteresting to look a little behind us, and to follow the progressive steps of Mormon emigration through its different phases. As we have already stated EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 223 in the previous volume, the Mormon gospel was first preached in Europe in 1837. Three years afterwards, in 1840, the first company of emigrants, numbering about forty persons, left Liverpool on the 6th of June under the direction of the apostle Brigham Young, then president of the English mission. On the 7th of September of the same year, another vessel with two hundred emigrants left the same port for Kirtland and Nauvoo. Towards the spring of 1841 the departures became more frequent, so much so as to reach the number of seven hundred and fifty by the end of April. But here is a table which gives a summary of the emigration from the beginning up to this time. 1840 . 1841 . 1842. 1843 , 1844.1845 1846 1848,1849 18501851 , 1852 1853 1854 240 1855 4225 1135 1856 5000 1614 1857 2500 769 1858 50 623 1859 400 302 German emigrants up to 50 1854 50 755 Scandinavian emigrants 2078 up to 1854 .... 1003 1612 Single emigrants up to 1370 this time 1500 733 2312 Total up to the end of 2534 1859 30,854 There were thus thirty thousand eight hundred and fifty- 224 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. four persons at least, who left Europe to go and join the Saints in America. But in this number is not included those who have gone to Utah since the Exodus from Nau voo. The converts made in the United States, and princi pally at New York, proceed at once to the valleys of Zion ; and what their amount may be we do not at all know, neither can we form any estimate of the amount of the emigration from Cape Horri and California. It is easy to see, from the table we have just given, how much the American expedition to Utah obstructed the im migration in 1858 and 1859, as it also furnishes proof in the figures of 1855 and 1856 of the prosperity of the Church in those years. There is every reason to believe that emigration in 1860 wUl be so considerable as to be a partial set-off against the deficiency of the last few years. Agents in Liverpool and London are at this moment ac tively employed in making arrangements for the spring de parture, and the Church journals have been exhorting to emigration with a warmth and earnestness hitherto unex ampled ; they see in the present state of public affairs un questionable indications of a great European convulsion, and urge upon believers that they should lose no time in hastening to the people of God. Among the emigrants who arrived at the Salt Lake be tween 1850 and 1854, it is calculated that in every hun dred adults, there were four blacksmiths, six shoemakers, two bakers, six masons, three mechanics, seven farmers. EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 225 two gardeners, two carpenters, twenty-eight labouring men, fourteen miners, one mUler, two saUors, one painter, one potter, two sawyers, four tailors, two wheelwrights ; and in every two hundred, one printer, one shepherd, one domestic servant ; and in every five hundred one school master. We also find in every eleven thousand emigrants, in cluding men, women, and chUdren, during the same years, two graduates of universities, a dancing-master, a naval officer, a medical man, three watchmakers, six rnUitary men, and a dentist. From all this it is manifest that the increase of Mormonism is principally derived from the least favoured classes of European society. The emigrants, for the most part, are obscure artisans who swell the ranks of the Latter-day Saints, and people who have not the slightest tincture of even the commonest rudiments of education ; but nevertheless they are, it is fair to say, re spectable people, who are only searching comfort for their souls, and who perhaps might have been retained in their homes had they received a little more sympathy and atten tion from their religious guides. When we think of these unfortunate people thus lost to civilization, and of those which, in spite of the assertion that the time of the pro phets is past,* it has still to lose, it naturally occurs to us to regret that the work of propagating Christianity, now * It was Grimm who said, " The time of the prophets is passed away ; that of the dupes never will." VOL. II. Q 226 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. carried on amongst savage tribes always at great cost and often without success, should not rather address itself to the countries which are its birthplace, and thus attempt to prevent these lamentable desertions. Heaven forbid that I should attack this great and useful work of conversion, condemn the spirit in which it has been conceived, or un dervalue the merit of those who are its instruments ! No one can be more thoroughly convinced than I am, both of its importance and of the sublimity of its purpose. But it is precisely because this purpose is eminently one that con cerns the interests of mankind, because it is one of the greatest importance, and in all respects worthy of our sup port, that we are mortified and saddened at perceiving it fail either in consequence of narrow views or of some inex plicable blindness to facts. A Polynesian chief once said to me, "Your missionaries boast of bringing us a truth which up to this day has been the perquisite of your race ; but your saUors and the whites living amongst us con tradict this statement of your priests. Moreover, other whites, Europeans like yourselves, come and present us with what they caU the truth, but a very different one, and they say that yours is a lie. Which are we to believe ? I rather lean to your view, because you appear better in formed ; but why Send missionaries to us, who are nothing to you, before you have succeeded in getting your God acknowledged by all the men of your own race? You should surely first agree among yourselves, befofe you EDUCATION AND PROPAGANDISM. 227 come and attack our gods." My savage was in the right. In carrying the Gospel beyond seas, while we have around us so many people quite as ignorant as savages, and minds weak enough to embrace Mormonism, we imitate the fa ther of a family who should let his chUdren die of hunger, and go and divide his substance among the wayfarers on a pubhc highway. I do not mean to say that we ought entirely to give up these foreign missions ; but would it not be good policy, and is it not in fact our imperious duty, to share our bread with our nearest brothers, while at the same time exporting a small portion of it for the benefit of our distant cousins the cannibals ? Everywhere in our great cities, Paris, London, Naples, Rome, Geneva, New York, and in the heart of our provinces, have we not in tellectual savages as worthy of our attention as the Chinese, the Indians, the Abyssinians, the Kanakas ? Perhaps I shall be told that our fellow-countrymen refuse the food we set before them. But why not show the same persistency and use the same means of persuasion to which we have re course in our distant missions, and which, we are in a position to affirm, would have more success here than there ? Tf we look with so unmoved an eye on the igno rance at our own door, why be troubled at beholding our fellow-countrymen becoming converts to Mormonism, why pained at seeing them follow the rehgious banner they have adopted? For it must be acknowledged that Mormon con verts, — those whom Europe has sent to America, — far from 228 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. losing by the change, find advantages in their new moral and material position, which the gods of their forefathers and their own native soU have been unable to procure for them. 229 CHAPTER IV. THE TEEEITOEY OP UTAH. THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD.-^THE GOVERNMENT OF MEN. — LAWS OF UTAH. PENITENTIARY. ECCLESIASTICAL TRIBUNAL AND ITS EN CROACHMENTS. MANIFESTATIONS OF THE THEOCRATIC SPIRIT. THE MORMONS IN RELATION TO THE FEDEEAL GOVERNMENT. RESENTMENTS AND ASPIRATIONS OF THE SAINTS. — WAR IN THE FUTURE. WORDS OF PEACE. — GEOGRAPHY OF UTAH. — NATURE OF THE SOIL. CLIMATE. — ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS.- — MINERAL RE SOURCES. ZOOLOGY. — -AGRICULTURE. INDUSTRY. — COMMERCE. COIN. — SOBRIETY OF THE SAINTS. — LABOUR, FRATERNITY, AND PROSPERITY. The reUgious doctrine of the Mormons, which we have styled a coarse syncretism, unites itself, as wiU have been surmised, to a peculiar form of government. To direct the destinies and regulate the heterogeneous elements of a Church the necessary tendency of which is to form a dis tinct nation, the temporal power must necessarily be ab sorbed in the spiritual, and the authority which presents itself as divine must be naturally the governing power. If this authority be often brutalizing and always dangerous, 230 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. it is also, beyond "all question, the most powerful and im posing of any ; and this has been thoroughly comprehended by the founder of Mormonism, and by his successor. The government of the Mormons of Utah is neither more nor less than a genuine theocracy, in which the President of the Church is at one and the same time, in the name of God, king both of souls and bodies. This fusion of powers and their concentration in one person exists not only in theory but also in fact ; the faithful know and submit to it, and their catechism teaches them that the theocratic form is the only one that is reasonable, logical, natural, and possible.* There is no mistake about it, Brigham Young is at once king and sovereign pontiff. There is but one power in the world analogous to his : it is that of the successor of St. Peter. The only difference which, in this respect, distinguishes the Pope of Rome from him of the Salt Lake is, that the double attributes of the latter are very much less a matter of dispute among the Mormons, than those of the former are among the Catholics. At aU events, this institution, which has been borrowed by the Saints from the powerful organization of the Romish Church, need not surprise us when we call to mind that Joseph Smith paid this great religion the coinpUment of saying that it was the least removed from the truth, and the second in rank after his own. But what is really a matter of sur prise is, that men of intelligence should think themselves * See ' The Government of God,' by John Taylor. THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 231 warranted to conclude from this, that Mormonism is a sort of Roman Catholic Church in miniature, which wUl soon be absorbed in the greater. It is curious enough to see the absolute power of the Mormon President investing itself with democratic forms, as if to add a new force to its divine origin. Twice every year, on the 6th of AprU and the 6th of October, does the Prophet appear before his people, pre sent at a general meeting, and, without precisely resigning his sovereignty, put it to the vote whether or not his ap pointment is to continue. On these solemn occasions, when the wUl of the members of the Church is manifested by acclamation, it is understood, at least so it is affirmed, that every man has a right to criticize the pontiff"s administra tion. This form or custom is not one of the least of the oddities we are constantly meeting with in this singular society, and it appears to us to be all the less suitable inasmuch as the governing power is appointed for life, and, by thus offering itself occasionally for election, runs the risk of encountering an adverse decision. Nevertheless it is right to say, that up to this time there has always been a unanimous vote in its favour ; and it is not at all doubtful, that were Brigham to be instructed by a general vote, that he had lost the confidence of his people, he would not a whit the les3 cling to his power in the name of its divine origin, but would only consider a check of this kind as a censure, or rather as a hint which he might turn to his own profit. We are inchned to see, in this sham of a half-yearly 232 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. election, a tribute paid to the ancient usages of the primi tive Church, and to the principle of the sovereignty of the people universally admitted in the United States. Pos sibly the ruling power encourages it as a means of in creasing its own influence, or of subjugating or bambooz ling the unsteady and insubordinate masses, by concealing their chains under the cloak of universal suffrage. Out of Utah, the temporal power of the President of the Church is no longer binding on the faithful, just as it is with that of the Holy Father beyond the frontiers of the Pontifical States. The Mormons are expressly enjoined to conform to the laws of the country where they live, and to give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. To be con sistent, the Church of the Latter-day Saints, which recom mends obedience to the powers that be, ought also to bow before the American constitution, under whose sway the Territory actuaUy is in which it has taken up its quarters ; and this is precisely what it has done up to this time, to the exact extent that prudence dictates. The theocracy of Brigham, though but slightly disguised, is kept under by the dependent position of Utah as respects the United States. Hence it may be easily understood that it has not been able to give itself fuU swing, and that it is often com peUed to curb itself in political matters, in order to avoid exciting the just indignation of the federal government. It is thus, if not stifled, at all events much embarrassed in its desire to go ahead, by the circumspection it is obliged to THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 233 practise, owing to the sensitiveness of the United States' authorities; and is compelled to restrain its impatience to appear in its true colours so long as the people under its jurisdiction continue to form part of the great American confederation. In order better to appreciate its true posi tion at present, let us consider for a moment the federal institutions with which it comes in contact, and which ob struct it. The legal form of the government of Utah is the same as that of all the other Territories of the Union. The executive power resides in a Governor,* appointed by the President of the United States, and whose period of office, generaUy for four years, may be indefinitely prolonged by the same authority. The Governor is at the same time commander- in-chief of the mUitia and superintendent of Indian affairs. f The pay which he gets for these various functions amounts to 2500 dollars. Next after the executive comes the le gislative body, composed of an upper house consisting in 1855 of thirteen counciUors, and of a house of repre sentatives consisting of twenty-six members. The repre sentatives, as well as the counciUors, are elected by the * Brigham Young was appointed Governor of Utah at the time of the creation of the Territory, and held this post up to 1858. t The local government keeps up constant relations with the Indians, makes treaties of peace with them, fixes conjointly with them the indem nity due to them for encroachments on their property by the whites, as sists such tribes as are suiFeriug from want of food, makes presents to friendly or peacefully inclined Indians, represses marauding, and repels the attacks of hostile chiefs, etc. 234 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. white inhabitants who have attained the age of twenty-one. All the laws voted by the legislative assembly must receive the sanction of the Governor before they can be laid before the President of the United States, whose veto is final. The judicial body consists of a supreme court composed of a chief justice and two associate judges ; of three district courts, each presided over by a judge of the supreme court ; of a probate court, and of several justices of the peace. The three judges of the supreme court are appointed by the President of the United States, as well as the marshal, the attorney-general, and the secretary of state. Finally, the Territory sends a delegate, elected by universal suffrage, to the federal Congress. Though the laws of the United States take effect in Utah, as far at least as they are applicable to it, the legislative assembly, using the power vested in it, has made several local laws, and has moreover adopted, as far as it was avaU able, the constitution drawn up for the Provisional State of Deseret. This constitution contains eight articles, each divided into sections, referring to the legislative, executive, and judicial bodies, the elections, the militia, civil rights, etc. The legislative assembly meets once every year at the seat of government, which is at present FUlmore, in order to attend to the different concerns of the people, and of the country. A sworn shorthand writer reports the debates, and all the laws enacted are published yearly, and form part of the code of Utah. THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 235 Among the numerous provisions we find in this code, we instance the following as the most original and the most worthy of note. Murder is punished with death, and manslaughter with imprisonment either for life, or not less than ten years. He who kUls another in a duel is punished capitally ; if death should not ensue, the principals, the seconds, the surgeon, and aU persons present are sentenced to fines of from 400 to 1000 dollars, besides imprisonment for not less than one, and not more than three years. Forcible abduction and rape are punished by imprisonment varying from ten years to life. Simple seduction, if not followed by marriage, is punished by twenty years' impri sonment, and a fine of from 100 to 1000 dollars. Adul tery, which the ecclesiastical law punishes with death, is visited by the Territorial law with from three to twenty years' imprisonment, or a fine of from 100 to 1000 dollars. I'here can be no prosecutions for adultery except by the husband or wife. Whoever is accused and convicted of having kept a brothel, is subject to a fine of 500 doUars, and from one to ten years' imprisonment. Cruelty towards animals exposes the offender to a fine which must not ex ceed 100 doUars. Every holder as well as every purveyor of obscene books or drawings is liable to a fine which may amount to 400 dollars. Every person convicted of keeping a gaming-table may be fined 800 dollars and be imprisoned for a year. Persons found gambhng are liable to be fined as much as 300 dollars, and to imprisonment not exceeding 236 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. six months. Any one who commits arson is imprisoned for life if he has mahciously set fire to anything by night, or if by day, to twenty years' imprisonment. Every man is free to dispose of his property by will as he likes, with ex ception, however, of what is necessary to pay his debts, and of the homestead, which the law secures to his wife and fa raily. The dwelling-house occupied by the family at the time of his death cannot be seized for debt. When the de ceased dies without a wUl, his wife inherits the property, which at her death is equally divided among the children. The posthumous chUd of a man who has left a will inherits a share as if there had been no will. Tn the case of a man dying intestate, the property is divided into as many parts as there are mothers, and each of these parts is equally divided among the children of each mother at her death. Natural chUdren and their mothers, whether recognized or not by their fathers and paramours, inherit as if they were legitimate, when the Court has satisfactory evidence of the paternity. Parents inherit from their children who die unmarried and without issue ; but when the deceased leaves a wife, though without issue, she in herits his property on condition of her keeping his name. The husband inherits from his wife, and the wife from her husband. Property given by an intestate, by way of advancement, to an heir, is considered part of the estate, so far as regards the division and distribution thereof; but if such advancement exceeds the amount to which THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 237 he would be entitled, he cannot be required to refund any portion thereof.* The court of probate has jurisdiction in cases of divorce, which it is competent to grant irrespective of ecclesiastical law. Divorce can be obtained for impotence, adultery, desertion of the husband by the wife, or of the wife by the husband ; for remaining away for a year without any valid cause, for habitual drunkenness, for ill-treatment, etc. The court fixes the aUowance which it thinks proper to be made to the wife aud children for their maintenance, and becomes their legal guardian. Whoever endeavours to bring about a divorce in a family, is subject to fine and iraprisonraent at the court's discretion. Slaves coming into the Territory with their masters of their own free wUl, continue to be in all respects slaves, but cruelty and withholding of proper food, raiment, etc., makes the ownership void.f Every master or mistress who has carnal relations with his or her negro slave, for feits his or her right to the slave, who thereby becomes the property of the commonwealth. Every individual man or woman who has carnal relations with a negro or a negress who is not his or her property, is sentenced to imprison ment not exceeding three years, and to a fine of from 500 to 1000 dollars. We do not find any clause against bi- * Acts, Eesolutions, and Memorials of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah, pp. 149-154. t Ibid., ch. xvii. § 3. 238 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. garny, as indeed was not to be expected. Let us here finish our extracts with the observation that the greater part of the written laws of Utah are very good and judi cious. Some of them indeed indicate a high degree of civilization. Tt is but rarely, however, that the future views of the Church are reflected in them ; still, in order to turn them into a theocratic code, there would not be much to retrench ; and intercalations and additions would be an easy matter. Tt must not be disguised, moreover, that many of these laws are merely formal. They have much the air of a farthing thrown to a beggar by a mliser, partly to get rid of his importunity, partly to cut a decent figure before the world. It will only be when the federal government shall have raised Utah to the rank of a State, that the Saints wUl venture without reserve upon a system of legislation directly and really in harmony with their re ligious opinions. Then alone, when it is fairly at work, we shaU be able to acquire a just idea of the political system which they now keep back, and to determine its relations with the spiritual power. We look forward with great im patience to the time when this shall happen, not from a miserable desire of gratifying our curiosity, but from the hope and confidence that it wUl be the means of averting great calamities, and of submitting Mormonism to a deci sive test which wiU either fix the period of its decline, or bring about a radical reforra of its coarsest doctrines. The Territory possesses a penitentiary placed under the THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 239 care of three inspectors and a jaUer, who advance the sum of 5000 dollars as a guarantee for their good behaviour. This establishment is situated in the country about two miles to the south-east of Great Salt Lake City. It is in the shape of a square, with high waUs, in the centre of which are the dwelling-houses of the director and keepers, and the cells of the prisoners. These ceUs, to the number of seventeen, occupy the ground-floor of a central building, and are sunk a little under the surface of the soU; they are six feet long, four feet wide, and five feet and a half high. Above these ceUs there are smaU rooms, clean, and well lit, intended for prisoners not confined for criminal offences. For, independently of persons imprisoned for crimes of various degrees of culpability, young people of loose life are sent to the penitentiary, and made to undergo severe discipline before they are restored to society. At the period of our visit a bishop was at the head of the peni tentiary. At this time too there were only three prisoners in it, all Indians, one a sort of idiot, charged with theft; the two others suspected of having been concerned in the murder of Lieutenant Gunnison and his companions. The two last prisoners — one of whom, by permission, was ac companied by his wife, with a child at her breast, who had chosen to share his captivity — were allowed to walk the whole day in the interior of the fort, under the eye of the sentinels posted in the sentry-boxes at the four angles of the external enclosure. 240 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. We are bound to say, to the great praise of Mormon society, that criminal prosecutions are very rare in Utah, rarer certainly than in any other part of the world in a population of equal size ;* which proves, as we have already remarked, that the Saints are better than their reputation. The federal judges of the country have more than once as sured us that their functions were a sort of sinecure, so little were they caUed upon to act. This fact, weU worthy of remark, is to be accounted for in two ways ; first, by the morality of the people, to which we are always glad to bear evidence ; secondly, by the existence of a sort of domestic court, which we will now describe. In addition to the constitutional courts there exists, under the name of the Great CouncU, an ecclesiastical tribunal, the merabers of which are selected frora the body of high- priests, and which sits, at intervals more or less long, for the purpose of adjudicating, not merely on religious mat ters, but also on matters which in other places are brought before the civil courts. At every trial the members of the council divide themselves into two parts, one of which acts for the defendant, or, as the Mormons say, for mercy, and the other against him, or, as it is styled, for justice. The Saints assert that by means of this system they arrive more easily at the settlement of all matters in litigation. * It will be recollected that the perpetrators of the two robberies com mitted upon us during our stay in Great Salt Lake City were not persons belonging to the Mormon faith ; neither was Carlos Murray, the assassin of whom we spoke. THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 241 No one knows beforehand the members who will compose either of these groups; they are chosen by lot after the question to be decided is brought before the court. The court, by a special vote, fixes the number of merabers who are to speak for or against the defendant, and this num ber varies according to the gravity of the charge. The President of the Great Council, who is always its senior raember, gives his judgment as soon as the pleadings are over, and it is upon this judgment that the votes of the other merabers are taken. Almost always the President's judgment is unanimously confirraed ; but when there is not unanimity, the opposing members are called upon to give the reasons of their disagreement, and then the verdict is decided by the majority. The Great Council, so 'the Mor mons confess, is not regulated by special laws or technical terms, — I am using their own expressions, — but judges according to evidence and the plain justice of the case. Should the parties be dissatisfied with the judgment, they can appeal to the first Presidency, and in the last resort to the great serai-annual conference before the whole people. Up to this tirae it does not appear that there has been any instance of such an appeal. Of course this singular tribunal summons to its bar only citizens of Utah, known adherents to the new faith ; it does not arrogate to itself the right of interfering with the residents of any other faith. Instituted for a kind purpose, and in many respects praiseworthy, there is some VOL. II. R 242 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. risk of the Great CouncU giving rise to conflicts between different jurisdictions, inasmuch as it may overstep its proper limits, and encroach on the prerogatives of other constituted bodies. This indeed is a tendency which it has often shown, and which has more than once led to serious disputes with the legally established judiciary. By intruding into causes exclusively civil, the Great Council has more than once raised a storra and given rise to jus tifiable protests on the part of the federal judges. Among the causes which induced the American expedition, the interference we have just noticed was a principal one. This domestic court, perfectly admissible as far as religious matters are concerned, constitutes an offence and a revolt against the institutions of the United States the moment it obtrudes itself into criminal and civil causes in order to nuUify the action of the regular courts. Some cases have been spoken of in wbich individuals, accused of various offences, have been withdrawn frora the regular course of justice by the arbitrary proceedings of the ecclesiastical court. For our part, we know that these encroachments exist, and we acknowledge it does not appear to us pos sible to avoid or prevent them in the actual state of things. Another abuse pointed out to us, which we have not much difficulty in admitting, is that the President of the Great CouncU, whose business it is to report the verdict of the jury, is influenced and often even advised by the President of the Church, before delivering his judgment. THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 243 We can hardly fail to see in the fact of this tribunal, so evidently irregular in a constitutional point of view, a more or less reserved manifestation of the theocratic tendency so conspicuous in the Mormon institutions. And this is not the only symptom we could point out of a bias to lift the spiritual above the temporal. We see in the code of Utah* two paragraphs in the law regulating elections which ap pear to us dictated by a similar despotic spirit. They de serve to be quoted : — " Section 5. Each elector wUl provide himself with a ticket containing the names of the candidates for whom he votes, and mentioning the offices he would have thera fill ; and present this ticket, properly folded, to the judge of the election, who shall nuraber and deposit it in the baUot-box. The clerk shall then write the name of the elector, and opposite it the number of his vote. — Sec tion 6. At the close of the election the judge shaU seal up the baUot-box and the list of the names of the electors, and transmit the same, without delay, to the county clerk." The 7th paragraph is perhaps still more significant, inas much as it is there stated in so many words, that after the votes have been counted, the tickets and lists must be inde finitely preserved. It is certain that if these expedients be useful for avoiding fraud, they also may serve admirably well for securing the submission of the faithful by a hint in time proceeding from the Church as to how it is desirable the elector should vote. Tt is obvious how easily, by a skilful * Ibid., ch. xlvii. R 2 244 FAITH AND AVORKS OF THE MORMONS. use of these arrangements, Brigham Young can, while ostensibly submitting to the American Constitution, really elude the laws, monopolize all power to his own benefit, and establish a real theocratic or at least absolute government. As respects the Great Council, it is manifest enough, from the very nature of its composition, that it may at any tirae becorae a docUe and servUe instrument in the hands of the Prophet. And this is precisely what has been a matter of complaint on several occasions. Such a state of things will certainly be thought deserving of the severest censure ; but we must not take an exaggerated view of the consequences, nor lose sight of the exceptional position of Utah, where the whole population is ranged under the same political and rehgious banner. The evU would be much more serious, and require an energetic re medy, did the Territory include amongst its inhabitants a considerable minority of citizens not belonging to the pre vaUing faith ; but such is not the case,* and even, reason ing upon the supposition of the minority being a consider able one, the abuse we aUude to must, so it seems to us, be impossible of correction, since the majority would always vote as one man according to the wishes of their pontiff. But, be this as it raay, it cannot be denied that, in spite of the singularity of the Morraon system, there is generally in Utah a sound administration of justice, and severity rather than over-leniency. In fact, however justiy we may accuse * In 1855 there were not two hundred citizens who were not Mormonites. THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 245 the Saints of a mania for having their own tribunals, they cannot reasonably be reproached with confounding the dis tinction between just and unjust, nor with abolishing that temporal sanction which the law receives in all civilized societies. I am very much inclined to think that whUe aiming at this self-government as the natural consequence of their principles, the Mormons may also mean, when they thus adroitly put aside the magistrates whom the federal autho rity imposes upon them, to protest against the injustice which has been done them by refusing to raise their Terri tory to the rank of a State. They feel, and it is quite na tural they should do so, a very acute regret at this, since they look on this change, not less ardently desired than it was reasonably expected, as the era of that liberty they re quire for the reahzation of their projects. The admission of Utah among the States of tbe Union is unquestionably a very serious question, and it is quite intelligible why Con gress should hesitate to settle it in a way to meet the views of the Mormons. StiU, there is reason to think that there is unnecessary alarm at the consequences of a liberahty which, in reality, is nothing but justice. Better informed and less influenced by the advice of religious coteries, and the pusillanimous or narrow ideas of party spirit. Congress ^would have long since, it seems to us, granted the Mormons the enjoyraent of a right, the claim to which they rest on the very letter of the Constitution. By doing so it would 246 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. have, in the first place, shown respect for this noble work of the illustrious Washington ; in the second place, put a brand upon persecution ; and, finally, in some degree broken the chains which retain the dupes of Utah within the embrace of a fanaticisra nourished or rekindled by the sight of its wounds and its raanacles. Liberty destroys societies which are bad ; if Mormonism resists this test, it will be because it has made itself good, and wiU then be as little dangerous to the Union as to the rest of the world. Cahfornia, at its outset, was certainly not as moral as Utah is at this day, and God only knows of what elements its population was partly composed ! Nevertheless, its admission to the rank of a State has not prevented it from increasing and developing itself, to the honour of the American Union ; and, in spite of the calumnies which are stUl current respecting it, Cali fornia is a large, fine, and noble State, in which the good far exceeds the bad, a country whioh may be advantageously contrasted with others which have escaped the attacks of criticism as comraonplace as unraerited. Why would it be more dangerous to recognize the self-government of Utah ? Is there any reason to fear that Utah would not be able to govern itself, and so be changed into a vast pandemonium ? For our part, we are of opinion that the Mormons have been sufficiently decried to make them anxious to give their enemies the he in the most emphatic manner the moment the opportunity is afforded. Poly gamy appears to be the great obstacle to the official re- THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 247 cognition of the right they claim. Congress, as is very natural, hesitates to admit the polygamist State into the Union. But the evU exists ; it cannot be extinguished by the present policy, nor can the title of State contribute to its increase, since, as everybody is aware, it is not poly gamy which attracts people to Mormonisra. Is it right then, on account of a religious practice which is thought objectionable, to refuse the Morraons the justice that is due to thera ? Polygamy is not a crime in Utah, since there is no law there which condemns it ; neither is it any more a crime in the eyes of the federal constitution, seeing it is a religious dogma, and that this constitution proclaims and recognizes liberty of worship to the fullest extent. Poly gamy is however an evil ; but this evil exists only and can exist only in Utah, where it is practised voluntarUy and freely, as a Divine ordinance, by the iraraense majority of the population. It has been proposed, as a means of over throwing that hydra-headed monster, the plurality of wives, to give one part of Utah to California, and another part to Oregon. Yery good ; these States have existing laws against polygamy, consequently its practice would be un lawful there. But what would happen? Instead of a legal polygamy, we should have concubinage spreading on a vast scale, and occasioning much greater and more serious^ dangers. A suggestion' has been even made to add an article to the constitution prohibiting polygamy; this re medy would be worse than the disease, inasmuch as it 248 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. would sap the basis of this very constitution, and strike a se rious blow at religious liberty. The best thing would be to leave the Mormons at peace in their desert, giving them the satisfaction of governing theraselves according to their own laws. Society in general would not be injured by it, and, we repeat, either the Morraons would destroy each other, or else they would live happily together, and in a condition which, however open to suspicion from us, would not for this be the less moral and conformable to the com mandments of their gods. The Mormons, at least as far as we are aware, have com- mitted no open act of disloyalty against the United States ; their leader, moreover, is too able and too prudent to ex pose thera to the terrible consequences which would be its results. Every year, on the 4th of July, the anniver sary of American Independence, they publicly manifest their fealty to the Union by the manner in which they cele brate the day. I do not raean to say, however, that they have any great love for the paternal government of the Union, and the latter, after a little self-examination, wiU not find in its conscience any very strong reasons for ex pecting much in this way. For our part we think the Morraons have been a good deal misraanaged. Our impres sion is, they continue to show an attachment beyond what might reasonably be expected, and we easily comprehend that after the repeated annoyances which they but too well remember, and after the refusals over and over again made THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 249 to their just demands, they may have indulged and che rished the desire of absolute independence, a desire indeed which naturally foUows from the nature of their faith. Hence it is no matter of surprise to us that Brigham Young, in a speech of August 31st, 1856, should have ex pressed himself in these terras : — " I say that as certainly as the Lord lived, we wiU become a sovereign State in the Union, if not an independent nation by ourselves ; and let thera drive us from here if they can. They cannot. . . . I am stUl governor, to the great regret of ray enemies. . . . Twenty-six years wUl not pass away before the elders of this Church wUl be also considered as kings on their thrones."* Tt would be certainly puerile to feel any appre hensions with respect to these prophecies ; but they enable us to comprehend the extent to which disappointment has in fluenced the views and excited the ambition of the Mor mons. They have been refused compensation and the rank of a State ; the result is they take the affair into their own hands, and aspire to a liberty still greater than that which at first would have satisfied and even delighted thera. In the position of a State, their theocracy would have been restrained within certain liraits ; in the kingdom which they now think of founding, insanely, I admit, Brigham wUl be their king ; already is he to them something like a king, and even somewhat more. Let us listen to KimbaU, * ' Deseret News' of the 17th of September, 1856, p. 220, col. 2. This sermon is one of the most curious and diffuse that Brigham ever delivered. 250 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. in his sermon on the 21st of September, 1856 : — "I have often said that the word of our leader and prophet is the word of God to his people. We cannot see God, we can not speak with him, but he has given us a man with whom we can speak, and through whom we can khow his wiU just as weU as if God were present in the midst of us. I no more fear to deliver myself into the hands of this man as regards ray salvation, than I should fear to confide in the Alraighty. He wiU lead me right, if I will do in all things and under all circumstances as he tells me." An other personage, occupying as high a position among the dignitaries of the Church, said, from the pulpit, in the month of December 1856, that no one could enter into the kingdom of God without passing through Brigham Young and his brethren. The people share this high and profound respect for Brigham, and bow before his wiU as. before that of God himself. Brigham, on his side, full of confidence in the prophecies of Joseph Smith, believes and teaches that the United States will be swept away, towards 1890 at latest, in order to make way for God's govern ment ; and that the modern Zion will be built in Jackson county, where " our Father and our God planted the first garden on this earth, and where the New Jerusalem will come to when it comes down from heaven."* Prayers are * We here give some extracts from a discourse of Brigham Young's at the October conference of 1859 : — " God, the father of our spirits, was once a man Hke any one of us, but he is now an exalted being. . . . All sects and fractions of Christianity have some truth in them, and it is the business of THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 251 even offered up for the accomplishment of this end. We find one in the 'Deseret News' which ends thus: — " May we be able to accomplish the great work that Thou hast begun by thy servant Joseph ; may we triumph over perverse nations ! May Zion become the seat of the go vernment of the universe ! raay the law of God extend and propagate itself, and the sceptre of righteousness wave over this great world ! " Mad as these expectations may be, they are nevertheless cherished by the mass of believers, and are every day sti mulated by the remembrance of the wrongs done to their rights as American citizens, and by the impediments op posed to their desire for legal independence. Nothing cer tainly is further frora my wish than to increase the distrust of the federal government; but truth and ray convictions compel me to say, that one must be blind not to see that aU the efforts of the Mormon society tend, as I have al ready observed, to the formation of a separate and distinct the elders of Israel to get together all the truth which there is in the world and to bring it to Zion. . . . The atmosphere is full of life. . . . No matter what the world may say, no one will be permitted to enter into the kingdom of Heaven without a certificate from Joseph Smith, Jun., who win soon be here dictating plans for the redemption of those who now per secute us. . . . God has created all nations of one blood, blacks, whites, red men ; and the curse will remain upon the descendants of Cain until all the families of the earth have received aU the ordinances of the house of God." At the same conference Eimball said, " God wUl complete this work where he began it, and that will be in Jackson county, Missouri, because it is there he planted the garden of Eden, and all the powers of evU conspiring together cannot prevent it." 252 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. nation, and that it finds pleasure in looking forward to its complete ascendency over the world at some future period. In all this the American government ought not to see either treason or conspiracy. For these Utopian expecta tions are really nothing more than the expression of a blind faith in the Old Testaraent, and in the Mormon Bible. Joseph Smith had the ambition, and, for a moment, the hope of raising himself to the highest post in the Re public, and of propagating his doctrine frora the erainence of the presidential chair. His successor naturally must inherit his ambition, with the obligation of pushing it stUl further. God who reigns over hira cannot but speak to hini as of old he spoke to the Jews, to proraise him the empire of the world. By refusing thera their legal inde pendence, the Mormons have been urged on to desire more ardently and impatiently than ever the acquisition of their ' entire liberty. And what can be more natural? Does' not injustice give a spur to resentment ? As long ago as the 15th of August, 1852, Brigham Young said, "Be not alarmed, gentiemen, if I teU you that a great temple wiU be buUt at the central point in Jackson county. Be not astonished at this, for if we do not ourselves return to this country, our sons and our daughters wiU return there. A great temple will be built on the sacred spot, and many others besides. The land of Joseph is the land of Zion, and the north and south of America form the land of Joseph." THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 253 These reveries, or, it may be, menaces, need not disturb the peace of the world ; and nevertheless there can be no doubt that the Morraons are doing all they can to bring about their fulfilment. Joseph Smith hoped, by devising polygamy, to increase his army more rapidly ; and now the Saints in their turn, by practising it, expect more qiiickly to fill the ranks of the soldiers of God. The admission of their Territory to the rank of a State, would have calmed and contented thera ; but now they wUl feel themselves compelled to achieve by force of arms the' independence they cannot obtain by lawful means. And we must bear it well iu mind, that the position of a sovereign State or separate nationahty is what the Mormons are positively determined to have. There is no middle course. When they are completely tired out of expecting from the federal Congress what it does not appear at all disposed to grant, they will essay to secure their independence in every pos sible way, even by war. The result of such a war, were it to occur, can hardly be doubtful ; but would it not be better to prevent such a contingency by a generous return to a liberal and prudent policy ? For the fact must not be overlooked : few as they raay be in numbers, the Mormons would stiU be strong enough to maintain a contest with the United States for some tirae ; and how rauch blood would be thus wantonly spilt! I do not reraeraber to have ever had a conversation of any length with the Mor mons, without having reason to suppose that they were all 254 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. harbouring the sarae extravagant d:esigns. They cherish the hope dearest to their heart, that is to reconquer the territory of which they were dispossessed on the banks of the Missouri. They do not calculate solely on the aid of Jehovah to help them to recover their possessions; they feel they must make use of all available means, and mean- whUe they do not remain in a state of idle expectation. It is under the influence of these views that they are all the more disposed to back the generous and paternal policy pursued by their pontiff with respect to the surrounding Indians, a policy frequently treated as weak and humi liating by those who are not of the faith, but which answers their purposes admirably well, and which, by the bye, would be also the best, were it everywhere pursued, as well as the raost reasonable and the least costly. The Morraons think with great reason that, for the welfare of their colony, it is best to live in peace with the savages, by treating them as spoilt chUdren ; and, moreover, they foresee that from kind treatment of the numerous warlike tribes which people the interior of the continent, they will derive advantage and succour whenever the moment shall arrive for their com mencing hostUities. What seems up to this day to justify their anticipations on this point is, that the Indians, noting the contrast between this policy, and the very different treatment they receive from the Araericans, but very rarely molest the Mormons ; and to such an extent do they carry their goodwUl, that the mere fact of a man being one of THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 255 Brighara's disciples has been a passport amid hordes of savages let loose against the whites. Strong in this im plied aUiance, depending also upon the justice of their cause, and calculating on the intestine divisions which threaten to weaken the strength of the Union by breaking the ties which bind the different States together, the Mor mons develop their resources in silence,* prepare their means of action, and watch for a favourable opportunity. They consider it an indispensable obhgation on each man to possess arms, and to learn how to use them. They as semble once a week for the purpose of driU, and for the sake of learning to manoeuvre. During our stay at Salt Lake City, when we saw these soldiers of the desert flock ing towards the public square, steeled by aU sorts of vi cissitudes, inured to the hardships of a precarious and often savage life, covered with rags, arraed with revol vers, their eye bright, their frames powerful and sinewy ; when we saw these men, under the command of a general in tatters, execute the most complicated evolutions with precision, we could not help thinking that these soldiers of * On the 26th April, 1843, Joseph Smith said : — " I prophesy, in the name of the Lord God, that the commencement of the difficulties which wdl cause much bloodshed previous to the coming of the Son of Man, wUl be in South Carolina (it may probably arise through the slave question) ; this a voice declared to me while I was praying earnestly on the subject, December 25th, 1832. I was once praying very earnestly to know the time of the coming of the Son of Man, when I heard a voice repeat the following : — ' Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years old, thou shalt see th'e face of the Son of Man; therefore let this suffice.'" — Smith's Autobiography. 256 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. the Prophet would to a certainty rout double their number. Though kept continually at them, these exercises occasion but a trifling waste of time ; nor is the Church put to a farthing expense for the maintenance of this force. But there is no reason why these costless soldiers should not compose formidable regiments. Conceive what they would be able to do as sharpshooters in the deserts and in the mountain defiles, against harassed troops despatched at great expense to meet them. No doubt, in the long-run, they must yield to numbers, but in the meantime, they would inflict upon the United States very deep and serious wounds. And who will venture to affirm that the Saints might not come triumphant out of the contest ? Ts it any thing unusual to see unexpected effects produced by appa rently inadequate causes ? Fanaticism works miracles, faith moves mountains, perseverance overcomes the most obstruc tive impediraents, chance frequently favours the most ill-di gested enterprises ; it is quite possible that a war in the so- Utudes of Utah might resemble another Russian campaign. Free as we are, by our position, from all spirit of sect or party, we wiUingly confine ourselves to the exclusively pohtical aspect of the question, just as it should be con sidered by the American legislators ; and, if we may be permitted to do so, we say to the members of the federal Congress, with the respectful deference due from a fo reigner, but also with the frankness of an independent traveller, " You are the representatives of the people. THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 257 whose duty it is to preserve the integrity of the constitu tion, and to watch over the destinies of the greatest re public that ever existed. Take counsel neither of fear nor of prejudice. Suffer yourselves to be guided by a feeling of justice, by respect for liberty, by that passion for pro gress which distinguishes your nation. You are great, you are strong. Be generous and just ; decide that the Territory of Utah shaU become the State of Deseret. Thus you wiU tranquilhze the Mormons, extinguish hatred, drive away discord, avoid civil war, and bind them to your great re public; thus, too, you wiU chill their ardour for prosely- tism. Left to themselves, without molestation, without ex ternal disquietude, as well as without internal causes of irritation, they will cease to be to you a danger and an embarrassment, or else they wUl infringe your fundamen tal laws, in which case you can suppress their plots with those legal weapons, which now, by their dexterity and the decidedly false position you at present occupy, you are prevented frora employing. To suffer thera peacefully to fertUize a country they have wrested frora nature, have transformed, and, as it were, created, is not this a policy which a sense of gratitude should dictate to a magnani mous government ? On your boundless territories, where there is room for more than four hundred raUhons of raen, every eraigrant who joins you is a treasure fallen from the sky. The Morraons are your raost precious emigrants, since they tiU your least fertUe fields. Receive them as a VOL. II. s 258 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. godsend. Regard thera as instruments which Providence, in its admirable economy, sends you, to bridge over your deserts from one shore to another, and to bind together your possessions in the east and in the west. Without them, what would Utah be? What association of people in the wide world would venture to affirm they would do in Utah what has been doing there for the last twelve Utah takes its name frora one of the Indian tribes which live around the Salt Lake. Before its occupation by the Mormons, it made part of what was called Upper Cali fornia, and belonged to the Mexicans, who ceded it to the United States in 1848, by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidal go. The Morraons first gave it the narae of Deseret (Land of the Bee, in the language of the Prophet), and it was not until after its being forraed into a Territory that it received the narae of Utah. It is bounded on the north by Oregon, on the east by the Rocky Mountains, which separate it from the Territories of Nebraska, Kansas, and New Mexico; on the south by New Mexico, and on the west by Cali fornia. It extends from the 37° to the 42° of north lati tude, and from the 108° to the 122° of west longitude from the meridian of Paris ; thus occupying an area rather less than that of France. This vast region is formed by an iraraense plateau, to which geographers have given the name of the Great Basin, and which is here and there bristled with mountains, the general direction of which is THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 259 from north to south. The average elevation of the plateau varies from about 3600 to 4200 feet above the level of the sea. The rivers, few in nuraber, which take their rise in the Great Basin and water it, disappear after a longer or shorter course, without ever reaching the ocean. The al most invariable levelness of the great central plateau, and the saline nature of the surface throughout nearly its whole extent, seem to prove that the Salt Lake, now confined within limits comparatively narrow, formerly spread over the whole plain, and formed a vast inland sea. The Wah- satch Mountains, which are in the eastern part of Utah, and the Humboldt range, which occupies nearly the centre of the basin, rise occasionaUy high enough to have their suraraits covered with perpetual snow. To the west and east of the plateau are to be found lakes of various sizes. Iraraense barren plains, now stretching out of sight, now bordered in the distance by lines of rocky or sandy hiUs, constitute genuine deserts, where the eye is painfully dazzled by the glitter of layers of salt or alkah, and where it sees nothing else but here and there a few raiserable dried-up or dying plants. In the raidst of the moun tains, the narrower valleys give signs of vegetation and even of fertUity. Sometimes, too, pasturage is to be found here and there on the banks of rivers, of very poor qua lity indeed, but all the more precious for being so scarce. Certain vaUeys, however, particulariy those formed by the Wahsatch, are covered with an abundant verdure, and ap- s 2 260 FAITH AND WOTlKS OF THE MORMONS. pear fit for cultivation. Tn a word, the general aspect of the country is that of an arid ungrateful soU, unsuited to the habitation of man. Before the arrival of the Mormons, Utah was inhabited solely by nomad tribes that are to be seen wandering about to this day. The little that was known of this country was derived from the accounts of some Canadian trappers,* who had occasionally visited it for the purpose of kiUing beavers, martens, and other animals whose furs are in request. These trappers were correct in describing the country as being unfit for cultivation ; and nothing short of the irrepressible energy of the Mormons, stimulated by incessant persecutions, could have forced the most barren corners of this iraraense desert to produce substances in dispensable to raan's sustenance. In the midst of this desolate and as it were uninhabitable region, the valley of the Great Salt Lake and some other adjacent valleys ap pear to be the best adapted to the production of cereals. It is there the Morraons made their first attempt at set tling, stretching themselves afterwards to those spots which seemed at all capable of culture, by little and little, as the successive batches of emigrants arrived. Drinkable water is almost everywhere scanty in the plains, and rain never faUs during the sowing season. It was therefore * There is still to be seen, in a naturally-formed cave in the mountains about the Salt Lake, an inscription in French almost obliterated, but in it the name of " Lecarne, 17 . . ." is stiU legible. THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 201 necessary to dig trenches in order to bring water from the mountains, and to irrigate the land after having rid it of the layer of salt which covered its surface. This severe toil, in a country which could be reached only with a scanty stock of provisions, was all the more admirable, and required so inuch the more moral courage, inasmuch as there was every reason to fear that it would prove fruit less, and that the settiers would be obliged to abandon the enterprise after simultaneously exhausting their energy and their food. If the soU presented few advantages, the climate, on the other hand, exhibited itself in a much more attractive and cheering aspect. The air in Utah is healthy, and the sky, almost always bright and blue, has a depth and distance hardly to be conceived by those who have seen nothing brighter than Italian skies. We breathe with pleasure in the midst of this unpromising region, and though the eye is never gratified by the sight of rich vegetation, it has a pleasure of a different kind in following the ceaseless play of the sunshine as it colours with a thousand varie gated tints the stern outlines of the plains and hiUs. In this delightful atraosphere, in these plains stretching away as it were into space, the mirage is perpetually exhibiting its inimitable, indescribable, and ever-varying pictures, which completely absorb and rivet you with admiration. The constant reappearance of this phenomenon has the effect of leaving a lasting as well as singular irapression 262 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. on the mind, which becomes fiUed with a haziness akin to the images which affect it, and tinged with a soft me lancholy very far from disagreeable. In this country of mirages the temperature is not so severe as the elevation would give reason to suppose.* Winter does not begin untU the middle of November, and ends with the month of March. The thermometer rarely descends lower than 18°, and never remains long at that point; fogs are almost unknown. The mountains are every year covered with snow many feet in depth. On the plains itself snow fre quently falls, but in no great quantities, and does not lie long. Tn sumraer the heat is soraetiraes considerable, as rauch as frora 33° to 41° centigrade at raid-day ; stiU it causes no inconvenience, because the air is cooled, both morning and evening, by the raountain breezes. Sowing takes place from April to June, and the harvesting begins about the 4th of July. The spring and autumn are very mild, in spite of the sudden changes and variable winds usual at this season. Though violent thunder and haU storms oc cur occasionally, it may be accurately asserted that no rain faUs between AprU and October. Such, in a few words, are the general and distinguishing features of the country, until lately quite unknown, where the Mormons have taken up their quarters, and where they have to wrestle incessantly with the niggardliness of the soil. Among the severest of their visitations they reckon * See Note XXII. at the end of the volume. THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 263 the drought and the locusts, two terrible scourges, not unfrequently occasioning scarcity and even famine. Vast as their territory is, it is not thought capable of sustaining more than two millions of inhabitants. They have dug canals, laid out roads, bridged over rivers, works which have remarkably altered the original aspect of the country; and they pursue their colonizing labours with an energy which seems to prove that the efforts they have made up to this day, far frora discouraging thera, have On the con trary given thera reason to persist in their occupation of the desert. The Territory of Utah was at first divided into twelve counties, to which several others have been successively added as the wants of the colony required. A regular postal service has been established, connecting Great Salt Lake City and the interior of the country with Cali fornia on the one side, and the western States on the other. After being carried for a long whUe on pack-raules, the raaU to the United States is now forwarded by raeans of Ught waggons. During the recent occupation by the Americans, there was a weekly post to St. Louis, before which it was only once a month. The service, it may be' easUy understood, is not always effected without difficulty. In 1855, in consequence of obstructions caused by Indians in the course of this long route, there was sometimes an interval of three months before the arrival of the mails from New York, Boston, etc. 264 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. The civil administration of Great Salt Lake City is represented by a mayor, four aldermen, and nineteen com mon councillors, who are at the same time justices of peace. These municipal officers are elected by the citizens of white race of more than eighteen years of age, and who have resided in the city at least sixty days before the elec tion. The administration of the other cities of the interior is organized in the same way. Considered from the ecclesi astical point of view. Great Salt Lake City is regarded by the Mormons as a stake of Zion, as the modern Jerusalem, the new Rome, and the seat of the earliest presidency of the Church of the Latter-day Saints, so to remain untU it be transfered to Missouri, where, according to prophecy, it will be set up as soon as the MiUenniura arrives. Each quarter of the city is under the care of a bishop, assisted by two councillors. We will not repeat what we have said on this subject at the end of the first book, and at the beginning of this one. The mineral resources of Utah are not without their im portance. It is certain that there is gold in the western part of the Territory, principally in the valley of Carson, and even more towards the interior of the country ; but, as we have already had occasion to remark, this metal is not in rauch request among the Saints. Coal and iron abound in Iron county ; unfortunately, these elements of real wealth are at this day too costly from want of the meaiis of trans port. At the time of our visit, a ton of coal, delivered at THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 265 Great Salt Lake City, cost thirty doUars. Silver and lead are found in the neighbourhood of Las Vegas. There is also sulphur, alum, borax, carbonate of soda, and beds of saltpetre. We have ourselves observed small rubies and garnets in abundance on the banks of tbe Humboldt river. A sort of plaster-of-Paris is met with, and quarries have been dug out in the mountains from which is got exceUent stone of various descriptions, for buUding, and among thera a granite that is much prized. Tn many places are to be found beds of sand and chalk. Tn the vicinity of the Salt Lake there is calcareous soil, from which a considerable araount of fossils has been obtained, especially of cyathi- formed corals. Ferruginous springs have been discovered in several places. It is needless to speak of the salt which abounds everywhere. Very near Great Salt Lake City, towards the north, are found hot springs, which have been brought to the city, and are made use of for sulphur baths. One of these springs, the furthest from the city, but separated by a very shght distance from the others, issues sraoking frora a hole in the rock, filling a natural reservoir of a con siderable depth, frora which it afterwards flows as a little rivulet, and finds its way into the Great Salt Lake. Our thermometer, imraersed in the hottest part of the reser voir, marked 55° centigrade. The roof -and the sides of the grotto whence these waters flow are covered with saline stalactites, friable and excessively light, the frac- 266 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. tures of which resemble those of large fossil bones. The Church has turned this reservoir of warra water to ac count by using it in adrainistering absolution, or baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. The cereraony thus celebrated in this vapour-bath generally takes place in the raorning. The greater part of the indigenous aniraals are few, whether as individuals or species, which is to be attributed less to the barrenness of the soil, than to the hunting- parties of trappers and Indians. The bison, as we men tioned above, is no longer found to the west of the Rocky Mountains, and the beaver has almost entirely disappeared. Small herds of antelopes {A. furcifer) are to be found in the mountain districts, as well as the American eland {Ger- vHs canadensis^, the Virginian deer, the black- taUed deer {C. Lewisii), the black and grisly bear, together with an other much smaller species. The mountain sheep {Ovis montana) has becorae scarce, as well as a carnivorous ani- raal known to the Araericans under the rauch too indefinite name of panther. Foxes, wolves, wolverines {Gulo luscus), are common in the deserts at the foot of hills. The ra coon {Procyon lotor) and the musk-rat {Fiber zibethintts) are often seen on the banks of rivers. Hares are in plenty wherever there is pasturage. Of birds, there are several species of -grouse {Bonasia, Tetrao), a sort of pigeon, partridges, eagles, large crows, owls, and curlews. On the banks of the lakes are seen geese, very many kinds of THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 207 ducks, pelicans, herons, gulls {Larus), large cranes, water- hens (Ballus), and plovers. Nor is there any lack of spar rows on the watercourses and in the thickets. Of reptiles, there are to be found flat- shaped lizards in abundance, and also the rattlesnake. In Lake Utah there is salmon -trout with yellowish flesh, weighing as much as thirty pounds ; there are also perch, suckers, pike, rock-fish or striped bass, and bull-heads. Fish is scarcer in the watercourses and altogether wanting in the salt lakes. Though vegetation is very poor in Utah,* it is never theless upon tillage that the Mormons principally depend for their food. They have established a National Society of Agriculture, for the purpose of diffusing knowledge of the best processes of cultivation, of encouraging experi ments, and of giving prizes for the best farming. They have introduced the ox, tbe horse, the mule, the ass ; also sheep, goats, swine, poultry, turkeys ; all which aniraals succeed remarkably well. To some plants, the roots of which are used by the natives for food, such as the yampa {Anethum graveolens), the cam ash {Camassia esculentd), the kuia {Valeriana edulis), the thistle {Cirsium. virginianum), they have added wheat, rye, barley, oats, buck-wheat, maize, beet-root, beans, peas, pumpkins, melons, pompions, water- * There are scarcely any trees in the country, and the underwood to be met with, generaUy growing in the least accessible parts of the mountains, is consequently very costly to procure. Besides, the country wUl be soon cleared, whereby it is to be feared that the dryness of the climate wUl be increased. 268 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. melons, cabbages, carrots, radishes, and various fruit-trees, such as peaches, apricots, pears, plums, cherries, currants, and even vines. In 1856, an apple called the mountain chief was grown, weighing eight ounces, measuring ten inches round in one direction, and ten and a half in the other. A peach also was grown of the same weight, measuring nine inches by nine and a half. The cultivation of cotton has also succeeded, as well as that of flax and hemp. In 1853 an acre of land produced twenty-seven bushels of flax-seed, and five hundred pounds of fibre. They have introduced the Chinese sugar-cane, which up to this time has made a satisfactory yield. Hops are cultivated on a small scale in the mountains, for the purpose of making beer. Beet-root, which succeeds very well, is sold at from a dollar to a doUar and a half the bushel. The Morraons do not give their attention to agricul ture exclusively. They are engaged in several kinds of industry, and it is impossible not to be surprised at the progress they have made in so short a time. They possess several mUls for manufacturing beet-root and cane sugar, tan-yards, carding-machines, iron, bronze, and lead foun dries, in which, amongst other things, they make stoves, kitchen-ranges, and printing-types. They have numerous saw-miUs and corn-miUs worked by steam. They make paper and pasteboard. They have potteries, which furnish them with all the crockery they require. They manufacture cloth, flannel, blankets, shawls, and carpets. They have THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 269 small breweries, where they make a very light and whole some beer; also several licensed distilleries for making whisky. Some years since they raade a sort of rum frora molasses and green tea, which they sold at eight doUars a gallon. Distilleries of every kind require a license, which is very difficult to obtain. They have powder-mills, and make all sorts of cutlery, swords, revolvers, revolving car bines, guns, lances, naUs, saws, etc. There are people em ployed in making combs in bone, horn, or wood, hats, shoes, saddlery, jewellery, clocks, and furniture of aU kinds, etc. They make excellent furs frora the skins of the aniraals of the country. They have cartwrights, good joiners, and masons. They have even workmen able to construct steam- engines ; and, at one of their recent exhibitions, there was a locomotive which worked admirably.* They have also artists who execute engravings and designs. The women are very skilful in various kinds of embroidery, and es pecially excel in wax flowers. In fact it is quite clear that the Mormons are already in a position to produce every article of necessity, not to speak of objects of luxury or fancy, to which they are far from being indifferent. In a country so little endowed with natural gifts, in a society scarcely installed, and so poor, it cannot be a raatter of surprise that nothing as yet has been produced for ex- * There is every year, at the Social Hall, in Great Salt Lake City, an exhibition of agricultural and industrial products, which lasts three days, and is a source of great and agreeable public excitement. 270 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. portation. Nevertheless, Utah has already increased its herds of cattle, so much as to be able to spare some to the adjoining countries. The emigrants who cross the country on their way to Eldorado, are likewise able to provision their caravans at several points of the Morraon territory. But if the exports be next to nothing, it is by no raeans so with the iraports, which have sometimes reached the amount of 300,000 doUars in a year. Tt is the city of St. Louis which is principally benefited by this market. Tn 1855, one Araerican house, Livingston, Kinkead, and Co., esta blished at Great Salt Lake City, sold in one raonth merchan dise to the araount of 30,000 dollars, payable at short dates. We should not be able to understand how the Mormons could find capital with which to buy what they want, if we were not aware that many of them come from Europe with money in hand from the sale of their property, and that, moreover, the Church has funds of its own. We have al ready mentioned, in a previous book, that it is to the sol diers of the Mormon battahon we are indebted for the dis covery of gold in California. These lucky miners brought with them to the Salt Lake 94,000 ounces of the precious metal, which they lost no time, it is said, in offering to the Church. Exaggerated as this amount may be, it is certain that Brigham Young had money coined out of the gold- dust and the nuggets. We have seen five-doUar pieces and two-and-a-half-doUar pieces bearing the Church stamp. They are without alloy, and resemble in form coin of the THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 271 same value throughout the United States. On one side they bear the eye of Jehovah surmounted by a Phrygian cap, with the motto, " Hohness to the Lord ;" on the other side, two hands interlaced ; and at the lower edge of the coin, its value at full length. Like the ancients, the Mor mons do not date their coin. Now, and of late years, for want of bullion doubtless, the mint at Deseret no longer issues coin, and the gold and silver of the United States, together with English sovereigns, circulate as well as their own money. The Saints have no particular costume; they dress ac cording to their fancy, men as well as women, and follow in' general, as much as they can, European fashions. Their tailors are Englishmen, Germans, Swiss, Norwegians ; and as mUliners are very scarce, the woraen make their own dresses. The style of living araong the Mormons is simple and frugal. They are very temperate, which enables them the better to bear the privations to which they are exposed by their frequent changes of place, and during the periods of scarcity too often caused by great droughts and the ravages of locusts. Bread, maize, potatoes, pompions, dairy produce, bacon, beef, are their principal and almost their only food. They make use of tea, and coffee less fre quently. The majority abstain from fermented or spiritu ous hquors, either voluntarUy and from motives of temper ance, or on account of their poverty. They chew tobacco more than they smoke it ; this vile habit, however, is less 272 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. usual among thera than in other parts of the Union. In his ' Word of Wisdom,' Joseph Smith recommends absti nence frora tobacco and hquors in these words : — " Liquors and strong drinks are not for the stomach, but for washing your bodies. In the same way tobacco is neither for the body nor the stomach ; it is not at all good for man ; but it is a herb intended for bruises and sick aniraals, and should be used with caution, judgraent, and skiU. More over, hot drinks are neither for the body nor the stomach." These sanitary recommendations, as well as a thousand other precepts emanating from the founder, and which, in general, are rauch better than his theology, are rehgiously observed by the Mormons ; and, at the risk of repeating ourselves and offending received opinions, we reaffirm, when thus concluding what we have to say on the faith and works of the foUowers of Brigham, that if the Saints appear to us as absurd as fanatical in their religious views, they are not the less worthy of our admiration for the virtues which they practise, and, mirabile dictu, for their irreproachable morality. The indefatigable activity they exhibit in all things, arrests the attention of even then- greatest enemies. One of their apostate priests, after having poured upon them aU the venom which hatred could distil, has been unable to withhold this testimony : "The Mormons are the raost laborious of men." We should have said the same thing without him, and we repeat it after hira. And if it be true that idleness is the THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 273 mother of all vices, it must be equally true that industry is the best possible preservative against thera. We suggest this for the meditation of those who are deterrained to con demn the Mormons at any price, and with their eyes shut. There are certainly in Utah fewer disturbances, less drunk enness, fewer monstrous crimes, than anywhere else in the world. The Mormons are not only laborious and honest, they also enjoy an unruffled repose of conscience. Rare is it to meet with raen gayer and raore at peace with thera selves; happiness bearas in every feature; they are really happy. The calaraities to which they have been exposed by per secution, and from which they have derived new elements of success ; the fact of their settleraents being overturned by the arbitrary acts of the people, and yet on each occa sion issuing from their ruins to rise to a greater height and prosperity than before ; their many trials sustained and surmounted ; their many reverses always foUowed by triumphs ; have powerfully strengthened the faith of the Mormons, and fiUed them with unconquerable energy. They know that an intense and persevering will can repair every disaster. So thoroughly are they convinced of this, that araong their leading raaxiras we find this one: — "/ cant do it, never did anything; / will try, has worked wonders; and Twill do it, has performed miracles." And they have not given the lie to their proverb. The priva tions, the sufferings, the labours they have supported in VOL. II. T 274 FAITH AND WORKS OF THE MORMONS. common, unite them by ties stronger than those of blood, by ties which enable thera to set the example, unparaUeled in our days, of a vast fraternal association. The epithet of ' brother' by which they address each other, whatever be the difference of their position, or of the places of their birth, is not a mere forra, raeant only to charra the ears and impress the mind of strangers, it is the real expression of the union which exists between aU the members of this great family. After having seen the petty feelings, the miserable animo sities, jealousies, and intestine quarrels, which occasionally disturb the best-organized coraraunities, it is irapossible not to be surprised and edified at the spectacle of harmony presented by the society of Utah, in spite of spots which raay be discoverable in this interesting picture. Such must have been the life of the early Christians in those re mote times when persecution, that invaluable spur to great philosophical and religious revolutions, bound together the firstborn of the Gospel, raade thera rally around their pastors, and inspired them with that sublime and prolific courage which enabled them to brave tortures and death. The Mormons, they too would march to execution, and would win the palm of martyrdom in defence of their liberty and by the confession of their faith. Let their chief command, and they wiU obey ; for he is loved and venerated by all alike, his name is blessed as that of a benefactor and of a saint, his image is engraved on every heart, happiness accompanies his steps ; and if, perchance. THE TERRITORY OF UTAH. 275 at times shght murmurs escape from the more impatient breasts, it is to reproach him with not sufficiently calcu lating on the devotion of his subjects, rather than to find fault with him for calculating on it too much. Such then is the empire of Brigham Young, at once his creation and his glory. After having condemned that which is bad, praised that which is good, the traveller, relieved of the weight of his task, may without scruple and without shame listen to the sacred concerts of these sin gular but honest men, erring but sincere, gathered toge ther from every quarter of the globe, in order to intone with love, in these sohtudes but yesterday made known, the praises of God and of their prophet. " Vox diversa sonat ; populoram est vox tamen una, Cum verus patrise diceris esse pater." END OF BOOK III. T 2 BOOK THE POUETH. Esti' 279 JOUENEY ACEOSS UTAH TO THE PACIPIC. CHAPTER I. EEOM THE GEEAT SALT LAKE CITY TO EILLMOKE. STAY IN GREAT SALT LAKE CITY.— EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS. FESTIVITIES AND BANQUETS. — RED-SKINS AND WHITE-SKINS. — PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE. — OUR NEW STAFF. — AMERICAN SERVANTS. FAREWELL AND BENEDICTION OF THE PROPHET. — OUR BILL. — A MODEL EQUIPAGE. — DEPARTURE. FRIDAY NOT AN UN LUCKY DAY. — TWO YANKEE AUTOMATONS. — -FIRST HALTING-PLACE. NIGHT SURPRISE. PATRIOTIC SONG. — A WOLF IN SHEEP's CLOTHING. — THE JORDAN. — A NIGHT IN THE STREETS OF LEHI. LAKE UTAH. THE CITY OF PROVO. SPRINGVILLE AND ITS POLY GAMIST BISHOP. WAGGON IN THE MUD. — PEASANT. — AMBITIOUS DREAMS OF A MISSIONARY. SUMMIT CREEK. — NEPHI. CHICKEN CREEK. — CROSSING THE SEVIER. CEDAR SPRING. — FILLMORE, CAPI TAL OP UTAH. — MEETING WITH THE CELEBRATED JUDGE DRUM- MOND AND THE LOVELY ADA. VISION OF AN INDIAN CHIEF. We remained a whole raonth in Great Salt Lake City, busy during the day exploring the environs, spending our even ings in conversing with the Morraons and gentiles whom we invited to our house, devoting a part of every night to 280 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. recalhng our impressions and erabodying thera in the shape of notes. Frosty mornings had already warned us that winter was at hand, and that we must not prolong our stay in Utah, under pain of finding ourselves shut up tUl spring within a barrier of snow. We should have very much liked to have devoted the winter to an exactor survey of so curious a people ; and for a moment it seemed to us that we could not employ our leisure time more usefully ; but the fear of not being able, without some risk, to face the severity of a climate for which our tropical life had quite unfitted us, and, above all, the arrangements we had made for being in the Galapagos Islands in the month of May following, determined us to lose no time in getting to CaUfornia, where we had so many remarkable things to see before quitting the western shores of North America. In order to make these demands upon our time square with our desire of getting as rauch inforraation as we could about the new religion and its followers, Mr. Brenchley and rayself often parted company in order to pursue our inquiries separately, and thus to turn our time to the best account. We also read rauch, and it was certainly no hght raatter to examine all the grotesque publications of the Church and its apostles. Calling to mind this period, now ^ somewhat remote, I ara inclined to think that never were there two raen more occupied, or with whom time passed more quickly than it did with us. We were satisfied with but four hours' sleep daily, thanks to the habit we FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 281 had acquired among the Indians. Our health suffered no inconvenience from so active a life ; what seems the best proof of it is, that having on our arrival lost, Mr. Brenchley nineteen pounds, and I seventeen, in weight, we each of us had recovered five pounds at the time of our departure, that is to say, in the short space of one-and-thirty days. It was not, however, to our good cheer that we could at tribute so rapid a restoration of our losses, for Chief Justice Kinney, our host, subjected us to a sanitary or penitential diet not at all calculated to increase our bulk. We were, if I may say so, dying with hunger, and though we were paying dearer than at the Cafe Anglais, a sort of shyness prevented us frora coraplaining of our fare, especially when we saw other people satisfied with it ; so we strove to per suade ourselves that our appetite was unreasonable. But if the dietary to which we were conderaned irritated rather than satisfied our storaachs, on the other hand, the regu larity of our raode of living, the absence of all anxiety, and also, it is right to say, of toils which could bear coraparison with those we experienced in crossing the deserts, com pletely sufficed to keep us in perfect health. At the same tirae, we derived frora the few drops of wine we contrived to purchase at their weight in gold, the means of supple menting what we wanted in solid food. Our host, more over, made up by his amenity for the dearth of his table ; his good huraour, his kind attentions, and our knowing that we were in a starving country, all taken together. 282 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. enabled us to support patiently enough the fast to which we were literally subjected. Among the excursions we made in a radius of from ibrty-five to fifty mUes, we must particularize several visits to the Salt Lake, that vast sheet of water which reminds the Mormons of the Dead Sea, and induces them to sup pose that God has intended to reproduce, on the continent of America, a new edition of the marvels of the Asiatic Judea. We never left the lake without bathing in it, rather from curiosity than taste, and we were rauch amused at the astonishment which it always caused among the people of our suite, who took care not to imitate us, fancy ing that so salt a bath must be of necessity prejudicial to the body, especially to the eyes and ears. We, however, once succeeded in overcoming the repugnance of a negro, who took a swim with us, and afterwards, for our amuse ment, suffered himself to dry in the sun, the consequence of which was, that the water evaporating, left him covered with a white crust, so that he appeared to be metamor phosed into a statue of salt, like Lot's wife. This whitened black assured us, he suffered positive torture in his new skin, and that it seemed to hira as if needles were entering his pores. We were all ,the more disposed to believe this, having ourselves experienced a sharp pricking sensation over the whole surface of our body until we washed our selves in fresh water. Mr. Brenchley, who in spite of the gravity of the water, persisted in diving for the purpose of FROM OREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 283 finding a madrepore of some sort, complained also of its causing hini a great smarting in his eyes. But these un comfortable effects soon passed away, without any UI result. It was generally at the spot called Black Rock, situated about sixteen miles frora the city, that we reached the bor ders of the Salt Lake. A light waggon with two capital horses took us there and back quickly, for five doUars. We hardly ever spent more than five hours in these pleasure- excursions, journey and bathing included. We often too made trips, either on foot or horseback, to the valleys of the Wahsatch Mountains, where the inhabi tants of Great Salt Lake City get their wood for fuel, as well as planks for buUding purposes. But shrubs abound there more than trees, and of the latter the most common are conifees, maples, small oaks, poplars, and sumachs. We found camash, an edible bulb very much prized by the Indians, in great plenty ; and we saw, in the most over grown spots, small hop-grounds, sufficiently well concealed to make us believe they were intended for the use of illicit breweries. Squirrels, whose flesh is eaten in Utah, live, as in the United States, by thousands in the woods, but they have been so much hunted of late years, that they have be come very timid and difficult to shoot. We were assured by the Gentiles that it was into these valleys the Saints decoyed their eneraies in order to assassinate them, and that, in passing through them, one often walked over hu man skeletons. We saw no bones of any kind, and the 284 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. only persons we met with were honest woodcutters, en gaged in carrying faggots, squaring timber, or mending bridges over torrents. In one of these valleys we counted seventeen wooden bridges over one small rivulet whose streara reaches the city. One day Mr. Brenchley, accompanied by the greater part of the federal officers, started for a bear-hunt on the high lands which overlook Rush Valley, a farm of con siderable size, but iU managed, belonging to the United States. The third day after my friend's departure, when I thought that everything was ready for the hunt, I set off to join it, but I found no one at the farm except one per son, a Canadian, who inforraed me that the sportsraen, not quite up to this kind of sport, had given it up before meet ing with a single bear, and that Mr. Brenchley, obliged either to remain alone, or to corae back with his compa nions, had decided on the latter course. As I was myself not at all inclined to pursue this dangerous sport alone, I changed my horse and returned immediately. Though I felt this to be an annoyance, I had, on the other hand, as a set-off, the satisfaction of accomplishing the feat of riding ninety miles in twelve hours with two horses. The forty- five miles in going I did in less than four hours on an Indian horse lent me by a Mormon elder. Such a trim ming pace over unformed roads would have been thought impossible by every one, rayself included, had not the time of ray starting and that of my arriving been precisely FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 285 noted by the persons present. This extraordinary horse was brought back the next day in eight hours, quite fresh. This fact is not, however, to be taken as a general measure of the speed of Indian horses, everybody looking upon it as an exception. Our excursions and pursuits did not prevent us frora allotting some hours to social amusement, and this amuse ment also became a source of information. Of the several parties to which we were invited we especially reraeraber a bachelor's supper at the house of some respectable American merchants, Messrs. Gilbert and Gerrish. There were few official personages present, but we found a select circle of agreeable and well-educated guests ; among others Dr. Hurt, Indian Agent, whose conversation was full of attraction and interest. Medical men are generally good talkers and good observers. Dr. Hurt possessed these two qualities in a remarkable degree, and they had the effect of imparting greater zest to the animated sketches he gave us of the habits of the savage tribes with which he was, by his position, brought into daUy contact.. It was worth while hearing him speak of the diplomatic strata gems to which he was obliged to have recourse in deal ing with these chUdren of nature, of their deep sense of justice, of their pride, of their dignified bearing on solemn occasions, of the punctihous feeling of their chiefs, of their orations, grave, sensible, and sometimes rising to a very noble pitch, and of their stern virtues and their fierce 286 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. instincts. Mr. Gerrish, one of our hosts, a young man of great intelligence, did the honours with European tact. Wit and puns flew about with as much animation as if we had been in the heart of New York or Paris. We were treated with sparkling Catawba, which by its effervescence, colour, and even taste, reminded us of the nectar of Rheims and Epernay. This Catawba wine, which vi^e subsequently drank on its native soil at Cincinnati, is the produce of vines transplanted from the banks of the Rhine to those of the Ohio. There are two sorts ; one the Catawba, pro perly so called, colourless, or of a slight amber ; the other, the Isabella, rose-coloured, sweeter, and better calculated to please the delicate palates of women. This sparkhng Araerican wine* is quite as exhilarating as ours, but at the sarae tirae stronger and raore heady. On the whole it raay be said to be inferior to the best growths of Cham pagne. StUl it is much better than the adulterated wines which commercial dishonesty frequently sends abroad ; hence, in fact, it threatens to interfere seriously with the exportation of our white wines to this part of the world. The French traveller cannot see, without shame and regret, the stuff of all kinds which is sent to foreign countries under the narae of charapagne, and often labelled with the addresses of raost respectable houses. I have known coun- * The Catawba wine, the preparation of which appears at present to be confined to the house of Longworth, sells at Cincinnati and New York for a dollar a bottle. FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 287 terfeit SiUery sold in the Pacific, which the captain who brought it confessed cost twelve cents a bottle ; and this same wine was sold wholesale in the port to which it was consigned for ten dollars the dozen. It is not exclusively iu French ports that unscrupulous speculators are engaged in adulterating wines. Germany, England, America her self, have manufactures of sparkling wines ; and not only do these wines militate against the interest of real champagne,* but they also often injure the health of the cheated and pillaged consumers. The same thing may be said with respect to the frauds committed in other wines, as Bor deaux for instance, and also in Cognacs, which have often, abroad, a most decided smack of brandy raade frora Nor mandy cider. We had, however, an opportunity of drinking sorae delicious Ai at Great Salt Lake City which was not adul terated, and which sold for five doUars a bottle. It was at a banquet given to us by Mr. BeU, the raanaging partner of the house of Livingston, Kinkead, and Co., at which all the federal officials were present. Mrs. Farnhara, a female Saint, had superintended the preparations for the festival, * I called the attention of the Chambers of Commerce of Eheims and Bordeaux, and even of the proprietors and merchants of Chalons and Eper nay, to the adulteration of French wines, both at home and abroad. The right of punishing this kind of fraud cannot be denied, for the vUest stufi" is sold under cover of the most respectable names. One way, among others, of preventing it, would be to establish a surveillance over the litho graphic presses where the counterfeit labels are printed. Some of these would be found at Valparaiso and at San Francisco. 288 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. and had got it up with an exquisiteness and finish of style, which seemed to prove either that the Saints occasionaUy cultivate the science of good eating, or else that our maitresse d'hotel had lived araong epicures. Obviously nothing had been neglected to give this fete an air of as much magnificence as was possible under the circurastances. By the side of the preserves of France, England, and New York, were to be found the rarest productions of the Mormon country, such as peas, apples, and salraon-trout caught for the purpose in Lake Utah. Sherry and port flowed freely, together with charapagne. Nuraerous toasts Mere drunk to the success of our travels, the health of our families and absent friends, and to the prosperity of our respective countries. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, at one and the same time a man of wit and a pre judiced Yankee, proposed as his toast, " France, the coun try of pretty women and good wine." Coming from a more single-minded person, such a toast would have been most agreeable ; but, looking to the quarter from which it did come, it could pass for nothing but a sly hit. In America, as elsewhere, it is not unusual to find people who, having never quitted their own country, are wonder- struck at what is passing under their own eyes, easily persuade theraselves that the human race everywhere else is either retrograding or trudging on with difficulty, and who ascend the Capitol to thank the gods for having made them natives of a country the topraost of the world. The FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 289 honourable Judge was one of these ; and most certainly, though I do not share his iUusion, I quite respect the national feeling in which it originated. He was of the nuraber of those who openly said to us, " The people of the United States are the raost enlightened and the most advanced in the v/orld. They are also the strongest ; and the proof of it is that the Enghsh whipped the best soldiers of Europe at Waterloo, we whipped the English, consequently we are the best soldiers in the world." For my part I do not set much value upon mUitary renown ; in fact, I hold it very cheap, if it have in view no other object but itself ; I profess also the warmest and sincerest admiration for the great republic founded by Washington ; but, at the same tirae, I ara of opinion that ray country has graver clairas upon the consideration of foreigners, even of Araericans, than that of rearing the most amiable and agreeable of women, and producing the pleasantest of drinks. I could not, therefore, help feeling that there was in the Judge's toast a compliment that but half-concealed a sarcasm, and my national self-love being somewhat wounded, I instantly answered this little bit of irony by another little bit of irony, " To the United States, the land of commerce, pork and molasses." My sally was received with bravoes, which showed that the company had read the Judge's meaning just as I did ; and the inteUigent magis trate very sensibly avenged himself on me for my mis chievous retort by giving me a warm shake of the hand, VOL. II. u 290 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. telling me that I had given hira full change for his coin, and that his prejudices could not faU to be lessened by it. So ended this episode. England had then its turn, and I felt a real pleasure in seeing the Yankees drink with great warmth of feeling to the country of their descent, which they still respectfully speak of as their " mother-country." FinaUy, the health of Brigham Young, the Governor of Utah, was drank, and it is but justice to say that it was not the toast the least well received by everybody present, whether GentUes or Mormons. The proofs of kindness which the Salt Lake pope had given us, suggested the idea of inviting him to a dinner and a ball ; it also occurred to us that this would be an excellent way for us to get a sight of his harem. He re ceived our invitation without manifesting much surprise, but declined accepting it. At first he paternally advised us not to waste our money on expensive entertainments ; then, upon our pressing hira further, he ended by inform ing us of the real grounds of his refusal, saying that he could not set foot in our hotel, much less bring his wives there, in consequence of our host, Judge Kinney, having taken an improper advantage of a similar honour. Thus vanished the only chance we had of giving a dance to the sultanas of one of the greatest polygaraists in the whole world. As a corapensation for this disappointment, the pontiff consented with great good-nature to sit for his da guerreotype, and hence the perfectly striking likeness of him which we have raade the frontispiece of our work. FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 291 Araong the various spectacles vvhich engaged our atten tion during our stay at the Salt Lake, there was one which especially addressed itself to our imagination, though by no means the most curious. The Shoshones and the Utahs, after being a long tirae at war, had, thanks to the influence of Brigham Young, just concluded a peace, which was of course to last for ever, after the fashion of those treaties which are the handiwork of our European diplomatists. The chiefs of the two nations, accorapanied each of them by a numerous escort of their raost vahant warriors, had corae to return thanks to the Mormon leader, and to ratify, under his eyes, the faith they had plighted on their battle fields. These Indians bivouacked in the great square op posite our hotel, wandered about all day long through the streets, admiring the palaces of the whites, and casting longing looks on the wares displayed in the shops. They were to be seen moving about sometimes singly, sometimes in small groups, all dressed in skins, and uniformly armed with their bows and arrows, some even with rifles. Their admiration was restrained and silent ; and it was a matter of surprise to us to mark the care they took to suppress all appearance of astonishraent. But they were as noisy at night as they had been mute during the day. As soon as evening brought them back to their bivouac, they set to work playing, dancing, singing, yelling, like enraged animals ; and their discordant concerts were often pro longed until daybreak. As we heard them in the midst u 2 292 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. of the darkness, the irapression stole over us at intervals that we were at the mercy of these savage tribes, and on the point of being scalped by them. Even the settleis themselves, though raore accustomed to these wUd scenes than we were, could not avoid feeling a certain alarra, and instinctively closed their doors. The peace that these two terrible tribes were thus celebrating in their own fashion, had no effect in relieving the Mormons of very anxious apprehensions caused at that very tirae by sorae Indian tribes within only a few days' march of the Salt Lake. Several elders had just been massacred in a small fort they had buUt in the raidst of a plain, where they intended carrying on farming operations. Two individuals, who had escaped from this massacre by the merest possible chance, brought the news of the death of their brethren, and of the piUage of their property. Brigham, indignant, issued a proclamation and despatched some twenty horse men, well mounted and completely arraed for the purpose, if not of chastising the murderers, at all events of over awing them, and of discovering the cause of this act of barbarity. As almost always happens in like cases, it was found that the Indians in massacring the elders bad been making reprisals on the whites in general, under the pre tence of avenging some men of their tribe who had been wantonly killed by some unknown emigrants. It is a fact worthy of remark that the natives of this part of America practise the lex talionis as it existed in the time of Moses, FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. '293 and as it is still maintained among several Mohammedan tribes. We must not be too severe upon this custom in races strangers to our civihzation ; nevertheless, it is impossible to think of it without experiencing a deep horror, especially when we reflect that the Indians never think theraselves sufficiently avenged until they have spilt three times as much blood as has been shed of theirs ; for they esteem the life of one their own people as worth that of three whites. It is certainly very much to be regretted that they take their revenge wherever they can get it, raost fre quently, indeed, upon innocent men ; still we have no right to think it strange on their part that they should make our whole race responsible for the criraes of a few persons araong us. We raanifestly should have no ground for complaint if they took their expiatory victims from among the true culprits ; have we a right then to doom thera to complete extermination because their idea of jus tice is a httle less enlightened than our own ? Besides, do we not copy them whenever we niake a whole tribe re sponsible for the acts of some of its members ? The mode of preventing aU this effusion of blood would be to keep sharp watch over ourselves in the persons of our colonists, too often inclined to treat the raen of the desert hke brutes over whom they have tbe power of life and death. All cruelty or injustice coramitted by a white man on an Indian ought to be punished with inflexible severity. We should thus succeed in diminishing the number of oppressive acts 294 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. which warrant the Indians in entertaining for our whole race the one same feeling of hatred and implacable re venge. It is not only by the attacks and ambuscades of Indians that the white population of these countries of North America are liable to perish. Here and there are also to be found renegades from civilization, posted in parts of the desert where they lie in wait for the traveller in order to rob or even to murder him. There are in certain of the settled portions of Utah some of these white wretches who, under the in sorae sort inviolable protection of an im mense solitude, commit crimes which are unjustly attri buted to the Mormons by those who hate thera. The attention of the settlers is wide awake to the presence of several of these dangerous raiscreants in their territory. But up to this tirae they have only raoral, not legal, proofs of their guilt, and consequently their courts of justice are not able to act. We were ourselves for awhile supposed to be victiras of the ciipidity of this sort of banditti. The length of tirae we took to reach the Salt Lake had given rise to apprehensions that we had been raurdered on the way ; and the inhabitants of Carson Valley, supposing we were assassinated by certain traders of bad repute in Huraboldt VaUey, were busily engaged in forraing a com pany of men, intended to follow our track and flnd out our murderers, when the news of our arrival at Great Salt Lake City put an end to all anxiety about us. FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 295 But in fact we were everywhere in safety when among the Morraons, and could follow our pursuits, either night or day, without any danger frora assassins. The friend ship which the President had shown us, after a first rao- raent of distrust, was shared by his people and the Gen tiles. We met with a warm reception wherever we went. The Saints, who had brought theraselves to consider us great personages coraing from Europe expressly for the purpose of judging their doctrines with impartiality, treated us with every kind of attention and respect, espe cially when they saw. their king, their good father, as they said, take us cordially by the hand and give us public tes timonies of esteem and sympathy. We were reaUy happy in the raidst of these worthy settlers, and we experienced a feeling of pain and regret when the raoraent carae that obhged us to think we raust quit thera never to see them more. We soon got ready for our departure. The road over which we had to go in order to reach the shores of the Pacific, through the heart of Utah, New Mexico, and Lower California, having been represented as tolerably good, we bought a light strong waggon, which was made in St. Louis, and which, so it was said, had already carried an emigrant family in easy circumstances over the plahis and Rocky Mountains^ It was of great use to us in facihtating the transport of our collections, our provisions, and our baggage, by relieving us of the tedious and troublesome 296 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. process of continuaUy packing and unpacking our mules. We also added to our equipage two powerful draught- mules, which cost us three hundred dollars. Our pro visions it was calculated would last us for a journey of six weeks, exclusive of the time we should pass in the Mor raon settlements, which were dotted along the whole line of our route for a distance of two hundred and fifty mUes, and where we might expect to find provisions. Poor George was not to accompany us. It was not however that he did not eagerly desire to do so, or that he did not anxiously press us to suffer hira to retain his functions as our watchraan and cook. But the ineffaceable recollection of the troubles, annoyances, delays, irritation, and perUs which he had caused us by his temperaraent, utterly incompatible with the coraraonest requirements of a traveUer's Ufe, prevented us from listening to the kinder feeling which urged us not to turn him off. Prudence, oc casionally an equivocal virtue, under which egotism fre quently conceals itself, and experience, whose lessons, too severe at times, blunt sensibility, iraperatively coraraanded us not to clog ourselves with what would be a positive im pediment to the speed and safety of our journey across so vast and dangerous a country. It was however very pain ful to us to leave George in the far lands to which we had brought him ; and the idea from time to time caused us a good deal of regret. We felt ourselves justified however by the consideration that it was rauch kinder to leave him FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 297 behind us in a great central population, rather than to run the risk of abandoning hira on the way, after having been exposed through hira to every variety of serious danger. Besides, as he thought of returning to France, it was easier and shorter for him to do so by St. Louis and New York, than by Los Angeles, where we must unavoidably be com pelled to part with hira. We left hira therefore at the Salt Lake after mature deliberation ; we could not do so without deepfelt regret, nor without retaining the highest possible esteera for his character and probity, which was not at all qualified by our reraerabrance of the difficulties he had caused us, in which we were thoroughly convinced his will had no share. It was not frora any deficiency of moral qualities that he was displeasing to us, but from a constitutional defect. George was perfectly resigned. In the capital of the Mormons, where he had recovered since his arrival all the energy of which he was capable, he had the value of any ordinary man ; and even before our departure he had been able to find occupation at some cheraical works. Seeing hira thus accoraraodating himself to his new circumstances, we felt our anxiety about his future prospects somewhat allayed, and we made it a point of duty to give hira all the encouragement we could.* * We do not know what trials George met with after our separation. Our inquiries with respect to him at Washington, in 1857, led to nothing. We indeed met with persons there who had known him at Great Salt Lake City, but they were unable to give us the slightest information about his mode of life among the Mormons. We do not know how or when he 298 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. George's fate was thus settled as far as we were concerned ; he was to take no part in our future adventures. Tt was decreed however that we should not set out alone ; and that our having avoided Charybdis was to be no reason for our avoiding ScyUa. The addition of two raules to our other aniraals, theraselves pretty nuraerous, and of a waggon to our equipraent, as well as the advice, a little interested, perhaps, of the Chief Justice, deterrained us to take into our service two Americans, highly recoramended, and representing theraselves as inured to the difficulties of life in the desert. One, the son of a Universalist rainister, was named Huguenot; he was a man of thirty years of age, taU, stout, and powerful, acquainted only with the letters of the alphabet, and hardly knowing how to write his name, but of a gentle and amiable disposition. This man Mr. Brenchley hired as his servant. The other, the one who fell to me, somewhat older, was short, thin, of a nervous temperament, and distinguished above all by a most frightful squint. He was called Henry. He was an intelligent fellow, as well-informed as his comrade was ignorant, but of a disagreeable disposition, full of love for his little person, and vain of his acquirements. Both were free-thinkers, though in different ways. While Huguenot believed in nothing, not even in the virtue of the authors left Utah ; only we have quite recently heard that in the spring of 1859, he was in the north of California, where he had joined a small company of miners. FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 299 of his days, Henry was of the raore advanced school of the German pantheists, but had hardly more faith in virtue, though he was rauch less coarse in his language. They each of thera had performed the journey on which we were setting out, and it was this circumstance especially which determined us to engage thera. They might be of great use to us as guides ; besides wbich, they were by turns to drive the waggon and to tend the cattle. To these two esprits forts we added, in the capacity of cook, a young Breton named Victor Diguet, who had come and supplicated us to take him away from the Morraons, whom he detested with all his soul, and araong whom he had been obliged to make a long halt for want of means to proceed to California. Victor, a carpenter by trade, had been a saUor, and was enrolled in the naval conscription. At the beginning of the Crimean war, in which one of his brothers was engaged, he had left France to avoid a levy in raws, which he apprehended would take place, being afraid of risking his life against the Russians. After scra ping together a little raoney, first in England, afterwards at New Orleans, he had set out for Eldorado in corapany with sorae Saints who were going to Salt Lake, and who found him in food in exchange for his care of their cattle. He had been in Utah several raonths, gaining a sorry sort of livelihood though working hard, and not knowing when this involuntary residence was to cease. He was a smaU spare raan, of robust health, inured to all sorts of hard- 300 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. ships, knowing, as all saUors do, a thousand Uttle useful appUances, and moreover of a disposition extremely gay and even child-like. We fancied we had here a piece of good fortune, and, at the sarae time, an opportunity of doing a good action ; and so we readily gratified Victor's wishes by taking hira with us. These three servants, from whom we made the mistake of expecting too rauch, were in all respects, barring inte grity, superior to George ; they were really robust, and ca pable of supporting great fatigue provided they were well fed. Nevertheless they caused us continual annoyances, and of a nature we had not anticipated. Let us say it once for all, the little service they did render us was very far frora being a set-off against the trouble they gave us. It was one everlasting jangle between thera. Huguenot and Henry chose to think that Victor ought to be entirely at their orders, partly perhaps because the latter's good-nature had led thera to think they might do what they would with hira, and partly perhaps, too, because, like all good Yankees, they fancied theraselves of a superior race. But Victor's pr^de, not unreasonably, revolted against such extraordi nary pretensions. Discord was invariably the order of the day. Our interference, constantly required, had only tem porary results ; quarrels, insults, threats, were perpetuaUy going on, to our extreme annoyance. Victor however comprehended his position with respect to us better than did the two others ; but impetuously carried away by a FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 301 feeling of wounded national self-love, he scarcely ever lost an opportunity of teasing his comrades, and the hits he gave them fell in fact more upon us than thera. He even carried matters so far that for an instant the idea occurred to us of turning him loose to shift for himself, and it re quired a great effort of patriotism on our part not to pro ceed to this extremity. To get rid of the others was out of the question, for, though the original cause of the mis chief, they had contrived to put themselves somewhat in the right ; besides which, they were unprincipled fellows, who would have thought nothing of taking our lives in a country where they could do it without fearing detection. We had no choice but to be more patient with thera than with the wag Victor. One of them especially had becorae particularly disagreeable to us. FuU of the pedantic preju dices entertained by a certain class of Araericans with re spect to Europeans, he put hiraself on a footing of equality with us which we regarded as insupportable arrogance ; he even went so far as to call us familiarly by our bare names, just as he did his comrades. We were obliged to put up with these little annoyances; and this we did because it was essential to the success of our journey. The Americans are not born to be servants ; equahty with them is hterally carried out. If you require helps, as they call themselves, or indeed comrades, they may serve you admirably ; but if you do not choose to be prodigal of your intimacy, and require servants only, God keep you from the Ame- 302 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. ricans ! We have entered into these details before setting out on our journey, in order to avoid daily reference to the same domestic scenes. Another person, a German woman, asked permission to join our caravan. She was a feraale Saint we had never before seen, but who, it appeared, was the only wife of a man with whom she had no fancy for cohabiting, and there fore desired to make the best of her way to California. To this request — an inopportune one, to say the least of it — we gave a flat refusal, on the ground that we could not expose ourselves to the resentment of the Mormons in order to render a doubtful service to a woman who had no claims upon our sympathy, either by what she told us of her his tory, or in any other way. The evening before setting out we went and took leave of the Prophet. He received us with kindness and dignity in his official cabinet, where he was busy correcting the proof-sheets of a sermon, intended for- publication in the 'Deseret News.' His Excellency conversed with us a con siderable tirae with an agreeable smile on his lips, men tioned several particulars about the road we were going to take, called our attention to sorae interesting points by which we must pass, and gave us advice about the sort of provisions we ought to select, as well as upon, the proper mode of dealing with the Indians. From the way in which he spoke of these people, of the fatherly relations he kept up with the Indians or Lamanites, there was not a syllable FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 303 that could lead us to suspect he had any political object in view, so perfectly candid and disinterested did his anxiety about them appear to us to be. " They are children," he said ; " we must treat them as such. We are their superiors only through the ripeness which civihzation has given us ; and we cannot, without forfeiting this superiority, let loose against thera the avenging severity which we ought to re serve for our corrupt and apostate brethren. It was for the Indians Christ uttered this prayer : ' Forgive thera, for they know not what they do.' " Noble words, weU worthy of a more genuine prophet. The pontiff then asked us what we thought of his people. I frankly answered, "T have admired many things among thera, and, save in a few particulars, as polygaray for instance, your people have my entire esteem." He laughed, and merely replied, "You wiU one day make your minds up to that." He then told us he hoped we should return again to Utah, when, his new buildings being completed, he would have pleasure in showing us more hospitality than he had been able to do in a house overrun with workmen. After heartUy shaking hands by way of farewell, freemason fashion, he suddenly raised his arms as if he were going to pronounce a blessing, and gravely uttered these words : " May God bless and cause you to walk in the ways of light and truth!" Into this form of benediction the pontiff contrived to in fuse so much pious warmth and kindness, that we with drew perfectly convinced of the sincerity of his faith. More- 304 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. over, we experienced what all have felt who have known Brigham Young, namely, that sort of sympathetic and marvellous attraction which certain natures have the faculty of exercising over those who approach them. It is irapos sible to leave Brighara without bringing away a perraanent irapression of mingled respect and affection, so true is it that conviction united with kindness does tend to captivate the heart. I have not the least doubt that, had I had a similar interview M'ith the impostor Joseph Smith, but that I should have supposed I was witnessing a farce, and have burst into a flt of laughter. With Brigham it was com pletely otherwise ; we found his demeanour grave and im pressive, and, far from being tempted to laugh at it, what alone it caused us to feel, was deeper regret at seeing this remarkable man plunged into such error. When the Morraons learnt that their President had given us his blessing in spite of our being Gentiles, they at once entertained for us the highest degree of considera tion. We becarae in their eyes privileged people, in some sort inviolable. Many said that Brighara had blessed us because God had revealed to hira that we were destined to enter into the fold of the Saints. The least adventurous prophesied that by the aid of a talisraan such as the pon tiff's blessing, we should be able to wander over the face of the earth without having reason to apprehend even the slightest accident. Whatever might be the virtue of this talisraan in the future, it is quite certain that for the pre- FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 305 sent we did see sorae evidence of its influence in the re spect which everywhere surrounded us. This, no question, was one of the reasons of our receiving a visit frora the Marshal, Mr. Hey wood, and the very graci ous offer he raade us of an escort for our protection as far as FUlmore, against any attacks of the forraidable tribes of Indians which are usuaUy found on the banks of the Sevier river. But after being accurately inforraed of all the spots at which danger might be apprehended, we thought we could venture to risk the chance, by no raeans probable, of any attack ; and we therefore declined the protection so obligingly offered us. We had now nothing to do but pay our biUs. Our ex penses during our stay of one and thirty days amounted to two thousand six hundred dollars. This fabulous sum re quires a remark or two to make it comprehensible. Tn the first place it is not to be made use of as an argument against Mormon hospitality, for our principal purveyors were gentUes. And moreover, in so remote a spot, what ever coraes from the United States or from Europe sells for its weight in gold. Independently of this cause, there was at the time a sort of famine in Utah, caused by the ravages of the locusts, as we have already stated. Grain, bread, and vegetables were out of all price. Fodder for our animals, for whom we spared nothing in order to get them into good condition for a long and difficult journey, cost us twenty doUare a day : it was enormous, but neces- VOL. II. X 306 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. sary. The purchase of a waggon, harness, two mules, and some clothes, also amounted to a pretty round sum. A few presents for the Indians and provisions for our journey also cost sorae dollars. There then reraained the charge for our board and lodging, which the Judge very reason ably thought ought not to be less than that of our cattle, and which he accordingly raade to exceed it in the ratio of the difference which he put between thera and us. Tn a word, admitting that we repaid the Judge's entertainment a little lavishly, we must do our other purveyors the justice to say that they treated us very honestly ; and this is what we cannot allege of all those countries, less out of the world than this one, to which fate or our will has led us. On Friday morning, October 26th, 1855, we left the hotel of Judge Kinney with a great clatter. We had in all twelve animals, draught and saddle ; four were mounted by ourselves and our people, four were harnessed to our waggon, and the four others, which were to serve as relays, followed us loose. Our equipage was magnificent for the country, and the admiration it excited as we passed through the streets of the city filled us with as much pride as any farraers could have felt going to market. Our harness quite new and well greased, our waggon freshly painted and covered with spotless canvas, — all this gave us a showy appearance which was much admired. Our mules, weU fed and carefully groomed, enacted the part of coquettes in a ravishing way. Djemi had not grown, but had much im- FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 307 proved in looks. One would have said that the sprightiy creature had so thorough a consciousness of her own beauty, as actually to give herself aristocratic airs. Campora was as proud as a great lady, a little pedantic even in the formality of her step, whether she walked or trotted. Jack, the most inteUigent of mules, had still his expressive eyes and reraained as faithful as a dog to his raaster ; he was deficient in nothing but the faculty of expressing in words the thoughts which by his looks he seemed desirous of conveying. RUey, in spite of the fiesh he had gained, had lost nothing of his fierce eye or restive nature. He was at bottom less vicious than he seemed to be, and it was imposible not to smile at his savage mien after watching him for a few minutes. Our other beasts, the two new gigantic mules included, were also in good condition and well made ; but their good qualities were purely physical. The most insignificant of all the creatures we took with us was a Mormon dog. Tt was impossible to say to what variety he belonged, and one might fancy he had a little of every race, so great was the mixture of all sorts of blood in him. His moral qualities were not a whit better than his-physical ; he was the most apathetic and insensible dog possible. We fancied he might be of use to us at night by warning us of any noise, or of the approach of danger ; but he was the heaviest sleeper in the caravan, and also the greatest poltroon. His voice was never to be heard ; we called him Tiger at first, on account of the duties assigned X 2 308 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. to hira ; and when we became aware of his cowardly, lazy, sleepy nature, we continued to call him so ironically. Our first halt was in the city itself, at the warehouse of Messrs. Livingston and ICinkead, where we had to pick up our provisions. Our waggon when empty weighed eleven hundred pounds ; laden with our provisions and collections, its weight reached about seventeen hundred and fifty pounds ; and this was quite enough for the roads over which we had to pass. Sorae changes were necessary in our harness, which circumstance, together with the delay caused by loading, deterrained us to accept the dinner which Judge Kinney pressed upon us. A banquet was improvised for us, in which champagne and whisky flowed freely enough. The Judge, of his own accord, handed us a letter, in which he expressed his sympathy with us and his regret at our departure. This was an attention espe cially Araerican, which was to serve us, if required, as a letter of recora raen dation on our arrival in South Cali' fornia; and this passport which, though delivered to us gratis, we could hardly venture to call gratuitous, had at least the raerit of being unsolicited. By the time we were aU ready it was half past four. We were urged not to set out at so late an hour, and we should easily have suffered ourselves to be persuaded, had it not been Friday. Con trary to what is generally supposed, we do not look upon Friday as an unlucky day ; and in fact could we attribute any influence whatever to this day, it must be a very FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 309 propitious one, for almost all our important expeditions have been coniraenced on a Friday, and they have all turned out weU. We set out therefore, about five o'clock ; the crowd of our friends and acquaintances quite obstructed the street ; we caused a real sensation. Just as we were getting off, an unknown female Saint, by whose care our cattle had been already ornamented with flowers, sent us a bouquet of dahlias, pinks, heart's-ease, and geraniums, sprinkled over with the contents of a bottle of perfume. This grace ful surprise, in a form so little to be expected on so barren a soU, was very agreeable to us, and we saw in it a symbol of esteera thrown across the travellers' path by a sympa thetic hand. We went our way with these flowers proudly fixed in our hats. To the gaiety which had preceded our departure soon succeeded the sadness which every raan feels on quitting spots where he has for sorae time lingered. This painful feeling, which takes possession of the mind and oppresses it at the moment when we are about to separate, and perhaps for ever, from persons who have gained our esteem upon a foreign and distant shore, is sometimes so deep that it might be enough to fix us to the spots we are about to leave, were it not accorapanied by another feeUng equally painful, that of the brevity of life, which counterpoises its bitterness by a bitterness of an en tirely different kind, whispering to the traveUer, " On, on ! youth passes swiftly away, and the world is wide !" 310 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. Henry drove our teara, whUe we rode behind, keeping an eye on those of our aniraals who were running loose. The road on which we were, stretched across the plain ; it was wide, level, good, and covered with dust. The two gigantic hills which overlooked the plain to the east were gilded with the rays of the setting sun. The day soon closed in, but as it was not dark, we could make out our way well enough on the dusty road, which we were able to foUow without any interruption to our pensive mood. Our team, which seemed to go capitally at first, was not long before giving us trouble. Two only of our mules had been accustomed to harness, and it was necessary to break •in the others. Now it was no easy thing to make them step together ; frequently the leaders started forward when touched by the whip, whUe the wheelers came to a dead stop; a trace was soon broken in consequence. Henry, speedily fatigued by his disobedient cattle, gave up his place to Huguenot, who, though rauch more patient, had hardly any better luck. The upshot was that after a httle tirae we discovered that our two drivers had never been accustoraed to the reins, and were raore used to walk by the side of their draught oxen and horses than to manage them from the box. We passed through the vUlage of Big Cottonwood, situated on a streamlet fringed with poplars and willows, and we pursued our course slowly enough to Little Cotton wood, where we determined to pass the night. We en- FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 311 camped by the side of the road, about nine o'clock, within four leagues' distance of Great Salt Lake City, and near the dweUing of a farmer, who provided us with hay and Indian corn for our cattle, but very reluctantly, so great was his fear of not being paid. We bought the trunk of a tree, which we split up and made a great fire of, close to our waggon. Victor lost no tirae in going to work to cook, and we sat down to table, that is the ground, to eat our supper. Scarcely had we got all things in order when we saw two sraart carriages approaching at a gallop, which suddenly drew up. They contained our friends of Salt Lake City, who had corae to take a final leave of us at our first en campment. Others soon afterwards arrived on horseback. Tn this agreeable surprise we saw a proof that our feelings at parting were shared by others, and we were very plea- surably affected by it. Amongst others there were. Chief Judge Kinney; General Burr; the Honourable W. Babbitt, Secretary of State, since murdered by the Indians, to the east of the Rocky Mountains ; Mr. BeU ; Mr. Kinkead ; our old acquaintance Lawson the Missionary ; Mr. Bolton, the ex-apostle of Paris ; Mr. P. O. RockweU, the cele brated friend of Joseph Sraith. They brought with them a gaUon of whisky, several packs of cards, and a chess board. We passed the night very joUily under the clear sky, around our fire, sorae playing, some singing, others chatting, all making nuraerous libations. Victor fried pancakes and sang madrigals. Mr. Bolton, who was at 312 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. Paris at the tirae of the coup d'etat, raentioned a thousand things which were new to us, though already old to the rest of the world. Out of corapliment, no doubt, he sang the Marseillaise, which sounded like the echo of a strain from my own country ; then he sang a hyran to the glory of Joseph Sraith, and finally gave musical utterance to the praises of Utah, which we subjoin in a note as a specimen of an authorized Mormon hymn.* * " 1. The Upper California, O ! that's the land for me, It lies between the Mountains and great Pacific Sea : The Saints can be supported there, And taste the sweets of liberty. To Upper California, O ! that's the land for me. O ! that's, etc. O ! that's, etc. " 2. We '11 go and lift our standard, we '11 go there and be free ; We 'II go to California, and have our jubilee. A land that blooms with endless spring, A land of life and liberty, With flocks and herds abounding. O ! that's the land for me. O ! that's, etc, O ! that's, etc. "3. We 'U burst ofi" aU our fetters, and break the Gentile yoke ; For long it has beset us, but now it shall be broke. No more shall Jacob bow his neck ; Henceforth he shall be great and free, Li Upper California. O ! that's the land for me. O ! that's, etc. O ! that's, etc. " 4. We '11 reign, we '11 rule, and triumph, and God shall be our king ; The plains, the hills, and valleys, shall with hosannas ring. Our tow'rs and temples there shall rise. Along the great Pacific Sea, In Upper California. O ! that's the land for me. O ! that's, etc. O ! that's, etc. FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 313 Never did a night-bivouac pass more gaily. Old Ge neral Burr seemed to have grown young again, and one would have supposed he felt himself all the more obliged to be in good humour because he had married a French woman, and for this reason looked upon rae as a quasi- feUow-countryman. The farmer who lent us glasses, and sold us candles and wood, was the only person who was not happy. He wandered anxiously around our gipsy group, as if he were under the apprehension of our being thieves. He caused us great laughter by repeating from time to tirae that he had rauch " dubiety " in his mind with respect to us. The Honourable Mr. Babbitt especially roared with laughter at the distrust of this European savage, who was trerabUng ait the expectation of being robbed by a party of which the Chief Justice of the Territory was one. " 5. We 'U ask our Cousin Lemuel to join us heart and hand, And spread abroad our curtains throughout fair Zion's land. TUl this is done, we 'H pitch our tents Along the great Pacific Sea, In Upper California. O ! that's the land for me. O ! that's, etc. O ! that's, etc. " 6. Then join with me my brethren, and let us hasten there ; We 'U lift our glorious standard and raise our house of prayer. We 'U call on all the nations round To join our standard and be free. In Upper California. O ! that's the land for me. O ! that's, etc. O that's, etc." Sacred Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Europe, ninth edition, revised and enlarged, London, 1851, Hymn 290, p. 352. 314 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. A little before daybreak, our amiable visitors took their way back to the city, with the exception of Mr. Rockwell, who desired to stay with us untU we broke up our camp. Rockwell is a person sufficiently well known in the history of the Mormons for us to bestow a word on hira. He is a man without much education, and of very ordi nary intelligence, but at the same time extreraely amiable and polite, with exceedingly distinguished and graceful manners. He has an imposing look, with a dash of the aristocratic in it, which is also perceptible in his small, plump, fair, and weU-made hands. He has been accused, on no evidence, — and many stUl persist in accusing him, — of having, in May, 1842, fired a pistol at Governor L. W. Boggs, of Missouri. We wiU not attempt to settle the question either one way or the other. Rockwell is a man as vehement in his hatred as in his friendship. His at tachment to Joseph Smith raay have impelled him to de sire and compass the death of one of the greatest enemies of the Morraons. Fanaticisra and affection may have directed Rockwell's arm in this criminal act, and it is by no means impossible that the Church wUl one day revere him on this account, as the memory of Judith is elsewhere revered. What appears clear to us is, that RockweU is incapable of doing wrong except under the impression that he is doing right; so persuaded are we of this, that we would trust hira with Ufe and property without any hesitation. He^is a lion in a lamb's skin, that we admit ; but a brave and FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 315 generous Uon, fuU of heart and greatness, capable of the grandest devotedness, ready to sacrifice himself iu behalf of any one who has gained his esteem, without exception of sect or person, whether Jews, Pagans, Mussulraans, or Mormons. He is of the stuff from which heroes are wrought, and if the blood of heroes can be inferred frora the expression of the face, or the qualities of the heart, one would swear there were traces of a lofty origin in him. It is he who is ever at hand where there is a perilous service to be accomplished, a crime to be avenged, a sacrifice to be made which can be of advantage to the oppressed. He it was who at Carson Valley wished to put hiraself at the head of a company of volunteers for the purpose of avenging our reported death ; and yet we were entire strangers to him then ; but our boldness, our rashness possibly, in exposing ourselves alone in the desert, had touched hira, and won for us a place in his affection. He proposed to escort us as far as California, and had we accepted his offer, he would have accorapanied us happy and content, without the remotest thought of any advantage to himself, proud of being able to give us this proof of his sincere regard. As soon as day broke, we made arrangements for our departure. The farmer, who had been on foot aU night, in fear of losing his due, was so cheered at the sight of our coin in the morning, that he showed the greatest desire to put aU that belonged to him at our service. What seemed above all to dehght him was, that we consented to let him. 316 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. at his own request, when settling his demand, have seven bottles at the rate of seven-pence apiece, which in fact was giving them for nothing, in a country where there are as yet no glass-works. Victor collected his kitchen-gear, we har nessed four fresh animals to our waggon, and set off, after receiving RockweU's good wishes and fareweU. Mr. Brenchley got upon the box and took the reins, which he knew how to handle vastly better than any of our drivers. Lucky it was that my companion, to }iis nume rous talents added that of being a most excellent whip, for of the two raen we had hired partly for this express pur pose, it was evident that neither one nor the other could acquit himself of an office difficult enough in the sort of country we had to cross. For, in fact, it was no light task to drive a team of four beasts so little accustoraed to har ness as ours were, across deserts and raountains, raarshes and rivers, for a distance of seven hundred and fifty mUes. This demanded a vigour and skill not possessed by every body, but which were united to perfection in Mr. Brench ley; hence he took upon himself to drive our waggon, without ever once quitting his post, except where the country offered no difficulties. After leaving Cottonwood, we crossed a little river, on the banks of which, in spite of the lateness of the season, there were to be seen willows in leaf, a JTydrocotyle, a con volvulus, some common Synantherem, and a little rush similar to the Juncus bufonius. We then entered an un- FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 317 cultivated and arid plain, through the middle of which wound our dusty road. No other plants were to be seen there save a low and very thorny Opuntia, on which it would not have been possible to walk iu thin shoes without getting one's feet pricked. From the naked soil, on which there was nothing to interest us, we turned our eyes to the raountains on our left, at sorae miles distance, which every instant presented us with a succession of varying views. Towards raid-day we halted at WiUow Creek, near a sraall cluster of houses. Being unable to get anything better than the rauddy water of a neighbouring marsh, we proceeded to the nearest house in the hopes of quenching our thirst ; our approach however was disputed by a huge dog, and at the sight of our beards the young girls startled shut the doors in a great fright. A poor old woman bent double, who was quietly plying her distaff within, looked out at window, and on hearing our request, brought us with a tottering step a pitcher of water, which we drank on the outside of the hedge surrounding the house. At two o'clock we resumed our way, still over a barren surface that contrasted with the cultivation we could see iu the distance, at the foot of the mountains. After pro ceeding a few hours up a slight ascent, we found ourselves near the Jordan, which flowed on our right, at the bottom of a large ravine whose banks were so steep that it was irapossible for us to descend them. The sight of the run ning water therefore had only the effect of increasing our 318 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. thirst. A young shepherd pointed out a spring a little off the road, but the water was so salt and nauseous that we could not touch it. The basin of this spring was covered over with very flne black powder, which in fact was nothing but iron. The road now became very good, and appeared to be very much used, although we met no one upon it. Another vaUey opened upon us at a little distance, and we soon reached a sort of defile, from which towards evening we could discern the fine sheet of water of Lake Utah. When day closed in, we were upon a spot much too de ficient in water to allow us to halt ; we therefore continued on our way as far as the little town of Lehi, situated pretty near the lake, which we reached at half past nine. We took up our quarters in the middle of the street, without giving ourselves the trouble of looking for an inn, which in all probabUity we should not have found. Our raen bought wood, fodder, and grain, and as soon as our animals, tethered to the stakes which forraed a garden fence, had been attended to, Victor lit a fire, on which he dressed our dinner, and by the hght of which we jotted down our notes. We had not been an hour there before the whole town was aware of it. Many of the more curious came to see us ; sorae of them, I am persuaded, had left their beds expressly for the purpose ; and we were literaUy besieged by a crowd of boys, who seemed all the raore inclined to sit up the whole night, because, the next day being Sun day, they were in no hurry to take their rest. I don't FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 319 know what these idlers took us for, but they evinced a sin gular desire to be made acquainted with everything con cerning us, while the drowsiness which was weighing down our weary eyelids raade us little disposed to satisfy thera. But the raore we rebuffed thera, the more they seemed determined to get at our secrets. AU our moveraents were Avatched, it was irapossible for us to utter a word without being overheard, or without our hearing coraments on our own remarks ; neither could we move a dozen paces with out being followed. I recommend aU governments which find the maintenance of a police force too costly, to commit its functions to the impudence of young street scaraps ; they wUl be sure to find in thera very zealous if not very clear-. headed agents. Tt was two o'clock in the raorning, and stUl these idlers were worrying us. We thought of lying down to sleep, in hopes that they would take this as a polite hint to be off. But several still stayed, and stretch ing themselves on the ground beside us, began to snore in a fashion all the raore intolerable as it prevented us from sleeping. Others perceiving we were awake, tor mented us with their questions, to which we answered only by monosyllables. We were greatly tempted to give them a reason for taking to their heels ; but this we felt would be an abuse of power : the street belonged to all the world, and certainly on their own ground they had as much right there as we had. At dawn sorae of the leading people of the place condescended to visit us. We 320 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. were again overwhelmed with questions, to such a degree that we declined answering any raore. As much as I comprehend and like intelligent curiosity, so do I detest that which is commonplace. The former pleases, often instructs, and always occupies you agreeably; the latter overpowers, annoys, and irritates you. There were some who inquired of us why we lit our pipes at our fire in stead of making use of matches. Others were constantly asking us to tell them the hour, for the mere pleasure of seeing us pull out our watches ; sorae again wanted to know if it was our expenses we were writing down in our journals, how many pens we consumed in a year, and how much time we took to learn to write. Heavens ! how wor ried we were that night there, and how much in compa rison we should have preferred the company of mosquitoes. When it was broad daylight, and there was an end to sleep, we laughed a good deal at our Ul-humour during the night, and decided that our visitors were rauch raore raw than iraportunate or stupid. An old Welshman made us a present of a large pot of milk, another person of eggs. The owner of the house before which we encamped, an EngUsh- raan, was very obliging ; his wife, or, to speak more accurate ly, one of his wives, lent us her cooking stove, and wanted to give us potatoes. The urchins conducted themselves too respectfully to perrait us to think they had meant to be troublesorae to us ; we set out at half past seven, with the irapression that they intended merely an act of politeness FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 321 in passing the night with us ; in all countries in the world there are civilities extremely annoying, and very little civU. On quitting Lehi we followed a road which skirted the vaUey rounding Lake Utah, which we left to our right, and whose blue waters were constantly in sight. This lake, which on some maps is confounded with Salt Lake under the narae of Tirapanogos, takes the narae of Utah from a tribe which lived on its banks before the arrival of the Mormons. It is about 30 mUes long by 15 wide. Its depth varies frora 7 to 15 feet, and its bed is nearly level. Its lirapid waters, sweet and perfectly drinkable, contain several varieties of fish, among others the excellent salmon- trout, with yellow flesh, of which we have already spoken. The lake is fed by several rivers of short extent, which flow down from the neighbouring raountains, principally by that river which ought to resurae and keep the name of Tirapanogos, given to it by the Utah Indians, in whose lan guage the word signifies " River of Rocks " {iimpan, rock ; ogwabe, and by abbreviation ogos, river). In fact the Tira panogos does roll over a bed of rocks through the greater part of its course. Lake Utah being on a higher level than the Salt Lake, empties itself into the latter by the Jordan river, which passes under the walls of Great Salt Lake City. On the borders of Lake Utah the soil is capable of cul tivation, and among the most fertile in the Territory ; as much may be said of the whole valley of which it occupies the centre, and to which it gives its name. This valley, VOL. II. Y 322 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. about forty mUes in extent from north to south, everywhere presents a rich alluvial soil covered with vegetable earth fit either for growing fruit or serving as pasture or common land. In so dreary and desolate a country as is the greater part of the Morraon territory, the valley of Utah raay pass not only for one of great fertility but even for a sort of elysiura, where nature shows to great advantage, and, as compared with the general character of the country, to very great advantage. But in spite of the fertUity of the valley, and of the picturesque mountains which surround it, there is one drawback of which the traveller is unpleasantly sensible, that is the general want of wood, and its poor quality. To judge by the clouds of dust we raised as we went along, rain must be as scarce as it is on the borders of Lake Utah or those of Great Salt Lake, but the lands here are better irrigated. We soon carae upon a sraall water course called Araerican Fork, which, spreading over the country, inundates it, and forms a sort of marsh in which, together with cosmopolite nettles, are found stunted oaks, consuraptive-looking maple-trees, and large-sized worm wood. A little further on, we crossed another rivulet, Spanish Fork, on the borders of which were to be seen, in the midst of swamps, sorae Lemna, Chara, aud Ficaria. We then went twelve mUes, without finding a drop of water, through a country which seemed to be neglected, and where we saw nothing but Grease-wood. The azure FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 323 surface of the lake Avas every moment gratifying our eyes on the right, while the raountains continued to be very striking. On leaving this uncultivated plain we crossed Battle Creek, a sraall rivulet, on the borders of which the Mormons, not many years before, had a fight with some unmanageable Indian tribes. A few miles from there we descended into a valley forming a basin, through which we rode some time in the midst of wiUows, oaks, and dogberry- trees, all of low size. Not long after we crossed one of the principal branches of the Tirapanogos on a bridge a hundred and twenty feet long, and entered the town of Prove, biiUt on the left bank of this fine river, a little above its mouth. Tt was about half past twelve when we sat down to dinner in the midst of the street. Prove owes its narae, they say, to a Canadian trapper who, at the head of twenty-four of his fellow-trappers, had routed a force of a thousand Indians whom he cut to pieces, but with the loss of his own life towards the end of the engagement. Though founded only five years be fore we were there. Prove was already a tolerably large town, well built, and one of the most important in the Territory, containing three thousand inhabitants. The city is divided into four quarters, in which the streets are well arranged, wide, and properly attended to. An earthen rampart, now falling into decay, surrounded and pro tected Prove at its first start. There is a public library, a musical society, a company of amateur actors, a town-hall, Y 2 324 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. a church with its bowery, a buUding used as a tithe-ware house, a serainary, five schools, and two hotels. The city is abundantly provided with water, a streara running through raost of its streets ; and the inhabitants have been able, thanks to the Tirapanogos, to buUd a number of different kinds of miUs worked by a water-power even greater than is required. A manufacturing company has been forraed with a capital of raore than a niUlion doUars, and another corapany with a capital of two hundred thou sand doUars, for the purpose of canalizing the river, and irrigating the adjacent country. On all sides are to be seen bridges which, having been got up hastUy, are conse quently out of repair, and which they are about to replace with new and raore substantial ones. WhUe busy with our repast in the street, opposite the church, we admired the picturesque crowds which were gathering from all sides to attend divine service in the bowery. Numerous families kept arriving at their place of worship in their vehicles, and everything around us in dicated comfort and contentment. On one of our servants asking a boy about fourteen years of age, who had squatted down beside us, what his mother's name was, he answered loud enough to be heard by us all, " My mother is a lump of cow's dung." So revolting an expression naturally ex cited our disgust, but also, in the same degree, our curiosity. We asked the out-speaking varlet if he meant to show re spect for his mother by it. He gave us to understand, in FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 325 language too coarse to be repeated here, that he had not asked his mother to bring him into the world, and that, consequently, she had no claim upon his respect. "Do you find then," I said to him, " life to be so great an evil, that you are already so little pleased with it?" The boy became calm, and answered, " Ah ! Sir, I have said what I ought not ; my mother is one of the wives of Brother Nathan ; an excellent and worthy mother, I assure you. I am in the wrong, but I fancied your raan intended to in sult me as the chUd of a Mormon, and so I answered him by another insult which I should not like to have fall upon my mother." The meaning of all this Avas evidently what the boy said : knowing the ridicule which the GentUes cast upon his sect, he in an awkward clumsy way returned con tempt for contempt. This reminds me of an occurrence in a distant missionary station where the Catholics were at daggers drawn with the Protestants. A Calvinist convert reproached a Catholic convert with being a follower of a religion the head of which (Pius IX.) was in the habit of eating, as he said, new-born chUdren. " Yes," replied the Papist, " and their flesh is very delicate ; I have tasted it myself, and only this raorning I ate a whole chUd for break fast."* It is thus the traveller, if he be not upon his guard, may often suffer himself to be deceived by appear ances, and pick up on his way, in spite of all his trouble * I met at Tahiti and Hawaii some islanders who asked me if it were true that the head of the Eoman Church had new-born children secretly 326 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. " and inquiries, more fabricated facts than well-ascertained truths. Everything around him conspires to bewilder his judgment, especially when he attempts to appreciate the t character of a people through whom he is raerely passing. It has been said that we ought to search for truth with singleness of heart ; but that is not enough ; there must be also combined with it a critical spirit which seems incon sistent with the singleness required. In all things, except the exact sciences, truth is very difficult to ascertain, and demands a circumspection and scrutiny which are fre quently quite out of our power. Therefore is it that, as far as regards ourselves, we hesitate extremely to come to conclusions upon bare generalities, and that Ave never, ex cept after mature reflection, venture to express our opinions. As respects the matter in hand, however, we do not think that the fact which has suggested these remarks clashes with what we before said respecting the corruption of the Utah chUdren. After a two hours' halt in the pretty town of Prove, we recoraraenced our journey. All along the road we were constantly overtaken by light waggons full of people re turning from church. The cheerfulness and expression of happiness visible in every face never amounted to frivolity ; abducted, for the purpose of their being served up roasted at his table. Some Protestant missionaries are accused of having, under the influence of a false and most reprehensible zeal, circulated these calumnies. In fact, I do not know to whom these mischievous tales are to be attributed ; but I refuse to believe that any ministers of the Gospel can be made answer able for them. FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 327 it was a calm, composed satisfaction, suitable to the Lord's day. The road was long and uneven. T diverged from it to get to the right of a marsh, where, near a plain entirely bare and alkaline, I picked up some leguminous plants and SynaniherecB, a mallow with pink or violet flowers, a Typha, sorae specimens of Cyperus and Epilobium. I re joined the caravan at the foot of a sharp rise, which it was necessary to go up by a road bordered on the right by a deep precipice. One of the trace-links of our waggon broke Avhen we were halfway up, but fortunately with no other bad result than that of a little delay. We were soon again upon level ground. After crossing several bridges over smaU streams, we found ourselves at five o'clock iu the charming town of Springville, which is surrounded by clay fortifications, and which is traversed by a pretty river that winds down picturesque and massive mountains, on the tops of which the eye rests with surprise while examin ing the projecting, vertical, and rather sinuous dikes, the precise character of which could not be made out on ac count of the distance. The fear of being molested as on the previous night by Sunday idlers, determined us not to encamp in the street. We obtained permission from one of the inhabitants to occupy his back-yard. We at once went to work to repair the trace which had been broken on the Avay, and our men after supper set about kneading our bread and baking it under the ashes for next day's use. Our next care was to 328 ACROSS. UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. mend two straps of our vehicles which were on the point of breaking; and this done, we went to sleep, under the clear sky, around our waggon, which had become to us both our lares and penates. The noise made by our ani mals emulously munching their hay, around which they were tethered, was extremely agreeable to hear, less for its own music than from the satisfaction one feels at witnessing the weU-being of those that are dear to us, in which honour able category our cattle just now were ; and the conscious ness of their comfort sent us quickly to sleep " the sleep of the just." It happened that the proprietor of the yard in which we passed the night was a bishop, husband of three wives, and of the name of Aaron. It was not from a feeling of charity or kindness that he had thrown open his doors to us, but from a sort of abstract respect for human nature, which deprived him of the courage to refuse our request. He gave us no invitation to accept the shelter of his roof, and I even fancy that he took us for jettatori, so carefully did he avoid coming near us. We should do wrong were we to refiect too severely on this want of hospitaUty ; there are things that seem enorraities at the first blush, but which are easily explained away in the end. The bishop kuew nothing of us ; but the mere fact of our travelling on Sunday proved we were not Mormons, and frora our ge neral appearance he could see that we were not eraigrants. Hence, he raight conclude that we were persons in the FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 329 employ of government, or, at all events, people who were travelling for the purpose of picking up all sorts of ma licious stories against the Mormons.* Turn it as he would, Ave could not be otherwise than objects of suspicion to him, and it was quite natural he should keep us in quarantine. The poor Saints have been so much abused, that people must be raore exacting than we are to find fault with their Avant of attention to strangers. But all this, it raay be said, does not preclude the ordinary duties of humanity. True ; but the bishop had three wives under his roof, and we travellers have such a bad reputation for mischievous tittle-tattle, that we are given credit for inventing calum nies when Ave cannot find thera ready-made. The good bishop Avished to sleep in peace ; I do not know whether he did so, but one thing is certain, that he could not succeed in it better than we did ; and if he had afterwards any regret for his treatment of us, we trust it did not last longer than what we felt at having caused it. We quitted the see of SpringvUle at seven o'clock in the raorning, after having purchased a supply of corn for our aniraals. Leaving to our left the track which goes * This is no gratuitous supposition. Several elders frankly confessed to us the instinctive distrust they had of travellers. They looked upon them either as spies, or as persons full of a hostile and sarcastic spirit, who see everything on the wrong side, and turn everything into ridicule, for the purpose of afterwards publishing lying books, whioh have an appear ance of sincerity, but which really iave no other merit than that of bringing money to their authors, and of amusing their readers at the ex pense of the Mormons. 330 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. towards the Rocky Mountains by Fort Uintah, we followed a road bordered chiefly on its right by marshes, in which are several springs of slimy water saturated with salt. Some small hUls shut out the sight of Lake Utah, from which we were only a few miles distant. Growing in pools, which we met with from tirae to time, was a monocoty ledon, which in its growth and forra reminded us of Euro pean orchises. Here and there was to be seen a mallow in flower, like that we had found on a previous day. Near a hamlet, well built and enclosed within a high mud Avail, we had to cross a deep narrow river, in which our wag gon stuck fast, and was extricated with great difficulty after having been half under water. We all of us got thoroughly ducked in this dangerous crossing, and were obliged to let our clothes dry on our backs. We. then tra versed a rather fine plain, at the end of which a marsh of little extent, but miry, where there was no solid footing to be found, proved a serious obstacle to us. Our raules sank up to their beUies, and made vain efforts to regain their footing ; we were obliged to unharness them to get thera out of the raud, which was tolerably hard work. We tried ineffectually to extricate the waggon by liieans of six of our strongest beasts ; but it would not budge, do what we could. We had no iraraediate prospect of getting out of our trouble, when we caught sight of a Morraon in the distance, who was driving an erapty cart with a teara of powerful oxen. We ran up to hira and asked him to help us. FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 331 which he did with the greatest possible goodwiU ; and under the strong steady pull of his docile oxen, our waggon Avas drawn, as if by enchantment, out of the mud. The worthy Morraon AA'ould accept no recorapense for the important service he had so seasonably rendered us. We had the greatest difficulty in inducing hira to accept even a little tobacco, which we saw he was in the habit of using. Such disinterested conduct is rare in a traveller's experience ; but it was all the raore precious in our eyes, frora the fact of the Bishop of SpringvUle having just irapressed us with so poor an idea of the charity of the Saints.* This diffi culty reraoved, we had now only to pursue our way over a fine dry road in order to arrive at Payson or Peteetneet, which we reached at one o'clock. At Payson we met one of our old acquaintances, John son the missionary, who eagerly proffered us his hospi tality. While his wives were preparing our dinner under his modest roof, he was good enough to wile away the time with his conversation. This was all the easier for him to do; as he could talk to us of the Sandwich Islands, * Travellers are, in general, rifled wherever they go, and often enough in a very disgusting way. On the coast of Oahu, in very similar circum stances to those I have just mentioned, the people looked on without giving me the slightest assistance, because I refused to pay them beforehand for their services, which they set down at fifty times their value. All I wanted of them was to help me to get my ass, loaded with my mathemati cal instruments, out of a muddy torrent into which it had fallen. I could fiU a volume with similar facts. But, by the side of these, so disgraceful to human nature, I could place others that would do honom: to it. 332 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. an enchanting country, where he had been a raissionary, and where we ourselves had passed sorae of the best years of our life. He told us how he had given the final bloAv to Dr. Judd's influence, finance minister of Kamehameha TIL, at one time the most noted person ui the country, by overcoming the King's hesitation, who had consulted him through one of his courtiers, the chief Halelea, a raan, be it said, as little to be depended upon as he was greedy of popularity at any price. Mr. Johnson strongly expressed his pleasure at having contributed to Judd's fall. Without knowing how far his pretensions were warranted, I cannot corapliment him upon his success, nor yet upon the sound ness of his judgment ; for Dr. Judd, though he might have made sorae enemies, — a fact, perhaps, rather in favour of his political acts than otherwise, — was nevertheless the best and -most inteUigent politician the King had in his seirvice. But this apparently did not concern Mr. Johnson, who vvas think ing of something else very different. In fact the confidence which the King was aUeged to have reposed in him, though I suspect it was a pure invention of Flalelea's, had opened up to hira a vista of marvellous success for Mormonism. The missionary, in a paroxysm of simple-minded delusion, to which the most distinguished minds are occasionally subject, had persuaded hiraself that Heaven was about to throw open a door to the triumph of his religion ; that a Mormon would take office in the ministry, and that the Archipelago would be thus dehvered over to the Saints of FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 333 God, destined in the end to becorae its masters, by pour ing some thousands of emigrants on its shores, Avho would as a raatter of course by their numbers have supplanted the influence of the other white residents, and would have ended — the gradual extinction of the native race which is taking place, co-operating with their plans — by their obtain ing entire and absolute possession of the country. These visions were not realized, in spite of the good offices of Halelea, and of his suggestion of a Morraon colony on the Isle of Lanai. Was the raiscarriage of these plans a mis fortune for the HawaUans ? I cannot say. What -seems clear to me is, that this interesting race is destined to dis appear, or to becorae corapletely fused into a foreign race, which will engross both their soil and their governraent. On the other hand it cannot be doubted, that if the Sand wich Islands had becorae the property of the Mormons, according to the dreams of our raissionary, they must soon have attained to a high degree of prosperity. And since I have been accidentally led to this topic, I wUl suggest to the governraent at Washington a raode which will perhaps find favour with it, and at the sarae time scatter to the winds Mr. Johnson's speculations. I would advise the United States to purchase the sovereignty of the Sandwich Islands, which might be done for a foAv rail- lion doUars, the present King having consented to such a proposal when he was Prince Royal ; and, after making this purchase, to give up the Archipelago to- the Mormons, 334 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. as an indemnity for the losses they incurred in Missouri and Illinois, on condition of their abandoning Utah. Tn this way the federal government would smooth down nu merous difficulties, and the anti-Mormon world get rid of a long nightmare. Tt is not probable that the Saints would reject such an arrangement from any fear of losing by the exchange ; and there is reason to believe that the Kanakas would make no opposition to it. Tt is very cer tain that every nation which has an interest in the indepen dence of the Hawaiian Islands, far from being injured by this new state of things, would find their advantage in it ; and the country itself would derive from it the means of a much more rapid development. I confess I have hardly the courage to propose this solution, so very much do I fear having overlooked obstacles which raight render it irapossible ; but I write it down just as it occurs to me, without attaching further importance to it, and without expecting that, being suggested in this careless way, it will bear any fruit. After having had a long chat with our host and shared his dinner, we resumed our journey at about half past three. Tn passing through the only street of Payson, we saw several Indians reraarkable for their lofty stature and fine figures. Saving their colour, which was a little too coppery, they might have been mistaken for so many Apollos, lounging about with quiver on shoulder and bow in hand. Payson dates but frora yesterday, and already there are signs of bustle everywhere. Houses are FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 335 rising in all directions, and the street is encumbered with building-raaterials. On quitting the viUage we crossed a river, and followed an excellent road with a gentle ascent which took us up to sorae high ground. Suddenly the sky was overcast, and shut out from us Mount Nebo, which was to the west of us, and whose top is almost always covered with snow. On the other side of this raountain lies the valley of Juab, frora which our course drew us off iu a different direction, and in which is to be seen a spring celebrated amongst the Indians, who give it the name of Punjun, and which they represent as being of fathomless depth and as giving out in the evening, after sunset, sounds like the cries of a newborn child. Tt was nine o'clock when we reached an elevated point near a sraall river naraed Summit Creek, where we resolved to pass the night. A cold wind was blowing, which com peUed us to keep up a great fire with the wood of the wiUow-trees around us. We became soon aware that three waggons had halted not far from us. They belonged to some Mormons who were going to settle in the south, at Iron. These settlers inforraed us, that it was their intention to build a vUlage on the very spot where we were encaraped, which was in repute for the good forage to be found there. They told us, raoreover, that at a certain distance in the immediate neighbourhood was a mountain of salt, and a lit tle further on a fountain which yielded pure salt, they spoke also of a vaUey Vhich is known to contain gypsum. After 336 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. chatting a few moments with our neighbours Ave lay down to sleep upon the fresh herb« near our waggon, .with our feet towards the fire. At seven o'clock, the next day, we left Surarait Creek by an excellent road, which led us across an uncultivated plain twenty mUes long, to the little town of Nephi, which we reached at eleven o'clock. Nephi is situated on a rivulet which bears the name of Salt Creek, at 4470 feet above the level of the sea. It is the capital of a county, and though the settlement was only begun in September 1851, it had already, at the time of our visit, become a place of some importance. The elegance of our equipment caused us to be taken by the people for a United States government express. Sorae quidnuncs, such as are found in all villages, inforraed us that two gentlemen were expected about this time, who were traveUing with the blessing of the Prophet, and they seemed to have no doubt that we were -the persons in question. After resting our animals for a couple of hours, we again proceeded. We journeyed across a desert plain, part of a large valley enclosed between barren hiUs. .On our well-worn track was to be seen at intervals a species of mallow with pretty flowers of a pale red. In the plain nothing was to be found but Artemisia, Fremontia, and Grease-wOod. About twenty mUes to the south of the Une we were going, stands the town of Manti, situated in a somewhat unpromising- looking plain, surrounded by hiUs, covered with coniferous trees. In sorae mines in the neighbourhood excellent coal FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 337 has been recently discovered, which is thought equal to that of the AUeghanies (Maryland). The town of Manti is watered by the San Pete ; on the banks of which cereals and the greater part of European vegetables succeed admi rably. About seven miles to the north of Manti, at a place called Fort Ephraim, is a little Mormon settlement consisting of thirty faraUies engaged in agriculture. About half past four we deterrained to encarap on the banks of Chicken Creek, in order not to expose ourselves at night in the iraraediate viciuity of Sevier river, where we had reason to apprehend that we might fall in with iU-dis- posed Indians. We took up our quarters in the raidst of a dried-up pasture close to a wooden bridge which we looked down upon, and under which were growing speci mens of Chara, Polygonum, and Hippuris. It was impos sible, though we went some distance to look for it, to find even the least brushwood to make a fire with ; and we were obliged to content ourselves with supping on bread and raw ham, moistened by the not very agreeable water of the rivulet. The next morning, at an early hour, we rose with sore throats, which had attacked us like an epidemic, and which we attributed to the unwholesome water we had drunk, as well as to the cold, damp temperature of the night we had just passed. We swaUowed for our breakfast some new- laid eggs we had bought at Nephi, and we set out at six o'clock, in hopes of crossing the Sevier in the morning, and VOL. II. z 838 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. getting far enough away from its banks to have no longer any reason for fearing the Indians who usually infest it. We followed a winding dusty road, over a slightly undula ting country, where the constant going up and down, though the ascents were not steep, prevented us from pushing on our cattle. While riding on, Victor began to sing lustily, as if he Avished to get rid of the surplus energy left in him by his having been forced to dispense with his culinary la bours since the previous day. We reached the banks of the Sevier at nine o'clock. Not an Indian Avas to be discovered in any direction, which was no little comfort to us, seeing that we had arrived at the point which is reputed the most dangerous, and on account of which it was proposed to give us an escort. Our anxiety was pretty nearly over in this respect ; still we kept our arms ready, after looking to them carefully. The bridge which we calculated upon crossing had been, I know not how, completely destroyed ; and this was a very dis- agi'eeable surprise for us. The river was a hundred and fifty feet wide, and difficult of access from either bank. We sounded it on horseback, with the view of finding a practicable ford. The bed of the river was a fine quick sand which the current was constantly shifting from place to place. But ford it we must ; and so we proceeded to make the experiment. Huguenot, on horseback, went at the head of the mules, and Mr. Brenchley drove into the river at a trot. All went on well until we got to the middle FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 339 of the stream ; but there the mules, sinking into the sand and losing their footing, carae to a dead stop, turabling one over the other. The waggon, now motionless, sank under its own weight, and the current continuaUy throwing up new contributions of sand, these became heaped up against the body of the waggon, and helped to sink it still deeper. To avoid its being presently swaUowed up, or carried away, it was necessary for us to plunge into the stream, take the raules by the head and support them, while Mr. Brenchley used his whip freely. The beasts having recovered their footing, the waggon heaved over for an instant but without upsetting. It now occurred to us to apply our shoulders to it behind, and then, our mules being at the same time stirred up by the sharp lash of our charioteer, the waggon was got to the bank ; but this being too steep, it again stopped. We redoubled our exertions, and at length succeeded in getting over the difficulty, though at the risk of breaking our harness, and seeing our waggon fall back into the water. After this hard work we let our horses breathe a little, whUe changing our relay, and casting a look of satis faction aud pride at the river we had just left behind us. The Sevier, which takes its rise in 37° of latitude, flows north-north-east for about two degrees, then turns to the west, and runs about fifty raUes frora the place where we crossed, into Lake Nicollet, so caUed in honour of the French astronomer, who, about twenty years ago, found his z 2 340 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC way into the Rocky Mountains. It was on the borders of this river the unfortunate Captain Gunnison was massacred by the Indians, as we raentioned in our second book. We were soon on our way again, glad to leave behind us a spot which was not at all safe, and to halt at some point from which we could see the enemy at a distance. We found such a place as we wanted in Round VaUey, a desert and barren plain, where our cattle had nothing to eat but the bread and corn we gave them. To get out of this cii'cular basin in which we were shut up, we had to scale a hill, and then descend into a valley of much less dreary aspect than those through which we had been for sorae time passing, though it was corapletely unin habited. Oaks, wild rose-trees, Cowania, Juniperus, co vered the edges, and nurabers of hares and grouse were to be seen skiraraing away frora us under these stunted trees. On leaving the vaUey we found ourselves upon an open piece of ground, frora which we could see on all sides well wooded raountains contrasting strongly with the bare ness we had of late been used to. The sight before us was certainly not worthy of being sung by a poet, but for Utah it was a landscape extraordinarily picturesque and even fertile ; and as everything in this world goes by coraparison, and we easUy get accustomed to things about us, we were enchanted. A little before nightfall we reached Cedar Spring. We encamped near an isolated farm which appeared to be ex- FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 341 ceedingly well stocked, to judge by its corn-ricks and hay stacks. A Scotchman, who appeared to us highly Ulumi- nated even for a Mormon, drew near our fire. If intrusive, he at all events was not inquisitive, for his garrulity waited for no answer. The raost sensible thing he told us was, true or not, that he had found gold in the raountains Avhich rise above FUlmore. He did not know what to say when he was asked why he did not work his mine, but cer tainly he did not appear to be one of those who are indif ferent to the precious metal. As soon as this great babbler took himself off, we fell into a sound sleep in our blankets spread on the ground. On the 1st of November we rose at four o'clock. Our people made bread, greased the waggon, and at seven o'clock we were moving across a vast plain, which con ducted us to FUlmore, where we arrived at ten o'clock in the raorning. There we found Judge Drummond, whom we had known at Great Salt Lake City, and who had corae with the lovely Ada, his concubine, and big Cato, his negro, to preside over the district court. We encaraped in the street in the face of the cottage where the raagis- trate had taken up his quarters, close to a yard where a couple of tarae young bears were amusing theraselves, one of them black and the other light-coloured, with a wolf's head and small eyes. Shortly after our arrival, some people who had come from San Bernardino in twenty-two days, placed themselves in the street not far from us. We em- 342 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. ployed the rest of the day in looking at Fillraore and its environs, and taking a sketch of the place. We passed the evening in listening to the anti-Morraon dissertations of Judge Drummond, in which his fair companion took part, who seemed as if she could not say often enough how tired she was of her long stay in Utah. The Judge told us how inclined he felt to give the Governor, Brigham Young, a rap when he came to try the murderers of Gun nison, against whom he had just issued a warrant. He told us he had sent twenty-five raen, on horseback to arrest Carlos Murray, Haws's son-in-law, charged with several raurders. The Judge had for his clerk a Morraon lawyer, of the name of Bear, who looked upon him as an oracle, and seemed much attached to hira in spite of the difference of their religious views. We were not aware then that Ada the skinny was not the lawful wife of Mr. Druramond; she did appear somewhat embarrassed and nervous in her behaviour to her pretended husband while in our presence, but all we inferred from it was that she did not wear the breeches. The Mormons themselves were not at first ap prised of the scandalous adultery of this magistrate, so stern and so bitter against their religious institutions, more especially against their polygamy. It was whispered among thera indeed that this woman had been taken out of a place of iU-.''ame ; but as they supposed she had washed out the errors of her past life by a lawful marriage, they wiUingly forgave her for having loved overmuch ; and when they FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 343 saw her seated at her lord's side on the judgraent-seat, they were content with siraply regarding this intrusion as ridiculous. When they learnt that the Judge had left a lawful wife in his own country and brought a prostitute to Utah, they were raore surprised than sorry, for they skil fully made use of it to denounce the corruption of the public officers who were calumniating them, and to deraon- strate the excellence of their polygynic doctrine, by which a raan may lawfuUy foUow the inclinations of his heart. It will be remembered it was Mr. Drummond's malice which, raore than anything else, gave rise to the military expedition against the Mormons. They who desire to as certain the earliest causes of this costly campaign, must search for them in the illicit union of this magistrate with his charming Ada. The contempt with which he was over whelmed by all within his jurisdiction when the fact got wind, the spite he felt and the vengeance he chose to take by such means as shame and hatred dictate to ignoble minds, — all this it was, insignificant as it seems, that brought about the crisis by which a nation was led to throw miUions to the winds. History, alas ! is full of wars which were not a particle wiser. FUlmore, where we met this couple more notorious than interesting, is the political capital of Utah. It is situated in 38° 58' 40" of north latitude, and in about 114° 40' west longitude (meridian of Paris), and a hundred and fifty-two mUes south of Great Salt Lake City. It is watered by 334 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. Chalk Creek, a little brook which the Indians call Nuquin, and is one of the tributaries of the Sevier. FUlmore, which did not exist before 1852, is built at the foot of a chain of mountains, which forms a picturesque barrier to the east, and is connected with the Wahsatch Mountains. Towards the west the eye wanders over an immense plain, with no limits but the horizon, like a view at sea. This capital, Fillmore, does not reckon more than eight hundred inhabi tants. Tt is shut up within a quadrilateral wall of adobes, and divided into quarters of ten acres each. The streets are wide, and run north and south, east and west. No church is to be seen, and all the houses are alike and have the same poor look. At the time of our visit this capital was a dirty place, though admirably situated for becoming a great city. Tt occupies nearly the centre of the Territory, to which it owes the honour of having been selected as the capital. Tt is here the legislative assembly of Utah meets every year, generaUy about the middle of November or December. The State-House is to the south of the city, outside of the waUs. Tt is a large new building, of red granite, and is said to have cost not less than forty thou sand doUars. Tt is sixty-one feet long by forty-one wide. Though very reraarkable for the country, it would be thought insignificant elsewhere. The federal officers, who ought to reside at FiUmore, live at Salt Lake, and only go to the capital when the legislature is sitting. It was about two leagues from Fillmore; at Meadow FROM GREAT SALT LAKE CITY TO FILLMORE. 345 Creek, that the celebrated Wakara, the chief of the Utah Indians, died, on the 29th of January, 1855. Sixty horses* were slain upon his tomb, besides two woraen and two chUdren, to serve as his corapanions to the other world, and they buried with him all the presents he had received during his life, all his ornaments, and raoreover a letter of Brigham Young's, which he had received the day before his death. The story goes that, about 1845, two years before the appearance of the Morraons in the vaUey of the Great Salt Lake, this famous chief, happening to find him self in the midst of some Canadian trappers in the valley of the Uintah, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, feU sud denly ill and died. His soul had passed away for a day and a night without his body becoming cold. His spirit, separated from its material covering, mounted to the celes tial regions, where he saw God and a multitude of angels and beings clad in white. The angels did not speak to him ; but God conversed with him, and told him that he should return to life, because his work was not yet accom plished, and that friends belonging to the white race were on their way to pay him a visit. Before he returned to take possession of his body, God gave him a new narae, that of Pannacarrakuinker, which signifies ' breaker of iron.' It is added that " Iron-breaker " after this had often fights with the Shoshones, but that he could boast of * The number is perhaps exaggerated, but it is quite certain that there were not less than fifteen. 346 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIPIC. never having shed the blood of the white-skins. We give this story as we heard it, without being able to say whe ther it be of Mormon manufactiire or is really to be as cribed to the chief himself. Arapine, Wakara's brother and successor, reigns now over the Utah Indians ; he has the repute of being a much dreaded chief, very irascible, and remarkably eloquent. 347 CHAPTER IT. FROM FILLMOEE TO LAS VEGAS. SNOW-STOEM AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. THE PKAIRIB DOG. — COVE CREEK. A ROASTED CHOW. — -BEAVEK CKEEK. MAEAUDING CA- YOTES. PAROWAN. — CEDAR CITY. MINES. ANTIQUITIES. — RE- TLECTIONS ON THE CRADLE OP HUMANITY. — INDIAN CAMP. — DIS PLAY OF CHARITY AND COURAGE BY TWO MORMON WOMEN. — A PRISONER OF WAR. RIO SANTA CLARA. ^-FRONTIER OF NEW MEXICO. A PROFESSION OF FAITH. — CALIFORNIAN PARTRIDGES. A SQUAW WITH LARGE BREASTS. — ARCHERY. — MOUNTAINS AND MOUNTAIN SHEEP. — RIO VIEGEN. POLITICAL IDEAS OP A YANKEE THINKER. — MEETING WITH AN APOSTLE. AN ADROIT THIEF. A LABOUR OP HERCULES. THE MUDDY, AND THE INDIANS ON ITS BANKS. DESERT. — LAS VEGAS AND ITS SETTLERS. THE INDIANS OP THE COLORADO. The capital of Utah had no attractions to retain us within its walls, and nothing in its environs which could induce us to prolong our stay. One thing only might perhaps have been able to tempt us, that was the study of the Flora of the picturesque and unknown mountains which pre sented to our gaze deep valleys, and to our imagination undoubted discoveries ; but at this season of the year. 348 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. nature reposing decks neither mountain nor plain with flowers. On the other hand, the society of the place proraised us nothing but what we were already famUiar with elsewhere. Consequently we had no hesitation in de termining to leave it as soon as possible, and to go and seek in other places subjects for observation and inquiry. On the 2nd of Noveraber, at flve o'clock in the morning, in a tolerably sharp cold, we were ready to be off, when a livid sky, which reminded us of the copper-coloured atmo sphere that occasionally makes the borders of the Thames so dreary, suddenly unburdened itself of so heavy a fall of snow that we were compelled to suspend our departure. This delay was all the more provoking to us because it was irapossible to foresee when it was to end ; but it was ad mirably well-timed to answer the purpose of a jobber. Judge Druramond skilfully availed himself of this unto ward mischance to make us conclude a bargain with him which we had declined the day before. Having learnt we had but three beasts accustomed to the coUar, he pretended to be sadly concerned about it, and repeated his offer of parting, for our sakes, with one of his best horses, a magnifi cent creature indeed, which he said was accustomed to en dure long fasts, and in all respects was fitted for the desert as though he were of Indian breed. We hesitated a good deal, for experience had shown us that the horse, no matter how good he may be, is not at aU hardy enough to support the privations and fatigues of such an expedition as we FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 349 were engaged in. The Judge however was so persuasive, Ave thought hira so sincere in the interest he seemed to take in us, the horse was so handsorae, the weather was so bad and gave such signs of being worse, that we abruptly decided on paying the one hundred and forty doUars which the horse-jockey asked, for an animal that would be sure to bring, he said, double the sum. It was indeed a sort of gift he pretended to make us, and so I reaUy thought at first; but after a few days' work, the superb horse, more accustomed, as we had feared, to the high feeding of the stable than to the severe diet of the desert, turned out a regular brute. Our purchase, in fact, was one we should not, Avith our experience, have made, for we had abundant reason to know that the horse is inferior to the mule when he is exposed to severe exertion for a long time, and to poor and irregular food. About seven o'clock om' bargain was completed. The snow had ceased to fall, and in spite of the bad state of the roads, we took advantage of the first break in the weather to set out on our way, so impatient were we to reach a mUder climate. About eight mUes from FiUmore we passed near the quarters of the chief Kanochi, of the tribe of the Pahvants, whom we had not the honour to meet. In crossing the rivulet, on whose banks this pacific chief lives, our waggon got so violent a thump as to make us fancy that it had struck against a sunken rock. Fortunately the only mischief done was the breaking of the step, a trifling 350 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. accident which of course did not delay us. But the snow, which lay six inches deep, did not permit us to get on as rapidly as we wished ; besides this, no trace of the road was visible, which obliged us to move on with caution. Finally, the atraosphere bec'arae so thick that we could no longer perceive any marking-points in the distance which might have served to direct us. The compass was now our only resource. A cow which had no doubt lost her way in the dark, had for sorae tirae been foUowing us ; after several ineffectual atterapts to raake her turn back, we left off disturbing her, and suffered her to foUow us, which she did like a dog. The snow, that had been constantly threatening to corae down, was not long before it fell again ; and though it did so less heavily than in the morning, it succeeded at last in corapletely wetting us with its melting flakes. We shivered in our wet clothes, and our hands felt as if they were frozen. Our team too, smoking under its harness, showed signs of breaking down with fatigue. The only thing we thought of was, where we could find a convenient place for halting. About half past two we reached a hilly spot where there were large junipers to afford us, if not shelter, at least precious fuel. Here, about twenty mUes frora where we set out, we resolved to encamp. WhUe busy in tethering our animals, and putting our saddles and gear under cover, Victor got wood, ht a fire, melted some snow, and raade us some boUing-hot tea, to warm us whUe we were drying ourselves. The cow stiU FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 351 stuck by us. Our cattle patiently suffered her to compete with them in the midst of the snow for sorae tufts of bunch- grass (Aira), a succulent kind of grass and, as it were, providential in these countries. We tried to railk the poor beast, but press her udder as we raight, not a drop of milk would it give. The darkness of night soon succeeded to the semi-obscure of this dreary day. Having now com pletely dried ourselves, we were comparatively happy, and we felt a kind of voluptuous satisfaction in crouching around a great fire, which we kept up with whole trunks of resi nous trees. As if to defy the elements, and make light of all the annoyances we were exposed to, we set to work singing whUe the snow came down at double quick pace. We smoked our pipes with delight opposite to our glowing fire, which lit up our group with a singular and fantastic hght, producing a most curious effect by its changing the expression of our faces in such a way as to cause us im mense amusement. At the end of the evening, we gave our animals a few pecks of Indian corn to make up for the want of hay and grass, and we tethered the horses only, leaving the raules to forage wherever they could in the vicinity. Then towards ten o'clock, Mr. Brenchley and myself took up our quarters in the waggon for the night, whUst our people slept under a tree near the fire. The next day the snow continued to fall, and the cold was stiU sharp. However, we had repaired our strength by a refreshing sleep, and our servants were in glee at the 352 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. sound rest they had enjoyed under the juniper-tree, thus contradicting VirgU's words, "Juniperi gravis umbra." Fearing we might not be able to find so good an encamp ment as that we had, we deterrained not to proceed as long as it snowed. Within a few steps of us there was a rock, against which, if required, we could have buUt a hut where in to put ourselves completely under shelter, and which afforded refuge on its steep sides to a few dying plants, such as some Aster, Artemisia, Atriplex, Eriogonum. The great inconvenience of our quarters Avas not the want of water, for by melting snow we got it in abundance ; but the want of herbage was what we most felt, as the slender provision of Indian corn we had with us could not hold out long. Our poor brutes showed plainly enough, by their impatient and restless air, that their hunger was far frora satisfied. We therefore made some bread for their use, and were thinking of sending them back to FUlmore until the weather improved, when, about two o'clock in the afternoon, some clear spots in the sky determined us to pursue our journey. Just as we were moving off, we per ceived, at a little distance from us, three waggons going in the direction of Fillraore. We made over to the driver the cow which had followed us, and availed ourselves of the track just made by these waggons. At first we crossed a great plain, where our vehicle got on but slowly in the half- thawed, muddy snow, which stuck to the wheels. Then, after a slight ascent, we descended into a vaUey which led FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 353 US through a basin-shaped spot, of no great extent, where nurabers of little burrowing maramifers were living to gether in society, whence this place has been called by the Mormons, Prairie-dog Valley. The prairie-dog of the Americans {Arctomys ludovicia- nus — Spermophdus), of the squirrel family and the mar mot group, is a sraall aniraal as large as a raoderate-sized guinea-pig. It has received the name of dog, on ac count of its low cry, which has been inaccurately likened to a dog's bark. These curious animals live in great com munities, in burrows which they hoUow out by the side of each other, and which are sometimes so numerous that the trappers give them the name of vUlages. They feed on grass and insects. They build their nests of dry herbs which they drag to the bottom of their holes. Tt was a pleasure to see them sitting at the entrance of their sub terranean dweUings, and to hear them uttering their low cries while wagging their tails. But they must not be ap proached too near, for at the least noise they take fright, and withdraw into their galleries. We tried in vain to procure some ; they were nimbler than we were, and the snow seemed to have rendered them unusually tiraid. We saw them, however, near enough to be quite sure that the colour of their skin was a tawny brown. It is said that they have not the shghtest fear of rattlesnakes. A very interesting particular in connection with these aniraals is, that they seera to live on the best terms with a singular VOL. II. 2 A 354 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. bird, a sort of owl {Strix hypogcea), which takes possession of their deserted burroAvs, makes its nest there, and passes its time in standing sentry at the mouth of the lodging -it has appropriated like a hermit-crab, and into which it draws itself back quickly at the shghtest sound from any other quarter or cause than the customary frolics of its good neighbours the maramifers. It was a source of real enjoyraent to us to see these birds, whose large mouths extend from ear to ear, nimbly turning their heads with out a pause from right to left and left to right, as if to lose nothing of what was going on. We were enclosed in Prairie-dog Valley by a girdle of hills which our animals scaled with great difficulty. Night had closed in when Ave reached the top of the rise. We had then to take a pretty steep and long descent, which led us to the dry bed of a rivulet, on the banks of which there was sorae brushwood, but for the most part wUlows. On the left we perceived a fire, which we made for. We reached it about eight o'clock, and found it had been lit by a party of eight Morraons, who were coming frora California with a very small waggon and two oxen. These traveUers permitted us to plant our selves by their fire, in snow a foot deep. A smaU rivulet, caUed Cove Creek, ran at a few paces from us. Our cattie found some dry herbs in the raidst of the brushwood, and this provender, together with the bread we served out to thera, satisfied their wants. Our neighbours were people of very littie curiosity, and not at aU communicative. They FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 355 however kept awake with us untU midnight, but without taking any part in the conversation other than to answer our questions by monosyllables, or to praise the tobacco we had given them to smoke. The sky had cleared ; the stars were shining bright above us, and gave us good augury of the following day. In our vicinity the cayotes howled, yelped, and barked, as if protesting against the frost. The next morning the cold was extreraely keen ; but, by way of compensation, the sky was perfectiy cloudless. Our neighbours took their departure at sunrise. Soon after, some large crows made their appearance, and gave us to understand by their croakings how impatiently they desired us to be off. We took a shot at thera. Our cook, who was always getting up sorae surprise for us, plucked one of the birds we had kiUed, and after roasting it on the coals, ate it for our arauseraent. I had already seen savages regale theraselves on this leathery ffesh, and I had rayself tasted it in moments of difficulty ; but I had never known a European have recourse to it of his own free will, and I confess I was astonished to see Victor eat it when he had at his disposal bacon and salt beef. While in pursuit of the crows, we perceived at no great distance frora us a smaU Indian fire, which might have caused us sorae anxiety, if at the same tirae we had not observed that the enemy were few in number. At ten o'clock we 'set out. It was cold, and yet the snow was beginning to melt ; raoreover, it was not so deep on the road as in the place where we 2 A 2 356 .ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. spent the night. We passed over the level surface of a large valley, in which we, towards the middle of the day, came across a corapany of Indian women travelling bare footed, and leading a number of horses tethered together, laden with game of all sorts, which their husbands had doubtless kUled during these snowy days, so favourable to the chase. These Avoraen, iU clad in tattered skins which left a part of the body uncovered, did not appear to suffer frora cold. They passed by us with great gravity to all appearance, but laughing, no doubt, in their sleeves, and without condescending either to give us a look, or reply to our questions or signs. What especiaUy struck us M'as their having no raan with thera, from which we inferred that the men belonging to their party were following at a distance, shooting along the ridges above the valley. We afterwards saw foxes, which seemed to stop and examine us ; we sent a few pistol-baUs after thera, which soon caused them to make off to the high grounds. We also came upon some hares, two of which we kiUed and ate for supper. Our road was uneven and jolting. The snow had almost entirely gone, whether it was that there had been less of it here than in the places we had passed, or that the thaw had set in very rapidly. Sorae wormwoods, junipers, wiUows, and pines, were to be seen here and there by the roadside. The valley soon closed, presenting a long, tor tuous, narrow gorge. An Indian on horseback, armed with two rifles, his face daubed over with red and black FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 357 paint, passed close by us in the defile. After some tiine we entered a great plain where nothing was to be seen but Artemisia. There we crossed a brook, called Indian Creek, bordered by great wUlows of tolerably picturesque appearance. We then ascended a small hUl, on the other side of Avhich we had to pass over an extensive plain which bore nothing but wormwood, and through which ran the Beaver, a river of some importance, which divides itself into three branches, each of which we were obliged to cross. At half past four we determined to encamp on the banks of the river, in a place sheltered by a mass of large willow-trees. The sky was now overcast, but snow was no where to be seen save on the distant raountains. The po sition we had selected was charming. The river's cur rent murmured agreeably in our ears, and the wind which moaned in the trees did not reach us. The air was tolerably . cold, but instead of being loaded with damp, as was hither to the case, it was now quite dry, and gave us a feeling of vigour, and also of comfort and well-being that was very agreeable. Victor especially seemed to be thus affected by it to an extraordinary degree. He went so far as to bet with his American corarades, that he would all alone hft to his shoulders and carry to our fire an enormous trunk of poplar, which they were unable to manage both together. He gained his bet, to our great astonishraent, but the losers refused to pay the wager, and hereupon rose end less quarrels. Among the trees which surrounded us. 358 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. there was one bearing an inscription, in Enghsh, dated 1849, which informed us that the person signing claimed the ownership of the adjacent country. We had then un wittingly intruded upon another man's land 1 Well, but this did not prevent our letting our animals pasture at wUl on the herbage of the Beaver, the approach to which was not prohibited by any keeper, not even by the beavers, from which the river takes the name that is now raerely a sign of the past.* We slept marvellously well in our pretty encarapment, and so soundly that we did not hear the thieves who had stolen upon us and robbed us of several things; among others, a capital lasso which we had used in hunting wUd buUs in the raountains of Hawan. These thieves were the cayotes, animals as crafty as they are voracious, espe cially in the winter season, and which we fancied we had nothing to fear from, as we had a dog with us. But Tiger, our Cerberus, gave us no kind of warning, and the cayotes were able to feast with impunity at our expense. Our con solation for this mishap was the reflection that travellers more practised than ourselves, had, on waking, found them selves stripped of their saddles, and obliged to mount their horses bare-back. The cayotes were not the only marau ders who surrounded us : there were others still bolder, * Within a few years the beavers have entirely disappeared from the banks of Beaver Creek, where they appear to have been common at one period. FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 359 but less formidable. I saw under our waggon sorae little grey maniniifers, about the size of a raole, insolently pU- fering the grains of Indian corn which had dropped out from one of our sacks that had been accidentally rent. I quietly got near one of these harmless plunderers, and caught it in my hand. It was a rodent {Geomys), very gentle, inoffensive, and pretty, ornamented with a long taU, and furnished on each side of the lower jaw with two large pouches, in which it stores its food. This prize was aU the more agreeable to us as it was the first time we had ever seen this curious animal alive. We set out again at half past six, across a barren plain, leading to a picturesque valley, in which yuccas, broom- rape, ar\d various grasses were, in spite of the season, alive under some junipers and pines. This long wide valley, extremely level, was skirted by reddish-tinted hills, above which towered mountains crowned with snow. About twelve o'clock we halted in the raidst of a prairie. At two we resumed our course with the intention of getting to Parowan, which we reached at half past four, and where we had made up our minds to spend a day to rest our cattle. The cold was very sharp and even piercing. Tn spite of a biting north wind, we encamped in the middle of a street for want of an inn or a settler who would re ceive us under his roof. We had supposed that President Sraith, to whom we had obligingly undertaken to deliver a message, would have tendered us his hospitaUty : we 360 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. were completely mistaken, he had not the politeness even to thank us for it. We speedly made up our minds to pass the night in the open air, where we were, and we bought wood to make a fire with. But Ave could not at any price obtain a sufficient quantity of corn and forage, the want of which determined us to pursue our way the next day, and look out for sorae inhabited spot where Ave could stay under raore favourable circurastances. Sorae Indians came and examined our encampment for an instant ; and some young scamps of the city also appeared, who made a display of their wit by a pun, which was highly relished by the by standers. " Is it the mail ?" some one asked. " No," re plied another, "it is the female." Wit, it is obvious, is not the exclusive property of ' Punch ' and the ' Charivari.' Parowan is the capital of Iron county. Tn spite of its pompous name of city, and of its better title to thit of chief town of the county, it is nothing raore than a poor stragghng village, buUt of wood and adobes of red earth. Nevertheless its position at the foot of some mountains, and at the mouth of a deep vaUey, on the borders of a rivu let called Centre Creek, could not be otherwise than pictu resque. The houses are so arranged as to enclose a great central square, in which different crops are grown, and in one of the corners of which is a high flagstaff" with a vane in the shape of a fish. This settlement, intended in the first in stance to supply by its farm produce the wants of the workmen employed in the iron-mines, was founded about FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 361 the beginning of 1851. Its growth does not appear to have realized the expectations entertained of it. This is no fault of the settlers who were sent there ; for from the very first they displayed uncomraon energy in digging canals, in constructing a fort, and in erecting buildings for reli gious worship, for schools, and raanufactures. But fate had decided that another settlement, forraed somewhat later, a few miles to the south, should be prejudicial to this one, by drawing off the settlers frora it. The population of Paro wan is not at all considerable, and is apparently composed of aU that the Morraons have of least consideration araong thera. They are, in general, men of the lowest class, coarse uncultivated people, positive savages, with a heavy and stupid expression of countenance; in a word, it may be safely said that the place is in every respect of less import ance than it is usually supposed to be throughout Utah. The cold was so severe in the open street at Parowan, that we were obliged to rise, light our fire and keep it up till day. In the group of Indians which forraed around us in the raorning, was a negro idiot who had found his way here, I know not by what caprice of fortune. We pur chased of an Indian a bow raade of the horn of the raoun tain sheep of Araerica {Ovis montana), and three arrows with flint heads, for an old flannel shirt. A Morraon of San Bernardino came and asked us to execute a comrais- sion for his wife, a service we wUlingly consented to render hirn, and for which he reraunerated us by explaining why 362 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. it was we had found neither hay nor grain in the country for our cattle ; the harvest had been so scanty that the inhabitants were afraid of not having a sufficient supply for themselves. We left Parowan at eight o'clock. Our course at first lay across a plain, after which we ascended a slight rise, and then descended into a level country. On our right we saw a salt lake of little extent, the area of which has been exaggerated on the maps. The soil about us was covered with an alkaline crust. We left to the west a sraall ham let, and after going at a trot the whole way, we found our selves towards twelve o'clock at the entrance of Cedar City. A number of mounted Indians passed us at full gallop, and pulled up under the walls of the city, at a camp formed of large conical-shaped tents, watched by women. Not be ing able to find any lodging, we took up our quarters as usual in the street, but too happy that a good feUow, of the name of Hamilton, was wUling to admit our animals into his enclosure. Cedar City is situated on Coal Creek, about two hun dred and seventy mUes from Great Salt Lake City. It was founded in the autumn of 1851 by a company of thirty-five Mormons, whose energy was so great as to have become proverbial. The first thing these industrious pio neers did was to raise a fort to protect themselves froiii the attacks of the natives ; they then enclosed an area of five hundred acres with palisades, dug canals, ploughed FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 303 and sowed a very large piece of ground, and began to work the iron-mines which are found in the neighbourhood a few miles off. The city is one of importance, and finely situated. The high raountains at the foot of which it is buUt, have a singular appearance; they are composed of rocks of a reddish tint, which at the time we were passing produced a very curious optical effect under the skuU-cap of sparkling snow which covered thera. As we spent two whole days at Cedar, we had tirae to raake some excursions in the neighbourhood. Our first visit was to the large and massive works built for smelting the ore. The ore we saw there is of unquestionable value, yielding from twenty-five to seventy-five per cent, of pure iron. A joint-stock corapany, under the narae of the De seret Iron Company, works these mines under a fifty years' lease granted by the legislature of Utah. The foundry produces about two thousand pounds of iron every twenty- four hours. The coal used in these works is dug out of a vein, which is described as inexhaustible, in a mountain from five to seven miles above the city. Tt is of excellent quality, but contains so much sulphur that there has been some intention of purifying it by slightly boUing before using it. Iron and coal are not the only products found about Cedar, there are also sulphur and lead mines, and certain indications give reason to hope that cinnabar will also be discovered there. When the foundations of Cedar City were laid, not quite 364 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. ten years ago, the settiers supposed they were working on a virgin soU.'and that.it was the first time- that men had ever settled themselves in this wUd country. They were mistaken; long ages £igo the soU. they were turning. up had fed' numerous generations. The quantity of fragments of coloured pottery which has been discovered in the vicinity, demonstrates that the Mormon city is built on the site of a considerable city belonging to the Aztecs, a people long since extinct, and once the most civUized of the two Ame ricas. It is quite certain that the bits of pottery which we have now under our eyes, exhibit in their colouring a de gree of finish which is not to be found in the huacas of Peru. Unfortunately, no whole specimen exists, and the fragments found up to this day are so defaced that it has not been possible to conjecture the forra they had Avhen entire. But, at all events, such specimens as have been obtained are sufficient to show that the art of pottery was carried very far araong the ancient people of the New World ; but Avithout attaining, as far at least as correctness of design is concerned, to the excellence of the magnificent Etruscan vases of Corneto, to be seen in the museum of the Vatican. ¦ Ruins of ancient industrial works are also found in this part of Utah, and furnaces for pottery are stUl trace able. These precious though mutilated relics are not the only traces of man's works in these regions. At some raUes to the north as weU as to the south of Cedar, — to the north A gold plate found in 18'i7 on the banks of the- Ohio, r//^-/.J/,j .Jf///.J f^^Ai-: r/' rt'/z/^-.j .J/zl' /f.J ^>--r/y?.J /-/ ///^^// Indian Glyphics, selected withoiit order and copied from the rocks of Utah /irip /'¦ tM,j,J..,t.,m. J.>. r /faui^./aii/i,\ /'.u FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 365 near Littie Salt Lake, to the south near Harraony, — are to be seen great rocks covered over with glyphic inscrip tions, sorae portions of which, sketched at randora, are accurately represented in our engraving. These inscrip tions or figures are coarsely executed ; but they all re present objects easy of recognition, and for the raost part copied frora nature. Remembering the Egyptian hiero glyphics, it seems clear that we have here a real glyphic writing, of which sorae future ChanipoUion may hereafter find the key, and thus throw a clear hght on the history of a race which seems to have attained a comparatively high degree of civihzation. Tt at one raoraent occurred to us to copy all these inscriptions in the order in which they are placed ; but such a task would have required entire raonths, and unfortunately the objects we had in view caUed us in a different direction. It is greatly to be desired that travel lers raore fortunately situated than ourselves, will be at the trouble of sketching these characters, that they may be preserved to posterity and science, which otherwise run great risk of losing them ; for the rocks scale off, split, and crumble away, so that these annals of an unknown people wiU soon have disappeared, taking away with them the last chance left us of throwing Ught upon the darkness of the past. I am not aware that any discovery has been made, either of fragments of ancient pottery or of glyphic inscriptions, to the north of the paraUel of Cedar City. In South Ame- 366 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. rica the analogous traces of Indian civilization stop at a less distance from the Equator, and do not appear to go beyond the thirtieth degree. It was, then, between the thirtieth degree of south latitude and the thirty-eighth of north lati tude, that the leading nations of Araerica existed, and con stituted powerful and cultivated societies. It is to be re marked that on both sides of the equatorial line, the further we remove from the outside liraits we have just indicated, and approach the tropics, the more we are struck by the number and the artistic merit of the reraains which these extinct nations have left behind, as so many vestiges of their passage through existence. / On the banks of the Rio Colorado, and especiaUy those of the Rio GUa, in New Mexico, the American explorers have found glyphic cha racters in great number, and even the ruins of consider able cities. Mexico, Yucatan, Guatemala, aU Central Ame rica, abound in still more reraarkable raonuments. South America, from the Equator to the frontiers of Bohvia, com prising the space between the CordUlera of the Andes, and the Pacific Ocean, has revealed, and is stUl daily reveal ing, ruins, objects of art, and nuraerous remains of a civi lization sui generis, which we meet neither towards the southern nor northern extremity of the continent. Tn the presence of such incontestable facts, how is it possible to resist the impression which leads the mind to perceive in the far past, amid the obscurity of the- beginning of things, the cradle of humanity suspended in the shade of the ever- FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 367 green foliage of the tropics ? No reflecting man can help being struck Avith the coincidence which exists between the Old and the New World. In the former it was, as every thing seems to show, under the tropical sky of India that raan first lived, and then advanced by degrees throughout the rest of Asia, through Africa, and Europe. It cannot be denied, that the raonuments of the most remote anti quity, in harraony, raoreover, with various traditions, occupy in the Old World a position remarkably similar to that of the places in the New World where we discover the A'es- tiges of early American civilization. It is in the vicinity of the Equator, under the tropics or in their immediate vicinity, that we see the primitive na tions of our planet stirring and growing. Central America seems to have cradled in its bosom the first representatives of the American race. Tt was there that raan, thrown on the surface of the continent by sorae unknown action of the Alraighty, raust have developed and lived for thou sands of years, between the two extrerae points of the sun's course, before venturing into the sad and chilly zones of the north and south. FaUing like an acorn on fertUe soU, he took root there to bear fruit or send forth offshoots, which spread little by little until at last they extended to a distant point. Man had need of a cheerful sky, of a teraperature that was always mUd, and of fruits that were ever ripe, around his birth-place ; in a word, beneficent Nature had to be his nurse, and suckle him at her generous breasts. The tropics 368 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. could alone rear up this growing king. Here too it was, in these regions where life is agreeable and easy, that the arts, which for their development have so much need of leisure and prosperity, were destined to appear and fiour- ish. It was to the banks of the Ganges, and afterwards to those of the Nile, that the arts of the Old World were at first confined ; it was therefore between the Gulf of Mexico and the shores of the Pacific that American art ought na turally to have been born, and there it was born. Art is the chUd of repose and happiness ; its country is Eden. Industry, which is a creation of modern society, is a pro duct of the temperate or frigid zones ; she is a daughter of need. The men of the north may comprehend and appre ciate art because the key-note, if I raay so express myself, has been given them ; but they could neither have divined nor created it. Man required a brilliant sun, an inspiring sky, a nature fiUl of attraction and prodigal of gifts, before his mind, absorbed during long ages in contemplative adoration, could feel itself irresistibly urged to begin the work of imitation. Does not this explain why, on the two continents, we find the first traces of art — its larvse, in fact — in the same geographical positions ? Must we then make up our minds to acknowledge that we are, in these our prosaic countries of the temperate zone, but emigrants from the torrid zone : tender shrubs, transplanted far from their country, acclimated and highly improved even by the adaptive hand of necessUy ? Ne- FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 369 cessity 1 This is the wondrous fairy which has worked so many miracles of civilization ! Necessity it was which made us avail ourselves of the lessons and experience of our ancestors, untU we learnt to soar above them. Neces sity it was, powerfully seconded by toil, that grand cre ator, that prolific god frora whora we may ask all things, and who can give us all things, — necessity it was which constrained us to seek, and enabled us to discover, the means of supporting our banishment from happier climes. Ts it not perhaps the remembrance of the fertile and ever blooming gardens where we first drew breath which may have given us the courage to raake so raany strenuous ef forts to revive the delights of our paternal home ? . Whence the pains we are at to clothe ourselves with so much nicety, to load our tables with varied and succulent viands, to buUd for ourselves such splendid habitations ? Why but to recover the agreeable warmth of our native sky do we deprive the sheep of its fleece, the silk-worm of its cocoon, the cotton-plant of its pod ? Why but to rival the ban quets of the Eden of the tropics do we gather about us all the fruits and all the flowers of the earth ? Or why is it but to revive in our hearts the image of our lost country that we deck our homes with everything that can recall it ? Do not our real wants arise from our having quitted the palace which was intended for us and which was our birth place ? Under the tropics, luxury of every kind is the free gift of Nature; there idleness begets not death, and not VOL. II. 2 B 370 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. even listlessness. There, in some far time, our only occupa tion was to enjoy existence. Here we exist only on the con dition of an incessant struggle and stubborn contest. There we hved, as even now live the light-hearted inhabitants of the isles of the Southern Ocean, dancing day and night under trees which gratuitously supplied us with endless food ; there we spent our life without care, without toil, and without suffering. Were we then made for the tropical zone? We may fairly presume it, because, whenever our good star by chance leads us there, we soon flnd ourselves — save when we have left behind us beings too dear to be quitted without pain — in our natural element, pleased to enjoy in a charming and unwearying idleness the attrac tions of a voluptuous and ever-exhUarating climate ; while on the contrary, the inhabitant of that privileged soU, when transported to our grey and sullen climes, to our populous and bustling cities, sighs incessantly for the sweet glories of his native skies.* At the close of these reflections, which have insensibly led lis away from the reUcs which suggested them, and borne us off into an imaginary world, this question pre sents itself : Why has not America, which seems to have gone through the same phases as Asia with respect to the * The inhabitants of the temperate zone get so fond of the tropica, after some years' stay in them, that by far the greater part of them, on their return to their own land, not only feel themselves without a country, but are haunted by the desire of returning to those privileged shores where frost is unknown and verdure is perpetual. FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 371 birth and diffusion of mankind, produced as she did a bril liant and Avide-spreading civilization ? The answer to this question involves difficulties of raore than one kind. We shall never ascertain in a satisfactory raanner the actual state of civUization in Araerica when the Spanish adven turers wasted it from cupidity and in the name of the Gos pel, thus justifying the exclamation of Bernardin de Saint- Pierre, " The best of books, which preaches only equality, friendship, humanity, and concord, has served as a pretext for the savagery of Europeans !" The ancient history also of the aborigines of Araerica is unknown to us up to this moment, but it is possible that science may still recover it for us, a possibility which raay very well be realized should the attempts to decipher the inscriptions engraved upon va rious monuments hereafter prove successful. We readily acknowledge that the new continent presents us with nothing that can match the rich treasures we in herit from Athens and Rome; still we meet there with fragments which raay be put upon a level with those be queathed to us by India and Egypt ; and who will dare to say, because they were little acquainted with the use of papyrus, the ancient nations of Araerica must consequently have been greatly inferior to the Egyptians ? Certain it is that they possessed a glyphic art, which enabled them to transmit their history to posterity. All that is now wanting is to find a new CEdipus who can unraA'^el these enigmas. We know that these nations possessed astronomical science, 2 B 2 372 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. an able system of government, laws, a moral code, a reh gion by no raeans barbarous, and a phUosophical system ; but of the precise degree which they reached in all these points we are ignorant. The vicissitudes to which they have been exposed raay have impeded their progress still more than those to which we have been exposed have ob structed ours. And, besides, what necessity is there for requiring a perfect parallelism between two distinct races? May not the respective conforraation of each of the two continents have influenced not only the distribution, but also the intellectual development of their people? The figure of the Old World is round, that of the New World oblong. On the old continent, the deserts of Africa and Arabia and the Indian Sea absorb a great part of the tro pical area. As it multiplied, the human race must have soon felt itself cramped for roora in its birth-place, and have sent off offshoots at an early period. In Araerica, where the soft breezes of the tropics caress a soil more ex tensive or more propitious, the golden age must have en dured for a longer period. Have we in these physical con ditions the reason of the difference we see in the develop ment of the two races ? Whatever the answer raay be, it seems certain that if the human race had need of sunshine to warm its infancy, it required in its riper age a less benig nant sky, that would compel its intelligence to expand in all its fullness ; and the Old World was adrairably calcu lated to hasten this expansion. We must not refer exclu- FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 373 sively to any privilege of race the degree of perfection to which men raay anywhere attain ; it is also attributable to external circurastances, which here favour, there obstruct them in their development. Humanity stands, in sorae sort, in the sarae relation to the laws of nature and to poli tical influences that the mind does to the body. In the corabination of mind and body the influence of each of these elements is for the raost part alternating and irregu lar, and their norraal or thoroughly combined action occurs only when both one and the other are placed under condi tions of a nature to put them iu equUibrium. Such were the reflections which crowded on me when I found myself face to face with the vestiges of an obscure past. T was, even on my return to Cedar City, so com pletely absorbed by them, — " Nescio quid meditans nugarum, totus in illis," that I threw but a careless glance on the saline soU on which I was walking, and which, in fact, produced nothing but a Mallow, a silky Eurotia, an Obione, and a procumbent species of the family of Solanacets. I had reached the mid dle of the Indian camp, which was in the plain at the gates of the town, before I got rid of them. A pack of snappish curs roused me from my dreams, and obliged me to look to myself. To obtain freedom of the city among these Indians, I made them sorae trifling presents, and so got within their tents, which were made of skins supported on 374 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. long poles. A small fire was burning in each of them, around which the inmates were cowering in a circle, and passing a pipe from one to the other untU it was com pletely smoked out. I perceived nothing in the way of furniture ; all I saw was bows and arrows, quarters of fresh or dried venison, skins, and blankets, which I was informed afterwards were made by the Navajos, a tribe settled at a little distance in the valleys of the south-east, where they rear a kind of sheep which gives a plentiful yield of very long wool. Not a syllable was exchanged between the Indians and myself; they remained grave and indifferent to ray presence, never looking at rae straight in the face. They evidently regarded me with suspicion, or considered me intrusive, and so I quickly took myself off. I perceived as I went away that several of their tents were ornamented on the outside with coloured images, of barbarous design, and almost invariably representing the aniraals of the country, as antelopes, stags, and bears. Our predicament in the town of Cedar was anything but a comfortable one. We however passed two nights there, shivering in the middle of the street under an icy north wind, frora which our fire was scarcely a protection. No one offered us shelter-; nor did any one come near us, ex cept a young Englishman, covered with rags, who appeared to us to be deranged. The musical exercises in the school during the . evening were an agreeable variety to us, for they were good beyond anything to be expected in such a FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 375 place ; but the pleasing turn thus given to our thoughts was not of long duration, and the freezing cold soon brought us back to the fuU sense of our position. We cer tainly suffered more than Avhen in the raidst of the desert, whether it was that the severity of the weather was really extrerae, or that the annoyance of sleeping on the paveraent in the midst of a town had sharpened our sensitiveness by subjecting us to soraething Uke the judgment of Tantalus. I have already explained the cause of the reserve and cold ness of the Mormons to strangers passing through their territory. It is no result of unkind feeling, but a conse quence of experience dearly purchased ; and it also arises partly from the great raartinetship of the ecclesiastical offi cials, which is especially conspicuous in the settleraents at a distance frora Great Salt Lake City ; it was the latter in all probabUity that was the cause of the loneliness in which Ave were left at Cedar. We could have broken this icy barrier by making ourselves known ; but we did not choose to do so, partly because we wanted to see whether we could get any hospitality without asking it, and partly be cause we objected to asking a favour which we knew could not weU be refused. Nevertheless, we had the opportunity of ascertaining that there are kind hearts in Utah as every where else, and of getting one more proof that tyranny cannot always irapose its restraints effectually, especially when they come into collision with the noblest feelings of our nature. The terror inspired by power, the activity of 376 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. the agents of power, the zeal of partisans, and respect for authority, are all the greater and more thorough the further we get from the centre, and the less the country is peopled. Hence we were singularly touched by the kindness of two excellent women, who, in spite of the prejudices and regula tions which prohibit compassion for the Gentiles, braved the fear of censure, and, suffering theraselves to be guided by an instinct of huraanity, carae to us under cover of night with a present of beef, hara, butter, and eggs. With their faces veiled they silently approached us, spoke not a word, deposited their offering with visible agitation, and instantly withdrew, without even taking the hand that was held out to thera. It will ever be a source of regret to us that the strict incognito they preserved did not perrait us to become acquainted with either their names or their persons ; but, in the absence of all personal knowledge of them, the re collection of their delicate and almost magnanimous act wUl for ever be engraved in our hearts. Woman, is she not better than raan, even in Utah? Feeling, generous, corapassionate, she is everywhere what God has raade her, an incarnation of syrapathy, a consoling angel, consolatrix afflictorum.* * The circumstance we have just recorded is not the only one of the kind which deserves a place in our memory. The female savage herself has often given us an opportunity of admiring her disinterestedness and the unsolicited activity of her kindness. I hope one day to be able to pubhsh facts which do the greatest honour to her heart, and have left an unefface- able gratitude in miue. FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 377 On the Sth of November we got ready for another start. Money is so rare in the country that we found it impossible to get change for a five-doUar piece, which we required for the payment of our purchases of flour, Indian corn, and oats. To balance our account Ave were obliged to take a lantern and give a pound of coffee. A little before ten we bade adieu to Cedar City, as to the last inhabited spot in the territory of Utah. We took a westerly course across an alkahne soU, where we saw nothing but wormAvood. We then mounted a gentle ascent until we came to a pic turesque gorge in the midst of low mountains. Curious rocks fringed our road, and were covered with oaks, wU lows, junipers, and pine-trees that had taken root in their crevices. After sorae time the gorge expanded into a tolerably large valley, presenting a variety of features ex tremely interesting, among others, rocks of a ferruginous character. We met two Morraons, who were bringing back sorae stray oxen, and who gave us sorae particulars about the course we ought to take. A little further on we passed a pretty little spring of clear water, and then met an Indian warrior returning all triuraphant from the fight. He had with him, as part of the booty, a young lad, whose hair he had cut off as a token of defeat, and whora he meant to make a slave of if unable to sell hira at a good price. The young prisoner foUowed his conqueror Avith a careless air, and, though disarraed, did not appear hurai- liated, as though his conscience assured hira that he had 378 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. fought bravely and yielded only to his fate. There was a tone of melancholy in this picture of savage life that threw a sadness over us, and we were touched with compassion for the poor captive, so proud and so resigned ; nor could we take our eyes off hira until he was lost in the windings of the valley. We now scaled a long hUl, at the top of which we per ceived a large basin occupied by a prairie, into Avhich we descended, and at five o'clock encaraped near a haystack and on the edge of a rivulet. In spite of a cold raizzling rain, which came on suddenly, we had every reason to con gratulate ourselves on the place we had selected for our encampment, where the pasturage was abundant and our animals could get plenty to eat. In the course of a long expedition, the traveller, knowing how much he depends on his animals, grows fond of thera, becomes solicitous about their condition, and derives a satisfaction frora seeing them in good case, which indemnifies hira for raany little annoy ances of his own. To pass the night, we squatted ourselves down in a heap of hay, while violent blasts of wind in rapid succession roared through the air and shook even our wag gon. The storm prevented us from sleeping, and compelled us to listen to the concerts of the cayotes. Next raorning, though the sky was still cloudy and a fine rain was faUing at intervals, the weather was mUder. We set out at six o'clock in the morning. When crossing the prairie in Avhich we had encamped, we got sight of FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 379 some cayotes, which seemed to be a species of wUd dog. These aniraals were very different from those we had hi therto seen, and we began to suspect that under the gene ral narae of cayotes the Araerican travellers have con founded several distinct varieties. But strong as was our desire to clear up this point, we could not succeed in kiU ing even one ; at the sound of the first shot they took flight, and our balls raissed, either frora want of expert- ness or frora our firing in too great a hurry. We consoled ourselves for this want of success by raaking an engage ment with ourselves to be steadier next time, or else better marksmen. The prairie afforded us no other recognizable plants but a dried-up Eriogonum, and a sraall Plantain still alive. When we had reached the further end of the plain, we ascended by a winding road to some high ground, where we saw the gravestone of an emigrant massacred by the Indians a few years before. Our servants, under the influence of a sort of superstitious belief rife among the whites of Utah, dreaded this pass as one of the raost dan gerous in the country, and expected an almost certain at tack in the midst of the thickets through which we had to pass. Fortunately they got off at no heavier cost than the trouble of preparing for defence, for not a living soul did we meet. We soon arrived at the entrance of a picturesque valley, into which we entered. At ten o'clock we halted near a little spring, which was indicated to us by the large 380 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. weeds that surrounded it. The sky was cloudy, but the temperature was very raUd. Tt seeraed as if we had ab ruptly changed our climate. Small birds hovered fami liarly enough about us, and the vegetation was more varied and less drooping. We had on all sides of us sraaU oaks with thorny leaves, berberries, pines, Juniperus, Cowania, a withered species of Leguminosae, an Opuntia, other cactuses rerainding us of the form of sorae Euphorbias in the Ca naries, a Yucca, from whose tattered leaves floated a long filament, and whose stem, twelve or eighteen inches in length, bore large flowers, faded and torn. A liliaceous plant of a species not recognizable, with tunicated bulbs, was dying under the bushes. FinaUy, a Sandalwort {Co- mandra um.bellata), very much spread out, extended its slender branches over the ground in the open places, laden with persistent leaves.* After two hours' rest, we continued our journey. The sides of the valley, as well as the raountains which over looked it, were wooded and presented a much gayer pic ture than the arid plains and bald ridges, which had so long wearied us. A solitary Indian, with his bow, in search of game, passed close by us, with his fox-skin quiver on his shoulder, and five hares fastened to his waist. We * This perennial plant, which in North America represents our Euro pean Thesium, spreads over an immense zone. I have met it in Canada, on the banks of Lake Superior, and at the sources of the Mississippi. Others have met with it in the Eocky Mountains, and to the north as far as Sas- katchawan. FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 381 passed over an undulating country, bristhng with greyish rocks partly decomposed, and eventually reached the Rio Santa Clara, which we skirted in the raidst of maples, poplars, and large willows. A clematis blended its branches Avith those of a wUd vine, and then ran up around the trunks of trees. A fine thorny Cactus, full of numerous cylindrical ramifications, fixed itself to the rocks. We trod underfoot large cruciferous plants quite dead, which we re cognized only by the form of their siliques. An Eriogonum {E. infiatum), with turgid stems like those of a leek, for the first time met our eyes. This was certainly the raost curious, if not the prettiest, of all the numerous species of the sarae genus we had found in California and Utah. We have since been told that the Indians use its puffed-out steras, below the point of raraification, to raake cheap pipes with, which are doubtless as little lasting as they are little costly. A cucurbitaceous plant, wUh glossy fruit of the size of a sraall orange, but of a paler yeUow, grew among the brushwood. We heard the caUing of partridges, and we caught glimpses of cayotes, which disappeared in the brakes. About four o'clock we determined on taking up our quarters for the night in an angle formed by the con- fiuence of the Santa Clara and another rivulet. The -borders of the Santa Clara were steep in this place, and even on the opposite bank they rose up in the shape of black or ferruginous rocks. The air was soft enough. Tt was no longer winter ; it was like the beginning of autumn, 382 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. with its fruits, and stiU lingering flowers. We were now out of Utah, and had entered New Mexico. The sensibly different appearance of the vegetation, coincident with the fact of crossing a frontier, and the feeling that we were now in a country whose name is mixed up with so many recollections, was quite an event to us. We were filled with new vigour, as though the consciousness of having successfully accorapUshed part of our task gave us a feel ing of cheerful confidence with respect to what we had stiU to do. The irapression that we were treading on the soU of a country where we had never set foot before, caused us one of those puerile gratifications to which ripe age often willingly yields with child-like siraplicity, and which I cannot better corapare to anything else than to that of the young lad's delight when, during his vacation, he for the first time crosses the boundaries of his parish and sets foot in his county-town. Still we did not conceal frora ourselves that the most difficult part of our work was yet to come ; but, at the sarae time, we felt that we had left behind us the most inclemeht climates, and that advancing more and raore to the south, as we should, there was every day less chance of snow and frost, which were what we most feared. Our servants also seemed to feel the sarae sort of satis faction that we did. Instead of their usual drowsiness, they were, on the contrary, inclined to prolong their con versation far into the night. Henry, of a sullen and silent FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 383 rather than of a comraunicative disposition, was in a hu mour to discourse. And discourse he did, to a pretty long tune. First he made his profession of religious faith, not at all edifying to Christians. All reUgious, according to him, were human inventions for the benefit of despots and priests, " two classes of sycophants," so he expressed it, " only worthy of being the objects of our implacable hate." He believed the Old Testaraent to be nothing raore than a corapilation of Arabian and Jewish legends ; and the idea of a fourth of the human race believing in such tales made hira shrug his shoulders with pity. He was a topping per sonage, was this philosopher of ours ! From the corner of his squinting eye he cast a glance of contempt on the weak mortals who suffered dust to be thrown in their eyes. Nor did the New Testament get any quarter from him. Accord ing to his idea, it was but a new series of legends, powdered over with Greek and Latin morality. It put hira in a rage to think that the nineteenth century could stiU regard it as a Divine revelation, and undertook to deraonstrate the falsity of such a view, and to explode it by saying it was absurd to suppose that God could have intended to save the human race by the death of his son, whose coming is not yet known, at the end of eighteen centuries, to the one-half of mankind. In the overflow of his impiety, Henry caUed this miracle an abortion. He then attacked the dograa of the Trinity, in which he saw nothing but a relic of paganism. As conceived by him, God is a supe- 384 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. rior, incomprehensible, indefinable Being, who takes no note whatever of the affairs of men, and holds in reserve neither a heaven nor hell. Then, from the Supreme Being, launching into the regions of space, he entered into astro- noraical speculations, in which we had difficulty in follow ing him ; he regarded each of" the stars as one of the scat tered members of the Great Whole. Finally, after talking for a long while to his own great satisfaction, our orator sang part of a comic song, and then fell asleep, thoroughly convinced that he had astonished us by the variety and profundity of his knowledge. The night was not quite as mild as the softness of the air on the previous day had induced us to expect. We found on rising traces of white frost about us, but which, were much more owing to radiation than to a perraanent decrease of temperature, for we were hardly sensible of any cold. The appearance of the trees, still covered with their leaves, seeraed raoreover to warra us by their association with summer, and the pleasure they gave us. The sky was beautifully clear, and we experienced a sort of dUatation of soul in the clear atmosphere. We left at seven o'clock, and found the road uneven, difficult, and often intersected by the windings of the Santa Clara, which we were obliged to ford several times. The traces of our waggon broke in one of these crossings which, from the steepness of the banks, were attended with great difficulty, and sometimes with danger. Apart from these little annoyances the jour- FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 385 ney was both agreeable and varied. We saw from tirae to time coveys of those pretty httle partridges so coraraon in California {Ortyx calif ornicus) , the male of which has a tuft elegantly curved forwards. Though we had previously met with these birds on the borders of the Sacramento, we had never before observed them alight anywhere, and we were agreeably surprised therefore at seeing several of them perch on the bushes and soraetiraes on the shrubs. But the birds were not the only things that fixed our attention ; under the trees which shaded the road, — and sorae of which were tolerably large, such as raaples, ashes, avUIows, and poplars, — we met a quantity of plants which we could refer to their species, in spite of their very advanced state. By the side of vines and wild roses, were to be seen a Datura, three different kinds of Cactus, Mint, Grease-wood {Lino- syris pulchella ?), a woody Atriplex, Wormwood, Sorrel {Rumex venosus). Shave- grass, a Steenhammera, a Crucifer {Stanleya integrifolia), a Linum, Solidago, a sort of Desmo dium, sorae Cowania, Yucca, Helianthus, Schcenus, an Orchis, an Erodium, an Ephedra, sorae Cirsium, and Cleraatis. The bushes were principally coraposed of Ceanothus and Mi mosa which bore a great reserablance to Acacia hetero- phylla. FinaUy, there was to be seen a thorny shrub, which by its general appearance and its fohage reminded us of the Algarobia, and which by its pods, that we feU in with afterwards, we knew to be a Prosopis or Spirolobium. We saw as we went along, on a slope, three fields of maize, VOL. II. 2 c 386 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. cultivated by the Indians. Tn the iraraediate neighbour hood of this we observed curious rocks forraed of sand concrete, on Avhich some travellers had engraved their names, with the dates at which they passed, the earliest of which did not go beyond 1849. A little further on, we passed at the foot of some black rocks, with cavities hol lowed out in thera which seemed to have served for dweU- ing-places. A globular cactus grew upon the sides of these rocks, as weU as another species, in which a bird had built its nest. Soon afterwards we met some Indians, Avho, having perceived us from the top of the hUl upon which they lived, had corae to wait for us on the roadside. These savages were almost entirely naked. They gave us to un derstand that the fields of maize near which we passed be longed to thera, and they asked us to buy some beans which they brought in sacks made of deer-skin. Five woraen accorapanied thera, with each a chUd in her arms ; all of thera with scarce any clothes on, and all equally dirty and disgusting. Their breasts and stomachs were covered with red mastic, made from an earth pecuhar to these rocks, which rendered them hideous. Their only covering was a pair of drawers of hare-skin, badly sewn to gether and in holes. With this highly fashionable toUette, one of them combined a remarkable natural monstrosity ; she had four breasts, two above the others, the upper part rather sraaUer than the lower, which last she only made use of in suckhng her child. This organic duplication was FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 387 as great a curiosity to the Indians as to us, if we may judge by the fuss they raade to point it out to us, as though afraid it would escape our attention. The chUd of this woman being perfectly naked, it was easy to convince our selves that the teratological phenomenon had not been hereditarily transmitted to it. The Indians persisted in foUoAving us, though we showed very plainly that we wanted to get rid of them. They con tinued their escort to the point where our road diverged from the Santa Clara. It was mid-day ; knowing that we should have to go raore than thirty miles before finding water, we deemed it prudent to let our cattle rest, and to pass the night near the river. There was a log hut there, made by the Mormon missionaries, who occasionally corae to this place to teach the natives farraing; we did not think it advisable to avail ourselves of it, inasrauch as it was in a position open to attack and difficult to defend. We encamped, therefore, in an open space, whence we could see on all sides to some distance. This spot, though good for our own safety, was a very unpromising one for our cattle, there being no herbage there ; but we were able, without trenching upon our stock of grain, to give them a hearty meal of maize, which we obtained from the Indians in exchange for tobacco. As we had plenty of tirae before us, we set out for a Uttle shooting, leaving our camp in the care of our people. We soon found ourselves in a country cut up in every direction by ravines, and where nothing 2 c 2 388 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. was to be seen but plants of Cactus, and some grasses quite dead. We killed a few Californian partridges, and saw others of a different species, very elegant, and speckled like a guinea-fowl, which we took to be the Ortyx vir- ginianus. The difficulty we had in walking over the cactus, the thorns of which pierced our boots, soon compelled us to give up the sport, for which we raight have found a more favourable country further on, but we thought it too far off. On our return we found the Indians around our waggon, in much greater numbers than when we left it. I found it difficult to decide in ray own raind whether they meant a mere friendly visit, or if it were their object to pillage, or to extort money from, us ; but it is quite certain that their presence was a great nuisance, besides being a source of anxiety. So it occurred to us to see if we could not impose upon thera by a little target practice. Fortune fa voured us ; all our shots was so weU delivered as to irapress them with a high idea of our skill. Meanwhile, the num ber of our visitors, instead of diminishing, was being con stantly increased by new comers. Araong the latter was a raan who had a roasted aniraal in his hand, which appeared to us to reserable a small tapir, and which he set to work devouring with an avidity that was perfectly beastly. These people belonged to the tribe of the Pahusitahs. They seemed unwiUing to pronounce a few words of their language slowly, and evinced especially a great aversion to repeat FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 889 the same words. The following are the only ones we could make sure of: — -it, bow. Puiu, eye. Pu, aiTow. Tumbane, mouth. Visiabe, feather of the arrow. Nankabau, ear. Kaibiabitch, mountain. Kima, fire. Kuasun,* hair. Taba, sun. Miibuin, nose. It was easy to see that these Indians had been in com munication with the whites, for they were far from being grave and reserved as the savages of these countries usually are. Moreover, they were frightful creatures, being all daubed over with a bright red, with occasional black stripes. The red, by bringing out the white of their eyes, gave them an air of ferocity in singular contrast with their jovial hu mour. They produced on us the impression of tigers play ing at hot-cockles. Their filth was revolting, and when we saw thera rolling in the dust hke swine, we began to doubt whether they were anything raore than talking apes. We gave them a little tobacco, which seemed to please them immensely. A great moveraent then took place araong thera, as if some one had given them a signal to depart. Tt turned out to be merely a preparation for giving us an exhibition in exchange for that we had given them with our target practice. The bow was about to vie with the rifle, the arrow with the buUet. A leveret was chosen as a * The last u in this word has the sound of u in French. 390 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. mark. They placed themselves at about a hundred yards from it, and at a cry from one of their warriors, their bows twanged, and a volley of arrows went hissing through the air, — AeCvT] Se. KXayyrj yiver dpyvpioLO ^loio. Never had we been so sensible of the harmony of Homer's language. Nor never had we seen such a coUection of ex pert marksraen. Almost all the arrows, those of the chil dren not excepted, hit the mark. This exhibition excited both our adrairation and our alarra ; prudence made us re press aU outward signs of the latter. We said to each other, putting on a laugh, that if we had again to go through our practice, our aira would be anything but steady. The shooting did not last long. The children alone continued to shoot a few arrows, several of which we saw hit very sraaU birds, that were flying about close at hand. At nightfaU the Indians were fetched away by their squaws, with the exception of two, who took it into their heads to remain with us. The departure of our visitors relieved us of the anxiety we had felt about the forthcoming night. The idea of a plot had suggested itself to us, but this impression was dissipated en finding that the two parasites who had clung to us suffered theraselves to be disarraed without making the least difficulty. We soon became aware that we had had to do during the day with a band of thieves, who hoped by their nuraber to distract our attention ; but they FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 391 were out iu their calculations. Victor indeed was the vic tim of a httie piece of rascality, lie had purchased for an old knife two arroAvs and a quiver, which he Avas carrying jauntily like a shoulder-belt, and which he intended to pass off for a trophy in his village, but, just at dark, as he was preparing to pack up his booty, together with his kitchen things in the waggon, he perceived that his quiver had taken leave of his shoulders. This comical mishap so dis concerted and humiliated him, that he swore he would eat the thief alive if ever he got hold of him. Victor's wrath furnished a good matter for our merriment, and Ave Avent to sleep thoroughly satisfied, that if he had never any other opportunity of becoming a cannibal than this, he ran great risk of dying without being one. The night passed away very quietly. The air was cold and the sky of a spotless azure. We received no fresh visits, and the two Indians who had slept by us took them selves off in the morning. Henry, in a fit of rage at Victor, threw one of our saddles so violently on the ground, as to break it; this mad irritable act put us out of temper, which we soon recovered from on finding that the saddle might be 'still serviceable. We set out again on our way about seven in the morning, ascending at first a little rise, which our waggon had much difficulty in getting up, and afterwards passed over a plain by a winding road. Besides Cactus, we found an (Enothera dry and stiff, the pericarps of which, stUl adhering to the stalk, had been matted toge- 392 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. ther into a solid spike. We passed by a little circular piece of turf, which is pointed out as the precise spot where, in about 1852, Carlos Murray assassinated an Araerican erai grant. At the end of the plain we had to pass over a slight eminence, on which our waggon was near being broken to pieces against the rocks that barred the way, and which escaped only through Mr. Brenchley's dexterity and strength. In the environs were to be seen a Eutoca, some Wormwood, some Eriogonum, and a Juniperus. We soon after entered a gorge, where we came upon the faces of rocks covered with inscriptions, and found growing about some Cowania, arborescent Cistus, a Garrya, some Clove- worts, and sorae Crucifers. Though savage in its wildness, and causing soraething like a feeling of horror, the appear ance of this gorge was not destitute of a certain charm for us on account of its novelty. Our road was rocky, with a gentle ascent. Tt led us imperceptibly between masses of rocks which rose to a prodigious height. We soon made out that it was actually a mountain we were crossing, through a deep pass which concealed its elevation from us. On reaching the highest point of the road, about eleven o'clock, we halted to give our cattle a feed of oats. Around us were several interesting plants which had dried standing, and were in a perfect state of preservation, but so brittle that we were obliged to soften them with boiling water, in order to be able to carry them without breaking. We also picked up an Orobanche, which grew on the roots of an Artemisia. FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 393 We resumed our course after a two hours' halt, and for sorae time kept along the summit of the pass. The ground Avas undulating, and covered with a vegetation which ap peared to be extreraely varied, if we raight judge by what we saw of its reraains. A large-sized plant, with a stalk reserabling a long distaff, projected from the rocks about us ; we succeeded, by firing a few shots, in knocking off about a dozen of its fruit, which showed us that it was an Irid. Tt was hereabouts, too, that we for the first tirae saw a gigantic raonocotyledon, which raight be a branching Yucca, and which at a distance had the same appearance as the Vellozias of Brazil. Tt might also, frora afar, be taken for one of those palra-trees met with in Chili, especially in the vicinity of Valparaiso. The fragments we were able to coUect of it sufficed only to show us that the inflorescence of this curious vegetable is terminal, and that it issues frora a cluster of very sharp-pointed leaves. On the rocks above us, but far out of range, were to be seen several raountain sheep, which we knew by the size of their horns. We then passed spots covered with large cactus. Having reached the ex- treraity of the plateau which terrainates the pass, we saw before us an iraraense plain stretching away out of sight, towards which we now descended by a gentle slope. The large branchy Yucca, like that we had just noticed in the mountain, had overgrown the entrance to the plain, and gave it a singular appearance. A little further on, a glan- dulous sweet-smelling Cowania disputed the possession of 394 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. the soil with the Yucca; and these two plants reigned absolute lords of the place, without perraitting the smaUest herb to grow in their neighbourhood. Our way lay over broken quartz, and in a southerly direction. A little before dark, we perceived, to the ^ east, in the distance, a line of low mountains, and saw before us a ravine which intersected the plain, and which we took to be the bed of the Rio Vir- gen. Towards six o'clock we descended into a sort of valley, formed by the bed of a river sometimes called Beaver, sometimes Cottonwood Creek. We proceeded, until the darkness becoming extraordinarily intense, we could no longer distinguish the objects near us. After passing, in the space of a few minutes, three small watercourses, we unharnessed upon an alluvial sand, at the foot of a little hiU. Tt was cold ; but we were fortunate enough to find some branches, with which we made a fire, and about which we were not long before lying down to sleep, after tether ing our aniraals, which were now reduced to a quart of Indian corn per head for their entire provender. As soon as day broke, we set out in search of pasturage ; we found it on the bank of a river about half a mUe from our camp. We saw some large poplars, wUlows, an aster with blue flowers, and the Mimosa, which, on the banks of the Santa Clara, had reminded us of the Acacia heterophylla. The Prosopis odorata, laden with spiral pods, was very coraraon. There were shrubs which grew to the size of trees, and which supported a particular species of Viscum ; FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 395 also rushes, reeds, and a handsorae Gentian {Erythraa) with pink flowers. Cactus, Wormwood, and large Baccharis {Tessaria borealis) grew in the sand, as well as several species of Eriogonum, an Atriplex with large fruit, and Grease-wood. On the banks of the river, the water of which Avas rauddy, we saAV spots trampled down as if frequented by beavers, but we had the misfortune not to fall in with any of these industrious animals. Tn the morning, three whites coming frora Las Vegas in waggons drawn by oxen, passed near our quarters. We asked thera to lend us a hand to get our waggon up a sand hill just ahead of us ; but they would only consent on con dition of our giving thera a quantity of sugar and coffee, which it was irapossible for us to agree to, without exhaust ing our whole stock. In vain we offered them other com modities; so we were obhged to do without them. We then set to work lightening the waggon by transferring as much as possible of its contents to the backs of our mules, and, at a quarter past eleven, we began to scale the hill ; this we did very slowly, and at the cost of severe exertion to our cattle. Reaching the summit after inflnite trouble, we had then to struggle through a deep sand, in which the wheels of oiir waggon often sank to the ' axle ; and thus we went on for an hour, until we had descended to the bed of the Rio Virgen. Loading our waggon again, we went on as usual ; but the sand had very rauch distressed oui,' mules, so that they could not go ten paces without stop- 396 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. ping. It was obviously necessary to let them rest, and, at two o'clock, we crossed the river for the purpose of en camping on the left bank, in the midst of a smaU piece of grass. There was a great variety of plants about; but their advanced state, for the raost part, rendered it difficult to determine their species. Araong a nuraber of little dry plants on the surface of the soil, we were particularly struck with a singular Composite, as fragrant as a Labiate : the capitules were concealed in an involucre coraposed of two broad follicles. We also saw a Zygophyllum, and a Solanum which still bore sorae white flowers. Among the rocks were sorae speciraens of large-sized Echinocactus, with its strong curvated thorns. Around a flowerless Chenopodium, which had the appearance of a beet, a little Cuscuta en twined its fihform stalks. The Prosopis, on which a Viscum was growing, was so abundant and coraraon as to give a special character to the vegetation of the country. On the banks of the river, together with reeds, was a Saururad {Anemiopsis californica, Nutt.), which had a strong smell of pepper, and seemed yet full of life. We also recognized a Helianthus, the achenium or fruit of which is eaten by the Indians. Finally, in some spots saturated with salt, by the side of a Salicornia, a sraall glabrous Boragewort, allied to the genus Steenhammera, reminded us of a species exactly simUar, growing on the shores of the HawaUan group. The Rio Virgen, one of the tributaries of the Rio Colo- FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 397 rado, was about twenty feet in width at the spot where we Avere, but it was quite obvious, from the appearance of its banks, that at certain periods it covered a bed more than two hundred feet wide. High banks, formed of rounded boulders and sand, served it for a natural embankment at several points. The bottom of the valley through which it flows, and which it appears at some time or other to have completely covered, is composed of alluvial layers, in which quartz abounds mixed with some fragments of schist and granite. The valley is dotted here and there on its sides with huge rocks, on whose tops were eagles which seemed to contemplate us, and which our baUs could not reach nor the report of our guns frighten. The river flowed over very fine gravel mixed with sand, occasionally interspersed with sraall irregular crystals transparent as glass. The teraperature was comparatively very mild on the banks of the Rio Virgen ; nor was this the only thing which gave a charra to our encampment. The situation was in all respects a suitable one, not commanded by any other spot. There was no danger of a surprise frora the Indians, and there was also fodder enough for our cattle for several days. We felt perfectly at ease, and the agreeable features of our bivouac left us little reason to regret being thus cora- pelled to raake a long halt. Hence we felt as happy and proud as though we were kings of nature ; and kings in fact we were of the whole space between us and the horizon, a claim I presume which no one . has ever thought of dis- 398 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. puting. Our servants seemed to share this feeling ; which doubtless was the reason why Henry, as soon as it was dark, favoured us with an exposition of his political as he had previously done of his reUgious principles. I will not repeat here the rather commonplace arguments he advanced in support of the rights of nations. He maintained, as a matter of course, that Washington was the greatest of men and the Americans the first people of the earth. But, a profound as well as a reflecting republican, he preferred in the raatter of government the English system to that of his own country. But his admiration for the English republic was not without its drawbacks ; he found it too aristocratic. The hereditary transmission of power, honours, and nobi lity seemed to him to be an absurdity, and a sort of fetish ism disgraceful to a civUized nation. He thought that he reditary transmission should be confined to the chief magi strate, whom he regarded as the key-stone of the building, or as a puppet indispensably necessary to keeping off the periodical disorders of an election. British royalty was in his opinion the type of a good presidential form, in the first place because it was of the nature of a fixed star, and, secondly, because it was absolutely inert. Aristocracy of birth he detested, hence his horror of lords who had no thing to recoraraend them but their titles ; the aristocracy of raoney was more supportable to him ; but in point of fact he set no great value upon anything but aristocracy of talent and personal merit. He was no admirer of the com- FROM FILLMOEE TO LAS VEGAS. 399 position of the American Congress, the members of which owed, he said, their election for the most part to cabal and intrigue. The Senate, he thought, ought to be coraposed of men ennobled for their services, their knowledge, and their virtues, and appointed for life by a select few of the na tion. So far was Henry a democrat. Pie had little esteem for military glory, and feared the influence of heroes upon the masses, whora too frequently it flrst blinds and then enslaves. He thought it was the duty of every honest raan to protest against despotism, corae whence it may, whether frora kings or priests, raajorities or rainorities. He regarded the clergy as the incarnation of evil, fatal to li berty and progress, all the raore dangerous from their knowing how to insinuate theraselves into the rainds of raen, and to keep thera in superstition and ignorance, under pretence of conducting them to heaven whUe damn ing them upon earth. And thereupon he quoted this verse of Byron's : — " In hope to merit heaven by making earth a hell." The discourse of our eloquent servant lasted for a long while in this strain. Huguenot, who could not understand what arauseraent there was in listening to such stuff, had fallen asleep after in vain trying to amuse himself with the agreeable pastime of whittling, which, like every true Yankee, he practised even whUe riding. Henry was still talking when we ourselves fell asleep. 400 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. On the 13th of November, at about six o'clock in the morning, we left our camp. We passed through the raiddle of a valley, following the winding course of the Rio Virgen, which we had to cross several tiraes. The road was sandy, and heavy for our cattle, though generally quite level. Without being vigorous, the vegetation was tole rably strong. The prevailing plants were Salicornia, Atri plex, Prosopis, large Crucifers corapletely blanched and withered, and a very pretty Coraposite {Ch(snactis achillete- folia). Two Indians, whom we had seen for some tirae in the distance, now raet and joined us. The maU from San Bernardino to the Salt Lake, carried on four raules in the charge of two raen, crossed our way in the course of the morning. Towards raid-day we stopped to breakfast in the midst of the brushwood. The two Indians, not satisfied with getting a part of our food, wanted us also to give them shirts, waistcoats, and pantaloons. Though we had begged them sharply enough to be off, they persisted in staying with us and accompanying us when we resumed our journey after a two-hours halt. One of them was ex tremely pressing to be allowed to get into our waggon, a pleasure we refused him for three reasons, any one of which would have been enough ; in the first place, because we saw quite well that he was not as tired as he wished to make it appear ; secondly, because we had very little de sire to be favoured with his company ; finally, because our animals were sufficiently blown, not to speak of their nos- FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 401 trils being stopped up with the dust raised by a very strong breeze. Besides, our savage had the use of his legs in per fection, for we soon after saw hira run up an erainence and corae down full speed to inforra us, with an air of triuraph, that not far frora us there was a large corapany of travellers. In fact, a few rainutes afterwards we passed by a bivouac where fifteen raen and one woraan were sitting by the side of eight waggons. It was apostle Lyman on his way to the Legislature at FiUmore. He seeraed little inclined to enter into conversation, and we left hira without getting any other news than that we were eighty-five miles from Las Vegas. We pushed on again amid a thick cloud of dust. The two Indians had deserted us to follow in the apostle's wake, which -very considerably pleased us. Glu tinous Cowania met us at every instant, and for the first time we had an opportunity of examining the flowers of this shrub, which are of a fine yellow. There was also a Lycium with reddish berries, and several species of Eriogo num. A little ravine we had to cross caused us a mon strous deal of trouble ; the traces gave way, and we were obUged to lay hold of the wheels and to put out all our strength in order to get over the difficulty. We had to cross the river several times again, but at places for the most part easUy forded. At half past six, it became suddenly so dark that we could not see an inch before us ; we therefore determined to encamp where we were at a spot covered with the thorns of some arborescent VOL. II. 2 D 402 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. Leguminosa, within a few steps only of the river, which announced its presence to us by the murmuring of its waters. We had not yet tethered our animals, when, to our annoyance, we were rejoined by the unlucky Indian whom we fancied was at Mr. Lyman's heels. Whether it was that his sudden appearance frightened our horses, or that the want of any pasture near at hand made them im patient, they bolted, with the raules after them, the dark ness effectually preventing our following them. We lit our fire and ate our supper in a silence which betrayed our uneasiness. The Indian asked to have some tea, to share our food, and even to smoke our pipes : nothing was re fused him. He seemed indeed tolerably simple ; still, I did not at all relish the idea of his passing the night with us. I was for hitting on some plan to get rid of him ; but Mr. Brenchley, swayed by a sense of justice a httle exaggerated perhaps, was of opinion it would be better not to annoy him on his own soil, and thought that he would not be untrue to us if he were treated with kindness. I yielded the point, not certainly from conviction, but from the fear of being considered over-timid. The Indian complained of being cold, got the loan of two blankets, and went to sleep beside us. The sky, which we had never seen more lower ing, suddenly burst forth in torrents, but which did not last long. We were surrounded by high brushwood, in which an enemy might easily have concealed himself; and our camp was therefore excessively ill pitched, provided FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 403 there was to be any treachery on the part of the serpent we were warming, and that we were to be attacked by his brethren ; so, by way of precaution, we put out our fires before going to sleep. Morning came, and no enemy had shown himself; but the Indian and our two blankets had disappeared, never to return. As soon as day broke, we went in search of our cattle, and from the top of the rocky hill, where we found large Echinocactus and sorae Atriplex growing on the quartz, mica, agate, and schist, we perceived our runaways feeding at some distance in the vaUey, whence we drove them back without difficulty. We set out at eight o'clock under a heavy sky, but which cleared up by degrees. Just as we were going off again, we saw some large ducks, which we took at first for geese, and much regretted that we could not get near any of thera. In less than an hour we had to cross the Rio Virgen six times, and on one occasion got into an awkward dilemma. The river had swollen considerably, and our animals came to a stand-stUl in the middle, with the wheels of our waggon pinned between two great stones. We had much trouble in extricating it, and, as it was, some of the spokes were injured. We had our coffee-mUl broken too, which the cook had fastened tightly on to the back of the vehicle. Soon after this, at about half past nine, we drew up at the foot of a hiU which rose straight up before us like an unscalable wall. One of the two raail carriers we had met the day before joined 2 D 2 404 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. US at this spot, and requested perraission to accorapany us as far as San Bernardino, where he wished to go in search of a courier's place which he supposed vacant. This raan's name was Hope. We acceded to his request with pleasure, supposing, as in fact it turned out, that his knowledge of the country might be useful to us. At the same tirae some Pah-Utah Indians arrived one by one from every point of the horizon, and surrounded us, to the num ber of fourteen. Most of them were half-naked, and all armed after the native fashion. As Hope was able to un-, derstand a few words of their language, they were both surprised and delighted. They were very lively, gave us no trouble whatever, and, after receiving a present of to bacco and biscuit, quietly took theraselves off. As soon as our cattle had eaten the feed of maize we had served out to put a little pluck into them, we made ready to scale the steepest and most difficult ascent we had yet encountered. We set to work at about half past eleven, and . divided the ascent into three parts. It was evident, at the first glance, that there was no chance of getting the waggon up with its load in, so we carried up our baggage, partly on our mules, and partly on our own shoulders, to the sum mit ; we then came down again to get up the waggon, to which we harnessed six mules ; but the team not puUing together, stopping often, and jibbing soraetiraes, left the whole weight of the vehicle upon us, who where pushing at the wheels. At last we reached the foot of the second FROM FILLMORE TO LAS A'EGAS. 405 part of the rise, which we went at after sorae minutes' rest; we managed it raore easily as it was shorter and less steep. The third portion was the longest and steep est ; it made an angle of forty-five degrees, and the road, bordered on the right by a precipice, was very narrow, and covered Avith sand full of loose stones. We whipped up our teara, which presently carae to a stand-stUI, and then broke half the harness by a sudden jerk forward. We un harnessed them, let thera go up by themselves, and taking off the movable parts of the waggon, carried them to the top, where our baggage was ; this done, we returned, aud harnessing ourselves to the dismantled waggon, drew it up by little and little, the perspiration rolling off us, to the beginning of the level ground at the hiU-top. Each of us did his part bravely in this labour of Hercules, but the palm belongs to Mr. Brenchley, who, pushing the wag gon behind, several times lifted it up bodily in order to clear the wheels frora the sand into which they had sunk. This tough affair took us three hours and a half. To pay due honour to our never-to-be-forgotten victory, we drank two bottles of port-wine which we had for a long tirae kept by us as a reserve. We were as happy as raen are who feel they have done the right thing ; whUe some of us busied ourselves putting the waggon together and reloading it, others mended the harness with ropes and twine, so that we might be soon ready to start. Our great est loss was that of a bottle of Salt Lake water, which, to 406 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. our great regret, was broken in carrying our boxes ; fortu nately, however, we had the consolation of knowing that a second bottle was uninjured. The plain we were now cross ing was an absolute desert, with not the smallest blade of grass upon it, and all that was to be seen was here and there sorae monstrous globe-shaped cactuses, the insides of which were completely gone, the preservation of their ex ternal form being entirely due to the toughness of their curvated interlaced thorns, surviving, like armour, the body they had once protected. Far away, at a distance we had no means of calculating, we discovered raoun tains to which a line of white clouds gave the appearance of being covered with snow. Darkness coraing on at six o'clock, we stopped and bivouacked on a sandy spot, where the dead stalks of a Rutal served us for fuel, and enabled us to heat a little water we had taken the precaution to bring frora the Rio Virgen. The night was pretty cold. Victor, over-fatigued pro bably by his exertions to make hiraself useful the day be fore, was seized with a violent fever, which prostrated with out dispiriting hira. We set out at half past seven, across a sandy plain very full of pebbles, where were to be seen at intervals the withered stalks of a lank Eriogonum, and sorae tufts of bunch-grass. We found an Indian posted in the vicinity as an advanced sentinel of a party of warriors who had declared war against the Utahs, because the latter, so they aUeged, had stolen some of their children. We FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 407 then descended into the basin of the Muddy, after raaking various zigzags over ground bristling with small sand-hills. We had been warned that the Indians have usually lain in wait for travellers in these parts, and we took precautions against any surprise. Towards mid-day we reached the banks of the river ; there we found some sweet grass, and in spite of our determination to move on quickly in order not to come to a halt until we left the plain well behind us, we could not resist the pleasure of suffering our cattle to feed off it, their preservation concerning us nearly as much as our own safety. Scarcely had we arrived when, from the tops of the hills, where they are perpetually on the watch, the Indians rushed towards us at a trot, and, swim ming across the river, were soon up with us. We counted forty of them, all well-sized, and armed with bows and ar rows. They were all scarcely clothed, and had their faces painted black and red, like the Pah-Utahs and the Pahusi tahs we had previously met with. Araong thera were two chiefs, bearers of Morraon certificates attesting that they had both been baptized, the one, the chief of the Muddy, under the name of Thomas ; the other, chief of the Rio Virgen, under the name of Isaac. Though the certificates also declared that they were honest Indians, their ferocious air was by no means of a nature to tranquilhze us. Their poisoned arrows were tipped with a triangular point of notched flint, instead of iron. At Hope's recoraraendation, we gave the two chiefs a tolerably large supply of tobacco, 408 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. which they divided among the band, beginning with the most aged. This present seemed at flrst to satisfy thera, and they showed themselves well disposed. One of them bore a striking reserablance to our great Arago ; there was the sarae proflle, the same forehead, the same eyes, and the same head of hair. Dressed in European fashion, he would certainly have been taken for the double of the iUustrious astronomer. The Indians inquired of Hope if we were Mormons ; he replied that we were good Araericans, under which narae they confound all whites, whatever be their country. We there learnt that they look upon aU Ameri cans, the Morraons excepted, as bad people, and it is this conviction that tends to raake them iU-disposed to emi grants. Meanwhile, after having kept themselves tolerably quiet, they began to cause us sorae uneasiness. The tribute which we had paid thera was not found sufficient ; they be carae exacting and iraportunate. Several of thera had got into our waggon, and were taking the liberty of examin ing and rummaging our baggage. I apprehended an im pending pUlag(;, and, my patience being exhausted, I pro posed to Mr. Brenchley to send them packing, and, if ne cessary, to use force against them, thinking that being six in number, and each with ten ball-cartridges at our dis posal, we should be able to intimidate them, and if need were, with a little management to flght them successfully. But ray irapassible friend, with the coolness which distin- gmshes hira, advised patience and gentleness, merely sug- FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 409 gesting that we should keep an eye on the two chiefs, and treat them with kindness. At this moment a fox happen ing to brush by us on the sand, I fired at him and tumbled him over. This sudden and unexpected act evidently struck our troublesorae visitors, who began to whisper with one another. MeanwhUe, Mr. Brenchley was giving them biscuit, bacon, and dried plums ; all which seemed to de light and even to soothe these formidable kings of the de sert. When we thought our cattle were sufficiently re freshed with food and water, we harnessed them quickly, and set out, leaving behind us a few odds and ends to amuse and occupy the Indians. The Muddy is deep, and though its water is clear and lirapid, it is not easy to drink it, from its being so tepid and saturated with alkali. We were obliged however to bring away a barrel of it for our use on the way.. We ascended the river about a hundred paces before crossing it. Two Indians only followed us as far as the passage, and then went away. We felt as if a great weight were taken off us when we found we were fairly rid of thera. For a considerable time we proceeded along a valley rather shal low and sandy, in which were growing Prosopis, a Mimosa which reminded us of the Acacia heterophylla, a Buta, a Tes saria, and Grease-wood. The vegetation was confined to these species alone. The drought was great everywhere, and all the hills in sight were covered with sand, without the shghtest trace of verdure. On leaving the valley, a 410 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. little before dark, we entered upon a vast undulating desert, which we determined to get over at one pull, that our cattle jmight not suffer from want of water. In the course of two hours, however, after the moon had set, it got so exceed ingly dark that we were obliged to give up our intention and come to a stop. We kept our aniraals constantly round our waggon, in order to have thera under our hands ; we luckily had sorae corn left, and it was a corafort to think that though necessary to keep thera fastened to our nomad home, they had at least no fast to undergo, thanks to our store of provender. The traveller in the desert is like the saUor on the ocean ; the latter grows attached to his ship, in which he finds another home ; the former attaches him self to his waggon, which is his ship, and both of them con fiding in their star, throw themselves on the grace of God, on whom alone they depend. Lying on the sand, content and quite proud of having passed the vaUey of the Muddy with out any casualty, where so many caravans had been deci mated by the Indians, lulled in some degree by the plea- ing sound of our mules crunching the maize, we A^'ent to sleep, after giving thanks to Heaven for its latest favours. In the morning, when we woke, a slight frost had crisped the surface of the ground, which crackled under our feet. The desert extended on every side of us, further than the eye could reach. Our cattle appeared thirsty ; we gave them aU the water left in our barrel, and at seven o'clock went on our way. We had first to go up a slight slope to FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 411 reach the ridge of a long down, whence we could discover the plains of Las Vegas. The pure sand over which we had been hitherto passing was now mixed with small stones. Here and there was to be seen a dead Eriogonum, and at long intervals a large Echinocactus, as much as four feet in diameter. The great arborescent monocotyledon which we have previously spoken of as like the Vellozia of the Brazils, again made its appearance, and by its presence gave a pecuhar character to the country. We were much sur prised to find that lizards, usually so rife in the deserts of this part of Araerica, were no longer to be seen, and we knew not whether to attribute their absence to the time of the year, or to their being destroyed by the Indians, who consider their flesh a dainty. The heat was tolerably great towards the middle of the day, and contributed, together with the dust we raised, to sharpen our thirst and make us push on as fast as possible to Las Vegas, where we knew we should find capital water. Our cattle themselves shared our impatience, and trotted on briskly, as if they already scented the water and green food awaiting them. Shortly before arriving, we passed through brushwood consisting of Prosopis, and crossed a brook which irrigated a field of In dian corn, and at which we slaked our thirst. At length, at three o'clock, we entered the little mud fort which the Mormons have raised at Las Vegas. We planted ourselves in the court, where we were to pass the night in the open air, by the side of some Indians, who said they belonged to 412 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. a smaU tribe, the Kusi-Utahs, neighbours or aUies of the Utahs. These savages, whose name we had never before heard of, seemed to us to bear a great resemblance to those of the Muddy ; and though they were very inoffensive and seeraed perfectly guUeless, they contrived to steal two knives from us with marveUous dexterity. In speaking they clipped their words in such a way, that we could only catch the foUowing, in which we fancied we recognized the sounds of the language of the Shoshones : — Dpi, wood. Tetsoae, hat. Tube, sun. Soati, child. Mea, moon. Kwichubong, cow. Ghareti, dog. Kucha, pantaloons. Chonip, grass. Kuaso, coat. Tempe, stone. Bus, spectacles. Kanente, herb {Atriplex). The Spanish name of Las Vegas, which signifies ' fertUe fields,' was given by the Mexicans to this country, as being a sort of oasis in the desert. The Mormons have established a farm there, to which they draw the Indians, for the pur pose of converting, and teaching thera agriculture. This settleraent, situated on the territory of New Mexico, is one of the most recent which the sect has formed. It is easy to foresee that it wiU never become considerable, inasmuch as the soil capable of cultivation is extreraely limited, and the surrounding desert extends to a considerable distance. But, such as it is, there can be no doubt of its real utUity, and of its having all the elements requisite for becoming a FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 413 valuable halting-place, where the mail, and traveUers in general, may renew their stock of provisions. All that is now to be seen in the fort is a house and a barn. There were thirty-three Morraons in it, alraost all elders, and not a single woman. They cultivate cereals and vegetables, which succeed well ; the corn they sold us was of very gpod qua lity. They seemed indifferent, and not at aU anxious to oblige us, Avhich is attributable to their habitual coldness, rather than to any ill-will. One of thera allowed us, good- naturedly enough, to copy the therraoraetrical observations made by hira during the previous month of August.* The altitude of this spot, as ascertained by the baroraeter, is 5424 feet above the level of the sea. There are no trees of any kind in this oasis. Though there had been already some frosts at the time we passed, we saw round about, especiaUy in the spots watered by the brook, and in the garden, a good number of plants still alive, among which I may mention the Adiantum Capillus-Veneris, a pretty fern, which I very much suspect is a cosmopolite ; a Stan leya with yellow flowers, a Cirsium, a Typha, an Epilobium, Sonchus, Lythrum with Cuscuta, Erigeron, Verbena, a woody Atriplex ; a small shrub, the Bhus trilobata ; a violet, the Comandra, a filamentous Dogbane (the pu of the In dians, ' railk-weed' of the Americans), a pretty little creep ing Spurge-wort with flesh-coloured petals, a Castilleja with handsome red bracts, an (Enothera with yellow * See Note XXII. at the end of the volume. 414 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. flowers, a Helianthus, an Aster, Ambrosia, Lycium, Erodium, Anemiopsis, Solidago, Arundo, Psoralea, Hydrocotyle, Phy- salis, Grease- wood {Linosyris). We also saw araong the plants introduced by the Morraons sorae Californian vines. The Rio Colorado, the navigableness of which is not yet perfectly certain, and which raay one day becorae a magni ficent raeans of communication with these out-of-the-way countries, flows about thirty miles to the east of Las Vegas. It is said to be in this latitude broad, but shaUow and full of rocks. Its banks are frequented by Indians, who have the reputation of being very formidable ; some of them have been at the Mormon settlement, but it was impossible to induce them to stay any time, in spite of all that could be said to entice them ; it was all in vain to offer to lodge, board, and clothe them for a year : nothing could tempt them. For the child of the desert, independence has a charm which flnds no equivalent either in the comfort of being well housed or well clothed, or of obtaining the means of subsistence without trouble. What he requires above everything is space. To an assured livelihood, to a calm and sedentary life, he prefers the free air of the mountains and plains, the excitement of the desert, the stimulus of hunger and of thirst. Fasting is less insup portable to him than regular diet. The bird which has breathed the air of the forest always prefers it, in spite of the periodical return of frost with its scarcity, to the luxury and abundance of the finest cage. The Indian is a being FROM FILLMORE TO LAS VEGAS. 415 more aniraal than inteUectual ; his soul not penetrated by the feelings which form societies and cement thera, he is unable to appreciate the advantages of social life, and is naturally inclined to esteem his solitary wandering as his greatest good, and as the essential condition of his happi ness. Let us not think him so great an object of pity ; for if the stirring pleasures of social life are unknown to him, as weU as the higher aspirations of the soul, on the other hand, he neither knows nor feels its miseries, and is unacquainted with those moral sufferings which occasion ally affect us so much as to make us weary of existence. Tn a word, the Indians are not apt at once to recognize the benefits of civUized life ; and as we cannot draw them to us, it is for us to go to them, and to live with them for the purpose of instructing thera gradually. This is at all events the raost certain method of infusing our principles into them, and of bringing them, in the long-run, to ac knowledge the superiority of our manners. The mission aries of Las Vegas seemed to have seen the thing in this light, for they are making arrangeraents to sally forth in turn for the purpose of diffusing the seeds of civilization on the banks of the Colorado. 416 CHAPTER III. FEOM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. NATURAL WELL OF LAS VEGAS. — IN WHAT KESPECT THE MANNERS OP THE AMERICANS ARE LESS SANGUINARY THAN THOSE OE THE FRENCH. — BRIGANDS AND CONQUEKORS. — COTTONWOOD SPRINGS. — A MAIL-CARRIAGE IN THE DESERT. — INGRATITUDE OF THE MULE. — MR. brenchley's PERILOUS FALL.^HORRIBLE TEMPTATION. — KINGSTON SPRINGS. — AN EPISODE PROM THE TRAVELS OP COLONEL FREMONT. — BITTER SPRINGS. — REVERIES OP A SAILOR. — WHAT IS A DESERT? — THE MOJAVE. HARES AND PARTRIDGES. WHAT IS REQUIRED TO BE A GENTLEMAN. PASSAGE OP THE SIERRA NEVADA. — CALIFOENIANS- AND AMERICANS. — THE MOEMON COLONY AT SAN BERNARDINO. — MEETING WITH A HAWAIIAN WOMAN. — VINEYARD AT CUCAMONGA. — ORGIES. — JACK THE MOUNTAINEER. — EL MONTE. — ARRIVAL AT LOS ANGELES. On the 17th of September, at two o'clock in the after noon, we left the farm of Las Vegas, where the Mormon missionaries are working with untiring perseverance for the glory and interest of their Church. At first we had to toil over sandy heights, on which we met a troop of Indians who were returning from the chase; some were FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 417 loaded with hares tied about their loins ; others siraply bore their bows and arrows. We with difficulty reached a small plateau, where our cattle refused any longer to draw, so exhausted were they by pulling up the waggon, more than usually heavy from being filled with a large stock of corn. We therefore made up our rainds to encarap at three raUes from the place whence we had set out, near a natural aa-cU, which rauch excited our curiosity. Herbage of various kinds grew around it, and on its sides were floating aquatic lentUs, Hydrocotyle, and leaves which we took for those of a convolvulus. The diaraeter of this well is twenty feet. It is filled with very clear and drinkable water alraost up to a level with the surrounding ground ; it was lirapid and perfectly smooth on the surface, while, at about two feet beneath, there was an intermittent bub- bhng which disturbed it, and threw up a white sand, that never rose as far as the upper portion of the water, but formed itself at tiraes into so even a layer that it raight be mistaken for the bottom of the reservoir. Tt was certainly a most curious phenomenon, was this water remaining pure and transparent above, whUe two feet lower it occa sionally threw up quantities of large bubbles corapletely fiUed with sand. We perceived sorae sraaU fish, which disappeared at our approach. In endeavouring to ascer tain the depth of the hole, we found with regret that our sounding line, consisting of a stone tied to a string, was stopped at about ten feet by the resistance of the raud, VOL. II. 2 E 418 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. though a pole twelve feet long was without difficulty thrust down into it without finding the bottom. It is probable that this curious fountain comraunicates by a subterranean channel with the rivulet of Las Vegas, which is only two miles off. After we had done examining the well, there was nothing in its vicinity to attract our attention. We took it into our heads to amuse ourselves Avith a little baU-practice until dark ; and this useful pastime unexpectedly gave rise to a long and warra discussion betAveen our servants. As we had no target, Henry jestingly proposed that we should take aim at Victor. The latter, who had been long harbouring a kind of spite against Henry, took the joke very ill, and broke out into insults upon the Araericans, whora he declared to be worse than brute beasts, and whom he accused of setting no value upon human life, which they exposed with so much indifference on their railroads, in their steamboats, and in their private quarrels. Henry, stung in his turn by the serious tone in which Victor spoke, maintained a sort of sulky silence for the tirae ; but as soon as it was dark, he took us all to witness that he had been gratuitously in sulted, and gravely undertook to defend, in a set speech, the manners of his countrymen, and especiaUy to endea vour to prove that they are less sanguinary than those of France. His mode of arguing was very simple ; it rested on statistics. " How many men," he asked, " do we leave for dead as the consequence of our private quarrels, and FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 419 how many do you assassinate in your duels P How raany lives are destroyed by accidents caused by our careless management of steam, and how many do you sacrifice in war ? In my opinion, you beat us all hollow. Is it wiser to die on the field of battle, after doing harm to others, than to die on a steamboat, without injuring any one, but, on the contrary, in the act of seeking to serve humanity by rapid locomotion ? And of the vast numbers who freely risk themselves on board our magnificent steamers, how few are they who perish I Count the warriors whora Napoleon harnessed to his car of victory, and tell rae how many of them returned." Victor had nothing to say in reply. The triuraphant orator continued to crush his ad versary under the weight of his eloquence. Tt was raore reasonable, in his opinion, to expose oneself to be blown up in a vessel in a trial of speed, than to follow a con queror, and to find death in battles for the benefit of one ambitious man, or in the interest of a reigning family. War, he thought, was never permissible, saving in defence of liberty, as Washington waged it. Napoleon, in his eyes, was merely a fortunate captain, and without feeling ; a sort of mythological monster, who made war only from a depraved appetite ; an impostor, who aimed at corrupting ' nations by making them Avorship glory instead of liberty ; in fact, a bandit-chief. At this word, Victor sprang for ward as if to devour the speaker, when Huguenot, inter fering, seized hira by the arras and said, " Stop, my fine 2 E 2 420 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. feUow ; don't be so hasty. When a man runs away frora his horaestead to avoid fighting, he has no right to be quite so touchy." Victor, who thus found ~ himself hit where he the least expected it, becarae quiet, and raerely knitted his brows. Though rarely taking part in the con versation, and always keeping himself cool, Huguenot could not resist a protest against this opinion of his coun tryman. He was fond of military glory, and Napoleon was his idol ; so he endeavoured to defend him after his fashion. " None," he said, " but superior raen are ca pable of becoming brigand-chiefs ; and were I a French man, I should not be at aU annoyed at hearing a great warrior spoken of in this way. Ts there anything raore dehghtful than the life of caraps and caverns, when one has plenty of fine fowls and good drink, and can make himself feared and respected by all around him ? Just fancy the pleasure of piUaging a powerful enemy, of bringing him upon his knees, and being courted by his woraen ! A brigand-chief is like the general of an array ; he extorts raoney frora the traveUers who fall into his snares, and by his magnanimity as well as his courage can render every woraan fond of him. By his bravery and audacity he obtains the means of hving like a king. There is as much justice, and more grandeur and nobleness, in robbing men by force, than in ruining them by successful speculations. The means are different, but the result is the same, and the success of a surprise is quite as honourable as a coraraercial FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 42] manoeuvre. If the brigand show himself good-natured and a gentleman after a victorious foray, he is a great man. And the proof that my opinion is true is, that the world to this day admires the acts and prowess of the bold brigands of past times. In the same way the narae of the great Napoleon is venerated like that of a god, and the woraen themselves, forgetting the tears he has caused so raany mothers, thriU Avith enthusiasm at the bare mention of his name." Such was the substance of the discourse in which Huguenot displayed the gross instincts of a cynical and uncultivated mind. Henry then resumed the conversation, saying that he admitted the resemblance, but that a raan must be void of every principle who could so far forget himself as to pass a eulogium on a criminal pursuit. Then, as if to UTitate Victor stUl raore, he endeavoured to put the general below the brigand. " The brigand-chief," he said, " culpable as he raay be, has at least the privilege of comraanding raen who have voluntarily enrolled thera selves under his orders. The conqueror, who does not do less mischief, is much more criminal ; for the soldiers who compose his army are torn from their famUies, and forced to shed their own blood and that of others according to his good pleasure, and alraost always without advantage to themselves. The brigands form a republican association, in which each man has his share of the booty. The con queror is the lion of the fable, who takes all the booty to himself; he is a tyrant, a sort of god Vishnu, who 422 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. crushes under his car his raost devoted worshippers. In this case, it is slavery ; in the other, it is liberty. My first comparison was not accurate; I ask Victor's pardon for having been so far from the truth." Victor felt quite per suaded that he ought, as a thing due to his conscience and the honour of his country, to defend the memory of the greatest captain of modern times, thus insolently attacked ; only he wanted words to express the good things he had in his head, and so he was content with replying, " Say and think what you wUl of Napoleon ; the name of your Washington wUl never make so much noise as his; for in my country T never heard of it, and in yours I have> seen the iraage of the little Corporal everywhere, even in the meanest of your huts." For an iUiterate sailor, and one who raade no pre tensions to eloquence, this was rather a clever way of getting out of the discussion. Huguenot warraly applauded Victor's words ; but Henry, whom it was not so easy either to beat or to satisfy, would have the last word, and said in a sen tentious manner, " Washington is too much above vulgar intellects to be appreciated in the Old World. The narae of the greatest man of antiquity, that of Socrates, is un known to the masses." Victor, who no more than Hu guenot, comprehended a part of this observation, was satisfied with matters as they stood, and so the contro versy closed. SUence once established, we went to sleep on the ground, whUe the moon, enclosed within a lemon- coloured halo, continued her course in the sky. FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 423 As soon as it was daybreak we proceeded on our way, across a plain covered with sand and rock. A few arid hillocks were to be seen in the distance, and here and there thorny bushes spread their leafless branches. We saw an Eriogonum, a Rutal, a sort of Tamarind, sorae Agaves, and a Yucca which had a trunk like that of a palra-tree, from five to six feet high. Our people appeared to be still under the influence of the discussion of the previous evening, and did not exchange a word with one another. We ourselves, af fected by a grey and heavy sky, experienced a sort of moral depression which was speedily followed by feverish sensa tions and violent headache. Had the clear water of the well of Las Vegas perchance contributed to this indisposition ? At two o'clock we reached Cottonwood Springs, where we pitched our camp, in a spot surrounded by hills, on a sraaU piece of ground covered with verdure, in the raidst of which were to be seen Willows, Cactus, Figworts, some poor and lank Helianthus, sorae tall Crucifers, a large Bu- mex, all of thera corapletely withered, but still recognizable. Before us, on the other side of the hUls, rose a peaked, rocky, jagged mountain, to which our eyes were attracted by some reddish tints of different shades." We kUled a cayote with a thick tail {Vulpes macrurus) and long stiff hair. When skinned, its flesh was very poor, and though entirely void of any smeU, our dog refused to eat it. At nightfaU, the mail which left Salt Lake on the 2nd of November, came and encaraped near us. Tt consisted of 424 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. two bags of letters carried on a mule, of a postman, and five traveUers, with ten saddle-horses and mules. Araong thera was an Araerican of the name of Phillips, a very re spectable-looking person, bearer of a letter of introduction to us. A young clerk in a store, named Walker, who was going to seek his fortune in California, also had himself in troduced to us by our servants, who had known him at Great Salt Lake City. He was a very lively youth, a great talker, free and easy in his manners, and evidently very attentive to dress. He pretty nearly had aU the talk of the evening to himself; among the various subjects he touched upon, what most struck us was his ideas about divine reve lations. On this raatter he had very decided notions, and affirmed that all ancient revelations raust be stained with iraposture, inasrauch as we had in our own days seen thousands of people believing in the revelation of Joseph Sraith. He said, with sorae show of good sense and rea son, that if it were so difficult to dispute the genuineness of a revelation proraulgated in the midst of the nineteenth century, it could not be a raatter of surprise that the ira- postures of Moses and of Jesus Christ should have passed for truths in remote and ignorant ages. We did not take the trouble to corabat his view, but we could not help feeling some Uttle wonder at seeing so young a man led away into infidelity by his reflections on Mormonism. The night was cold and disagreeable. Our sleep had been constantly disturbed by our dog, whose voice we had FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 425 never heard before, and who set himself to work barking with desperate vigour, as if he had made it a point to show our neighbours of the mail that he was really good for something. It was not only the cold and the noise that kept us awake ; we were as thirsty as if we were in a fever, and the water within our reach had so strong a smell of Charas that we could not drink it. We were on foot at four o'clock in the raorning. Tt being yet dark, Mr. Brenchley set out in quest of our cattle, which were feeding about, and which he brought back before daybreak, after getting his legs severely scratched by running over the thorny cactus. Mr. PhUlips, who was traveUing with an American horse, better adapted to harness than the saddle, proposed to exchange him against one of our mules. This bargain pleased Mr. Brenchley, who had remarked the good quali ties of the horse in question, and he consented to give the inteUigent Jack for him, whom he had no longer any occa sion to ride, and who had shown himself decidedly unwill ing to go in harness. The mule did not at all understand that we were going to part, and he seemed quite proud when he felt he had a rider on his back. We alone had to regret the separation, and for several days it seeraed as if we had lost some being that we loved. Poor Jack ! he had such soft, supplicating eyes when he came to beg the leavings of our mules ! We subsequently learnt that he had never seemed to be aware of his change of masters. Are mules, then, just as ungrateful and false as cats ? 426 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. We set out at seven o'clock, some time after the depar ture of the mail. The sky was cloudy aud threatened rain. We got upon a bad stony road, which took precisely the di rection of the mountain the reddish-coloured declivities of which we had remarked the day before. We got a little fresh water as we went along at the bottom of a narrow ravine, where were some trees stripped of their leaves, some withered Labiates, and several small plants too far gone to permit our making out what they were. The rise soon be came so steep that we were obliged to transfer a part of the contents of our waggon to our mules' backs. While engaged in this way, Victor, proud of an old gun he had that morning bought of the people who were travelling with the maU, went, mounted on his mule, flring at birds in all directions. As he had never in his life had a gun in his hand, and was a bad rider, as most saUors are, he looked at once so awkward and so ridiculously happy that the oddity of his appearance at last put us into good humour, in spite of the annoyance we at first felt at his shirking his duties. Out of compassion for his beast, which he was tiring to no purpose, I made hira dismount ; but he still persisted in going on with his sport, instead of coraing to assist us, as he ought to have done, in getting up the waggon, no easy task. The rise was fortunately very short, though very sharp and rocky. Our teara, corapletely blown, stopped halfway, and the waggon, backing to the bottom, was near dashing itself to pieces against the rocks, and crushing us FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 427 in its unexpected descent. We further hghtened the vehicle of whatever we could put upon the backs of our raules, then put our shoulders to the wheels, and at length suc ceeded in. getting to the top. This difficulty being over, we gave a drop to our people, with the exception of Victor, who was extreraely raortified at having lost this opportunity of refreshing his memory with the taste of whisky. The mountains in the midst of which we now were, though completely bare of trees and verdure of any kind, were nevertheless picturesque, both in their outlines and tints. We soon entered into a narrow valley, less sterile, where the vegetation, without being precisely rich, offered sorae variety to the eye. Some Garrya, some Agave, two species of Cowania, some Cactus, sorae Figworts, some Crucifers, some dying Composites, and a sort of Aloe which from the raidst of a rosette of thorny leaves sent up a stalk frora about ten to twenty-four feet, bearing fruit along its whole length, frora which the seed had fallen. About noon we halted at the foot of some perpendicular rocks, at a spot v/here junipers and pines were growing, on the branches of which we found mistletoe. We killed a wolf, which had been disturbed by our presence, and which fancied itself invisible behind the bushes. At one o'clock we re sumed our course, after haniessing our mules instead of our horses to the waggon. We stUl proceeded for some tirae upon the surarait of the pass, then pushed on in a trot down a long descent which led us into a desert. All went on 428 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. well at first, untU the mules, who had scarcely anything to draw, got excited and broke into a gallop. To hold thera in, Mr. Brenchley was obliged to use all his strength, and the pressure of his body, increased by his resistance to the puUing of the raules, broke the footboard, and my poor friend, to our alarm, fell between the waggon and the wheelers. Before we had time to rush to the head of the animals to stop thera, Mr. Brenchley, who had neither lost his legs nor let go of the reins, dexterously managed to get upon the pole, and grasping the iron support of the seat with one hand, managed with great skill to hold them in hand with the other, and to turn them aside at the raoraent they were about to dash the waggon against a rock. They stopped at last. All this lasted only a few seconds, but seconds which appeared to be longer than hours. My friend's coolness had saved him ; he extricated hiraself from his great peril without injury, and after a splendid display of nerve. The footboard was soon mended, and we con tinued our journey after a moment's interruption. On arriving in the desert, at the foot of the descent, we again saw the great arborescent monocotyledon which had several times attracted our notice. We had now a much better opportunity of examining it, for on its stalk, frora fifty to twenty feet high, we were able to gather, in a dried-up state it is true, flowers arranged in terminal panicles and formed of a thick perianth of six leaflets inserted in two lines, six httle stamens, and a free ovary. Tt was evi- FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 429 dently a lUiaceous plant, and very probably a species of the genus Yucca, a dwarf species Avhich we had already met with in the course of our journey. A little further on we saw some Agaves, some Rutals, and the curious Eriogonum infiatum. The mountains we left behind us presented sin gular and very marked strata, some dipping, others vertical, some straight, others sinuous. The sky remained overcast as in the morning, and constantly threatened rain ; we got on slovA'ly over the rough ground. The sun went down, but it was not very dark, and the desert being flat, we resolutely continued on our way until midnight. The weather cleared up ; a splendid moon permitted us to see distant objects ; we made a fire of Yucca to cook by, and saw, some miles off, another fire which we took for that of the raaU. At two o'clock in the raorning we dropped off to sleep. We were off again at dawn. By a calculation of dis tances we knew that since the evening we had quitted the soil of New Mexico and had now entered into the State of California. The road was rough in the extreme, the air sharp and cold. As much to warm myself as to save my beast, I dismounted and walked. The gentle Campora followed rae step by step, taking as many turns as I did, and stopping whenever I stooped to pick up a plant or a stone. There Avere to be seen some Eriogonum, Agaves, and Yuccas. The soil was for the most part sandy, and though no traces of grass was visible, it might be inferred from the presence of dead stalks that sorae ephemeral 430 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. plants had flourished in the desert in' spring. We soon carae near sorae hUls tolerably high, entirely bare, and entered into a dried-up valley without the slightest ver dure; only here and there were to be found small dry bushes, as Grease-wood for instance, and sometimes the stalks of a cucurbitaceous plant. On the sides of the valley were rocks of singular and even most striking forras. An Indian, who had got sight of us from sorae high ground, carae down upon us at a quick pace and foUowed in our track, without however attempting to speak to us. Hope fancied he recognized in him an assassin whose per son had been described to him, and who, it was said, had on this very spot, a short tirae before, killed several Araeri can travellers. The first thing that flashed upon us was to bring hira to trial, or rather to shoot hira without trial. Victor, who was no doubt unwiUing to lose so fine an opportunity of turning his gun to account, asserted that it was an obligation rigorously incumbent upon us to purge the desert of a traitor and assassin. But a moment's reflection warned us that if we had the right to erect our selves into judges or executioners, we had not the right to condemn without proof. So we let the poor savage alone, who probably was not so much of a brigand as he looked, and who assuredly had no idea that on the slightest signal from us he would have faUen under the baUs of our people. God and our reason prevented us from succumbing to this horrible temptation, and of ex- FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 431 posing ourselves, by an unjustifiable act, to gnawing re morse. And well was it that we abstained, for a little later we saw on the ridges of the vaUey other Indians, who did not, it is true, approach us, but who would not have failed to avenge their brother had we fired upon him. To get out of the valley we had to scale its sides and to pass over ground which was completely volcanic. White marble however was to be seen by the side of blackish stones. On several rocks we remarked a sort of natural engraving forraed by projecting veins of different colours. Other rocks were corroded and fretted in a way to resemble porticoes. On arriving at the top of the rise, about one o'clock in the afternoon, we halted near a scanty spring, to which the emigrants have given the narae of Kingston Springs, and which, jetting up frora a culrainating point, flows away into a saline soU. The Indian Avhose hfe had been put in jeopardy by us, followed us up to this point. We treated him aU the better because it was a comfort to see hira safe and sound after what we had intended to do to him. We gave him some tobacco, which he set to smoking with great gravity beside us, ma king use of a stalk of Eriogonum for a pipe. The water of the spring was fresh enough, but of a very disagreeable taste ; we drank it, however, in order to quench the thirst which had been consuming us frora the day before. Small birds, not at all shy, were playing around us, and bathing theraselves with manifest delight in the rill that flowed 432 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. from the spring. Tt was a pleasure to see thera shaking thefr httie feathers and to see their wings quivering with joy. A few plants still alive vvere visible round about, araongst others a Chondrilla, a Dalea, and a new Erio gonum, beyond dispute the raost reraarkable and the pret tiest we had yet met with, forraing, by the arrangement of its numerous slender branches, a sort of Chinese umbrella perfectly flat. After two hours' siesta we resumed our course. We had first to descend from the erainence of Kingston Springs, and we then entered into a vaUey hemraed in by tolerably high mountains, and here and there sprinkled with large rocks. Lying on the stones in the road we perceived a big tarantula, which we crushed without a moment's hesita tion, as if it were a natural enemy. We saw a Bartonia with yeUow flowers, which interested us all the more from its being the first time our eyes had ever fallen upon a Loasad in North America. We soon found ourselves at the entrance into a perfectly level desert, where, for a dis tance of forty-five miles, we were either raising clouds of dust, or passing over sharp stones. We did not stop till ten o'clock at night, and then onty to take a little food and sleep ; near us was a deserted waggon, with the fragments of which we made a fire to warra our coffee. At one o'clock in the raorning we were again pursuing our course across the parched-up plain. The ground continued level but rough ; we trotted on in the bright moonshine. FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 433 and ill spite of symptoms of colic from which we every one of us suffered, and which we attributed to the water at Kingston, we chatted gaily as we rode on. Hope, who had several times crossed these dreary soli tudes, related to us, as we went along, a terrible story con nected with Colonel Fremont's expedition, and the very spot on which we then were. In the raonth of AprU, 1844, six Mexicans, including two women and a child, had left Los Angeles with thirty horses, in advance of the great caravan to Santa Fe, in order to travel more at leisure and obtain better grass. On reaching the vicinity of Kings ton Springs, they were treacherously attacked by the In dians, who had at first behaved in a friendly way. Two persons only, Andreas Fuentes and Pablo Hernandez, the latter a young boy only eleven years of age, succeeded in making their escape on horseback. After a gallop of sixty railes they had the good fortune to fall in with the camp of Colonel Fremont, who took thera under his protection. They told their melancholy story; the one had lost his fathet and mother, the other his wife. The men of the Colonel's suite were furious with rage on hearing the facts, and two of thera, the celebrated Kit Carson,* an Araerican born in Missouri, and Godey, a Frenchman of St. Louis, volunteered to go, together with Fuentes, in pursuit of the * A famous trapper, known throughout North America. The valley, river, and city of Carson are called after him. VOL. II. 3 F 434 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. savages. Thirty hours had elapsed from the time of their departure ; no one hoped ever to see thera alive again, when suddenly they appeared driving before thera fifteen horses recovered from the Indians, and carrying at the ends of their guns two bleeding scalps, the hideous trophies of their victory. The brave feUows stated that after tracking the horses for fifty miles, they at last came up with them close to four Indian huts. Unable to carry them off un- perceived, they had, without counting the odds, attacked the Indians, killed two of thera, put the rest to flight, and all this without getting as rauch as a scratch. One of the Indians whora they scalped was stiU ahve after this savage operation ; his body writhed and heaved upon the ground like a wounded snake, under the eyes of an old squaw who appeared to be his mother, and who was going back wards and forwards moaning and threatening the white men. These, moved at the grief of the poor old woman, quickly put an end to the raan's sufferings by giving him a finishing blow. Several horses had been kUled for a banquet, quarters of which were to be seen cooking on the fire. A young Indian, whora Carson and Godey had made prisoner, began stoically to breakfast off horseflesh, as soon as he knew that his captors had no intention of killing hira. Sorae days after this occurrence, Freraont reached the spot where the little Mexican caravan had been attacked. He there found the stripped and muti lated bodies of two raen, and by thefr side a sraall dog FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 435 Avhich had belonged to Pablo's mother. On perceiving his young master, the faithful animal made the liveliest demon strations of affection, Avhile the poor child, in his anxiety about his mother's fate, gave vent to the most touching cries, exclairaing over and over again, " Mi madref mi madre!" No traces of the two woraen were to be seen, whence it Avas conjectured that the Indians had carried them off. This mournful story, which Hope related to us with great minuteness, and which Colonel Fremont gives in his report to the Araerican Government,* excited our commisera tion, and filled us at the sarae tirae with admiratiim at the intrepidity of Carson, Godey, and Fuentes. The latter had a personal motive for vengeance, but the fact of the other two, moved to compassion by the recital of other men's suf ferings, indignant at the idea of a cowardly outrage upon harraless people, rushing of their own accord through an unknown country to avenge strangers, resolutely attack ing the offenders without any regard to nurabers, routing thera, and stripping them of their booty, all this without any motive of self-interest, without even the allurement of glory, singly and solely from a sensitive appreciation of the just and unjust, has in it a noble daring which was hardly exceeded in the heroic charge at Balaclava. The ferocity which sorae over-scrupulous persons object to in Carson and Godey, disappears when we reflect on the high- * Pages 261-265, Gale and Seaton's edition. Washington, 1845. 2 F 2 436 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. rnindedness and disinterestedness of the motive which prompted them to act. Our thoughts were stiU engaged on Hope's narrative when day broke. The raorning was very cold. We got into a curious canon, a sort of narrow valley, or deep ravine, which comraunicated from one desert to another. Though we Avere all excessively drowsy, we continued our journey ; even our animals were dull and lazy. It is true they had been working for a long whUe in the desert, and had had but little rest ; but what they raost suffered from was the want of water, and we wished as rauch as possible to avoid stopping before raeeting with it. About two o'clock in tbe afternoon we reached a country full of sraall sandy hil locks. A large black eagle being perched on a height near rae, I fired at hira with ray revolver, but the ball passing over the hiUock, fell on the other side, amongst the people accompanying the mail, lying asleep in a sraall valley. Fancying themselves attacked, and seeing no one near, they fired a few shots in return, which gave us notice of their presence. A few steps brought us up with them, and matters Avere easily explained. Two dribbling springs, saturated with salt, rose out of the sand at this spot, and again sank into it a few feet further on. The Mexicans give this water the name of Amargosa, translated by the Americans into Bitter Springs. A Capparid with yellow leaves, the only plant we could see, gave out a raost insup portable smell. The raaU set out at three o'clock, taking FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGliLES. 437 with it Jack, avIio had entirely forgotten us, the fickle one ! We could not raake up our minds to drink the water vvithin our reach, though our cattle did not refuse it. We tried to render it less disagreeable by making tea of it, which en abled us, if not to get rid of our thirst, at least to moisten our palates. We then lay down upon the sand to get a short sleep under a very mild sky, while our raules and horses were ravenously eating their corn. At six o'clock, it being now dark, we harnessed. At first we raounted a sandy hiU, in doing which our cattle, especially our horses, gave us a great deal of trouble and fatigue by obliging us to be incessantly keeping thera up to their work. It was even necessary to use the whip most freely, so un willing were they to move over the soft deep sand. Fortu nately the rise was neither steep nor long, but when we had mastered it, we had stiU, to our annoyance, to work our way with much fatigue through sand again. My mule, the amiable and worthy Campora, was suffering from a sweUing on her back, caused by a fold inadvertently left in the saddle-cloth. This kind of accident, which is such an annoy ance to traveUers, and which cannot be too carefully guarded against, is all the more serious in a long journey, as it de prives you of the services of the animal, under the penalty, if used, of the wound becoming highly inflamed and causing a sore back which is alraost incurable. I let ray mule follow loose in order that her back raight heal quickly, and took to ray legs, which was all the more easy to me, as we 438 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. were obliged to go slowly on account of the rocky nature of the ground. Victor, who accompanied me on foot, having been raade to walk as a punishraent for some of his pranks, gave rae an account, as we went along, of his castles in the afr ; and rauch araused I was at the childish pro jects engendered in the sailor's brain. He meant, he said, to economize ten thousand francs in California, in the brief space of two years, and then to return to France by way of the plains and Rocky Mountains, with a light waggon, good mules and good pistols. It seeraed to hira to be the height of happiness to be, hke us, master of a team iu the desert. He already -fancied himself returned to his country, and felt proud at the idea of working on his own account, in a sea port, and by degrees of amassing a fortune which,. would en able him to be of use to his family. These fine dreams, mixed up with a dash of good feehng, did not however prevent his surmising that all his ambitious projects might corae to nothing, and he had no difficulty in making up his mind to go again to sea, comforting himself with the idea that he would thus have an opportunity of seeing more of the world. The night was cold, and I had no reason to regret being on foot, as I was all the wanner for it. Those of our animals who were at liberty gave us trouble ; they no longer followed as steadily as usual"; we were constantly obhged to see that they did not stray, and to spur on the stragglers. We had to mount a considerable ascent, the top of which we reached at midnight, and the descent from FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 439 which was steep enough to compel us to make a number of zigzags, untU we reached the entrance of a valley, through which Ave passed into a vast plain. Here we encamped at four o'clock in the morning. The night was so excessively dark, that Ave could not keep all our aniraals together, in spite of the pains we took to drive them before us ; but it A^'as not untU we had settled ourselves down, that we were made aware of their having got away, by their not coming for their food. We were four short, three horses and a mule. The darkness made all search useless, and besides Ave were pretty well fatigued. Our people, too, showed clearly enough by their UI huraour how much they were in want of rest ; they fell asleep instantly, without taking time even to eat. Mr. Brenchley and myself supped tete-a-tete, and kept awake tUl daybreak near a small fire we had made of the branches and roots of the Artemisia. The sky was over cast at the tirae of our arrival; and about five o'clock rain fell. When it was dawn, we could perceive a good deal of bunch-grass about us, an excellent fodder, which cattle relish very much, and the seeds of which are used by the Indians to make a sort of paste of. We let om' ani mals run loose, that they might get a bite of this grass ; and at about six o'clock we got under the tilt of our waggon to have a little sleep, sheltered from the rain. As soon as it stopped raining, at about eight o'clock, we went to work to collect our animals, of which four were stUl wanting. We set out all the same at ten o'clock, after 440 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC sending Huguenot in search of the stragglers. We crossed a sandy plain, where we saw numbers of smaU dried-up plants, not recognizable, for the most part, but among which we fancied we could distinguish Cloveworts, Buck wheats, Scleranths, and synantherous plants. These re mains, often nearly indistinguishable, completely confirmed us in the opinion that the wilderness, in certain parts at least, is not at all times absolutely devoid of every kind of vegetation. There would seem to be a season, though ex tremely short in all probability, when the sand gives birth to a species of smaU annuals, very fragUe and short-lived, Avhich gerrainate, spring up, flower, fruit, and die, like mushrooms, in the space of a few days. Once in spring we had occasion to observe this ephemeral vegetation at the entrance into the Sahara, which led us to doubt the fact of its being a desert. A few weeks afterwards, returning to the same spot, we found everything dried up, arid, and desolate ; and were convinced that we had, when we first passed; been seeking for the desert while we were actually in it. Deserts, in the strict sense of the word, must be very rare. We much fear that traveUers have misapphed this word, ourselves included. There are many places in the world not fertile, and unfit for cultivation ; there are very few that are entirely and at all times devoid of vegetable life. For our own part, we know of no real deserts save those glaring salt plains in the north of Utah from which vegetation is perpetuaUy absent. Everywhere FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 441 else, even upon lavas of somewhat recent deposit, we have found traces of vegetable life. Vegetables are beings so organized that they can force their way wherever there is a little moisture, and this condition they may find, if not permanently, at least temporarily, in every part of the globe. The only exceptions are the regions of perpetual cold, and those soUs, very limited in fact, which contain destructive chemical agents. It is necessary then to rectify our ideas with respect to the nature of deserts, and not to regard them as spaces absolutely bare of vegetation, but merely as points on the earth's surface where man not only cannot find permanent sustenance, but where, raoreover, he cannot live for a single day, save on condition of his taking with hira a supply of water and food sufficient for his support. From the desert through which we were passing, while making these reflections, we discovered in the distance bare raountains, and already got a glimpse of the small woods on the river Mojave,* the banks of which we reached at one o'clock in the afternoon. Here were to be found natural pasturage, and a soil fit for cultivation. We over took a company of Mormons who had left FUlmore with three waggons a month before us. Huguenot soon joined us with the missing animals, which he brought back at a * This river takes its name from an Indian tribe which lived upon or near its banks. The Americans write " Mohave," or " Mohahve ;" we have thought it right to preserve the Spanish orthography, as the most ancient, and at the same time as being the most characteristic, on account of its having the Spanish y. 442 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. trot, after surprising thera in a little deU where they were feasting suraptuously off bunch-grass, without troubling their heads about the rest of the party. A little further on we came across three waggons with ten raules each, laden with provisions for the use of a surveying expedition de spatched from Washington to make a chart of the country betAveen the Rio Colorado and the Mojave. About two o'clock we halted at a place covered with fresh grass, by the side of a gully filled with pure water. Around us rose poplars and wUlow-trees on which huge crows were perched that deafened us with their croaking. Tn the raidst of the grass the Anemiopsis, with its pepper-like smell, grew in great abundance. After two hours' repose upon the grass, vire resumed our course in renewed spirits at the thought of our having left behind us the frightful deserts, and from the hope of hence forth having a comparatively easy journey. We fell in with an Irishman who was coming from the camp of the Ame rican Survey, and was going alone on foot to San Bernar dino. A few paces further on we met a German engineer, detached from the surveying party, who spoke to us, hoping to have news from Europe, not suspecting that we were ourselves hungering for the newspapers of the Old World, and that for raore than a year we had been without letters from our families. He easily consoled himself however for getting nothing from us, by the pleasure he had in acquaint ing us with the events of the Crimean war, the slowness of FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 413 Avhich very much amused the Araericans of California, who were themselves forgetful of the protracted nature of their own war in Mexico. He told us also, what was of more pressing interest for the raoraent, that the Indians had dis appeared frora the banks of the Mojave, and that it was not at all likely we should fall in with any of thera. This good news decided us not to be in a hurry, and to encamp at six o'clock in the evening in the midst of a plain, among the bunch-grass that was such a favourite with our cattle. The idea that we were approaching the close of this long and toilsome journey, put us in great glee. Our servants, though very rauch gratified at the thought of getting with in reach of an inhabited country, exhibited no outward signs of it. They were soured by their long sojourn in the wilderness, and they had need of being once again iu a city in order to humanize themselves ; so it often is with saUors, who, after a long voyage, become gloomy, sullen, and crabbed, but in whom one day on shore is enough to bring back the good huraour and brotherly feeling which cha racterize thera. At half past six in the morning, thoroughly refreshed by a long night of sound sleep, we were off again. Hope, who was anxious to reach San Bernardino as soon as pos sible, had got the st^rt of us by setting out at daybreak. We approached the little woods which fringe the Mojave. I was stUl on foot, as on the previous days, and took the opportunity of sporting in the brushwood. There was an 444 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. abundance of hares, of which I killed several. We crossed the bed of the river, in which we did not find a drop of water, contrary to all we had heard of its current and the quantity of fish we might catch in it. Californian partridges were constantly put up as we passed through the woods, but it was useless to kill them, as we had not tirae to look for thera araong the bushes where they feU. We passed through a large prairie, where we had for the first time a sight of the Sierra Nevada, which rose before us at a great distance. On the other side of the valley, at the foot of sorae hUls, we saw a hiUock which had in all respects the appearance of an extinct volcano. The partridges becanie so nuraerous that I could not resist the teraptation of having a shot at them, in spite of the very little chance there was of picking them up afterwards ; I however killed several which had perched upon the low trees. At the same time I brought down a large crow which happened to be in the midst of thera, and this Victor eagerly laid hold of. The waggon made its way slowly over a sandy soU, of which I took advantage to have a look at the hiUs bordering the valley. I found them very arid, and saw nothing upon thera but some rabbits, which were very difficult to get, as they took to their holes immediately when they were not killed outright. I however brought away three for our supper. At seven o'clock in the evening we found water in the bed of the river. We wetted the mouths of our cattie, and FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 445 then went on for an hour, until we fell in with a littie pas ture. We took up our quarters round a thick poplar, half decayed, which Mr. Brenchley set fire to, and which soon Avent out without leaving much coal. A sharp north wind blew from the Sierra Nevada, whose sUvery summits were clearly distinguishable in the moonlight. The bed of the river was about a mile off, in the midst of the copse, and it was necessary to go there in order to fetch water for our cooking. Huguenot and Henry refused to render this ser vice to our cook. Victor, fatigued, and fearing moreover to go into woods at night, where there possibly might be Indians lurking, could not make up his mind to perform this duty; however, in the end he gave in, and pretended to go on his errand. After proceeding a very little way, he came back as light as he went, saying that all the springs were dried up. This was true, the springs were dried up ; but we felt convinced that, to save hiraself a little trouble, he had not ascertained it with his own eyes. Desiring to show hira that he could not humbug us, I went rayself to the bed of the river, which I had the annoyance to find completely dry. One thing was however clear, that, judg ing from the distance, I knew Victor could not have had time to find the Mojave ; but as I carae back without a drop of water, I was unable to bring his falsehood horae to hira, patent as it was, and I was not without a slight feeling of mortification at being thus foiled. We did without water, very rauch -regretting that we had placed any trust in the 446 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. stories of the emigrants, who represented the Mojave, not only as a river never dry, but also as one in which we should get a miraculous draught of fishes. But in fact the only fish there were gudgeons, that is, ourselves. The night was icy cold. Since our two blankets were stolen by the Indian at the Rio Virgen, we had not the wherewithal to protect ourselves effectively against severe cold. Unable to sleep, I spent my tirae in collecting wood and keeping up a fire, at Avhich I half burnt ray, nose, and then foolishly suffered it to be half-frozen by the biting air, kept constantly chilled by the fearful north wintl. I suffered horribly from this mishap ; it seemed as if I had a red-hot iron in the middle of ray face. Day brought rae very little relief; and at seven o'clock we set out again, corapletely chUled with cold. We raoved on slowly to the valley of the Mojave, where we saw reeds, rushes, Typhas, wiUows, and poplars, loaded with icicles. At half past nine we stopped to breakfast, near a pit where we found a sraall quantity of muddy water, skimmed over with ice. The weather suddenly changed, passing from dry to damp, accompanied even with a little mist ; after which the sky quickly cleared up. We were off again at half past one, and soon reached the river, Avhich flowed on in a con siderable stream awhile, and then disappeared in the sand and rocks of its bed, which we continued to skirt for sorae tirae. At six o'clock in the evening we encamped at a point where the streara reappeared. We there found a FROM I^AS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 447 bushy, thorny Composite, a frutescent Atriplex, a Rutal, a sort of Beta on which a mistletoe was living. Poplars and wiUows were plentiful. Bear-tracks, that we saw in the sand, made us hope we should fall in with game raore worthy of our arms than hares, but we were disappointed. The air was keen, the moon briUiant, and there had been frost since nightfall. We were fortunate enough to find the means of raaking a good fire, around which we formed so close a circle, that sorae of us had our clothes burnt. Victor roasted and ate the crow M'hich I had given hira the day before, Avhile Ave feasted on the hares kiUed during the day. At supper Henry and Huguenot had a long discussion about the qualities requisite to constitute what is called a gentleman. Huguenot, who seeraed to look upon every citizen of a republic as such, by the very fact of his having a share of the sovereignty, affected to be as much a gentleman as the President of the United States ; and in support of his pretensions, affirmed that he could present himself at the President's levee, and get a shake of the hand frora hira, which at foreign courts constituted or confirmed the right of being called a gentleman. Henry was not at all of this opinion ; he told his comrade that he was confounding the citizen with the gentleman, and yet that there was a distinction between them to be attended to. He had no difficulty in acknowledging that Huguenot was a citizen of the great republic, and that nothing pre vented his superadding to this qualification that of being a 448 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. gentleman ; but he added, and this was the delicate point, that this title was only granted on conditions which were not fulfilled by the mere fact of being a citizen. Gentle man, according to hira, could only be understood of a raan morally accompUshed, that is to say, well brought up, honourable, of good manners, and especially of varied in formation. Huguenot, conscious that he was deficient in at least one of these conditions, and precisely the one which, according to his feUow-disputant, was the essential, was not at all well pleased to see himself thus deposed to the level of citizens who are not gentlemen. He persisted that all that was needed to be entitled to this appellation, was being free, honourable, and decently dressed. The phUosopher rejoined that, under favour of such a definition, a free negro raight be a gentlepaan. To that Huguenot objected that he was talking seriously, and thinking of real men, not of negroes. Victor, who now found an opportu nity of giving both his comrades a nip, said ironically that what was wanting to play the gentleman in America was to have, like the Monsieur of his own Brittany, the means of lounging with a cane in one's hand, a hat on one's head, money in one's pocket, and that every servant could do that on Sunday, without excepting the negro, who has generaUy the finest gold-headed cane, and the very whitest of gloves. Thereupon the discussion grew very hot, and even rose to a quarrel. When at length they found out that there was no possibility of agreeing with one an- FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 449 other, and after exchanging endless insults, like Iloraer's heroes, our gentlemen wrapped themselves up in their blan kets, and went to sleep with fresh grounds of quarrel in their hearts. The frost was so severe, and my nose so painful, that day broke before I got a raoraent's sleep. On rising we found that three of our aniraals had disappeared ; and after looking for them in vain, we set out at half past eight without thera. On our way we raet here and there with large grey lamellated rocks. Poplars were to be seen or namented with bunches of mistletoe. We crossed a frozen puddle, and a little further on passed over the Mojave, which flowed over a bed of sand, and was fifty feet wide and six inches deep. The Ceratophyllum and Lemna grew on its banks. We were also pleased to meet with an Azolla, which appeared to be of the sarae species as that we had found in Patagonia and ChUi {A. magellanica). We found one of our truant raules, which sorae honest traveller had fastened to a bush, in an open place where it raight be easily seen. We saw wolves and crows, and heard ducks some distance off araong the avUIows. After passing over a shght hiU, by following the hoUow of a ravine, we soon reached a desert plain, and iravelled over level ground covered with broken white quartz. Huguenot came up with us here, bringing with hira the two other raissing ani mals. Not far before us rose the Sierra Nevada, present ing a long glittering line of snow. From tirae to tirae we VOL. II. 2 G 450 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. met with Eriogonum and Yucca, under which hares were running in great numbers. About noon we halted on a small piece of grass, and made a cup of coffee with the water aa^c had drawn when passing the river. We were soon on our way again, in the teeth of a cold wind, which blew frora the neighbouring raountains that we were Hear ing rapidly. At nightfaU we saw bear-tracks as we entered a forest of Junipers and arborescent Yuccas. We made a little fire on the road to warm ourselves while breathing our cattle for an instant. At half past nine in the evening we found ourselves at the beginning of the pass of the Sierra Nevada. Straight before us, a cleft in the raountain afforded us an easy passage, and what particularly surprised us, one quite level and without any ascent. We went into it at once without anticipating the difficulties in store for us; The frost was piercing, with a superb moon. We soon found ourselves going down a steep narrow sandy path, which passed over an alraost perpendicular ridge, having on either side an iraraense precipice. We did not lose an instant in locking all four wheels ; but in spite of this, and the deep sand, the waggon slid down with frightful rapidity on a way so narrow that there was not roora for a raan to pass on either side of the wheels. What increased the danger was that at moments the back of the waggon kept slewing round, and bearing the hind wheel off the edge. We gave up all hope of saving our Avaggon ; it seemed every instant FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 451 as if it were about to roll over into the abyss. Never theless we neglected nothing that could avert the danger. Mr. Brenchley, imperturbable on his seat, managed his cattle with coolness, ready to jump off the raoraent the wheels got over the edge. Djemi, one of the leaders, more than once endangered the waggon : chafed at being held in, and feehng herself at the same time touched by the head of the wheeler behind her, she began to kick and plunge as if she were unconscious of the danger, or determined to defy it. There was a moment when one of her feet was ac tually off the road, and her body swayed over as if it had lost its balance; fortunately she was so nimble and quick as instantly to recover herself ; after which she be came more cautious. Tt was a trying moment, but Mr. Brenchley kept so firm and true a hand on his team that we passed unharmed over the most dangerous part of-the descent. The Providence of travellers had watched over us ! The remainder of the declivity was passed over, not without great though less serious difficulty than that we had just experienced, and we encaraped at raidnight in a valley where the cold, though not as severe as on the pre ceding night, was still uncorafortably sharp. We prepared our own supper, while our servants, too fatigued to wait for it, were snoring in the midst of the brushwood after swallow ing a little raw ham and biscuit. At half past two, when we had finished our coffee and smoked our pipes, we tried to get a little sleep. 2 G 2 452 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. On the 26th of November, after a sleepless night, we were on foot at daybreak. While letting our animals feed on sorae dried-up herbage, we explored the country about. Amid the grass were to be found specimens oi' Senecio and the large Eriogonum. We saw a mistletoe which at the same time grew on poplars and plane-trees. Muscoid Lycopod carpeted the rocks. Here and there were to be seen the remains of a monocotyledon that could not be identified, and cactus Avhich in the midst of their thorns bore eatable fruit. Quite close to our camp flowed a little brook, on the banks of which was a loosestrife or Lythrad still showing some flowers of a fine red. This was all that the frost had left of vegetable life in this Sierra, which a few months before, and some degrees further north, had presented us with such an abundance of pretty flowers ; nor was aniraal life less rare. With the exception of bears, of the presence of which we were made aware in several ways, there was not the trace of an aniraal visible ; nor did we see the smallest bird, snake, or even insects. At ten o'clock we harnessed our cattle, and set out de terrained to do our best to sleep at San Bernardino. Our way wound over a sloping ground consisting of sand and pebbles. For some time we had to foUow the dry bed of a torrent. Some rocks barred our way here and there, and more than once it seemed as though it would be impossible for us to get our waggon over these impediraents, being soraetiraes actually obliged to roll rocks out of our way. FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 453 We raet two Spaniards on horseback who were in quest of stray oxen. They refused to answer in their own lan guage the questions Ave put to thera respecting the distance frora San Bernardino, and we were unable to comprehend their bad English. The country became more picturesque tbe further Ave descended. We crossed a pretty forest of green oaks, under which we saw the dead stalks of a peony, and of a cucurbitaceous plant. Having reached the bot tom of the Sierra, we passed by a poor-looking farm, the inhabitants of which seemed to be afraid of us. We con jectured they were Mexicans, and of a class which, not being able to compete on equal terms Avith the Americans, see in all strangers either masters or tyrants.* Our phUoso pher Henry, who had not opened his mouth since the even ing of the discussion on the characteristic marks of a gen tleman, spoke out for the first time on seeing these people shut their doors at our approach, and extemporized, as we went along, a discourse which was reraarkable, if not always sound, having for its object to show that the Spa nish and Portuguese race is destnied to disappear from the continent together with the Indians, because it is in vaded on every side by a new race full of sap and vigour, * It may be conceived that up to a certain point the actual possessors of Cahfornia should be objects of hatred to the former owners of the soil ; but we are compelled to acknowledge that the Americans, many of whose acts however we by no means approve, have been provoked into iU-treating the old Californians by the robberies committed by the latter on divers occasions, especially during the first years of the diggings. 454 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. which raust end by exhausting and stifling the degenerate nations with which it comes in contact. When we had left the mountains behind us, we found in the plain a very excellent road, and at the sarae time were exposed to a strong cold wind which blew from the Sierra, but which assisted us in getting on. We changed our aniraals several tiraes, iu order to get on quickly without overworking thera. The cactus was on every side of us loaded with fruit. We soon got a ghrapse in the distance of the houses of San Bernardino and the mountain of the same name, which displayed on our left its snowy dome. We wound round some sraall hUls, and passed through cultivated meadows. About four o'clock the waggon took the lead, and went on at a trot, whUe I remained behind with Victor and IPugiienot to look after our horses, some of which appeared to be done up, especially poor RUey, whora we were terapted to leave to his fate. Night came on while we had yet a sraall wood to pass through before arriving at San Bernardino. We got separated frora each other in the dark, and were even lost for an instant. I made for a Ught which I saw in a lone house, where I learnt that we Were within a few steps of the entrance to the city. After wandering through several erapty streets, I at last found our waggon unharnessed before the inn of Bishop Crosby, to whora we had a letter of introduction. The Bishop's wife received us in her husband's absence. She was a buxom woman, very friendly, who did the honours of her FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 455 inn with great assiduity, and seemed quite worried at our obstinacy in choosing to sleep in the street rather thiin accept her beds, which she declared were exceUent, but which seemed to us too short and in close little rooms. She sold no Avine, on the teraperance principle, but she offered us tea and coffee, and was even so coraplaisant as to inforra us that if we were greatly desirous of procuring the wine of the country, the schoolraaster could let us have some. Victor did not arrive until two hours after me, and Huguenot still later, on account of RUey, who was every moment Ipng doAvn on the road. There was a strong frost throughout the night. At seven o'clock in the morning the Bishop's wife served an exceUent breakfast, at which Mr. Phillips raade his appear ance, who had been waiting to finish the journey with us. At dessert, a Mormon raissionary, who had just ar rived from Los Angeles, inforraed us that Sebastopol had been taken on the 8th of September. We celebrated this event as becarae good aUies and true patriots, and with aU the cereraony possible under the circurastances. After the cold of the morning, a burning sun broke forth, and it seemed as if the weather had suddenly become more cle ment in order to welcome us. San Bernardino owes its existence entirely to the Mor mons, and is consequently of very recent origin. Tn pur chasing several thousand acres belonging to California, not far frora the sea, the object of the Morraons was to esta- 456 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. blish a post for the benefit of the emigrants coming to them by the way of the Pacific. This idea does honour to -the foresight of the Church. In fact, the colony offers a threefold advantage to the Morraons : it furnishes them with the means of procuring provisions of all kinds cheaply for the journey from California to Utah; it enables them to send or keep there the natives of warm climates who find the Salt Lake too cold ; and, finally, it serves as a place to which those brethren may be banished who refuse to obey the ordinances of the Church, or by their lukewarm- ness might introduce discord into the interior of Utah. At the time we saw it, San Bernardino contained fourteen hundred Mormon inhabitants, subject in civil matters to the laws of the State, and in rehgious matters to a resident apostle. The laws of California not permitting polygaray, the saints who live under it are obliged to give up a plu rality of wives. The city of San Bernardino is the capital of a county of the sarae narae, the soil of which presents great varieties. Rocks and rivulets are to be found con taining gold, but in less abundance than in other places in California, which explains why it is not searched for there. The winds blowing frora the sea are prejudicial to the cultivation of cereals in certain parts of the district, but there are portions on which they succeed very weU. In 1855 there were harvested fifteen thousand bushels of barley and twelve thousand bushels of wheat. Indian corn grows admirably weU, and is almost certain in its yield. Many FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 457 kinds of fruit-trees flourish ; in the month of September pre vious, three hundred and fifty bushels of peaches had been gathered. Tobacco has been introduced into several districts, and has corapletely satisfied the expectations of the planters, AA'ho do not hesitate to corapare their produce with that of Maryland. Attempts have also been raade to cultivate the vine, and though the results of 1854 and 1855 were not encouraging, ultimate success is not despaired of. More than fifteen thousand oxen are fattened in the county. The Morraons raake a great quantity of butter and cheese for sale. They also rear fowls for the sake of the eggs, which they have sold as high as seventy-five cents the dozen, and which they still seU for thirty cents. The natural productiveness of the soil, the agricultural experiraents which have been made up to this day, and the favourable results which have been obtained, aU proraise well for the future prosperity of the colony. The town is corapletely a rural one, and advantage ously situated in the raidst of a vast plain, into which it may stretch itself to any extent. It is 1017 feet above the level of the sea.* Tn spite of this low altitude, the climate is comparatively colder than that of Los An- * Water boUs at 99° centigrade. At twelve o'clock the aneroid stood at 732°, which gives the same altitude as that of Moscow. We do not however entirely rely upon our last observation ; the aneroid, portable as it is, easily gets out of order by carrying, and always requires to be com pared with the barometer, a comparison we neglected to make at San Ber- nardiuo. 458 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC geles, which is explained by the influence of the moun tains in its neighbourhood. Nevertheless, to frosty nights succeeded magnificent days, in which a briUiant sun heated the air as in the height of suraraer. The country is well watered, and appears healthy. It has been said that several species belonging to the Palra family have been met with, and Dr. John B. Trask, a geologist of the State of California, himself repeated this assertion in an official report of March 1st, 1856, p. 19. We regret that we can throw no additional light upon this fact, and Ave confess we cannot help thinking that the great arborescent Yuccas have been taken for palra-trees. Chamcerops Palmetto does indeed in North Araerica advance as far as the thirty-sixth parallel of latitude, that is to say, higher than the lati tude of San Bernardino, but everything induces us to sup pose that it does not exist in the part of California of which we are speaking, Araong the proselytes frora all countries who live at San Bernardino, we were informed that there were several na tives of the Sandwich Islands. We had the curiosity to go in quest of them, in order to see how they were getting on out of their own climate. We were first directed to a woraan of Tahiti, who seeraed very much surprised at" hearing herself saluted according to the fashion of her country. However, whether it was she was acting in obedience to instructions, or for some other reason, she looked at us with her mouth open, but without FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 450 saying a word or inviting us to enter her house. We asked her a foAV questions about her faraily and her country ; her only reply Avas a smile. Possibly she had to do with a jea lous husband, and such alraost all the whites are who in termarry with the Avomen of Oceania. As soon as we per ceived that our presence erabarrassed her, we asked her if she could point out to us the dwelling of a Elawaiian. This seemed to restore her composure, and she at once pointed with her finger to a house opposite. There, before the door, we saw a woraan with a broora in her hand, and whom, by her complexion, her thick lips, and flat nose, we iraraediately recognized to be a daughter of Polynesia. She looked at us earnestly for a raoraent, cried out, " Ah ! ray Lords, is it really you ?" and then addressed us by the names given us in Hawaii. We were a good deal surprised at thus hearing our names called out, for we could not bring to mind that we had ever seen this woman. She compre hended our difficulty, and said she had often seen us at Honolulu, that she was from Kapalama, that her narae was Hakuole ; and that she Avas the daughter of Keaka. She then invited us in, and was very assiduous in doing the honours of her house, Avhich she kept reraarkably clean. She lit her pipe, took two or three whiffs, and then handed it to us, after the fashion of her country. She informed us that she was the wife of an Englishman of the narae of Dennis, whom she had married in the islands, and accom- pained to California, after becoraing a convert to Mormon- 460 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. ism for the love of him. We asked if she were happy. She replied, after a moment's reflection, " Happy I am at this moment, since I have the opportunity of speaking my native language to people who have breathed the air of Hawaii long since I have." She said that she and her husband were disgusted with the rehgion of Joseph Smith, and were only Avaiting for a little raoney to enable thera to pay their passage and return to the islands. She coraplained of the dreariness of the country, of the loneliness in which she lived, of the cliraate, of the privations she had to undergo though working hard, and spending more than in her own country, her sweet country she called it, where she was ignorant of even the narae of frost. The interesting exile assured us she was very fond of her husband, but added at the sarae time, in a kind of poetic style, that her love would not suffice to keep her soul in her body, if she were conderaned to live another year far frora the shore where, free from care as a bird, she had passed her chUdhood and her youth. We felt we should give her pleasure by prais ing the beauties of her native country, by reminding her of the azure sea whose waves break over the coral-reefs in sil very showers, by speaking to her of the cocoa-trees and the Pandanus, under which her fellow-islanders are so fond of sitting, and gazing on the wide sea. She shed tears ; our words were but the echoes of her own thoughts. " 0 my country !" she exclaimed, sobbing, and striking her breast ; " pardon, pardon for having ever left thee I" We were our- FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 461 selves deeply touched at seeing her emotion. She perceived it, and changed the conversation. She lit a new pipe, which she handed us as before. " Do you know," I then said, " that the dress of the white women suits you admirably, and that were your country-woraen to see you, they raight very well take you for an Araerican ?" She felt flattered at my remai'k ; but immediately said, with an expression in which there was as rauch of raodesty as pride, that she had no reason to be proud of the corapliraent, for on the whole the white women were not a bit better than the Hawaiian. All she found in them was that they were prouder and more ceremonious, more affected and less na tural, and she complained moreover of their looking down on her as if she were a negress. She said there was just as much iraraorality in civilized as in uncivUized society, and that the only difference she could see was in the forras. " We chUdren of nature," she said, " are siraple, and they style us savages ; white women are dissembling, prudish, full of affectation, and they are called civilized." She con tinued to speak for sorae tirae on this subject, occasionally with a warmth which betrayed a wounded self-love, more frequently with a ripeness of judgment we little expected to find in one of her race. She complained more than once of her loneliness in a country where she had no one to talk to but her two country-woraen Kiaimoku and Kuamoo, Avho were just then absent. There was not an American woman who condescended to be acquainted with her, in 462 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. spite of all the trouble she had given herself to learn Eng lish. Having no children to amuse her leisure moments, and her husband being occupied the whole day away frora home, she passed her time in almost absolute solitude, Avhich raade her exUe all the more bitter. We listened for a long time with sympathy to the plaints of poor Hakuole. She wept excessively on taking leave of us, and her eyes foUowed us as long as we were in sight. In passing through the town of San Bernardino there were everywhere signs of the people being well off, if we might judge by the outside of the houses ; but on the other hand there were no signs whatever of luxury. We purchased some dried provisions, and at half past Iavo were on our way to Los Angeles. At first we traveUed over a flat country, quite covered with Xanthium Struma rium and Helianthus. We crossed a river fringed with willows and poplars ; then by a shght rise reached a vast plain filled with large Eriogonum^ and two other smaUer species. We saw partridges and iraraense flights of black birds. As night approached, the wind, light at flrst, in creased and blew a gale. We went on without stopping untU nine o'clock ; we then groped our way towards the farra of Cucaraonga, where we had great difficulty in waking the inraates. At last however the farmer, Don Jose Maria Valdeso, made up his mind to get out of his bed, and open the doors of his hacienda. We sat down to table in * See Note XXIII. at the end of the volume. FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELF.S. 463 a large hall where we Avere served with wine resembling the mosto of ChUi, for which they charged fifty cents a bot tle. As we were now coming to the close of our journey, and it being in fact the first opportunity of the kind which had presented itself, we gave our servants a treat. The Avine was exquisite, but very heady ; it soon produced its effect, and elicited maudlin effusions, comical reconcilia tions, some songs, and finally a frightful noise which ended by their all being under the table. Victor was the first to go, then Huguenot, and last Henry. Five in number, they had managed seventeen bottles. The farmer and Mr. Phillips alone kept their legs, but they could not stammer out a single syllable. We chose to sit out this rattling bout, and it was not tiU two o'clock in the raorning that we retired to rest in the waggon, while our raen slept off their wine on the ground. Don Jose Maria was an honest, worthy fellow, who ad vantageously combined the occupation of farmer with that of innkeeper. He was singularly skilful in inducing his guests to consurae his wine, by entertaining thera with comical stories, and listening with manifest pleasure to those they told themselves. He took care to keep the glasses always full, and never missed an opportunity of proposing toasts to the heroes who had turned up in the course of his or thefr conversation. His farm was considerable. Accord ing to his own assertion, he did not possess less than thir teen thousand feet of vines, each of them yielding on an 464 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. average fifteen pounds of grapes. Tie had the good sense not to abuse the Americans, finding it profitable to speak well of them, as it brought customers. We got up at peep of day. Our people, thanks to their orgies, seeraed scarcely able to move, and went to work sluggishly to remove from their clothes the evidence of last night's debauch. Victor reeled while trying to get breakfast ready. Huguenot rose very happy at finding himself in the society of Europeans so liberal and so free from pride. Henry seemed mortified and ill at ease; it almost seemed as if he were ashamed of his reconciliation with Victor, who on his side did not seem at all more in clined to ratify the peace concluded between them by the mediation of the bottle. We at eight o'clock renewed our journey across fertile fields, and over an excellent road. We stopped at San Jose, a small inn, where our men besought us to let them quench their feverish thirst. There we met with the famous Mountain Jack, celebrated for his exploits in the mountains, and strongly suspected of having been 'engaged in several robberies. His face justified the suspi cion. He was drunk, and playing with loaded revolvers. I asked leave to examine his pistols, and, under pretence of showing hira ray skiU, I fired them off in order to avoid accidents. He was not so drunk but that he understood my purpose, and wished to make me a present of a dollar as a return for my kindness, as he slily called it. His pockets were fuU of money, a fact which contributed much FROM LAS VEGAS TO LOS ANGELES. 465 to his being looked upon as a highway robber, since he had no occupation which could account for his comparative command of raeans, which moreover did not harmonize very well with the rags which covered him. The wine of San Jose seemed to us detestable after that of Cucaraonga; consequently neither Mr. Brenchley nor rayself would drink it, but our servants, whose throats were stUl on fire, found it dehcious. We left San Jose for El-Monte, where we wished to pass the night. Huguenot, who had fallen down fast asleep near the inn, could not follow us, nor did we see anything more of him during the day. Mr. PhiUips drove our team over an exceUent road, which gave Mr. Brenchley the opportu nity of a little sport with his gun in his turn. We saw a quantity of cattle in the fields, and crossed several water courses. At six in the evening we reached El-Monte, a small straggling viUage, in a wood of wiUows and poplars. The soil is excessively fertUe at this place, and produces gigantic Indian corn. We ahghted at Thomson's Hotel, where we had a tolerably good supper in the company of five young girls who were on thefr way to San Bernar dino. There was a dance in the evening, and we much regretted they had not done us the honour to invite us to the ball. We went to sleep early around our waggon. Huguenot joined us at an advanced hour of the night, and was in a state of absolute jubilation. He told us he had thought it necessary to stop at San Jose to defend our ho- VOL. II. 2 H 466 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. nour against the tavern-keeper, who professed to be mor tally offended at our having despised his wine, and talked of doing nothing less than playing sorae awkward trick upon us by way of revenge. We arose at five o'clock. Victor was stUl so rauch af fected by his carousals of the previous evening, that it was with the greatest possible difficulty he could prepare our coffee. At eight o'clock we took our departure, the day being cloudy and damp. The road however was good, and in a short tirae the weather clearing up, gave a raore cheer ful aspect to the scenery. On the right we saw the rais- sion-house of San Gabriel, founded by the Spanish Jesuits, the buildings of which are now used in the cultivation of a very rich farra. Herds of oxen, nurabers of horses, flocks of sheep, raet our eyes on every side. Flights of large wUd geese, winding their Avay from the Tulares marshes, passed near us. Prairie-dogs, which we took at first for large squirrels, were everywhere playing as we went along, around their holes. We passed over a sraall hUl, forded a river, proceeded under the shade of sorae trees, and, at eleven o'clock in the raorning, on the 29th of Noveraber, 1855, we raade our entry into Los Angeles, which brought our traveUing by waggon to an end ; but where new adven tures awaited us. 467 CHAPTER IV. LOS ANGELES AND THE COAST OE CALIEORNIA. FINANCIAL EMBARRASSMENTS. — HOSPITALITY OP AN UNCLE AND HIS NEPHEW. — AN OBLIGING AND ACCOMMODATING RESTAURATEUR. A LOAN AT SIXTY PER CENT.^ — ASPECT OP LOS ANGELES. — PRO DUCTIONS OF THE COUNTRY. — BITUMINOUS SPRINGS. — MORAL CON DITION. A CATHOLIC MISSIONARY AND HIS CHURCH. FRENCH POPULATION. THiS PLEASURE OF BEING CONSUL. — CELEBRATION OF THE TAKING OF SEBASTOPOL. — A TRAGIC SCENE. — CERTIFICATE FROM A SERVANT TO HIS MASTERS. — DEPARTURE FROM LOS ANGELES FOR SAN PEDRO. — EMBARCATION. REFLECTIONS ON PASSPORTS. THE EQUALITY OF ETIQUETTE. — SANTA BARBARA. MONTEREY. ARRIVAL AT SAN PRANCISCO. Fortunate the traveller who, disembarking on a remote and unknown land, meets on its shores a friend to receive him, or at aU events who, by good letters of credit, has the means of attracting sympathy ! But, alas ! on our arrival at Los Angeles we had neither of these advantages ; we knew no one, and our purse was entirely empty. Worse than all, we learnt that our bUls drawn at the Salt Lake 2h 2 468 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. had not been honoured at San Francisco, which would na turally excite great suspicion about our solvency. This un toward circumstance being known to the local bankers, we felt it would be quite useless to try to get money from thera.' However, before securing rooms in the hotel of the Bella Union, opposite which we had drawn up, we were anxious, in order to know what we might afford to spend, to attempt to negotiate a loan. The thing seeraed to us, in our simplicity, to be all the raore feasible from our hav ing a considerable equipment, that had a real value, and of which we were the undisputed owners. We were di rected to a Swiss merchant, who had acquired a certain fortune in the country, as the capitalist most likely to meet our wants. We therefore caUed upon hira ; but the secu rity we offered Avas not at all to his taste ; he declined our request, saying, very charitably, that if a few piastres in the way of kindness could be of use to us, he was quite ready to give them, but it did not suit him to lend us money on the property we wished to pledge. HumiUated at this failure, we gave up aU idea of a loan, and our only care now was to find how we could contrive to live at the least possible expense during our forced stay at Los Angeles. I kncAv by name and reputation the venerable M. Vigne, one of the oldest French settlers. I called upon hira to obtain inforraation, and found the old raan seated at table with his faraily. He received me kindly, spoke to me of our common friends, whose names I had LOS ANGELES AND THE CALIFORNIAN COAST. 409 made use of as a raeans of introduction to him, and for a moment, by his conversation, raade rae forget the difficulties which surrounded us. As soon as he rose from table, M. Vigne left his house Avith me, and carae lo see our travel ling appointments ; he had our horses taken into the stables of the hotel, and raade us promise that we would go and take up our quarters with hira, at the sarae time ordering our servant to remove our baggage and collections to his house. We hesitated to accept the hospitality of my coun tryman, without knowing how far it might be agreeable to his family ; but he decided us by his entreaties and kindness of manner, suggesting that we should be raore corafortable there than at the hotel, and assuring us that far frora incon veniencing him in any way, we should delight him by talk ing to him of France and the Sandwich Islands, where he had been to seek his fortune some twenty years since. These hospitable arrangements were of good augury to us, and we could for a raoraent indulge ourselves in the idea that we had got out of our difficulty. When it was evening, and we had taken the necessary precautions for the care of our cattle, we bent our steps toward M. Vigne's house, in order to take possession of the rooras he had promised us. The old man had gone to bed. We were received by his nephew and heir, M. Sainsevain, who seemed completely ignorant of the invitation his uncle had given us. Our surprise was all the greater inasmuch as, supposing we were expected guests, we presented ourselves 470 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. with confidence, and instead of the doors being eageriy thrown open to us, we were received in the court, without any invitation to enter. M. Sainsevain told us that his uncle, wearied by his walk during the day, had gone to bed early ; and he asked permission to leave us to go and get his supper. It may be easily conceived that we were corapletely mystified. We determined, however, for our own satisfaction, to push the adventure to the end. After a half-hour's waiting and meditation on the stone pavement of the court, we requested a servant to show us the apart ment which the old raan had selected for us. M. Sain sevain, who was no doubt unprepared for our showing so rauch persistence after the reception he had given us, now came, and told us that there was not a vacant spot in the house ; that his uncle was in his second chUdhood, and no longer knew what he was doing, but that he himself wished to be of service to us and to give us hospitality for the night. We begged that he would not feel himself at aU bound by anything his uncle had said, whose invitation we had not accepted until in a raanner compelled to do so ; and we added that our servants being lodged at the hotel, there was no reason whatever why we should not also find beds there. To this the nephew replied that he had it at heart to discharge the proraise the old man had made us, and insisted upon our taking possession of a shed situated on the street outside his house. We suffered him to lead us there ; he showed us into a dark warehouse without LOS ANGELES AND THE CALIPORNIAN COAST. 471 windows, Avhich was fiUed with piles of flour-sacks ; and then invited us to lie down either on the damp earth or on the sacks as we preferred. This proposal was quite sincere on his part, and entirely free from any intentional offence ; he took us undoubtedly for eraigrants Avho were searching for hospitality for Avant of means. Preferring a thousand tiraes to sleep in the open air, we declined the bed which M. Sainsevain recoraraended to us with so much siraplicity, real or apparent, and we requested hira to suffer us to go to the inn. But he absolutely deterrained that we should pass the night at his uncle's expense. " Since it does not suit you," he said, " to sleep here, I will show you a roora in which you will find a bed." He then took us to the loft of a French raechanic, Avhere we found a cot with a raat- tress upon it, and with cobwebs for curtains. Sensible of the trouble which M. Sainsevain had taken, and not wish ing that his good intentions should be entirely frustrated, we accepted the lodging, though very little according with the idea which the old raan had given us when he talked of better accommodation than at the inn. For two men to sleep in such a narrow space was an utter impossibility. We preferred passing the night in smoking, laughing, and chatting. " The nephew is raore prudent than the uncle," we said to each other. " His object has been, without breaking faith with us, to deprive us pf the opportunity of robbing hira during the night, for he has evidentiy taken us for ill-disposed people." When we were tired of 472 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. laughing at this idea, we began seriously to consider our position, not certainly a very disquieting one, but which had this annoyance about it, that it placed us at the raercy of speculators ready to take advantage of our distress in order to strip us of our effects by getting them for almost nothing. This idea so thoroughly disgusted us that we determined to have recourse to labour, and to submit to all sorts of fatigue and privations, rather than see these human vultures fattening at our expense. " No," we said, " they shall not turn us to account in this way. Let us live by toil whUe we are waiting for remittances ; this wUl be much less huraUiating than to sacrifice our property for less than it is worth." It was with this fixed intention that we left our attic as soon as day broke. The sky was clear and gay as in the heart of summer, which tended not a little to keep us merry in spite of our annoyances. As our apartment was not provided with even the rudest raeans of raaking our toilette, we without ceremony went down into the street and washed our faces in the brook, glad to avail ourselves of even so scanty a purification. After perforraing our ablutions we went to the restaurant La Fayette, kept by a Frenchman of the name of Faure, as good a cook as he was an amiable and obUging raan. I acquainted my fellow-countryman with our dUemraa. He did not hesitate to offer to supply us on credit, and even chose that we should become entirely his guests. LOS ANGELES AND THE CALIFORNIAN COAST. 473 placing at our disposal a sraaU double-bedded roora, the only one not occupied in his modest tenement. We were thus relieved frora a part of our anxiety, and could, with a degree of corafort that was ¦ quite ravishing after the miserable fare of the desert, wait untU purchasers less disgusting than the thievish horse-jockeys who had already swarmed about us in the hopes of turning us to account, should present themselves with fairer offers. If it be true that ill-luck never coraes alone, the same thing may be said of good luck. So it turned out, at all events, for us at this conjuncture. We called upon a Mr. Sandford, the merchant who held our bUls drawn at the Salt Lake, for the purpose of ascertaining why it was they had not been honoured. He at once cheered us by saying that he was not at all uneasy about it, that the bUls had not been protested, and that the only cause of their not being paid was the want of advice to pay them. He then presented us to Mr. H. R. Myles, agent of the bank of WeUs and Fargo, who without the slightest hesitation lent us five hundred dollars, charging an interest of five . per cent, a month. This service, a little costly perhaps even for California, was of great assistance to us, inasrauch as it permitted us to discharge our servants after paying them their wages.* AU our anxiety being now reraoved, we raade prepara- * These wages were at the rate of about ten pounds a month per man, exclusive of keep. This was moderate for the time and the country. 474 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. tions for keeping Mr. Brenchley's birthday, which fell on that very day. WhUe waiting for the festive hour, we paid a visit to M. Vigne, to thank hira for the kindness he had shown us the day before. Of course we took good care not to let him know how his offers of hospitality had been understood by his nephew. We fancied we could make out that the good old raan had been snubbed by his family on account of the rash offers he had raade us, for he no longer reserabled the zealous fellow-countryman of the previous day, and was raanifestly ill at ease in our presence. Nevertheless he would not raiss the opportunity of giving us a sight of his vineyard, which contains, it is said, thirty thousand feet of vines ; he also pointed out to us his fine orange-trees, as well as an iramense sycamore, which he said was several centuries old. We then took our leave of M. Vigne, and removed to our inn with our baggage. We ha-d invited our servants and Mr. PhiUips to the banquet which we had ordered to be got ready. Victor alone was missing; he had already obtained work at a French carpenter's, and could not be found anywhere. In his place, Huguenot took it in his head to bring us unin vited young Walker, who M-as trying in every way to get into close relations with us, and enter into our service. The festival was far frora being as gay as we had antici pated. Henry, out of huraour at being discharged sooner than he wished, conducted hiraself with great want of propriety towards us, and thus drew down upon hiraself LOS ANGELES AND THE CALIFORNIAN COAST. 475 remarks frora his corarades which soon degenerated into foul language, and finally brought about a coraplete row. The unfortunate fellows having freely indulged in nuraerous libations during the day, were unable to patch up a peace, but had sense enough left to go their Avays, and so avoid coming to bloAvs. We spent some ten days at Los Angeles, waiting for the departure of the steamboat for San Francisco. Our so journ here was far from an agreeable one. The country it self had nothing in it very attractive, and though we had recovered our independence, for a moment in jeopardy, it was not difficult for us to perceive that we were objects of suspicion to numbers of people. There were even not wanting those who did the French police the honour of taking us for its agents or spies, sent, as they said, by the Emperor to ascertain what the gold-diggers thought of his governraent. Under similar circurastances, whatever con tempt we may feel for pubhc opinion, it wiU easily be con ceived that one's life is full of annoyances, not to say hu- raihations. These injurious suspicions very little occupied our thoughts, and did not prevent our examining the coun try with all the calraness derived from the consciousness of our own superiority over our vulgar libellers. The city the Spaniards have christened, I know not why. The Angels, has nothing angelic about it, — far frora it; and really I do not see how any person, with the best desire in the world, can find anything reraarkable in it. Irre- 476 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. gular and iU buUt, it has a poor and dirty aspect. The greater part of the houses, of Mexican construction, are buUt with adobes, only one story high, with flat roofs, covered, instead of tiles, with a coat of bitumen obtained frora a spring near the city. By the side of these filthy and miserable dweUings, the foreigners drawn to California by the discovery of gold, have buUt houses much more com fortable, elegant, and better built. The situation of Los Angeles is better than its buUdings. The plain on which it is placed, at the foot of a rising ground, extends to the south and west as far as the sea ; and to the east, in the direction of the raountains, may be seen hills, the greater part of which have a parched-up look. Tt is watered by a a brook fringed with willows, on Avhich there are several miUs and a tanyard. All the soU which surrounds the city and is irrigated by the river, is fertile and well culti vated. Hedges of wiUows and alders divide the land into various portions. The surrounding county is ravaged by a real plague, the raarmot of the prairies {prairie-dog*), a small rodent which disturbs the soil over a considerable extent by its burrowing. These animals, which we had raet with elsewhere, but in small numbers, cause incredible mischief, and carry, as it were, sterility into the land they overrun. We examined them attentively. They as rauch reserable monkeys as squirrels, especially when they are seen squatting on their hind legs by the side of their holes, * Observe what we have said about this animal, page 353. LOS ANGELES AND THE CALIFORNIAN COAST. 477 from which they never go far. Their vivacity is a thing wonderful to see, and the little sharp metallic cries, which they frequently utter, are as curious to hear. An owl {Strix hypogced), of which we have already spoken, takes possession of the burrows that are abandoned, and lives there. Some persons pretend that these birds lie in wait for the marmots at the entrance into their holes, and kUl them by striking thera on the skull with their bills. Every thing we saw warrants us in doubting this assertion, for it has always appeared to us that these aniraals live in a sort of brotherly concord, in spite of the difference between feather and hair which so strikingly distinguishes them. There are also to be seen in the environs, but in rauch fewer numbers, crows, blackbirds, owls, and a kind of cur lew, etc. The elevation of the city above the level of the sea is about two hundred and sixty-three feet. The cUmate is temperate and very healthy, the land easily irrigated. The only thing wanting in the county of which Los Angeles is the capital, is a denser agricultural population. There is excellent wood for carpentry, principally consisting of pine and oak. The crops are various, consisting of wheat, maize, barley, oats, beans, peas, chick-peas {garbanzos), lentils, cotton, tobacco, sugar-cane, hemp, ffax, mulberries, sweet potatoes, potatoes, water-melons, musk-raelons, aU sorts of vegetables, various fruit-trees, such as pears, ap ples, cherries, apricots, peaches, almonds, walnuts, oranges, 478 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. citrons, olives, figs, lemons, vines, etc. Tt is calculated that in 1855 there were in the county of Los Angeles 105,000 head of cattie, 20,000 horses (of which 4000 only were in work), and 30,000 sheep, yielding 50,000 pounds of wool. 23,000 acres under cultivation returned about 500 tons of wheat, 1300 tons of maize, 25 tons of oats, 400 tons of beans, 350 of potatoes, 22-| of palates or sweet potatoes, 2050 of grapes, 13,000 tons of hay, etc. The raost important culture of the county is decidedly that of the vine, introduced, many years before the dis covery of the gold-mines, by the French, from which a white wine is chiefiy made, that has some resemblance to Sauterne, but very much stronger, more heady, and of a less delicate bouquet. The best quality sells at a dollar a gallon ; an acre of vines in full bearing is worth a little under two hundred dollars. The wines of the country are chiefly consuraed on the spot, but a small quantity finds its way to San Francisco, Avhence it begins to be known, and to come into competition with the wines of Europe. The season was too far advanced to permit us to form any opinion about the natural vegetation of the country ; all that we could infer was that there was no great variety in it. We saw scarcely anything but a large plantain, net tles, a mallow, an Alkekengi with large yellow flowers, a large climbing Solanum, some Polygonum, coraraon araaranths, some Poa, a blue Labiate with a pungent odour, a smaU LOS ANGELES AND TIIE CALlt'ORNIAN COAST. 479 Euphorbia with white petals, a Wormwood, and some dying Composites with yellow flowers. The mineral resources of the country are various, but of no great value ; they consist of salt, gold, bitumen, etc. In 1855 a inillion pounds of salt were obtained frora a lagune, near Rancho San-Pedro. The old gold-raines of San Francisquito, slightly and UI worked, yield frora one to three dollars a day to each rainer. They are attending to the irrigation of their arable lands by taking advan tage of the watercourses ; and not content with this, they are beginning to sink artesian weUs. We saw one Avhere the boring-rod had already sunk to a depth of five hun dred and seventy-five feet, and which up to that tirae had caused an outlay of three thousand dollars.* The bitu minous springs are one of the curiosities of the country. Merely alluding to that of Santa Barbara, which runs upon the shore, finding its way into the Pacific, and which we did not see, I will say a word or two about the one Avhich is nearly five raUes to the north-west of Los Angeles, and which we visited. The road leading to it passes over a slightly un dulating country, intersected occasionally by sraaU gullies. In its neighbourhood creepers are found in abundance, six * At Santa Clara, on the Bay of San Francisco, we were shown nume rous artesian weUs, all very remarkable for the volume of water they sup- phed. One of these wells, reaching a depth of two hundred and nine feet, cost only six hundred dollars. The column of water it throws up, to a height of five feet above the tube, is not less than six inches in diameter, and gives a thousand gallons a minute. 480 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. feet in height, nuraerous stalks of which were stiU standing, though sorae tirae dead. The soU through which the bitu men {l)rea of the inhabitants) wells up, is blackish, and gently inclines towards the west or north-west. Different kinds of grasses are to be met with. Two pits, of different sizes, chiefly supplied the raineral. The bottom is filled with a greenish water, to the surface of which rise air-bubbles of considerable volume, which make a noise as they burst. Around and at the bottom of these pits the soil is entirely bituminous. A trench has been dug to carry off the water, which is by no raeans so unfit to drink as its colour would lead one to suppose, for I saw numbers of horses in the act of drinking it. The smell which proceeds frora these pits is precisely like that of tar. Independently of the two great pits, are to be seen on the flat grounds in the neigh bourhood circular runs of coagulated metal, resembling the black lavas of certain volcanoes which have been rippled in the act of coohng. In the centre of these runs, which produced upon us the impression of so many little craters in a state of eruption, is found a bitumen still liquid, which appears to ooze from the earth, like grease through a porous skin. When this black and gluey substance was stirred up with a stick drops of water fell from it. Does this liquefled bitumen proceed directly frora the earth by a small vertical canal, or has it been melted by the sun's action ? The first hypothesis is the more probable ; however, we had not time to verify the fact, and the inhabitants of the country were LOS ANGELES AND THE CALIFORNIAN COAST. 481 not able to enlighten us. From the centre of one of these runs we drew out the body of a marraot, in a perfect state of preservation, but entirely stripped of its hair. As we mentioned, the greater part of the old houses of Los An geles are covered with this bitumen, a kind of tiling as hght as it is economical ; it has, however, the defect of re- qufring frequent repairs, especiaUy when it is on an incline, as the bitumen easily softens under the summer heat. Con sequently Americans and foreigners justly prefer the use of tUes or shingles. The moral state of the country leaves more to be desired than its material prosperity. Though there are two news papers, one in English, the other in Spanish, education is not pushed far, nor much diffused, especially araong the old residents. By the side of respectable people, to be met with at Los Angeles as everywhere else, is still to be found but too much of that scum of aU nations which forraerly caused the county to be considered the raost dangerous haunt in aU California. Tf we raust give iraphcit credit to the stories told us by our host and his friends, we ought to return thanks to Heaven for having a score of times escaped assassination in our walks round the city. We prefer supposing that when advising us to take a thousand pre cautions during our excursions, our countrymen suffered themselves to be led away by a little spirit of exaggeration, Nevertheless the local press has teemed with offences and crimes enough to prove that the state of the country has VOL. n. 2 I 482 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. hitherto been anything but an edifying one. In the year of our visit there was known to have occurred as many as twenty-two assassinations, and even more, in the short space of a month. The Americans have the reputation of kUling the Mexicans and the natives, just as a sportsman kills birds, without being made legally answerable for blood so shockingly spUt. Neither have the old settlers in general a much more enviable reputation. Even the judges are far from being accounted respectable ; they are represented for the raost part as consummate drunkards. A mayor was mentioned to us as a man of abandoned life ; and it was pubhcly stated that some raonths before his election he had been tried for rape, and had escaped conviction by forcing a verdict of acquittal frora the magistrate by threatening to shoot him from the dock with a pistol, which he pointed at his head, in the event of his giving an adverse decision. We were also told of a judge who being called upon to punish fourteen persons convicted of having comraitted great da mage upon private property, sentenced the culprits to a fine intended to indemnify the proprietor, and which he put into his own pocket. We wiU not multiply these sad' and dis graceful instances ; enough has been said to make it quite comprehensible why, with such magistrates as these, the county of Los Angeles should have, in a moral point of view, remained so much in the rear of other parts of Cah fornia. The morals of the whites, or at least of a certain number LOS ANGELES AND THE CALIFORNIAN COAST. 483 of whites, being so little comraendable, we have no right to expect that those of the Indians and Mexicans should be better. They are indeed addicted to drunkenness and other vices ; their wives and daughters hve in a state of iUicit connection with foreigners ; sorae of the prettiest woraen are married to respectable merchants, but neither the one nor the other are well spoken of. The infidelities and jea lousies which are the consequences or preludes of these amours, often cause quarrels which do not at all tiraes need the supplement of drunkenness to make thera sanguinary. AU this raischief takes place in spite of the presence and preaching of a missionary belonging to the Society of Picpus, Pere Lestrade, who since 1850 has officiated as cure there.* We paid a visit to this good priest, of whom some spoke very iU and others very well. The sum of the iU amounted merely to the vulgar accusation of Jesuitism. The good was more positive ; he was spoken of as an ex ceUent man, AviUing to be serviceable, and charitable to such an extent that there were very few, even among his detrac tors, who were not under obligations to hira. Pere Lestrade received us in the kindest manner. He was not a raan de void of intellectual resources. He had travelled rauch and learnt much. Before being sent to California, he had ac companied the Archbishop of Chalcedon, M. Bonamy, in the missions of the Levant ; and he chatted agreeably about * Pere Lestrade left California some time after our passing through it. We had the pleasure of meeting him in Chili, where he now resides. 2 I 2 484 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. Palestine and Turkey. He complained to us of the fruit- lessness of his labours in the midst of his new flock ; he was determined to take no more trouble with the Spanish- Indian population, which he represented as corrupt to a de gree beyond all power of description, rotten with syphUis;* and utterly incapable of being ever brought under the in fluence of civUization. So thoroughly did he despair of them, that he even refused to baptize their chUdren, unless respectable godfathers and godmothers would undertake that they should receive religious instruction. At the be ginning of his raission he was bountiful to the poor set tlers who carae to see hira, and even depriA'cd hiraself for their sakes with pleasure and promptness ; but when he perceived that whatever he gave them was exchanged, the moment they left him, for drink, he stopped his donations in raoney, and confined hiraself to bestowing on the raost necessitous sorae articles of clothing. He told us that all the old settlers of the country professed the Catholic faith, and that in general these people summoned the priests to their death-beds ; but that as long as they believed they had life in them, they conducted themselves like pagans of the raost abandoned kind. To draw those who were care less about religion to church, and to have an opportunity of raaking them listen to a little raoral instruction, it had occurred to him to prevail upon some musicians to attend * A physician of the country estimates that nine-tenths of the indi genous population (Indians and Spanish half-breeds) are infected with this disease. LOS ANGELES AND THE CALIFORNIAN COAST. 485 there frora tirae to time, hiraself accompanying them on the violin, an instrument which he played with taste and feehng. But this mode of attraction had no sensible re sult. We paid two visits to Pere Lestrade. At the last, we met at his house, Avith as much surprise as pleasure, a mis sionary whom we had left, a few months before, among the Polynesian savages, and whora we were very far from expect ing to fall in with again on the coast of California. This was the Pere Modesto Favens, the future bishop of the Sandwich Islands, a true priest of God, modest in deed as in name, a raan, indeed, against whora the only reproach that can be raade, either by friends or foes, is his zeal. As he had but just landed, he brought us the latest news, among which the most interesting particular for us was the great eruption of the volcanoes of Hawaii. On our side, we were able to enlighten him on the subject of the Mormons, whose proselytizing efforts he had frequently come into coUision with, in the raission of which he was the head. The Catholic church of Los Angeles is a wretched old buUding, low, narrow, dirty, darap, and unpaved. There are four httie bells niched into the walls of the fa9ade, and these are the raost briUiant ornaments of the church. We entered it one day during service ; there were scarcely raore than two or three whites, the congregation being almost en tirely composed of Indians, Mexicans, or half-breeds, and of 486 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIPIC. these by far the greater proportion were women. These women, in general ugly and poorly dressed, were sitting on the floor, their head and shoulders covered with a thin shawl in the fashion of a veil. The worshippers appeared absorbed in a particular kind of devotion, which consisted of their every raoraent passing the thumb rapidly before their chin, nose, mouth, and forehead, making with it a quick succession of crosses. I was afterwards informed that this mode of adoring God is what the Spaniards call sanctifying oneself. Little children were chanting the Roman Catholic mass in a gallery over the door. The missionary preached a sermon, which the congregation listened to with attention. Tt appeared to us that this as semblage of behevers was composed of all that was re spectable among the poorer classes of the country. I cannot speak, even approxiraatively, as to the total po pulation of Los Angeles. I do not think it exceeds 6000 persons, and in this number I include all foreigners, Americans, and Europeans. Of the latter the French are probably the most numerous : they reckon themselves at three hundred, and are equally divided into farraers, traders, and artisans. Tt gave rae pleasure to flnd that they are considered as belonging to the respectable, industrious, and orderly class of the country ; and this diminished the re gret I felt at not meeting with one who had received a really good education; but this, however, does not prove that there raay not have been some who had. A waiter indeed LOS ANGELES AND THE CALIFORNIAN COAST. 487 at our tavern had gone through his course of classics at the college of Carcassonne, in France, but though he had got as far as the sixth forra, he was not, as he said hiraself, " a bit the more advanced for aU that ;" and I must add, without meaning to be satirical, that he proved what he said. Chance brought me several times to a place where I met some men Avho had served in the French army at Algiers, more fools than knaves, who were dealing about aU sorts of disparaging and even calumnious stories to the prejudice of Marshal Bugeaud. I felt, I must confess, ashamed at hearing feUow-countrymen of mine, fortunately people of low stamp, take such an unworthy and unjust estimate of their illustrious chief, one of our great celebri ties. Could anything in my eyes have compensated for all this impertinence and vulgarity, it would have been the respectful way in which these same persons spoke of their consul, the noble and high-spirited M. Dillon.* The great and well-merited esteem which they professed for the worthy man was all the more surprising to me, after their having given so mean a speciraen of their judgraent, and frora the fact of the French in California having rarely raani- fested so much goodwill towards their country's represen tative. It is a thing well worthy of reraark, and the re mark I wiU insert here, that consuls stationed in reraote countries are too often the objects of unfounded attacks * The lamented M. Dillon died in Paris, in October, 1857, shortly after having been appointed Consul-general at Port-au-Prince. 488 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. and censures from the very persons who ought to be the first to defend and support them. The complaints of those who belong to their flag are usually the most ridiculous and the most puerile. Such persons, fancy they have the right of requiring these oflftcials to take into their own hands, and to treat as affairs of state, the most trivial disputes they may have with the constituted authorities of the place, who; they flatter themselves, may be brought to regard their nationality as something which gives thera a right to do what they please. I soraetiraes met people in California, who were quite convinced they were privi leged to consider the consul as their natural and legally appointed banker, and were ill disposed towards him be cause he refused to advance them money which they were persuaded the French Government had placed in his hands, to be at their disposal whenever they required it. Others, again, accused him of enriching hiraself at their expense, by appropriating certain iraaginary suras of money which the Eraperor had specially remitted to him for their benefit. Yet Heaven only knows how many sufferers the kind and generous M. DiUon relieved out of his own pocket 1 At Sacramento I heard a woman, well known as the " Queen of Flowers," threaten to have the poor consul hanged, because he had refused to send for a frigate to re venge an insult that sorae drunkards had offered to the French flag, which she had hoisted over her pot-house ! Un fortunate consuls, how much patriotism and zeal for your LOS ANGELES AND THE CALIFORNIAN COAST. 489 caUing do you require to endure the affronts which preju dice and ignorance heap upon you ! The Gauls of Los Angeles, whatever other whims they may have had, never, and I gladly note it to their honour, spoke ill of their consul. Neither were their hearts so much in the wrong place as to forget thefr country, and remain indifferent to what concerned it. We saw thera on the 1st of Decem ber celebrating with enthusiasm the capture of Sebasto pol and the triumph of our arms. They sang La Mar seillaise, Les Girondins, Toute l' Europe est sous les armes, etc., and it was a pleasure to rae to hear them, as they sang with enthusiasm the well-known songs that reminded me of the country that I love. Tt was certainly a touching spectacle was this joy inspired by the triuraph of their native land, this sympathy of expatriated men with the heroes who had remained on thefr native soU to guard it, or to spread its renown. Why must it happen that on these occasions, where all should be grave and soleran, we should so often have to regret excesses degrading to hu manity ? During our stay at Los Angeles we witnessed, in our own apartment, too, a tragi-comic scene. Young Walker, the friend of our servants, had a grudge against Henry. One day when they happened to be together in our room. Walker suddenly provoked his feUow-countryman, pretend ing that he had received several insults from him. Both were slightly the worse for brandy, a liquor but too much 4.90 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. in favour with the Americans. Walker, unsheathing his hunting-knife, threw hiraself upon his adversary with the intention of stabbing hira. The young man was iraraedi ately disarmed, and put out of the room. We then tried to prevaU upon Henry to go and settle his quarrel else where ; but fear being stronger than our entreaties, he re mained nailed to the spot. Walker soon returned, and made a new attack upon him, again obliging us to turn him out. Nevertheless Henry, in spite of all we could do, was de termined not to decamp, and release us by withdrawing from so disgraceful a scene. The aggressor, impatient to gratify his vengeance, but disguising his purpose under lan guage of reconciliation, returned a third time, seated hira self with apparent calraness in the midst of us, then all at once threw himself upon Henry with his fists. Henry, snatching his revolver, prepared to fire at him point-blank. I at once tried to get his pistol, then at full cock, from him, and succeeded with difficulty, after interposing my hand be tween the hammer and the cap to prevent its going off' in the struggle. Deprived of deadly weapons, the champions now fought upon the floor, tearing each other with their nails, biting and kicking one another wherever they could. The blood which flowed from their wounds seemed only to give them new reUsh for the fight. We had great difficulty in separating them, so close was their grapple, and so fiercely were they biting each other under the bed, where they had ensconced themselves in theirfury, in order to avoid LOS ANGELES AND THE CALIFORNIAN COAST. 491 our interposing. Mangled and bleeding as he was, Walker was perfectly unmanageable, and absolutely determined upon fighting to the death. We forced hira out into the street, and, to put an end to this scene of outrage, to which it seemed likely there would be no end, we called in the pohce. An officer came, who, finding Henry only, arrested and took hira to prison. A few days afterwards the affair came before a magistrate, and ended in Walker being sen tenced to pay a fine, which was fixed at not more than twenty doUars, because, so said the magistrate, it was ne cessary to take into consideration that both parties were intoxicated. The burly and placid Huguenot assisted as a partial and iraraovable spectator at this laraentable scene. He was even of opinion that it was no affafr of om*s to hinder the quarrel, but he had no difficulty in acknowledg ing that the charapions had no business to choose their bat tle-field where they did, nor did he hesitate to tell thera thefr conduct was disgraceful. But for all this it was a kindly nature, was that of Huguenot, strongly aniraal be yond question, but really gentle and inoffensive ; and though we may be permitted to doubt there being a soul in his body, he was not destitute of heart. He made it a great point that we should carry away with us something of his as a souvenir, and here is the singular certificate which he took it into his head to have drawn up by a schoolmaster, and have copied by a good penman, in order to present a copy to each of us on the eve of our departure : — 492 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. " El Monte, December 7th, 1855. " Sir, " Having crossed the Plains from Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, with you, acting in the capacity of guide and servant, allow me to express to you my thanks for your kind ness to me, and also to express my admiration for your bold and fearless conduct while passing through hostile bands of Indians, which were made friendly by your kind and daring manner ; in deed, you are the same in the mountains as if you had been bred a mountaineer; and oft, while you are roaming in sunny climes, or in your native home, will my kind wishes follow you, my brave and noble friend. " Yours, with love and respect, " Huguenot." We put away this certificate among our papers with as much care as if it were a valuable diploma. We sold all our travelling equipraents at auction, and on Saturday, the 8th of December,, at three o'clock in the afternoon, we took leave of Los Angeles. As we passed through the city, the cannon were firing fri honour of a Church festival, the bells of the churches were in fiiU chime, and the statue of the Virgin, dressed in crinoline and lace, was parading through the city, drawn in a car by some Mexicans. We set off with our four horses at fuU gaUop into an extensive plain burrowed by marmots, and where Ave also saw larks and snipes. At half past five we reached San Pedro, the place of einbarcation, which does duty as port to the city of Los LOS ANGELES AND TUE CALIFORNIAN COAST. 493 Angeles, and contains only three houses. The coast is steep and the landing bad. At nine at night we went on board the ' Senator,' a large steam-ship, which was to carry us to San Francisco. We had again an opportunity of appreciating one of the advan tages enjoyed by traveUers in free countries : we had no forms to submit to in order to secure a passage, nor was any passport required of us, — that costly, huraUiating, vexatious, and utterly useless annoyance, in all respects unworthy of our tiraes and civUization. Passports, the octroi, and custora-houses, are three serious pests to the traveUer, and are positive huraUiations to a raan, to say nothing of the tirae they raake hira lose. When will civihzed nations cashier such superannuated, conteraptible, and troublesorae institutions ? Is it not better to let one thief go free than to worry a thousand honest raen ? Ts it not better to let a pair of gloves or a flask of brandy corae in without duty, than to search the pockets and turn the trunks of travellers upside-down ? If states and raunici- palities require revenues, and cannot get them otherwise, would it not be far simpler to tax every individual on coming into a country or town, than to degrade him by com peUing hira to undergo an inquisitive examination, which would appear odious and revolting to us were we not fami liarized to it by long usage? These annoyances were spared us in California, and it is our pleasurable recol lection of the fact which- suggests these reflections. 494 ACROSS UTAH TO THE PACIFIC. The ' Senator ' got under weigh at two o'clock in the morning. The sea was smooth, and we went fast ahead, constantly keeping the coast in sight. At ten o'clock we stopped a moment at Santa Barbara to land and take in passengers. Though on board a repubhcan ship, equality, that chiraera of raodern societies, did not reign there in all its sovereignty. Nor are we, indeed, the people to complain of it. They refused to let us sit down at the first class table under the plausible pretext that we were not properly dressed. When, however, it was ascertained that we had upon our backs all the wardrobe we pos sessed, our presence was tolerated among those who were fortunate enough to be able to dress themselves according to etiquette. On the 10th of December, about eleven in the morning, we made a short stop at Monterey, in a large bay where gigantic Algm spread their garlands over the surface of the water. The coast was picturesque ; and hiUs covered with pines forraed a pretty girdle to the village. The same day, at nine o'clock, we cast anchor in the port of San Francisco, that queen, so young and yet al ready so considerable, of the Pacific coast ; marveUous city, which in the rapidity of its growth has exceeded every thing of the kind that history records ; future capital of a new repubhc, if it be true that the great American re- pubUc is not in a condition to satisfy the desires of every body, in spite of its splendour and its unparalleled pro sperity. LOS ANGELES AND THE CALIFORNIAN COAST. 495 Our journey was now accomplished, our end attained, our curiosity satisfied. The difficulties of all kinds we had been obhged to surmount, losing somewhat of their reality, remained in our meraories like the irapressions of a crowded dream. Our toils, sufferings, and privations were forgotten the moment we set foot in a great centre of civilization, in a fairy city, where progress speeds onward with the rapidity of steam, and whence, ere long, railways wUl in a few hours transport our contemporaries to places which we were un able to reach, save at the cost of so much time and so many sacrifices. END OF BOOK IV. NOTES. VOL. II. 2 K 499 NOTES. Note I. (Vol. I. p. 6.) sketch of MR. brenchley's JOURNEY FROM THE MISSOURI TO THE PACIFIC* Mr. Brenchley left Europe in 1849. After passing through the United States from north to south, he plunged into the forests of Canada, where he spent the autumn and winter, partly in the open air, partly under a tent, living exclusively on the produce of his gun, and seasoning himself by all sorts of volun tary privations for the great journey he was meditating. In the spring of 1850, accompanied by two of his fellow-countrymen whom chance had thrown in his way, he went to St. Louis on the Mississippi, where he embarked upon a steamer, and went up the Missouri as far as St. Joseph. There he made ready his traveUing gear without loss of time, and in the early part of June, set out for the great American plains, with the intention of reaching the coast of Oregon by way of the Eocky Mountains. Then even more than now this was a journey which it was not thought safe to make, except with a strong party ; wherefore the inhabitants of the country seeing my adventurous friend set off with only a few servants for his escort, thought they might safely predict that the campaign would not be a long one, and that the rash expedition would return upon its steps after parading about * In drawing up this Note, we have made use of Mr. Brenchley's unpublished journal. 2 K 2 500 NOTES. a few days. The prophets of St. Joseph would not have been much out had their predictions referred to any other than to the leader of the enterprise. But, he was not a man to flinch from any difficulty whatsoever. He is one of those energetic men who, when they have made up their minds to a thing, go straight ahead, hit or miss, without looking once behind them. From St. Joseph Mr. Brenchley advanced on the left bank of the river, through prairies glowing with flowers. In his way he overtook and passed several companies of Mormon emigrants on their way to the Salt Lake ; on one occasion he found as many as five thousand of them encamped, some in waggons, some in tents. On reaching Council Bluffs he crossed the Missouri, aud then bent his course towards the Platte or Nebraska river, which he intended to ascend for more than five hundred miles. Here it was that he first got a taste of the various difficulties which awaited him ; they would have been quite enough to damp a spirit less resolute and adv'enturous than his. His first troubles arose from the servants and the two waggons that carried the baggage. The former had already been a source of perpetual worry to him ; so he sent back the greater part of them. The latter were constantly causing delay by their difficulty of draught and the accidents constantly happening to them ; so he left them on the road, reserving only two saddle-horses and some pack- mules. Thus lightened, he went cheerily on his course. On the banks of the river he frequently met with deer, antelopes, and wild turkeys, and was not long before he fell in with the first tracks of the bison. The mirage was very frequent, which often gave the islands in the river the appearance of being covered with thick woods. All these different sights agreeably interrupted the uniformity of this monotonous region, where, especially in the vicinity of the river, the traveller meets with a succession of plains, without even a tree to vary the sameness. The only ma terial he had for fuel was bois de vache, as the Canadian trap pers call the dried dung of the bison. Bisons were frequently to be seen swimming across the river, and he was able to verify the statement of American travellers respecting the prodigious num bers of these animals, for he saw herds of them which stretched NOTES. 501 away as far as he could see to the right and left of hirn, in a black and serried mass. lie also saw nurabers of long-legged hares, prairie-chickens and sage-hens, rattlesnakes, copper-head snakes, and a great variety of lizards. The atmospherical pheno mena were occasionally curious : for several weeks there occurred twice a day, during his stay on the Platte, extremely heavy storms of rain, thunder, and lightning, sometimes accompanied with large hailstones, which, according to some emigrants, were as large as pigeons' eggs, and had gone through their waggon-tilts. After leaving Chimney Rock, so called from its close resem blance to a tall chimney, he came near the curious heights named Scott's Bluffs, and before arriving at Fort Laramie he fell in with several bands of Sioux proudly mounted on horses with fine trappings. At Port Laramie he had every reason to be satisfied with the reception he met with from the American officers who were garisoned at this distant post. There he re newed his stock of provisions and purchased some strong mules. The heat experienced while there was greater than he had yet felt. The thermometer marked 44° centigrade in the shade, and 63° in the sun. Myriads of mosquitoes filled the air, and in company with a large green fly, the prick of which drew blood, tormented both man and beast. There were also innu merable legions of sand-flies, which settle by preference on the back part of the neck, from which, without causing any pain by their bite or puncture, they drew blood. From Laramie Mr. Brenchley continued his journey towards the Rocky Mountains. As he went along he found thousands of bisons on the ground, whose bodies had been entirely gutted by the wolves, which make a round hole in the animal's rump under the tail, from which they extract its entrails, leaving apparently nothing but skin and bones. As he approached the Rocky Mountains, the country lost somewhat of its monotony and aridity, and began to be less flat. Hillocks were to be seen covered with pines ; but the plains were parched up, and the surface covered here and there with an alkaline crust, exhibiting no other specimen of vegetable life than a species of Artemisia. Here and there prairie-dogs were to be seen in vast numbers in their villages. A rock, 502 NOTES. known by the name of Independence Rock, towered above the landscape like an ancient monument, having its sides covered with modern inscriptions. Antelopes had become more common, and mountain sheep were to be seen. Beyond the Devil's Gate, a narrow deep gorge in a granite ridge, through which the Sweet water runs, Mr. Brenchley fell in with the celebrated Kit Carson, at the head of a company of miners with their pack-mules laden with gold, on their way to the United States. The spot now reached was in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, and the cold began to be severe. The pack-ropes froze stiff' in the morning, which made them very difficult to handle. The South Pass, through which our traveller scaled this great mountain-chain, was from seven to eight thousand feet above the level of the ocean, and of a rise so gradual as to be almost imperceptible ; he was surprised to find on reaching the summit of the pass, that he had reached such an elevation. Perhaps the illusion was all the stronger from the day being damp and misty, which prevented him from seeing far ahead, and made him less sensible of his as cent. The descent of the pass was as gradual and insensible as its rise. Numerous springs of clear and drinkable water flowed by the roadside, and gave a species of charm to these elevated regions. Nevertheless the vegetation was next to nothing, but, on the other hand, there was no lack of wolves, which are very large, in great numbers, and exceedingly bold. Some of them had thrown themselves on an unfortunate mare of Indian breed, which during the night had entangled its tether in the bushes, and could not make its escape when set upon by these animals, which, as usual, greedily tore it open, to get at the entrails. In the morning Mr. Brenchley was obliged to kill it, to put an end to its sufferings. He had to sacrifice another of his animals in this place, a horse worn out with cold and fatigue, unable to keep up with the others. On the other side of the Rocky Mountains, the soil became sandy and the pasture very scanty, two difficulties not at all compensated by the return of the heat. Green river was soon after forded, and the opportunity taken of killing some ex cellent trout in it with the fly. A little further on the country improved, being covered with small woods of conifers, which con- \ \ \ \ \ \ NOTES. 503 tinued as far as Bear River, where are to be found a great num ber of black bears, not very dangerous. On the banks of this river are to be seen some remarkable springs of water, impregnated with gas, called by the Americans Soda Springs, from their tasting like soda-water. Between this and Lewis's or Snake River, he crossed sandy deserts containing nothing but Grease-wood {Opuntia) and Artimisia. Mr. Brenchley reached the banks of the Snake River on the 6th of September, and passed the day at Fort Hall, a post be longing to the Hudson's Bay Company, where he bought two horses to replace those he had lost. He followed the course of the river, in which he frequently killed delicious trout. It was there he for the first time saw and smoked a species of tobacco called kinik-kinik, which the Indians prepare from the bark of the red willow. He then crossed over marshes in which his animals often sank to their bellies, and reached American Falls, which he thought very picturesque. At this point, trout seemed to have disappeared and to be succeeded by salmon, which the Indians took in great abundance, either spearing them or catching them in scoop-nets, as they attempted to get up the falls. The banks were for some time bordered with basaltic rocks, and then by a desert, to all appearance utterly devoid of vegetation, where the dust and sand raised by the wind covered the party from head to foot. Provisions were getting short, and they were beginning to grow uneasy, when, by a lucky chance, they met a convoy of English emigrants, who consented to sell them enough for a few days' consumption. The river, which Mr. Brenchley continued to follow, was for a certain distance enclosed by steep basaltic rocks, from six to eight hundred feet in height, and flowed on in a very strong current over a sandy bed, from three to four hundred feet wide. A great number of skunks {Mephitis occidentalis) were to be seen play ing about on its banks, small and prettily striped carnivorous animals, which secrete a disagreeable, nauseous liquid, with a de testable and suffocating stench, which it makes use of to defend itself from its enemies ; and a very formidable defence it is. This animal is frequently eaten by the Americans, and its flesh is very 504 NOTES. white and delicate. The surrounding country had a volcanic as pect, and the sterility on the banks of the river was so complete that the traveller was compelled every evening to go several miles inward to flnd a little herbage on the high grounds ; the only instance he has ever met with, in the course of his travels, of so absolute a desert on the banks of a great river. He proceeded to Salmon Palls, where for a distance of two miles the river is but a succession of falls and rapids. The Shoshones have a salmon-fishery here ;* the fish are dried in the sun, without being salted. A little further on the bank became so steep, that it was necessary to lower the water-buckets with a rope, in order to procure water. The dust was so thick that it filled the eyes, nose, and mouth of man and beast to such a degree as to blind them, and seriously interfere with their breathing. Salmon of all sizes, larger and much more abundant than he ever met with in Canada, were day and night continually leaping from the water. Unlike the Canada salmon, too, it was impossible to take them with a fly, or any other kind of artificial bait. The direction of the road now rendered it necessary to cross the river. Mr. Brenchley, though heavily dressed with a pair of boots half way up the thigh, and with his heavy rifle in hand, plunged into it; and, thanks to his great strength, he reached the opposite bank safe and sound. His servant, though he had taken the pre caution to undress and tie all his things on his mule, was not so fortunate; after desperately struggling against the current, his strength gave way, and he was. drowned, without its being possible to save him. The animals after having been driven into the water crossed as they could, and reached the opposite bank with great difficulty, their packs being completely drenched. The poor beasts were found with their fore feet firmly planted against the bank, which was too steep for them to climb, and eventually they had to be pulled up. * At the commencement of their fishiag season the Indians perform a sort of superstitious ceremony, which consists in making certain prayers or signs over one of the fish before they venture to eat any. They believe that a violation of this law will bring Ul-luck to the fishers, and any one of them disobeying it would run the risk of losing his life, even if he were famishing. NOTES. 605 After a day spent in an unsuccessful search for the poor man's body, Mr. Brenchley continued his route with a feeling of sad ness, beai'ing a little away from the river. He soon after reached a stream from a neighbouring spring, the water of which was so hot, and even scalding, that the beasts, which had started forward to quench their thirst, drew back at once, completely astonished. At a distance of four hundred and fifty yards lower down, the water was still much too hot for drinking ; it was necessary to let it cool in a bucket, and it was then found to have a very strong taste of sulphur. In this part of the journey the only fuel that could be found consisted of a few very stunted rose-bushes. On the 22nd of September he reached the Boisee river, where, after five weeks of drought, there fell a drenching rain which lasted for four-and-twenty hours, an unpleasant visitor, as he was without a tent or any covering whatever. From a grassy height hard by, he saw, in the midst of the large willows which fringe the river, a number of wigwams belonging to some harmless Indians ; and soon after reached Fort Boisee, a miserable square house, surrounded with a mud wall, the property of the Hudson's Bay Company. The only White living there was a Scotchman, who was trading in peltries with the Indians. This man's food was almost entirely salmon, fresh and dried, and dried salmon- skins, which have a little of the flesh still remaining on the in side as they come from the Indian fisheries, and which are boiled in milk. This desert ragout is greatly preferred to any other preparation of salmon. It is very oily, and at first nauseous, but after awhile is found to be palatable. It gives some idea of the dryness of the salmon, that Mr. Brenchley used to carry a piece in his pocket, which crumbled like biscuit, and served in stead of it. On the other side of this post, at which he passed one night only, he met several bands of Indians, very inoffensive, travelling along with their families. The women of course do all the work but hunt and fight ; and he was amused at seeing the squaws, each with one or more children attached to her breast or back with leather thongs. After crossing the river Malheur he was obliged to abandon one of his horses, which could not drag itself 506 NOTES. along. Obliged to travel during the night, in order to spare his animals as much fatigue as possible, the mules often wandered off" the road and got mired, and sometimes got lost in the dark, and were not to be found till the morning. As he approached the Blue Mountains he met numbers of Indians engaged in spear ing salmon. They are very expert at this work, and it is not very imusual for an Indian to spear three or four salmon, from twenty to thirty pounds in weight each, in the course of ten minutes. There were now symptoms of the approach of cold weather ; the morning frosts were severe enough to harden the soil. The hungry cayotes disturbed the stillness of the night by their sharp yelpings, which re-echoed from the hills. A magnificent aurora borealis was seen just before his reaching the Grand Rond, a very fertile mountain valley, consisting of alluvial soil, well irri gated and extremely rich, the richest perhaps to the west of the Rocky Mountains. Our traveller was delighted with this oasis in the desert, which led him to anticipate that at no distant period it would be turned to accpunt by settlers coming from the agricultural districts of Europe or America. He quitted this valley by a rapid rise, casting many an admiring look at the snowy peaks of the mountains he left behind him. He was not long in reaching a great forest composed of pines, many of them with their straight tall trunks shooting up to a height of two hundred feet. While passing on slowly under these fine trees, over hilly ground, he had the comfort of feeling that he would have plenty of fuel for the night, but, on the other hand, there was a total want of fodder. Nor was this the only incon venience ; provisions had run very scarce, and to make up for the want of them, recourse was had to tobacco, that solace of the pilgrims of the desert; great therefore had been the care taken of the pipe, the last, the only pipe, that remained, and which, broken into five pieces and tied together with twine, was anxiously watched over with affectionate care. The mules too had sore, backs, and it was painful to see their sufferings when of a morning the pack-saddle, with its stiff" frozen cloth, was first strapped on to them, nor was it by any means easy to overcome NOTES. 507 the resistance they made. On the way were seen two tombs with a rude covering of boards intended to protect the dead from the voracity of the wolves. At the end of two days' march the forest grew thinner, and herbage appeared. Herds of Indian horses M'cre to be seen feeding on every side. Some Cayuses, to whom these flocks belong, ran to Mr. Brenchley's camp to beg biscuit, but he had none to give them. Finding him so short of food, they offered a piece of rib of beef in exchange for a few percussion caps. One of these Indians, who knew a little English, began to converse ; he vaunted the character of his tribe, which he said was a great and good one, friendly to the white men, averse to rapine, and unlike in this particular the Shoshones and other Indians, who were thieves, and people who had their mouths full of lies and who would not let their hands be seen. He spoke of their having an intention of going to war with the Shoshones. He was a topping fellow, was this Cayuse ; he carried a purse filled with five-dollar pieces, and refused to sell a horse, saying that he did not want money. According to him, the Cayuses are very rich, want for nothing, have a quantity of cattle, maize, and potatoes, and whenever they require money, clothes, paint to daub themselves with, or other things, they go and exchange horses for them at Fort Wallawalla or WUlhamette. A little further on, Mr. Brenchley fell in with a hospitable Cayuse, who invited him into his wigwam, which was in the midst of wUlow-trees, and offered him some potatoes. A little after wards he met with a considerable number of emigrants, who were travelling with a large herd of cattle. These unfortunate people had been for several weeks on short allowance, and were fearing that they would be obliged to kill their cattle for food before they could reach a place where they could purchase provisions. It was manifest from their haggard looks, that they had suffered greatly, and they confessed they were suffering as much from anxiety as from hunger. They besought Mr. Brenchley, whose pace was faster than theirs, to despatch a supply of flour and biscuit from the first inhabited post he came to. Shortly after wards our traveller lost two mules which liad strayed, and which 508 NOTES. he would not be at the trouble of looking for, so desirous was he to finish his journey before winter should set in. All his animals were more or less exhausted; he now had only two mules left capable of carrying his baggage. After three times crossing the Umatillah, and passing through some very dense fogs upon its banks, he entered a desert entirely destitute of wood and water. Of all his horses he had not more than one left capable of carry ing him by the time he reached the Columbia river, whose im posing stream, blue as the ocean, forcibly struck him. He pro ceeded on the banks of the river, through a deep sand which the sun at noon heated to such a degree as to render the difficulty of getting on excessive. Not a particle of vegetation was to be seen near it ; nothing but deep sand and barren rocks. After crossing Quesnelle's river, he was obliged to pass through clouds of blinding dust. His stock of provisions was now reduced to a few pounds of dried salmon and salt pork, and he began to appre hend the scurvy. He was soon left with a single mule. One evening, just as he had encamped for the night, he saw a horse man riding towards him completely armed, richly clad in Indian style, and with a bright green blanket hanging from his shoul ders. This king of the desert smoked the pipe which the tra veller offered him, but refused with a superb grimace the piece of salt salmon which was presented to him. Invited to sit down to supper, which consisted of a piece of salt pork, he consented, and at length began to unbend a little. He said he was the chief of the Cayuses, that he was going on a visit to the chief of the whites, the commandant of the post, that the two stray mules had been picked up by some of his tribe, and that he would make it a point to restore them to their owner. The latter thanked the chief, but begged him to accept them for him self; this the Indian refused to do without a guarantee which would put his probity beyond suspicion, that is to say, without a certificate of his not having stolen them. This delicate scruple was attended to, and a certificate to this effect was written in pencil, which the Indian carefully placed at the bottom of his tobacco-pouch, at the same time asking his host if he were not a chief in his own country, why he was so badly dressed, where NOTES. 509 he was going, and for what purpose he had come into those parts. About midnight, the dashing cavalier took his leave, and went forth on his journey. Subsequently Mr. Brenchley met with several Indians who were returning from the Dalles, where they had been bartering their horses.* After passing John Day's river, he was alarmed at finding he had only two days' provision left ; he was accordingly very glad of the opportunity of purchasing frora the Cayuses a little bread, made of raaize and some roots of camash {Camassia esculenta). He saw the Indians pounding these roots with the seeds of the sunflower, and then boiling them up with dried salmon-heads,. or with pemmican (dried bison-meat pounded into powder, and put into skins, with raelted grease poured upon it). He had the opportunity of eating this coarse food, and being very hungry at the time, he, to his misfortune, hastily swallowed a bowl of it, and suffered in consequence such an extraordinary and pain ful distension of the stomach, that he was obliged to lay himself upon the ground, to the great astonishment of the Indians. His course now lay through a wilderness, where he was obliged to collect the stems of the wild-rose for his night's fuel. On reaching the Deschutes river, he hired an Indian to guide him over the difficult ford, the river being here about three hundred and fifty yards wide, and thus arrived at the Dalles. f There he took a week's rest, enjoying himself in the society of the officers of this American post, who treated him to roast beef, wine, and clean linen, — no trifling luxuries to a man who has been several months in the desert. He had not lost more than two pounds in weight since he left St. Joseph, and he was in excellent con dition. When he had recruited himself a little, he descended * At this period a horse was bartered for six blankets of the value of ten dollars each. t The river here runs through a chasm, the sides of which rise in a convex form about twenty-four feet above the water, and have at the top somewhat the appearance of a broken arch. The river, very much contracted at this point, runs through with great rapidity, breaking into whirls and eddies, [the Indians have a tradition, that at some period the chasm was completely arched over, and that it was sundered by an earth quake, which was probably the case. 510 , NOTES. the Columbia river in an Indian canoe, with two Chinooks. lie proceeded as far as the Cascades, which are a succession of rapids of considerable extent, rushing through well- wooded banks. He there left his canoe and walked to the extremity of the rapids, where he hired a boat with two men, and pursued his course down the river. One day the wind was so strong as to lash the water into a little sea, and the boat was very near being swamped at a place called Little Cape Horn, where it is said, there is always a stiff breeze, occasioned probably by the draught caused by the river running between two high cliffs. The water is exceedingly cold and very deep. After running considerable risk, the boat reached Fort Van couver, where the Hudson's Bay Company have a large establish ment in connection with the fur trade, and which now, by Lord Ashburton's treaty, belongs to the Americans, who have built barracks in the neighbourhood of the fort. Our traveller had here to undergo a singular trial : compelled to sleep in a bed, it appeared to him to be an absolute torment; after sleeping so many nights in the open air, a bedroom seemed to him a prison, or a stuffy box ; he could not endure the sheets after the blankets, and very soon took to his blankets on the floor. Save this little drawback he was quite happy, and in great spirits at having accomplished his task. The river at this place was pro bably a mile in width. He crossed the river and went to Oregon City, the capital of the Territory. He passed through a magni ficent forest, where he saw pines from thirty to forty feet in circumference, to which the woodmen were setting fire at the lower part of their trunks. He was informed that they were thus burnt for three years in succession, when the sap was down, before they were sufficiently charred to topple over. Oregon City, which is built on the falls of Willhamette^ river, did not at that time contain more than five hundred inhabi tants. Nevertheless there was a Roman Catholic cathedral, with an archbishop, and also several convenient hotels. In the immediate environs the, soil is unproductive and rocky, but about thirty miles to the south, in the valley of Willhamette, it is extraordinarily fertile, more fertile perhaps than any country in NOTES. 511 Europe. He was informed that it produced more than forty, and even fifty bushels of wheat to the acre, in the first year, and twenty-five in the third, — the last being self-sown. Vegetables, especially, attained a gigantic size. Our traveller was greatly dehghted with the beauty of this \alloy, which in some parts re minded him of English park scenery. At an inn, at Salem, where he alighted, he had the offer of sharing a bed with three persons, according to a custom pretty common in this country ; it is hardly necessary to say that he preferred sleeping upon a pine plank which served as a drinking-table. While shooting bald eagles on the river, so coraraon in this valley, he saw these birds regaling on the dead salmon floating on the river, which, before they had been wasted by disease, to judge from their length and breadth, could not, many of them, have weighed less than thirty or forty pounds. The banks were literally covered with them, to such a degree as to poison the whole atraosphere in the vicinity of the river. Others were half dead, or so nearly dead as to have lost the power of moving their tails. This enormous mortality was caused by an epidemic disorder, of which the first syraptoras were white spots or patches of white, first appearing on the back, and at last spreading over a great part of the body. The spots became larger as the disease ad vanced. It is stated that this malady among the salmon is occasioned by their remaining too long in the fresh water, and that it is of annual occurrence. It is a signal illustration of the indolence of the Indians, that they will eat these dead fish, unwholesome as they are, rather than give themselves the very trifling trouble of catching sound ones. Returning to Fort Vancouver, Mr. Brenchley, finding that a Hudson Bay Company's schooner, the ' Mary Dare,' of a hundred and forty tons, was about to leave for the Sandwich Islands, he determined to avail himself of the opportunity of paying a visit to that part of the globe. After some days' sail, this vessel reached Baker's Bay, at the mouth of the Columbia river, where Mr. Brenchley was surprised to see on the shore a considerable extent of black, heavy sand, extremely fine, of a decidedly ferruginous character. After being detained for more than a week in Baker's 512 NOTES. Bay, weather-bound, the pilot refusing to put out to sea, the vessel set sail again, and within fifty days — instead of fourteen, the usual length of the voyage in fair weather — landed my en terprising friend safe and sound in the Sandwich Islands. Such is the meagre outline of this five months' journey through a generally monotonous country, affording no great scope for ob servation, — a journey of which any account must be deficient in interest, in proportion as it passes over the details of each day's progress, the expedients, occupations, privations, sufferings, hopes, apprehensions, and immediate irapressions, which are the attrac tive materials of any narrative of such an excursion. It was by the practical knowledge which my friend thus acquired of the modes of grappling with the dangers and difficulties of a desert-journey, combined with the experience he had obtained of the Indian cha racter and customs during a previous winter spent in the depths of a Canadian forest, that he was prepared to undertake with much greater confidence an almost equally arduous journey, to deal with Indian tribes known and expected to be hostile, and largely to contribute to the success of the expedition which forms the subject of this work. Note II. (Vol. I. p. 19.) A WORD OF TRUTH ABOUT CALIFORNIA. In the remarkable spectacle which California exhibited to the world after the discovery of the mines, there were many painful and mournful scenes, not a few that were disgraceful, and in which all nations were represented. The press has made known a long series of facts referring to that period which now belongs to history, the circulation of which has produced an unfavourable impression on pubbc opinion, which it is to be feared will stUl con tinue for some time. Yet there was nothing very extraordinary in what occurred, especially if we bear in raind the position in which the country was, when its mineral wealth first attracted the atten- NOTES. 51;i tion of the world. 'Was it, in fact, to be expected that a society, formed of eleraents of all sorts, frequently the most gross, has tily gathered together, aud derived frora the scum of diff'erent nations, could avoid exposing itself in the beginning to severe and justly merited censure? Was it likely that a new society, even admitting that it contained a nucleus of respectability, should spring up, and, as it were, extemporize itself in a new country of immense extent, totally unprovided with laws or go vernmental forms of any kind, without being subject, and on a great scale, to those evils from which the most ancient and best constituted societies are not exempt ? To expect this would be to expect a miracle, and a very startling miracle too. In propor tion as were the trials through which California has passed, se vere, and associated with lamentable acts, the greater must be our surprise ac the rapidity with which she has reached her pre sent position of a well-ordered and civilized society. The moral aspect of this fine country at the present raoraent is in all re spects consolatory and even edifying ; it would suffice to show, if other proofs were wanting, how the huraan mind, in an atmo sphere of freedom, gradually raasters its grosser instincts, and by a kind cf natural process, ranges itself under the banner of order and morality. In a free country, no matter how vigorously bad passions may be at work, the good will be sure in the end to triumph over the bad. San Francisco gave evidence of this in 1856, when, revolting against a corrupt municipality, the respect able portion of the citizens took the power into their own hands, in order to vindicate morality and enforce obedience to the laws. It was a noble and magnificent movement, from which more than one profitable lesson has been derived. It interested us, as pro ving the truth of that grand principle which struck us the first instant we set foot on American soil, namely, that liberty mo- rahzes a man, and prosperity makes him good. Nothing is more calculated to illustrate the truth of this than what has been passing in California for the last eleven years. Every one is aware that, together with persons of respectability of every class, rich and poor, whora the lust for gold attracted to this country, were to be found people belonging to the worst VOL. II. 2 Ii 514 NOTES. classes of other countries ; men without fixed occupation, undis ciplined, turbulent spendthrifts, raen who had lost their position by misconduct, disgraced nobles, incorrigible debauchees, social ists reduced to their last shift, scamps in great number, adven turers of all kinds ; thousands of individuals, in a word, whora their respective countries were glad to get rid of, and occasion ally helped to go. California threw open her arras, without dis tinction of persons, to the disorderly as well as the orderly, to the bad as well as the good, to the poor as well as the rich ; no one was excluded frora the banquet. Indisputably, the confu sion at first was enormous, a real chaos ; but how superb and startbng was the change that followed, when every man, seeing before hira the chance of sharing the products of a generous soil, felt at once that a door was opened through which, by industry and subraission to the law, he could reascend to the position he had lost 1 There was a general eraulation for what was good. They who had forfeited their rank in society, aspired to recover it, and to place themselves on a level with those of their respect able fellow-citizens who had always preserved theirs. In this active, bustling beehive there were certainly some drones, people without feeling or purpose, who remained behind the others, lead ing the most pitiful and often sharaeful existence in the world ; but these were few in number. How many, on the other hand, who, in the worst of plights one day, were able, by industry and good conduct, to become the prosperous and honoured men of the next ! In passing through California, the traveller is not raore struck by the fertility of the country, the mildness of the climate, and attractions of every kind, than he is by raeeting at almost every step some honest miner, who complacently relates to him his first attempts in the diggings, his struggles, and the success which finally rewarded his exertions, and compensated him for his sufferings. Nor is it only araong the gold-seekers that fortune srailes on the industrious raan ; agriculture in this country is in respect to wealth the rival of the mines. I raet with several raen belonging to the garde mobile, whose brains had been turned by the revolution of February, and their passions over-excited by NOT HIS. .f)!") depraved doctrines, who, no longer consumed by the fever of poli tics, are, in their occupation as market-gardoners, obtaining some thing even more than corapetence, and becoming, in proportion as their prosperity increases, respectable and peaceable citizens. If we but too frequently hear of wretches firing their revol vers in the open street on the slightest provocation, we are not on this account to suppose that California is a cut-throat place. We for more than six months passed through it in every direction, day and night, without meeting with anything of an unpleasant nature. Life is in no greater danger there than in Europe, when one does not herd with drunkards, or plunge into the thick of politics. Truth compels us to say that we did once or twice witness most brutal occurrences in the middle of the streets ; but if it be remembered that every man has the right of carry ing loaded arms about him, the wonder will be that murder is not a thousand times more frequent than it is. Let every work man in our manufacturing towns carry arms, and we should soon see that there would be acts of violence and bloodshed quite equal to anything we find in California. In a word, the morabty of the country has been as surprising and rapid in its progress as its industrial prosperity. The great disproportion between the sexes, to which a large part of the ex cesses that have occurred are to be attributed, is every day grow ing less, and with the most salutary effect. Civilization is ad vancing with visible steps. The city of San Francisco, to cite only one more instance, and to confine myself to what is most striking and- reraarkable, is at this day a raarvel of order and good governraent. It has ceased to be an asylura for scoundrels running away from the vengeance of the law. The population is a respectable one, daily increasing with incredible rapidity.* The city extends over an area of 2000 acres, and it contains nearly 400 streets. There are twenty-eight public schools, inde pendently of a great number of private schools. There are fifty * In January, 1848, the white population in the whole of California did not reach 8000 souls ; in January, 1860, it rose to the remarkable number 600,000 ; and when we write, San Francisco, which in 1847 had only 459 inhabitants, now contains 100,000 ! ! 2 L 2 510 NOTES. benevolent societies, for giving aid of different kinds wherever it is required. More than forty literary, scientific, artistic, philoso phic, and religious societies, keep up and diffuse' a ta§te for the subjects with which they are respectively connected. In this city of fairyland, there are published thirty-six newspapers or reviews. The different denorainations have thirty-eight churches and chapels. There is also an association of fire-men, adrairably organized, and which surpasses in efficiency anything of the kind we ever saw in Europe. A great deal that is evil has been said, and is still thought, about California. It is the duty of those who have examined this country with an impartial and unprejudiced eye, to raise their voice against the unjust misrepresentations by which it is now unjustly assailed. As for ourselves, we are convinced that too much cannot be said in its favour, and that they who are discontented with it after having seen it, must give up all hope of finding on this earth a spot that will suit them. Note III. (Vol. I. p. 31.) the largest trees in the world. California has beyond all comparison the thickest, highest, and most magnificent trees to be found on the face of the earth. These giants, really marvels of vegetable fife, belong to the family of cypress and to the genus Sequoia of Endlicher {Wellingtonia of Lindley, Washingtonia of the Americans). We will here speak of the remarkable species we are considering by the name of Sequoia gigantea, as we did on a former occasion,* without meaning to approve or disapprove the preference of those who with Lindley term it Wellingtonia gigantea. The Sequoia gigantea attains to a size so colossal, I might almost say, so formidable, that up to a very recent time the accounts that travellers give of it have excited nothing but incredubty. An noyed by the doubt we felt ourselves respecting this tree, especially * ' Echo du Pacifique' of May 5, 1856. NOTES. 517 after seeing in Carson Pass some specimens of no great size, we determined to judge for ourselves of the accuracy of the descrip tions that had been given, and for this purpose made an excur fion to Murphy's, iu Calaveras, in 1856. There, in the raidst of the Sierra Nevada, about 4888 feet above the level of the sea, we counted within a narrow circle about ninety of these trees, the smallest of which was not less than six feet and a half diameter. Each of these superb firs has had a particular name given it. We shall confine ourselves to a few observations re specting the raost reraarkable of them. Let us first notice a group of twenty-six trees, so close to each other as to have been called " the family group." Among thera the father aud mother of the whole group are easily distinguished. The father has now for raany years been overthrown, and having struck against a neighbouring tree in falling, broke into two pieces. The part of the trunk which lies uninjured on the earth is 300 feet in length, and its circumference is 110 feet at tbe base, and forty feet at the end where it is broken off. When standing, this gigantic tree was not less than 450 feet high. The mother is 327 feet high and 91 feet in circumference at the base. The children are rather less than their parents. Near the family group are two other trees, the one 325 feet in height, the other 300 feet, each having a circumference of 93 feet. The three sis ters are united at the base, so as to appear as if they sprang from one root. Each of them measures 300 feet in height, and 92 feet in circumference at 6 feet from the ground. The middle sister had reached 200 feet before sending out a single branch. These three trees are in a perfect state of preservation, and have es caped all injury. They are decidedly the finest group in the Mammoth Grove, the name given iu California to the spot occu pied by the great trees of Calaveras. The Miner's Cabin has 80 feet in circumference and 300 feet in height. The Old Bachelor has 300 feet in height and 60 feet in cir cumference. The Hermit, thus called because it is isolated, has the sarae height as the forraer, with a circuraference of 75 feet. One side 518 NOTES. of the trunk has been charred. The Araericans have calculated that it would yield 725,000 feet of timber. The Husband and Wife, whose tops converge, rise to a height of 250 feet, with a circumference of 60 feet. The Siamese Twins and their Guardian are three trees of a raagnificent growth. The trunks of the Twins separate at 40 feet above the ground, and rise both of them to the height of 300 feet. The Guardian, which is beside them, is 325 feet high, and 80 feet in circumference. The OldJUaid is very bald and bent, 360 feet in height, and 60 feet round the waist. Hercules, 97 feet in circumference and 325 feet higb. Ady and Mary rise up to 300 feet and are 65 feet in girth. Beauty of the Forest has a very straight stem, almost without branches to the very top, where it is surmounted by a green cap. The proportions are exactly those of Ady and Mary. Uncle Tom's Cabin is 300 feet high, and 90 feet round. It takes its name frora a hole of large diraensions which is burnt into it, capable of holding five-and-twenty persons with ease. The Bride of California in height is 280 feet and in circum ference 70 feet. The Big Tree is 95 feet in girth and 300 feet in length. It. has been cut down by the owners, who, after smoothing off the top of the stump, built a suramer-house upon it, and fitted it up with seats for the benefit of tourists. At one end of the trunk, which is lying upon the ground, a small house or shed has been erected, and the remainder of it has been converted into a bowling-alley. The bark was about 3 feet 3 inches in thickness, and is soft, light, and spongy. The mode of felling the tree was original and ingenious. A scaffolding was raised round it to the desired point of section, six feet from the ground, and then, by means of very long augers, holes were bored all round, at short distances from each other, converging to the centre. The tree being thus perforated, eventually fell by its own weight. Six men were engaged three weeks upon the operation. An attempt was made by some travellers to determine the age of this tree by multiplying the number of concentric rings, con- NOTES. 519 tained in two inches of the surface of the section, by half the radius. The number thus obtained exceeded three thousand. It seems never to have occurred to them to take into account that the rings vary iu distance from each other, an omission which was the cause of a considerable error in their calculation. A more attentive examination induces us to suppose that this venerable tree was not more than 2200 years old. Nevertheless we see reason to believe that, among the trees that are now stand ing, there is more than one, which has existed for 3000 years and upwards. The wood is somewhat pink in colour, very straight grained, very elastic and durable, free frora knots, very 'easy to work, will stand wet and dry, and does not split in the sun. Several of these trees have their tops broken off, which is ob viously attributable to the action of the wind, or the weight of snow which in winter accumulates upon their terrainal branches, or by both corabined. Several also have been injured at their base by the Indians setting fire to thera, at least, so it is said, from their love of destruction. But in spite of their injuries, these colossal trees continue to live and flourish. We even raet with one which though stripped, two years before we saw it, of its bark,* for a length of one hundred feet, continued not only to live, but to bear fruit. Around the trunk thus barked, a spiral stair case has been built, the steps of which are secured in the trunk. Mosses and lichens float like long tresses of hair down the trunks of these ancient Sequoias. At their feet are to be seen, but in spring only, fine plants of the genus Hypopithys, which live parasitically upon their roots, and shoot upwards, their steras laden with pink flowers, to the height of about six feet. The trunk of these great Sequoias, of these real monuments of vegetable life, rises up majestically like a cone-shaped column, with its surface soraetiraes sraooth, soraetiraes ridgy, especially towards the root. The branches are short, and only found on the upper part of the trunk. The cones are no larger than a hen's-egg, and contain such sraall seed that raore than ten thousand of them have been counted in a quantity not exceed ing three ounces and a half in weight. * A portion of this bark is now to be seen at the Crystal Palace, Syden ham. 520 NOTES. Since our visit, there have been discovered in California, in other parts of the Sierra Nevada, places where the Sequoia attains the same reraarkable size. It is said that in the county of Mariposa there is a spot where four hundred of these giants are growing close together. Another, in the county of Fresno, contains six hundred. Lord Richard Grosvenor says, in an article in the ' Gardeners' Chronicle ' of the 7th January, 1860, that he saw in California a Sequoia 450 feet high and 116 feet in circuraference. What has been said sufficiently justifies us in considering the Sequoia gigantea of California as the largest trees in the world ; for if elsewhere are to be found trees which have equally thick trunks, as the Baobab {Adansonia) of Senegal, for instance, there are none known that have an elevation in proportion to their thickness. Generally speaking, the thickest trees yet discovered in the world are not of any great height, aud frora the shortness and stumpiness of their trunks have nothing imposing in them. The monstrous phestnut-trees of Etna, for instance, do not rise above fifty feet, notwithstanding the prodigious volume of their trunks.* The illustrious A. P. de CandoUe was of opinion that the Taxodium of Chepultepec in Mexico, of which the height is insignificant as compared with the thickness, raust have been about six thousand years old. If the conjectural calculations of this great botanist be confirraed by direct observations, the Se quoias, the largest of which certainly cannot be four thousand * The Castagno dei Centi Cavalli, which was 178 feet in circumference according to some, 62 feet in diameter according to Tornabene, did not exist when we visited Etna in April, 1859. This tree, moreover, was formed of five distinct trees welded, as it were, together, as may easily be seen by looking at the three trunks whioh are still standing. The Castagno delta Nave, wbich we have measured, and which is now the largest tree in Sicily, is 59 feet in circumference at five feet from the ground, and is only 32 feet high, besides being, to all appearance, formed of three separate trunks. According to what appears in the San Francisco newspapers of June 30, 1860, a fossil tree has been discovered at Black Eock, in the Sierra Nevada, the petrified trunk of which measures from seven to eight hundred feet in length. If the fact be so, it is certainly one of the great inarvels of the world. NOTES. 521 years old, would certainly not be the most ancient vegetable in habitants of the world ; but they would always bear off the palm in be^^uty and size. Note IV. (Vol. I. p. 35.— Vol. II. p. 265.) the hot SPRINGS OF UTAH. Carson Valley, in which we saw one of the hottest thermal springs which it is possible to find at such an altitude, is from 3609 to 4265 feet above the level of the sea. It is scienti fically ascertained that springs having a temperature which ap proaches the point of ebullition and rises to the height of 90 degrees are very rare, and are for the most part to be found only in the vicinity of volcanoes. No active crater is anywhere to be found in the immediate neighbourhood of Carson Valley, but evident traces of volcanoes are to be met with in the north of California, and recently the Oregon newspapers brought us an account of a considerable eruption having taken place on Mount Baker. Mount Shasta in California is an ancient crater, aud there is every reason to believe that, at epochs more or less remote, the Sierra Nevada was the theatre of numerous eruptions. We may therefore conjecture that the boiling waters of Carson are ascribable to volcanic agency. Is the temperature of these waters always the sarae, or does it change with the seasons, under the influence of suraraer or winter rains ? Having no other ob servations to go by than our own, it is irapossible for us to give a satisfactory answer to this question. Reasoning however from analogy, we are disposed to believe that the thermal springs at Carson belong to that class of springs which have an invariable temperature. For the purpose of comparison we subjoin a bst of the most remarkable hot springs within our knowledge. Centigrade. Greysers (Iceland), at the bottom of the tube, at 68 feet in depth , 127°,0 5.;' 2 NOTES. Strokkr (Iceland), at the surface of the basin .... 100°,0 Kilauea (Hawaii), at the issue from the rock .... 97°,0 Las Trinoheras of PortocabeUo (Venezuela) 97°,0 Aguas de Comangillas (Mexico) 96°,4 Carson (Utah), the hottest spring 96°,0 Boiling Springs, Honey Lake Valley (California ) . , . boiling Hammam Meskoutine (Algeria) (P)95°,0 Jumnotri (JSTorthern India), at 10,180 feet 90°,0 Geyser (Iceland), at the surface of the basin .... 82°,0 Carson (Utah), one of the principal springs .... 82°,0 Carlsbad (Bohemia) 73°,8 Pusambio, or Eio-Vinagre (New Granada) .... 72°,8 Borset (Prussia) 70°,0 One of the sources of Kilauea (Hawaii) 65°,0 Carson (Utah), one of the springs 64°,0 Eanomafana (Madagascar) 63°,0 Aix-la-ChapeUe 61°,0 Banos de Mariara (Venezuela) 59°,3 Bagnieres (Pyrenees) 58°,8 Cauterets 55°,0 Great Salt Lake City, the hottest spring 55°,0 Carson (Utah), the coolest spring 53°,0 Loufeche (Switzerland) 52°,2 Barfeges 48o,8 Subterranean Lake of Puna (Hawaii) 45°,0 St. Gervais (Savoy) 36°,6 Courmayeur (Piedmont) 34°,4 Note V. (Vol. I. p. 58.) DISAPPEARANCE OF RIVERS IN THE INTERIOR OF CONTINENTS. Watercourses of various sizes and extent, like the Humboldt, the Carson, the Jordan, the Bear River, the Mojave, etc., which sink and disappear in the sands after forming lakes or lagunes, which have no comraunication with the ocean, give rise in North Araerica to a phenomenon which is observed in Asia and Africa. In the latter, at the entrance of the Sahara, to the south of the French territory, there are many rivers, generally of no great depth, but often of very considerable length, which disappear in NOTES. 52;.i the midst of the desert. Thus, for instance, the Oued-Djedi, which passes by Laghouat, after uniting with the Oued-Biskra flows into Chot-Hamza, or Chot-Daharaoui, and disappears in this great inland lagune. In the same way, to the west, tbe Chot-el-Chergui receives and absorbs the waters of several rivers. More to the south. Lake Tchad in the same way absorbs the watercourses flowing into its basin. In Asia, the Caspian Sea, the Sea of Aral, Lake Lob, etc., present analogous examples of series of rivers forming themselves into lakes, and disappearing by absorption. Though the lakes in which these rivers flow, or the sands in which they disappear, exhibit very marked differences, the causes which rob the ocean of the tribute of certain rivers are tbe same. They are to be found in the configuration of the large basins through which these rivers wind, and the nature of the soil they irrigate. Flowing through plains surrounded on every side by heights, through which they cannot find an outlet, the rivers either form into reservoirs or disappear in the sand, either by absorption or .evaporation. In Utah examples of these differ ent modes of disappearance are to be found. In South Arae rica, in the interior of La Plata, are to be found instances of this phenomenon. In the great lakes of Asia, the water of the rivers flows into vast basins, where they form inland seas. At other times, as is probably the case with Lake Titikaka, the reservoirs would seem to have some comraunication with the ocean through the interior of the earth. Then, again, this is what is seen in the great Hawaii : the rivers do not appear on the surface of the soil, but flow at variable depths through natural channels, and reveal their existence only by the raurraur of their subterranean current, or at the point in which they diserabogue into the sea, wherever the form of the seashore leaves the orifice of the conducting channel open or unobstructed. 524 NOTES. Note VI. (Vol. I. p. 69.) THE LIZARDS OF UTAH. The desert arid plains of Utah give birth to an immense quan tity of bzards. Of these there are two perfectly distinct types. First, the common type, with the body elongated, and more or less cybndrical. Secondly, what may be termed the local type, short, flattened, more or less orbicular or elliptic in forra, with the skin generally covered with tubercles, asperities, or even ap pendages resembling horns. It is the latter type which more frequently attracts the traveller's attention, and which imparts in some sort a peculiar character to these rocky deserts. The elongated type, though represented by a considerable number of species, is much less abundant in individuals. Naturalists recog nize flve species, belonging to as raany genera: — Cnemidophorus tigris, Baird and Gir. Uta stansburyana, — Sceloporus graciosus, Elgaria soiuricauda, — Plestiodon skiltonianum, — The flat lizards, so extraordinary in form and so curious to see, even after being rauch accustoraed to them, are by far raore common ; but though much raore singular, and also more varied in their external characteristics, there have been only six species of them as yet described : — Phrynosoma Douglassii, Gray. platyrhinos, Gir. ; modestum, — orbiculare, Wiegm. ; cornutum, Chray; coronatum, Gir. We do not in the least doubt that the nuraber of species • raight be doubled, especially as- this remarkable type is not li mited to Utah, but is also found in California, New Mexico, Oregon, and Kansas. The Phrynosomas are easily tamed, in NOTKS. 525 spite of the fear they have of raan when they first see hira, and which they show by opening their mouths and puffing at him. They may be kept in cages. We have thus preserved thera for six months, feeding them only on flies and spiders. We even hoped to be able to take some alive to France, but the damp heat of Panama, where they were accidentally detained, killed them in a few days. The lizards of Utah are rather small; none are to be found that in point of size bear any comparison with the large species in the deserts of Africa, like those to be met with between Bou- saada and Biskra. Several Indian tribes consider the flesh of these animals a great delicacy, especially the Mojaves ; but it is not in America alone that lizards serve for food ; at the en trance to the Sahara we saw Arabs eating a particular species, to which our Algerian colonists have given the name oipoisson de sable (sand-fish) . The other reptiles of Utah, such as frogs and snakes, offer no great variety of forms. The rattle-snakes, so common in the Territory, appeared to us to belong to one and the same species. Messrs. Baird and Girard have described, under the name of Coluber Mormon, a viper which bves in the neighbourhood of the Great Salt Lake, and does not usually ex ceed twenty inches in length. Note VII. (Vol. I. p. 91.) THE LOCUST-EATERS. The Indians of North America, who eat what are called crickets, and the savages of Oceania, who eat a grasshopper very much like the Locusta viridissima of Europe, appeared to us to be depraved in their taste. And our stomachs revolted at the idea of so coarse a food. Nevertheless this grasshopper has when eaten a very delicate flavour, much more tasty than our shrimps, especially when they are dressed after the Hawaiian fashion, in Ti leaves {Cordyline australis), which give it a deli cious flavour. In a word, roast grasshoppers figure on the table 520 NOTES. of certain people as a recherche dish, fit for the palate of Lucullus. The prejudices we have with respect to certain kinds of food, the results of habit, often make us look with horror or disgust upon aliments which are every bit as relishing as those we are ac customed to. Thus we who eat oysters, snails, and frogs, shudder at the bare idea of people eating live polypes, raw fish, and lizards. And yet these are aliments of the same nature. Savages, on the other hand, have for certain things a repugnance greater than any we feel. I have seen eaters of lice and fleas vomit at the idea of drinking a glass of water in which was a drowned fly. We who eat the flesh of swine, the most unclean of animals, stigmatize as barbarous and unnatural the taste of people who prefer the flesh of horses and dogs, much superior to the hog both in cleanliness and the good quality of their muscle. This infi nite variety of tastes is justly a raatter of surprise to us when we pass in review the different substances which serve for food among the various nations of the world. It would seem that there is nothing in nature which may not be used for the ali mentation of man. From the mud deposits filled with infusoria or microscopic Crustacea up to the nectar which the bee gathers from flowers, from the lichen of the Sahara to his own flesh, raan lays everything under contribution for his nutriment. Even poisonous plants themselves, such as the Arads, for instance, de prived by the application of heat of the acrid qualities they contain, serve for huraan food.* Reflecting on this, one asks with sur prise how it was that in past ages dearths should have been suf fered to grow into disastrous faraines. Such great scourges for tunately are no longer to be feared in our day, when the raeans of transport are so nuraerous and rapid, and the stock of ali mentary substances can be infinitely increased. * In England, for example, the corms or roots of one of the Arads, the Arum maculatum, are commonly eaten by the country -people in the Isle of Portland. After being macerated and steeped, the powder obtained from them is sent to London, and sold under the name of Portland Sago (Lindley's ' Vegetable Kingdom,' edit. 3, p. 128). Another familiar illus tration is the Cassava {Jatropha Manihot), the roots of whioh are con verted into a pure starch, which, when it settles down, becomes Tapioca. NOTES. .rn Note VIII. (Vol. I. p. 128.) THE FAUNA OF UTAH. Though the Fauna of Utah is as yet very imperfectly known to naturalists, we have no hesitation in regarding it as poor, and of little variety, especially in the lower classes of animals. This poverty is attributable to various causes, araong wliich the raost prominent appear to us to be the geographical and hypsometrical conditions of the country, the dryness of the cliraate, and the barrenness of the soil. We here give a list of raaramifers and birds which are with tolerable certainty known to exist in Utah. MAMMIFEES. Antilocarpa americana. The American antelope. Canis latrans, Say. The true cayote. Castor canadensis, Kuhl. The beaver. Cervus canadensis. The American eland. Lewisii. The black-tailed deer. virginianus. The Virginian deer. Cynomys (Arctomys) ludovicianus, Baird. The prairie-dog, or American marmot. Fehs concolor, Linn. The American panther. Fiber zibethinus, Linn. The Musk-rat. Geomys, (species undetermined). The American gopher. Grulo luscus, Linn. The wolverine or glutton. Lepus. Several species of hares and rabbits imperfectly observed. Meles labradoria, Sabine. The American carcajou. Ovis montana, Desm. The mountain sheep or big horn. Procyon lotor, Storr. The racoon. Putorius erminea, Linn. The ermine. vison, Linn. The mink, or minx. Sciurus. Several species of squirrels not yet well determined. Tamias quadrivittatus. Rich. The American chipmonk, or chipmuk. Ursus horribUis. The grizzly bear. americanus, Pallas. The black bear. , var. cinnamoneus, Aud. and Bach. Vulpes macrurus, Baird. Long-tailed fox, confounded with the cayote. virginianus. Rich. The American grey fox. BIEDS. Accipiter fuscus, Bonap. Anas boschas, Linn. The mallard. 52S NOTES. Anser canadensis, VieiU. erythropus, Linn. Athene (Strix) hypogsea, Cass. The burrowing owl. Buteo borealis, Bonap. Clangula albeola, Bonap. The butter-ball. Colymbus glacialis, Linn. The loon. Cygnus americanus. Sharp. The American swan. Dafila acuta, Bonap. The duck. Fuligula aiEnis, Eyton. The shuffler. Grus canadensis, Temm. The brown crane, 6J feet between the tips of the wings. Larus, species undetermined. The American gull. Leuoostiote tephrocotis, Swains. The finch. Mareca americana, Steph. The bald pate. Niphsea oregona, Aud. The snow-bird. Numenius longirostris, Wils. The curlew. Otocoris occidentalis, M'Call. Pelecanus trachyrhynchus. Lath. The pelican. Phalaorocorax dUophus, Sw. The cormorant. Peucsea Lincolnii, Aiid. A species of American finch. Pterocyanea EajHesii, King. The teal. Querquedula carolinensis, Bonap. A species of teal. Eecurvirostra americana, Gm. The avoset. Sialia macroptera, Baird. The blue bird. Sternella neglecta, Aud. The lark. Symphemia semipalmata. Mart. The willet. Tetrao urophasianus, Bonap. The prairie hen ; grouse. ' Note IX. (Vol. I. p. 131.) CUSTOMS OP THE GAULS AND GERMANS. The people of Germany, according to Tacitus, De Moribus Germanorum, c. xxvii., celebrated the funeral of a distinguished citizen by burning with him his arms and sometimes even a horse, sua cuique arma quorumdam igni et equus adjicitur. We read in Csesar, Bell. Gall. lib. vi., it was a custom among the Gauls to burn with the dead the objects which he most prized, whether animals, slaves, or even followers. The sarae author inforras us the Gauls believed that souls were NOTES. 529 not annihilated, but that after death they passed frora one body to another ; and he adds that this belief whetted their courage, and made them despise death ; — " non interire animas, sed ab aliis post mortem transire ad alios ; atque hoc maxime ad vir- tutem excitari putant, metu raortis neglecto." At Toumay, in 1653, when the tomb of Childeric I., son of Merovius, was opened, there were found in it together with the skeleton, arms, horse-shoes, and a huraan skull, which was sup posed to be that of the servant in charge of the raonarch's horse. These funereal custoras of the ancient inhabitants of Gerraany and Gaul, bear a reraarkable analogy to those we now find among the different inhabitants of North Araerica. Some other usages of the Shoshones remind us also of what Tacitus has told us of the Penni (Mor. Germ. c. xlvi.), "who covered themselves with skins, slept on the ground, put all their hope in their arrows,. . . and found this a happier condition than to be tilling their fields, and putting themselves to the trouble of building houses," etc. Note X. (Vol. I. p. 132.) MUSIC AMONG THE SAVAGES. The inhabitants of Polynesia have a very limited perception of the just relations of rausical sounds. Their rausic is a mono tonous repetition of a few notes. They generally sing at the highest pitch of their voices, in quicker or slower tirae, according to the feeling they desire to express ; and they are incessantly singing either sorae one of their very few native airs, or the psalms and hymns which are taught them. At the outset of their apostolical labours in the Sandwich Is lands and the Marquesas, the missionaries at once abandoned all hope of teaching their converts even the simplest airs. They have often told me that it required more than a year's patient and un ceasing effort on their part, before they could get their pupils to sing so simple an air as " Mon ami Pierrot." At the present VOL. II. 2 M 530 NOTES. time, since the ears of the islanders have been accustomed from infancy to hear correct musical sounds, it requires less time and trouble to form their voices and to practice them in the gamut. Nevertheless, though the missionaries have been for thirty years teaching music iu all the schools, there is not a single instance of any one showing a decidedly musical talent. How happens it that the Shoshones, who are not at all less savage at this day than were the Hawaiians at the time when they were first brought under instruction, have this faculty of correctly appreciating sounds ? Have they found in the marvels of American nature, teachers thai; have imparted to them an idea of melody? One would be inclined to suppose so, especially after penetrating into the Mammotti Cave in the Sierra Nevada, where superb stalactites of gigantic size give out when struck at random with a stick, soft sonorous notes as perfect and agreeable to the ear as are the sounds of our finest bells. Note XI. (Vol. I. p. 181.) CHEMICAL QUALITIES OF THE SALT LAKE. I am not aware that up to this tirae any analysis of the waters of the Salt Lake has been raade in Europe. I must therefore confine myself to transcribing the results arrived at by the American chemists. In a certain weight of water of this lake, Dr. Gale found 22"422 per cent, of solid substances, which on analysis were found to give 20-196 Chloride of sodium. 1'834 Sulphate of soda. 0'252 Chloride of magnesia. . . . Traces of chloride of lime. Fremont procured an analysis of the salt he bronght from the Salt Lake. Here are the results as we find them in his work : — NOTES. 531 Chloride of sodium . . . . 97'80 Chloride of calcium . . . 0-61 Chloride of magnesium . . . 0-24 Sulphate of soda .... . 0-23 Sulphate of lime .... . 1-12 The density of the water varies in all probability with the sea sons, or rather, with the quantity of snow and rain which falls in the country, and which the rivers carry into the Salt Lake. It is obvious that the water must reraain in the grand reservoir before it is saturated. In October, 1855, three quarts of water gave us by evaporation nearly one of salt. The Mormons have often ob tained somewhat more than a quart from the same quantity of water; and we see that in September, 1849, a traveller obtained from twenty quarts of water seven quarts of salt. Note XII. (Vol. I. p. 243.) THE URIM AND THUMMIM. The Urira and Thummim was, as is very well known, a kind of ornament worn by the Jewish high-priest, and which, as is ge nerally supposed, was used for the purpose of consulting the Di vinity and making known his oracles. The Jews suppose that since the captivity of Babylon, God has ceased to make known his will by raeans of the Urim and Thummim. They also agree in believing that the instrument has disappeared; but some of them imagine it will be restored to their race, while others affirm it will never be seen again. Joseph Sraith, without troubling himself much about the history of the fact, declared that Jehovah had restored the Urim and Thummim to him, under the form of a pair of spectacles with thick glasses. 2 M 2 532 NOTES. Note XIII. (Vol. I. p. 243.) CHARACTERS ON THE PLATES OF THE BOOK OF MORMON. Our plate is a fac-simile of the three lines published several years before Joseph Sraith's death in ' The Prophet,' a Mormon journal printed at New York, and then in the ' Millennial Star' of August 13th, 1853, vol. xv. p. 540. The editor of the journal affirms that the three lines are an exact copy of the writing engraved on the original plates of Morraon, frora which Joseph Smith made his translation. He adds, that it was a copy of these lines that Martin Harris showed, in 1827, to Professor Mitchell, and afterwards to Professor Anthon of New York. This last assertion appears to be a piece of deception like all the rest ; for these learned men could not have failed to remark that the three lines in question are formed of characters the pure invention of an ignorant person, and that they bear no resem blance to any ancient writing whatever. The fraud here is self- evident. This, moreover, is not the only opportunity which the imprudent zeal of the Mormon newspaper-writers gives us of surprising them in the actual commission of imposture ; but the faithful, for all this, do not the less seriously believe in the genuineness of this juggling scrawl. On our once pointing out to a member of the Morraon mission in England, the danger which his Church incurred by furnishing such opportunities of attack to the Gentiles, the missionary with great simplicity con fessed that the editor had been blamed in high places for this publication. Note XIV. (Vol. I. p. 251.) CERTIFICATES OF WITNESSES TO THE BOOK OF MORMON. " Testimony of Three Witnesses. " Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, NOTES. 533 unto whom this work shall come, that we, through the grace of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record, which is a record of the book of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites their brethren, and also of the people of Jared, who came from the tower of which hath been spoken ; and we also know they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us; where fore we know of a surety that the work is true, and we also testify that we have seen the engravings that are upon the plates ; and they have been shown to us by the power of God and not of man. And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates and the engravings thereon ; and we know it is by the grace of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ that we beheld and bare record that these things are true, and it is raarvellous in our eyes; nevertheless, the voice of the Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it ; wherefore, to be obedient unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony of these things. And we know that, if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all men, and be found spotless before the judgment-seat of Christ, and shall dwell with him eternally in the heavens. And the honour be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God, Amen. " Oliver Cowdery.* " David Whitmer. " Martin Harris." " Testimony of Eight Witnesses. " Be it known to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come, that Joseph Smith, the translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates which have the appearance of gold : as many of the leaves as the said Smith did translate, we did handle with our hands ; and we also * This witness, after apostatizing, as we know, rejoined the Mormons in 1848, and died in the odour of sanctity, in Eichmond, Missouri, on March 3rd, 1849. 534 NOTES. saw the engravings thereon, all of which have the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship. And this we bear record, with words of soberness, that the said Smith has shown to us, for we have seen and lighted and know of a surety that the said Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken ; and we give our names to the world of that we have seen : and we lie not, God bearing witness of it. " John Whitmer. Hiram Page. " Christian Whitmer. Joseph Smith, Senr. " Jacob Whitmer. Hyrum Smith. " Peter Whitmer, Junr. Samuel H. Smith." Note XV. (Vol. I. p. 267.) the six plates of ILLINOIS. - These bronze plates, which are perfectly genuine, are four inches in length, one inch and three-quarters wide at the top, and two and three-quarters at the bottora. A ring passing through a hole in each of thera, together with two iron clasps, kept thera toge ther. Thus united, the six plates rested on the sternura of a huraan skeleton nine feet in length, which was discovered in a tumulus at a depth of six and a half feet. Dr. William P. Harris, who was on the spot at the time, was commissioned to clean them. He washed them in sulphuric acid diluted with water, and it was only then he perceived that each of the two sides or faces was covered with characters arranged in four perpendicular lines, with the exception of one of the faces where the distribution was in flve lines. Attempts were made in vain to find some learned person who could inter pret this writing, and application w&s then made to Joseph Smith, who did not fail to make a profitable use of the dis covery, by representing it as a new proof of the authenticity of the Book of Morraon. The false prophet did not hesitate to say that he would decipher the writing submitted to him. This is what NOTES. 535 we meet with on the subject in his Autobiography, under May 1st, 1843 : — " I partly translated the characters, and find they comprise the history of the personage on whom the plates were found. He was a descendant from Ham by the loins of Pha raoh, king of Egypt, and he had received his kingdom from him who governs heaven and earth." The two images represented in our engraving were copied from drawings by Orson Pratt, the accuracy of which is attested by trustworthy and irapartial witnesses. Up to this day, the mean ing of the characters reraains unexplained. An account of similar relics of a civilization that has passed away, was given by Wil liam Bolsover, at Tuccabatchey Square, on the 27th of July, 1759, which is to be found in Adair's ' History of the North American Indians,' and is cited by Lord Kingsborough, ' Mexican Antiquities,' viii. pp. 357, 358. Note XVI. (Vol. I. p. 267.) THE GOLDEN PLATE OF OHIO. In the course of the year 1847, Mr. Benjamin E. Styles, when sinking a cistern on the banks of the Ohio, at Cincinnati, found, at a depth of nine feet ten inches, a gold plate with wavy edges, from three to four inches in length, and very nearly an inch wide, a little more than the tenth of an inch thick, and covered entirely over with engravings representing a variety of objects. The narrow frame which surrounds the plate is also in gold. Dr. Wise, the Rabbi of the synagogue of Cincinnati, has exarained this valuable plate, and fancied he recognized forras which for the most part belong to Egyptian art. It is quite certain that we are struck at the first glance with the reserablance of these figures to Egyptian hieroglyphics, but it is equally certain that there is a marked difference between thera, and that the learned in hieroglyphics declare that they do not at all comprehend them. They are Mexican glyphs, which cannot be explained in 536 NOTES. the present state of our knowledge. The print we have given of this very curious American antiquity, is copied from an en graving pubbshed by Drake and Co., printers, at St. Louis, Mis souri. Note XVII. (Vol. I. p. 301.) THE PAPYRI OF ABRAHAM. On the 3rd of July, 1835, Michael H. Chandler arrived at Kirt land with several Egyptian mummies, which he publicly exhibited for raoney. Halving understood that Joseph Smith would be able to interpret the papyri found with the muraraies. Chandler called upon Sraith and submitted the papyri to him. " I instantly gave hira the interpretation," says the Prophet, in his Autobiography, " and hcj like a gentleman, gave me the following certificate." "Zirtland, July 6th, 1835. " This is to make known to all who raay be desirous, concern ing the knowledge of Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., in deciphering the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic characters, in my possession ; which I have, in many eminent cities, showed to the most learned; and, frora the information that I could ever learn, or meet with, I find that of Mr, Smith, jun., to correspond in the raost minute raatters. "Michael H. Chandler, " TraveUing with, and proprietor of, Egyptian mummies." A few days after the signing of this grotesque certificate, several of the devout of Kirtland clubbed together to purchase the rauraraies and papyri, which they presented to the Prophet. The latter, with W. W. Phelps, and O. Cowdery for his secretary, ' immediately set to work upon the translation. " And much to our joy," he says, " we found that one of these rolls contained the w ritings of Abraham, another the writings of Joseph, etc. . . . NOTES. 537 Truly we can say that the Lord is beginning to reveal the abun dance of peace and truth."* It was not, however, for a considerable time afterwards (in ' The Times and Seasons,' 1842) that the Prophet determined to publish the translation he had so glibly made. This is the ac count he gives of the raatter, in his Autobiography, under the date of Deceraber 31st, 1835t : — " Who these ancient inhabitants of Egypt were, I do not at present say. . . . The record of Abraham and Joseph found with the mummies, is beautifully written on papyrus with black, and a small part red ink or paint, in perfect preservation. The cha racters are such as you find upon the coffins of mummies, hiero glyphics, etc., with many characters or letters like the present (though probably not quite so square,) form of the Hebrew with out points. The records were obtained from one of the cata combs in Egypt, near the place where once stooci the renowned city of Thebes, by the celebrated French traveller Antonio Se- bolo, in the year 1831. He procured a, licence from Mehemet AH, then Viceroy of Egypt, under the protection of Chevaber Drovetti, the French consul, iu the year 1828, and era ployed 433 men four months and two days, — if I understood correctly, Egyp tian or Turkish soldiers, ^ — at from four to six cents per diem each man, entered the catacomb June the 7th, 1831, and procured eleven mummies. There were several hundred mummies in the same catacomb. . . On his way from Alexandria he put in at Trieste, and after ten days' illness expired in 1832. Previous to his decease, he made a will of the whole to Mr. Michael H. Chandler (then in Philadelphia, Pa.) his nephew, whora he supposed to have been in Ireland. Accordingly, the whole were sent to Dublin, and Mr. Chandler's friends ordered them to New York, where theywere received at the custom-house in the spring or winter of 1833. In the month of April of the same year, Mr. Chandler paid the duties and took possession of his raummies. On opening the coffins, he discovered that in connection with two of the bodies was something rolled up in linen, saturated with bitumen, and * Autobiography, July, 1835. t Deseret News, July 24, 1852, vol. ii. No. 19. 538 NOTES. which turned out to be rolls of papyrus. Two or three other small pieces of papyrus with astronomical calculations, epitaphs, etc., were found with others of the muramies. Mr. Chandler, who expected to find diamonds or other valuables, was disap pointed. He was iraraediately told, while yet in the custom house, that there was no man in the city who could translate the roll, but was referred by the same gentleman, a stranger, to a Mr. Joseph Smith, jun., who, continued he, possesses sorae kind of power or gifts, by which he had previously translated similar characters. I was then unknown to Mr. Chandler, neither did he know that such a book or work as the record of the Nephites had been brought before the public. He took his collection on to Philadelphia, where he obtained the certiflcate of the learned, (see Messenger and Advocate,' p. 235,) and from thence came on to Kirtland. Thus I have given a brief history of the manner in which the writings of Abraham and Joseph have been pre served, and how I came in possession of the sarae — a correct translation of which I shall give in its proper place." Let us now see how the Prophet enters upon his translation ; we shall presently know what it is worth. THE BOOK OF ABEAHAM; " A translation of sorae ancient records that bad fallen into our hands frora the catacorabs of Egypt, purporting to be the writings of .Abrahara while he was in Egypt, called the Book of Abrahara, written by his own hand, upon papyrus. Translated froyn the Papyrus by Joseph Smith. " In the land of the Chaldeans, at the residence of ray father, I, Abrahara, saw that it was needful for me to obtain another place of residence, and finding there was greater happiness and peace and rest for rae, I sought for the blessings of the fathers and the right whereunto I should be ordained to adrainister the sarae ; having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring to be one also who possessed great knowledge, and to possess greater knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness. NOTES. 639 and to be a father of many nations, a prince of peace ; and de siring to receive instruction and to keep the comraandraents of God, I became a rightful heir, a high-priest holding the right belonging to the father : it was conferred upon rae from the fathers, from the beginning of time, yea, even from the beginning, of or before the foundations of the earth to the present time, even the right of the first-born on the first man, who is Adam, or first father, through the fathers unto me. . . . And it came to pass that the priests laid violence upon me, that they might slay me also, as they did those virgins upon this altar ; and that you may have a knowledge of this altar, I will refer to the represen tation at the commencement of this record. It was made after the form of a bedstead, such as was had araong the Chaldeans, and it stood before the gods of Elkenah, Libnah, Mahmackrah, Korash, and also a god like unto that of Pharaoh king of Egypt. That you may have an understanding of these gods, I have given you the fashion of them in the figures at the beginning, which manner of the figures is called by the Chaldeans, Rahleenos, which signifies hieroglyphics." And so he goes on with the same kind of gibberish, through a score of pages. The whole of the translation has not yet been pubUshed. As far as we are acquainted with it, Abraham re lates his actions, journeys into Egypt, receives frora God lessons in astronoray, revelations on the genesis of the earth and of man, etc. Let us now see what science has to say with respect to the real meaning of the three papyri, which the Morraons regard as writings frora the hand of Abrahara. A young savant of the museura of the Louvre, M. Theodule Deveria, has been so good as to examine at our request the drawings which we bor rowed frora the Mormons. We are happy to be able to pubhsh in this place, and with his perraission, the result of his inquiry. Here, then, is the description of Joseph Sraith's three famous rolls of papyrus. 540 NOTES. FEAGMENTS OF EGYPTIAN FUNEEAEY MSS. CONSIDERED BT THE MOEMONS TO BE ATJTOGKAPH MEMOIRS OF ABRAHAM. No. 1. HIEROGLYPHICS REPRESENTING THE RESURRECTION OF OSIRIS. Interpretation. Of the Mormon Prophet. Fig. 1. The angel of the Lord. 2. Abraham fastened upon an altar. 3. The idolatrous priest of Elkenah attempting to offer up Abraham as a sacrifice. 4. The altar for sacrifice by the idolatrous priest standing before the gods of Elkenah, Libnah, Mahmackrah, Korash and Pharaoh. 5. The idolatrous god of El kenah. 6. The idolatrous god of Lib nah. 7. The idolatrous God of Mahmackrah. 8. The idolatrous god of Korash. 9. The idolatrous god of Pharaoh. Of the Sieroglyphists. Fig. 1. The soul of Osiris, under the forra of a hawk (which should have a huraan head) . 2. Osiris coraing to life on his funeral couch, which is in the shape of a lion. 3. The god Anubis (who should have a jackal's head) effecting the resurrection of Osiris. 4. The funereal bed of Osiris, under which are placed the four sepulchral vessels called cana pes, each of them surmounted by the head of one of the four genii. 5. Kebh - son - iw, with a hawk's head. 6. Tioumautew, with a jackal's head. 7. H^pi, with a dog's head. 8. Amset, with a human head. 9. The sacred crocodile, sym bolic of the god Sebet. NOTES. 541 10. Abraham in Egypt. 10. Altar laden with offer ings. 11. Design to represent the 11. An ornament peculiar to pillars of heaven, as understood Egyptian art. by the Egyptians. 12. Raukeeyang, signifying 12. Customary representa- expause, or the firmament ovpr tion of ground in Egyptian our heads ; but in this case, in paintings. (The word Shaumau relation to this subject, the is not Egyptian, and the He- Egyptians raeant it to signify brew word ?'.o« is badly copied.) Shaumau to be high, or the heavens, answering to the He brew Shaumahyeem. M. Deveria observes, with respect to this papyrus, that he never saw the resurrection of Osiris represented in funerary MSS. He is of opinion that, if it exists, it must be ex tremely rare, and that if the present figure be not a modern imitation of the great bas-reliefs in which this raythological scene be represented, it has at all events been altered, for Anubis should have a jackal's head. No. 2. hypocephalus, or funerary disk, to which the ancient egyptians ascribed the virtue of preserving the prin ciple of life or vital heat in the mummies, and of developing itself in the day of the resurrection.* Interpretation. By the Mormon Prophet. By the Sieroglyphist. Fig. 1. Kolob, signifying the Fig. 1. The spirit of the four first creation, nearest to the eleraents (according to Cham- celestial, or the residence of pollion), or rather of the four God. First in government, the vrinds, or the four cardinal * Mr. Samuel Birch, of the British Museum, who was the first to ex plain the funerary object and use of these hypocephali (Archseologia, vol. xxxvi. p. 174), considers them as representing the pupU of one of the 542 NOTES. last pertaining to the measure ment of time. The raeasure- ment according to celestial time; which celestial time sig nifies one day to a cubit. One day in Kolob is equal to a thousand years, according to the measureraent of this earth, which is called by the Egyp tians Jah-oh-eh. 2. Stands next to Kolob, called by the Egyptians Olib- lish, which is the next grand governing creation, near to the celestial or the place where God resides; holding the key of power also, pertaining to other planets ; as revealed from God to Abraham, as he offered sa crifice upon an altar which he had built unto the Lord. 3. Is made to represent God, sitting upon his throne, clothed points ; the soul of the terres trial world. This God is al ways represented with four rams' heads, and his image has certainly been altered here. — They have also evidently made a very clumsy attempt at copy ing the double human head of the god figured above, fig. 2, instead of the four rams' heads. — The word Jah - oh - eh has nothing Egyptian in it ; it re sembles the Hebrew word mn' badly transcribed. 2. Ammon-Ra, with two hu man heads, meant probably to represent both the invisible or mysterious principle of Ammon, and the visible or luminous principle of Ra, the sun ; or else the double and simultane ous principle of father and son ; which characterizes divinity in the religion of ancient Egypt. — The word Oliblish is no more Egyptian than those already raet with, nor than those which are to be found in the Mormon explanation. 3. The god Ra, the sun, with a hawk's head, seated in symbolical eyes described in ch. 163 of the funerary ritual, and understands it to be the image pf the genesis of the sun. But, according to M. Deveria, we ought rather to see in the disposition and arrangement of the figures contained in it, representations relating to the two celestial hemispheres, that is to say, in the first place, to the superior hemisphere, above the personification of the terrestrial world, and afterwards inversely, to the inferior hemisphere that is opposed to it. NOTES. with power and authority : with a crown of eternal light upon his head : representing, also, the grand Key- Words of the Holy Priesthood, as revealed to Adam in the Garden of Eden, as also to Seth, Noah, Mel chizedek, Abraham, and all to whom the Priesthood was re vealed. 4. Answers to the Hebrew word raukeeyang, signifying ex panse, or the firmament of the heavens ; also, a numerical fi gure, in Egyptian signifying one thousand ; answering to the measuring of the time of Olib lish, which is equal with Kolob in its revolution and in its mea suring of time. 5. Is called in Egyptian Enish-go-on-dosh ; that is one of the governing planets also; and is said by the Egyptians to be the Sun, and to borrow its light frora Kolob through the medium of Kae-e-vanrash, which is the grand Key, or in other words, the governing power, which governs fifteen other fixed planets or stars, as also Floeese, or the Moon, the Earth, and the Sun, in their annual revolutions. This pla net receives its power through the medium of Kb-flos-is-es, or his l)oat. In the field, the two symbolical eyes figuring, accord ing to M. de Rouge, the fixed points of an astronomical period. 4. The Hebrew word v^, Roki'a, expansum, solidum, crn- lum, firmamentum, besides be ing badly described, has no re lation whatever to this figure, which represents a raummi- fied hawk, called in Egyptian Ah'em. It is the symbol of the divine repose of death ; its extended vrings have reference to the resurrection. 5. The mystic cow, the great cow, symbolizing the inferior hemisphere of the heavens. It is called the virgin cow at ch. 162 of the funerary ritual, which particularly enjoins that its image be painted on the hypocephalus, and another im age of it in gold on the throat of the defunct. It is a forra of Hathor, who figures on several raonuraents under the name of womS, gold. Behind the cow is a goddess, whose head, represented by a mystic eye in a disk, is incorrectly copied. 544 NOTES. Hah-ko-kau-beam, the stars re presented by numbers 22 and 23, receiving light from the re volutions of Kolob. 6. Represents this earth in its four quarters. 7. Represents God sitting upon his throne, revealing, through the heavens, the grand Key-Words of the Priesthood ; as, also, the sign of the Holy Ghost unto Abraham, in the form of a dove. 8. Contains writing that can not be revealed unto the world ; but is to be had in the Holy Temple of God. 9. Ought not to be revealed at the present time. 10. Also. 11. Also. — If the world can find out these numbers, so let it be. Amen. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20, will be given in 6. The four funerary genii, the sons of Osiris, Amset, H&pi, Tioumautew, and Kebh- soniw. 7. The form of Ammon, with a bird's tail, or Horammon (?) . An ithyphallic serpent, with human legs, offers him a sym bolical eye. This last figure has certainly been altered in the hypocephalus of the Mor mons. 8, 9, 10, 11. Four lines of the linear hieroglyphic text, which are numbered frora bottom to top, instead of from top to bottom. The meaning is : — 0 great God in Sekhem ; 0 great God, Lord of heaven, earth, and hell . . . Osiris S'es'enq. These last words inforra us that the personage in whose mummy this hypocephalus was found, was called S'es'enq or S'eson- chis, a name written Sesak in the Bible, and of which there is no known example anterior to the twenty- second dynasty; that is, to the ninth century before our era, but which may be much posterior to it. 12-15. Four lines of writing similar to the former, of which NOTES. 546 the own due time of the Lord. The above translation is given as far as we have any right to give, at the present time. they are the pendant. They appear to be numbered upside- down, and are illegibly copied. 16-17. Two raore lines, which cannot be deciphered in the copy. The upper line is the first. 18. A circular legend, al most illegible in the copy. It begins above the god with two huraan heads, fig. 2 ; and there is in it twice raention made of a sacred dweUing-place in He- liopolis. 19-21. Three columns of writing, illegible in the copy. It is evident to rae that several of the figures to be found in these various MSS. have been intentionally altered. T. Deveria. No. 3. INITIAL PAINTING OP A FUNERARY MS. OF THE LOWER EPOCH, WHICH CANNOT BE ANTERIOR TO THE BEGINNING OF THE ROMAN DOMINION. Interpretation. sitting By the Sieroglyphists. Fig. 1. Crisis on his seat. By the Mormon Prophet. Pig. 1. Abraham* upon Pharaoh's throne, by the pobteness of the king, with a crown upon his head, repre senting the Priesthood, as em- * In our engraving this picture refers to the second person, counting irom left to right. VOL. II. 2 N 546 NOTES. blematical of the grand Presi dency in Heaven; with the sceptre of justice and judgment in his hand. 2. King Pharaoh, the first person on the left of our engra ving, whose name is given in the characters above his head. 3. Signifies Abrahara in Egypt ; as before in the inter pretation of No. 1. fig. 10. 4. Prince of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, as written above the hand. 5. Shulem, one of the king's principal waiters, as represent ed by the characters above his hand. 2. The goddess Isis. The star she carries in her right hand is the sign of life. 3. Altar, with the offering of the deceased, surraounted with lotus-flowers signifying the offering of the defunct. 4. The goddess Ma. 5. The deceased led by Ma into the presence of Osiris. His narae is Horus, as raay be seen in the prayer which is at the bottom of the picture, and which is addressed to the di vinities of the four cardinal points. 6. An unknown divinity, probably Anubis ; but his head, which ought to be that of a jackal, has been changed. 6. Olimlah, a slave belonging to the prince. Abrahara is reasoning upon the principles of astronoray, in the king's court. After the disclosures we have just made, if the Mormons per sist in believing that their Prophet cannot lie, they will at least allow that the divining faculty of the Urim and Thummim is not infallible. But at the worst they raay console themselves with the reflection that there is more than one brilliant name in the Christian hagiology answerable for equally reraarkable frauds of the kind, by coraraon consent styled pious. See Mosheim, ' De Rebus Christianorura ante Constantinum,' pp. 78-81, and ' Eccle siastical History,' vol. i. pp. 298, 358, on this subject, and^for^the trick played by St. Ambrose. NOTKS. 547 Note XVIIL (Vol. II. p. 44.) BAPTISM FOR THE DEAD. The coramentators, whether Catholic or Protestant, do not agree as to the interpretation to be given to 1 Corinthians xv. 29. The same thing happened among the Christians of the primitive Church ; some of them, relying on this passage, thought them selves justified in baptizing after death the catechumens who had manifested the desire of receiving baptism, a practice regarded as an abuse, and conderaned by the Council of Carthage ; others, again, understood by it that a living raan might receive baptism in the place of a dead one, and thus enable hira to obtain pardon for his sins. In his book ' De Resurrectione Carnis,' TertuUian speaks of this superstition, which, as is generally adraitted, was shared by the Siraonians, Gnostics, the Nicolaitans, the Cerin- tbians, and Marcionites, and possibly other heretics besides, who denied the resurrection, and at the sarae tirae baptized the living for the dead.* Modern theologians have given a plausible in terpretation to tbe verse of St. Paul, which would be perfectly satisfactory were it true that in the time of the apostle baptism for the dead was in use among certain Christians. These theo logians affirm that St. Paul's object was to refute the doctrine of those who received baptism for the dead, or in place of the dead, and who imagined that those who died without having been able to receive this sacrament would in the other life ob tain pardon for their sins through the merit of the baptism ad ministered for them to their living relations and friends; just as the Roman Catholics now attribute to the prayer and the alms made on behalf of the dead, the virtue of purifying them in the other world from the sins which they have not sufficiently expiated in this. The text of the Epistle to the Corinthians naturally leads to this interpretation, setting aside the chrono logical question. Ecclesiastical history informs us that the Ce- * Chrysostom says positively that the Marcionites administered bap tism for the dead. 2 N 2 548 NOTES. rinthians and the Marcionites, who denied or misunderstood the doctrine of the resurrection, did not omit to practise the cere mony of baptisra for the dead. They supposed that the resur rection consisted simply in the renewal of grace, and in the justi fication which baptisra confers; and as Jesus Christ proraised that the dead should rise again, they concluded that the dead theraselves would receive the justifying grace, and consequently baptism, which is the sacraraent of the remission of sins. But as the dead could not receive baptism of themselves, the here tics asserted that their friends raight procure thera this resur rection by receiving the sacrament in their place and on their account, just as children raight discharge their parents' debts. According to this view, St. Paul's intention was to corabat the errors of the Marcionites; and in order to foil his adversaries with their own weapons, he showed them that their conduct was vain and ridiculous, since they did not believe that the dead rose again. " If the dead rise not again," he said, " it is absurd to be baptized for them. For if there be no resurrection from the dead, there is no further hope after this life, and then what pro fits it to be baptized for the dead ?" See Bergier, and the Bible of Avignon, ad loc. The Morraons, without troubling themselves about the exact sense of St. Paul's words, make use of them to prove that they are in accordance with the practice of the primitive Church, and accordingly baptized the living for the benefit of the dead, whom they desired to raise to the rank of gods. Note XIX. (Vol. Lpp.xxii., 161, 171.) THE SHAKERS. The history of this remarkable sect is so well known in Eng land, that I will confine myself to an account of my personal observations made in the brief visit which Mr. Brenchley and myself paid their comraunity in 1857. NOTES. 549 We left New York at the end of August. Instead of taking the rail for Albany, we went on board one of those enormous three-decked steamboats which ply on the Hudson. I will just remark that nothing can be finer and more majestic than the course of this river, which is in fact the king of rivers in the temperate zone. Nothing can equal the impression it leaves. The raan raust be far gone in sadness indeed who does not feel his spirits bound again on its blue waters, flowing through banks the raost lovely and picturesque that it is possible to con ceive. In this enchanting excursion there is a feeling of con tinuous, varied, and irresistible enjoyraent, which is especially felt by those who have for a long time lived in farailiar intercourse with nature, and who have a taste for its wonders. The Rhine and the St. Lawrence have their charms and their merits, but they are in all respects inferior — unless, indeed, we are to except the Rhine, in as far as its ruins, those living witnesses of the past, are concerned — to the noble river whose unequalled splen dour the Americans vaunt with so much pride and so much rea son. Even tbe " Father of Waters," the iraraense Mississippi, must itself yield the palm of beauty to tbe Hudson, On reaching the town of Hudson, a few miles below Albany, we landed, and took the Boston railway, which in an hour's time brought us to the iron-mines at Canaan. Thence we went, by a hilly road, to the village of New Lebanon, famous for its mineral waters, which in the fine season contend with those of Saratoga for the honour of attracting the fashionable world of New York. The hotel, where we took up our quarters, was only a mile frora the Shaker settlement. We went there one Sunday, taking with us a letter of introduction to the ministry or gov.. ning body. The admirable cleanliness which everywhere pervades the settleraent, would dispose the raost prejudiced person to look with favour on its inhabitants. It is irapossible to conceive anything beyond it. The grounds of the most beautiful park in England could not be more carefully kept up than the roads and streets of the Shaker village. We might imagine we were approaching some princely doraain, such is the appearance of opulence derived from the scrupulous neatness. The buildings, too, have an aspect so pleas- 550 NOTES. ing, so sraart, "so new, that it really seems as if their walls were daily scrubbed from top to bottom. The curtains seen through the windows are of a whiteness which smells sweet, if I raay so express rayself. We knocked at the door of the principal build ing, and presented our letters to one of the merabers, who took thera to the person they were intended for. They then led away our horses, and showed us into the waiting-roora, where the only furniture was chairs. The dress of the Shakers first attracted our attention. It is siraple, but striking. The raen have their hair cut short in the front, and leave it long behind. A large loose coat, with a straight collar and single row of buttons, reaches to just below their knees. The waistcoat, buttoned to tbe top, has deep skirts covering the thighs. The shirt-collar of white linen is worn without any cravat. The pantaloons reached down to the ankle, without reaching the shoe. The hat is a broad-brimmed one, generally of straw. The dress of the women is not more elegant. Their hair is cut short, and a muslin high cap covers their head, with an ef fect far from graceful. They fasten a white kerchief over their shoulders, which wraps the breast, and raeets a narrow skirt, the waist of which . reaches as high as the bosom, and the body of which has very narrow sleeves. White stockings and laced shoes coraplete their dress. After waiting sorae little time, one of the ministers joined us : he was bare-headed and dressed in the fashion I have described. Without a salutation of any kind, he at once entered into conver sation. He told us that the public Sunday worship being over, it was irapossible to give us the opportunity we wished for of wit nessing it. I at once felt the difficulty of our position, and to get over it had recourse to a soraewhat diplomatic stratagem. I talked to him of the journey we had jlist made in the Rocky Mountains for the purpose of seeing and studying the Morraons. He was a raan who prized liberty of conscience above everything. My narrative interested hira ; he took pity on my curiosity, and consented to our being present at the afternoon worship, a fa vour he granted entirely on account of my zeal in the pursuit of NOTES. 551 truth. We wore now left alone. At the end of a quarter of an hour, a sort of raaster of the cereraonies carae, and led us to the chapel. This was merely a large hall, floored and wainscoted with oak. All around, fixed against the wall, was a narrow bench without cushions. Excepting this, there was not a piece of fur niture to be seen. No pictures, no statues, nothing but racks with pegs to hang coats on. All was simple, but shining, and agreeably clean. The congregation soon after entered, the men by one door, the woraen by another. As it was a service of voluntary devotion, the children were not present ; they had already perforraed their sabbath devotions in the large church. The religious exercises opened with a sermon frora the rai nister. The congregation, which had remained standing while the minister was preaching, knelt on the right knee during the prayer, which followed the serraon. Then the raen took off their coats, and ranged themselves in double file, followed by the wo men in the same order, and holding each of them a white nap kin on her arm, like feraale waiters. These arrangeraents raade, the dance began; they raoved in a circle, keeping up a kind of chant, siraple and rather lively, raarking the tirae with their feet, on the floor, while their hands and arms raoved about to the measure. After the first dance was over, the believers, again standing, listened to an exhortation from one of the elders. One of the sisters then said a few words in her turn, after which one of the ministers raade an exterapore prayer. After this the dance was renewed as before, with another hymn to the same air; and when this was done, a concluding exhortation terminated the service. It will be easily understood that this exhibition was ludicrous at first. The moving figures rerainded one of those impish sil houettes which a magic-lantern projects upon the wall. With difficulty I kept frora laughing, but overcome at last by the re ligious seriousness of these people, and their evident sincerity, I recovered my composure and looked with respect upon their fan tastic piety. Whatever, in fact, be their errors as believers, their hearts are as pure as their lives, and therefore their songs 552 NOTES.. and their dances can hardly fail to be acceptable in the sight of God. The good Chartreux of Bosserville and of Dauphiny do not put more soul into their matins when they rise in the middle of the night to worship God in his teraple. The principal occupations of the Shakers are agriculture, hor ticulture, the manufacture of different articles of domestic use, and chiefly those raost required by the coraraunity. They pre pare the materials for their own clothes, cultivate medicinal plants, prepare pomades, unguents, etc. ; they have a great re putation as farmers and gardeners, and the seeds which they send to market are said to obtain the preference over all others. They are very charitable, never refusing assistance to the needy, to whatever sect they may belong. They are very highly respected in the neighbourhoods of their communities, where no one would ever think of offering them any annoyance. Temperance and chas tity, simplicity and corafort, cleanliness, industry, and prudent econoray, such are the capital features of their doraestic life. In the community at New Lebanon, containing six hundred members, divided into families fifty or sixty in nuraber, every thing is in coraraon, under the management of the directory or ministry. No one is permitted to enter or join the sect without previously raaking a surrender of his or her property to the coraraunity. The raembers on entering engage to observe the raost absolute chastity, even when it happens that they are raar- ried couples. The raen and women reside apart, but frequently meet together for religious or social purposes. Married people joining the society may enrol their children in it, and any person may send his children there to be educated and trained until of age, when they are left to choose whether they will become mem bers of the community or leave it. I remarked that the children I saw were as clean as everything about them, and of great ap parent amiability and openness of disposition. During this visit to the Shakers I made what appears to me an observation of some interest : I thought the women — at least, those I saw — were all very ugly; but I raust hasten to add, that many were hand sorae from the intelligence that lit up their faces, and that they all, frOra their sweetness of expression and look, were highly in teresting. NOTES. 553 In passing through the neighbouring villages it was but one continuous chorus of praises, whenever the Shakers were men tioned. This single fact speaks raore for them than would a thousand others. Note XX. (Vol. II. p. 169.) THE AMERICAN PEASANT WOMEN. It can hardly be conceived in Europe, to what a degree of civilization and even of refinement, the women who in the United States answer to the class of peasant women in France, have at tained. There we do not see that vulgar cast of countenance, that awkward heavy gait, the dirty unsightly dress, the half barbarous character of mind, yet too often to be met with in our rural districts, so that we might really suppose we were contemplating sorae race different from our own, were we not aware of the transformations which education works. The female American rustic is neatly and tastefully dressed, her hands are white and show no marks of toil, and the tone of her voice is agreeable and feminine ; her language, though not always correct, is free from those coarse and revolting expressions which in some moment of irritation will escape frora the lips of our peasant women. In a word, if the heart be not better, if the kernel be not sounder, the shell at all events is less rough, and this is a great matter as respects the charm of social life. On seeing the wife of an Araerican labourer, it is the easiest thing in the world to mistake her for the wife of some well-to-do townsman ruralizing, and to feel quite persuaded she passes her life without having anything to do. But, on the contrary, she is extreraely busy, and continually and usefully occupied. She does all the house- work, cooking, washing ; she raanages the poul try, dairy, etc., and all this with a cleverness, good taste, and an air of happiness and content at once surprising and debghtful. 554 NOTES. These domestic qualities of the American countrywoman re flect theraselves on everything around her. Her house is a little palace, in which elegance, cleanliness, and comfort reign, with out the slightest sacrifice to appearance. The approach to the house is as much looked to as the house itself, and is never ob structed with that filth which too frequently proclaims the slo venliness of our peasants. Water and soap for personal clean liness are never spared, and a house is considered incomplete that has not a water-closet or a spotlessly clean out-house for a sirailar purpose, a consideration of great iraportance, but which, unfortunately, throughout the greater part of Europe, is not valued as it ought to be, even among classes much richer than the one of which we are speaking. People are never to be seen, as with us in France, sleeping in stables among the cattle, in beds which are never raade, and sheets which go for raonths unwashed. Nor is it esteeraed good raanagement to be clad six days in rags, in order to wear expensive clothes on the seventh. It is thought better to be tidily dressed at all tiraes, which is found to be more agreeable and quite as cheap. Out of respect for the woman, and through her influence, the husband, children, and farra servants, — of course I ara now speaking of the higher class of farraers, — on returning horae frora work in the evening, wash theraselves from head to foot, and dress for tea, which in this country is a varied and substantial meal. The table is served with taste, often with elegance, always with exquisite neatness. Sometimes there is rausic in the drawing-roora, for it is not unusual to meet with pianos. All this is due to the woraan, who receives in re turn from her husband those respectful and considerate attentions which are her reward for the comfort and well-being which she diffuses around her. And it is not in the old States only that this comfort and cleanliness is observable ; the same thing is to be found in the West, even to the remotest outposts occupied by the whites. When we plunge into our rural districts on the continent of Europe, after seeing the relative comfort enjoyed by the rustic populations of the United States, we becorae painfully sensible of the miserable aspect of the tenements of our peasants, of their NOTKS. mode of life, and of their dirt. I am well aware they try to ex cuse themselves by phading their indigence and incessant occu pation ; but this excuse is valueless as respects cleanliness, which, iu point of fact, is nothing else than a habit. Note XXI. (Vol. II. p. 192.) SIMPLICITY OF THE POLYNESIAN ALPHABET. The natural facility which the natives of Polynesia have for learning to read and write, is singularly aided by the simplicity of their alphabet. In the Sandwich Islands, for instance, the alphabet contains only five vowels, a, e, i, o, u, and seven conso nants, h, k, I, m, n, p, v. Two consonants never coming toge ther, and all the words ending in a vowel, the result is, that the orthography is marvellously simplified. Hence it may be said that all that a native of these favoured countries requires is to know the twelve letters of his alphabet, in order to be able to read his own language with perfect facility. In the same way he knows how to write correctly, as soon as his hand has been taught to forra these twelve characters ; for in every case the word is pronounced as it is written. If a raan can learn in half an hour to distinguish twelve persons by their names, it is probable that he will in the same time learn to read, for, in this fortunate Polynesian tongue, all that there is to do is to retain the form of these twelve signs in order to make out al] the words of which the language consists. This advantage, peculiar to the Polyne sian language, will enable us to comprehend how it is, that in the Sandwich Islands we do not find, out of a hundred individuals, young or old, men or women, ten who do not know how to read and write with ease. This result, which is mainly due to the American missionaries, is all the raore a raatter of surprise, inas much as even the idea of a written language did not exist in Hawaii forty years ago. 556 NOTES. Note XXII. (Vol. II. pp. 262, 4l3.) TEMPERATURE OF UTAH. As far as we know, there exists no work containing a scientific account of the raeteorology of Utah. All that we can do, there fore, is to say, in a general way, that its climate is a temperate one. We here subjoin such observations as we were able to make or collect in reference to it. THERMOMETEICAL OBSERVATIONS Made at Great Salt Lake City (Union Square), from the 26th of September to the 26th of October, 1855, by M. Jtjles Eemy. Day of Month. 6 A.M. Noon. 6 f .M. Day of Month. 6 A.M. Noon. 6 P.M. 3=26 10,0 26,2 23,0 012 4,8 15,9 4,8 127 10,0 21,2 21,2 Il3 i;2 20,0 14,6 B 28 13,0 21,2 19,5 i"i4 13,6 21,2 12,6 |'29 10,0 21,2 19,5 15 19,0 21,2 17,7 30 10,0 21,2 20,0 16 4,8 20,6 15,9 O 1 9,0 21,2 20,0 17 10,0 14,6 10,7 1 2 19,5 21,2 21,5 18 4,8 11,8 4,8 r 3 19,0 25,6 21,2 19 4,8 4,8 4,0 ' 4 7,4 28,9 25,0 20 —0,6 3,6 1,4 5 7,4 ' 23,0 21,2 21 —2,8 1,8 1,4 6 17,4 23,0 19,0 22 —1,0 1,3 -1,3 7 7,4 15.9 19,5 23 —2,8 4,8 —0,9 8 4,8 14,6 4,8 21 —6,5 4,8 4,8 9 2,4 10,0 4,8 25 1,8 4,8 4,8 10 —1,1 10,0 10,0 26 —2,8 4,8 3,5 11 —1,1 12,6 9,2 in o o g ¦< >> .ii H to IO O O) -3¦aCO O 1^' ¦* 50 o. IO CO o o o IO CO CD CD ^ •>* CD IO q. lO CO o IO q CD CD IO CD IO O IO IO CD 1^ 03 oJ lO ,-H w 00* t~r oq- ¦>?" -( 00 IN in" r-* IN T-( 00 ¦<* CD 1;~ (M CO CO CO CO (N < a O CO CO CO IO •* q_ CO IO q. CD CO o_ O q. 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Ebmine, I. 128. Etheb (the Prophet), writes the his tory of the Israehtes, I. 258. Eve, was one of the wives of Adam,, II. 37. Evening and Mobning Stab. A Journal estabhshed by J. Smith, I. 281 ; — ^reply to the attacks of the American Press, 283. Exhibitions of agricultural and indus trial products at Great Salt Lake City, II. 269. Exodus of tho Mormons, commenced in Febmary, 1816, I. 421 ; — accom pUshed September 17th, 425, Exportation, next to nothing, II. 270. Expositor (the), a journal established to oppose the Mormons, I. 388 ; — its presses are destroyed by order of the Prophet, 389 ; — rises from its ruins, 416. F. Fae-West, a colony of the Mormons ; its dissensions, 1. 309 ; — sale of spirits forbidden, 810. Faith, is not wearing out among men, Introd. xxiv, ; — hidependent of creed, Ixxix. ; — springs from hberty, cxx. Family Tribunal, II. 24fl, 241. Fauna of Utah, causes of its poverty ; hst of maramifers and birds, II. 527. Fauee, a French restaurateur at Los Angeles ; his obUging offers, II. 472. Favens (Pfere, M.), a missionary in the Polynesian islands, II. 485. Fayette, Seneca County, a State of New York, where the Church of the Latter-Day Saints was founded, I. 254. Fenelon, might be charged with Pan theism, Introd. xxxix. Fillmoee, the capital of Utah, I. 455 ; — its geographical situation ; inhabi tants, II. 843 ; — State-house, 334. Fishes of Lake Utah (Trout, Perch, Suckers, Pike, Eook-fish, BuU-heads, etc.), II. 267. Floea, a mule of the caravan, I. 37. Floea of Utah, its poverty, II. 560. (See Botany.) Food and aU necessaries extremely dear in California, I. 4 note. FoED (Thomas), Governor of lUinois, I. 391 ;¦ — his admission against the enemies of the Mormons, 399 ; — his declaration on the moral state of Nau voo, 416. Forests, American ; extraordinary cir cumference of some trees, I. 19, 23 ; II. 516 seq. 584 INDEX. Foster (Dr,),expeUed from theChurch; his hatred of J, Sraith, I, 388 note. FouHiCHON (Admiral), one of the chiefs of the expedition of Petropolowski, L7. Foxes, I. 128, 176 ; II. 356. Peance. Character of religious liberty, Introd. cxix, — opinion of an Ameri can on this subject, ih. Freemasonry of the Mormons ; initia tions, probations, mysteries, and cere monies, II, 65 seq. Feemont (Colonel) , episode in his tra vels, II. 433 seq. Frontier Guardian, a journal esta blished at KanesvUle by the Mormon emigrants, I, 431, FuLLEE (Margaret), proves the influence of the ideas of Emerson, Introd. liv. Funeral customs, analogy of those of the present Indians with the customs of the Gauls and Germans, II. 529. G. Game, of the Indians, I, 128. (See Stags, Deer, Lynxes, Foxes, Wolves, Minx, Ermine, Mountain - Sheep, Grouse, Crows, Magpies, Ringdoves, etc.) Garnets, I. 134. Genesis. Translation and interpreta tion by Joseph Sraith, II. 22 seq. Gentiles, a generic name of all the religious sects not holding the Mor raon doctrine ; their reception of us ; they rob us twice, I. 214 : — they threaten death to the Prophet, 389 ; — abominable manoeuvres, 415 ; — burning the houses of the Saints, 417 ; — cowardly attacks on the suf ferers, 424 ; — reproaches they make the Mormons, 498, Geomys, a curious rodent, II. 859. Geoege, a captain of a merchantman, enters our service, after the loss of his vessel, 1.4; — loses a pipe con nected with royal recoUecfions, 18 ; — his somnolence, 24, 57 ; — his provo king apathy, 29, 52, 61, 73, 75 ;— his fear of snakes, 80 ; — loses his second pipe and other things, 87, 95 ; — co mical accident, 92 ; — fear of the Indians paralyses liim, 94, 99; — grows deaf, and in a state of con tinual drowsiness, 101 ; — trouble he causes, 104 ; — deprived of his pipe, 118 ; — is taken ill and delays our de parture, 145, 14? ; — his illness saves us from rapacious Indians, 149 ; — faU frora his horse, 154 ; we lose sight of him for four hours, 155 ; — falls into the mud in crossing a brook, 160 ; — loses a mule, 168 ; — Haws makes him go on foot, 174 ; — his cowardice, 175 ; — his metamorphosis, 187 ; — our experience of the troubles he had caused us prevents our re-en gaging him, II, 296 ; — he remains among the Mormons, 297; — joins a body of miners, 298 note. Gibson, proprietor of a drove of cattle, kiUed by the Indians, I. 58. Gilbert and Gbeeish, American mer chants ; a bachelor's supper at their house at Salt Lake, II. 285 ; — home made and foreign wines, 286 ; — so phistication of the speculators and ad vice to the French Chamber of Com merce, 287. Glyphs, American, II. 365-371 ; — of Mexico, I.- 267. God. Could not have been invented if he did not exist, Introd. v. ; — idea of God springs from the human mind, ih. ; — definition and resume of the doctrine of the Mormons respecting God, the angels and spirits, II. 25 seq. Gods, their hierarchy, II. 40. Godbt, companion of the celebrated Carson, II. 433, 435. Gog and Magog, signification of these names, II. 78. Gospel (the), use made of it by the Mormons, II. 41. Goose-Cebek. Dangerous passage of the emigrants, among the Shosho nes, I. 145. INDEX. 585 GovKHNsiENT of Washington. (See American Congress,) Granite, I. 26, 133. Gkantsvillb, a Mormon village ; its dwellings, inliabitants, and their cu riosity ; meal with the bishop, I 176, 177. Great Basix, tlio primitive name of the country of Utali ; its exploration, I, 433, 438 ; — elevation of this plateau, II, 258 ; — its salt natm-o and aspect, 259. Great Council. (See FamUy Tribu nal.) Great Rond, a fertUe mountain-valley at the foot of the Blue Mountains, II. 506. Great Salt-Lake City, the sacred city of the Mormons, or City of the Great Salt Lake ; its situation, 1. 189 ; — our entry into this modern Jeru salem, 190;— effect produced on our two Indians, 187 ; — its description, 193 seq.; — court-house and hbrary, 194 ; — its cleanhness, order, and in dustry, 196 ;— its heterogeneous ele ments, 199 ; — agreeable and instruc tive evenings ; answers to our objec tions ; rehgious principles of our vi sitors ; their titles or quahties, 219- 21 seq. ; — its chmate, 445 ; — popula tion in 1852, 460 ; — schools and scien tific societies, II, 177, 178 ; — profes sors and savants, 182; — its univer sity and only discovery, 183, 184 ; — library without readers and project of a museum, 188 ; — its municipal admi nistration, 264 ; — seat of the Presi dency of the Church of the Saints, ih. ; — a month's stay in this city, 279 seq. ; — dietary at the table of a host, 281 ; — visits and bathing at the Salt Lake, 282 ; — prodigious speed of an Indian horse, 284 ;— attention shown us by the Saints ; regret at quitting them, 295, 804, Geeen Eiver, Trouts in this river, II. 502. Green Valley, I. 17. Geotius, his opinions on scots in gene ral, II. 9 note. Geousb (Totraonid), a bird with fea thered foot, I, 91, 128, 153, 433 ;— of dilFerent kinds (liuiiti.sia, Tetrao), II. 266, 340 ;— brown, 501. Guadaloupb Hidalgo, Treaty of Ces sion of Utah by Mexico to the United States, I. 448. GuAYAS. Thermometrical observations on the banks of this river, I. 20. Gulls {Larus). Providence sends them to destroy the locusts, I. 440, 416. Gunnison (Captain), and his corapa nions : their tragical death on the banks of the Sevier Eiver, I. 4S3note. H. Hale (Isaac), father-in-law of J. Sraith, L 241. Hale (Emma), Isaac's daughter, wife of J. Smith, I. 241 ;— she is naraed The Fleet Lady, and The Daughter of God, 274. Halelea, an Hawaiian chief; he sug gests a Mormon colony on the isle of Lanai, II. 333. Hangtown. (See PlacervUle.) Haees, their numbers on the outskirts of the desert, I. 40 ; II. 340, 856, 414; — with long legs, 501. Haemony, the residence of J. Smith, I. 275;— a vUlage of Utah, IL 365. Habnby (General), commands the ex pedition against the Mormons of Utah, I. 473. Haeeiet, the daughter of Peter Haws, I. 123, 126. Haeeis (Martin), a farmer at Palmyra ; goes to New York, charged with the translations of J. Smith ; his variance with Prof Anthon, and the result of his journey, I. 244 ; — his functions as secretary aud his perfidy, 245 ; — testifies in favour of J. Smith, 249 ; — undertakes half the cost of pub lishing the Golden Book, 253 ; — cut off from the Church, he joins its ene mies, 262. 586 INDEX. Hawaii, archipelago of the Sandwich Islands ; mistake caused by the habit of conversing in the language of this country, I. 10, 11. Hawaiians, Probable destiny of this race, IL 333, Haws (Peter), his famUy, and hospi taUty, I. 122 ;— his dweUing, 133 ;— his garden : he abandons aU, 136, 137 ; horrible details, 137 ; — Hstory of this Mormon, 139 seq. ; — his evening conferences, 144 ; — he resolves to go to Salt Lake, 147 ; — reminds us of the good old man of CEbalia, 151 ; — theo logical dissertations and miracles of Alabama, 160, 161 ;• — description of the temple of Nauvoo, 164 ; — leads us to expect a view of the Salt Lake at sixty leagues' distance, 166, 167 ; — makes George go on foot, 174 ; — an nounces the first Mormon colony, 176 ; — takes us to the bishop, 177 ; — his salute to the holy city after having passed the Jordan, 185 ; — presents us to his ExeeUency the supreme Presi dent of the Church, 202. Haws (Mrs.), her reception of us, I. 123 ; — proof of courage, 133 ; — her extacy and her pipe, 143 ; — her care in an attack of illness ; — her fareweU and blessing, 152. Haws's-Eanch, a farm established in the desert by a Mormon named Haws, I, 188 seq. Hbneiot (Eugene), a young emigrant from Havre at Salt Lake ; his faith, I. 220; — history of his conversion, 221. Henby : description of this servant, II. 298; — discord he causes by his pretensions, 300 ; — ^his pedantry and famiUarities, 301 ; — his profession of religious faith, 883; — ^his political principles, 398"; — paraUel of Ame rican and French manners ; refuta tion of the sophism of Huguenot; the conqueror below the brigand chief, 421 ; — ^What is a gentleman ?, 447 ; — discourse on the races of the conti nent, 453 ; — his conduct at the fare weU feast, 474;— a fight, 490.' Hbeald oe Geacb, the title of Heber Kimball, I. 413 note. HiGBEB (Francis), expeUed fi'om the Chm-oh ; revenges himself by a law suit, I. 388 note. Honolulu, the capital of the Hawauan archipelago, I. 482 note. Hope, conductor of the MaU irom Salt Lake to San Bernardino ; joins our caravan, II. 404; — his suspicions of an Indian ; story of a horrible mur der, 433. HoESBS. (See Beasts of burden.) Hot-Speings, their sources, plants which grow in them, and reptUes which hide in their herbage ; their temperature (centigrade), I. 35; — gaseous, II. 503 ; — sulphurous, 505 ; — thermal ; scientific observations and comparison, 521. Household, polygynic, its three forms, II. 135, 136 ; — wives distinguished by nmnbers, 138 ; — relationship, 139. Hudson Rivee, II, 549. Hudson Bay Company, II. 503;— its establishments, 510. Huguenot : character of this servant, II. 298 ; — quarrels with the cook, 300 ; — liis clumsiness in driving, 310 ; — ^takes part in a discussion, 420 ; — his certificate, 491. Humboldt (de) : name of this iUus trious savant given to » vaUey and the river which waters it, I. 57, 69 ; — his inductions on Salt Lake, 179. Humboldt-Rangb, mountains whose tops are covered with perpetual snow, II, 259. Humboldt Eivbe, its course, its dis appearance, and fetid waters, I. 57; 59 : — putrid emanations on its shores. I. 64. Hurt (Dr.), Indian agent for the ter ritory of Utah, I. 124, 191 ;— his ob- servations on the savage tribes, II, 285. Huts of the Indians, I. 80. INDEX. 587 HvDE (John), his picture of the poly gynic household, II, 135, 14'2-1 16, 155 ; — portrait he gives of Brigham Young, I. 496, 500 ;— his testimony in favour of tbe women, 158; he quits the sect and denounces its errors, 11, 74. Hyde (Orson), alternately a zealous apostle and apostate, 1. 281, 288, 300, 311, 345, 423 ; II, 186. Hyrum, brother of the Prophet, wit ness of the Eevelation received by J. Smith on polygamy, II. 130 note. (See Smith, Hyrum.) I. Icarians : they undertake, under the guidance of M. Cabet, to restore the Mormon temple at Nauvoo, I. 422 note. Illinois, the asylum of the persecuted Mormons, I. 819, 320 ; — the inhabi tants take umbrage at this, 372. Importation : commercial outlets in Utah, n. 270. Independence Eock, II. 502. Indian Cebbk, a picturesque brook, n. 357. Indians, huts of the, I. 14, 80. Indians of North America, their re sentment against the Americans of the East ; declaration of war against the Pale-faces, I. 5 ; — huts of these sa vages, 14 ; — ^general character, 30 ; — their noiseless step, 30, 42 ; — -super stitions of these people, 56 ; — their hare-hunting, 71 ; — manners pecuhar to certain tribes, 85 ; — their voracious appetite, 129 ; — bodies assembled near the sources of the Humboldt, 149 ; — terrible apphcations of the law of lex talionis, II. 292, 293 ;- the indepen dent hfe of the desert preferable to the dweUings of civUized man, I. 136 ; II. 414 ;— price they put on the exchange of a horse, II. 508, iNDLiNS, inoffensive: how their wives travel with their chUdren, II, 505. Indians (Paiulbe), present at our de parture for tho desert of Utah, I, 38 ; — a branch of the Paiulees ; a few words of their language ; their impor tunity, 45, 46, Indians (Pottawatomie), tribes fa vourably disposed to the Mormons, I. 430, Indians (Utah), their treaty of peace with the Shoshon&s, I. 460 ; — fresh hostUities, 467. Industeious pursuits of the Mormons of Utah, II. 268. I AM ; the appeUatiou the Mormons use in speaking of God, II. 38. Insteuotion, only given in the Temple, II. 188, Ipecacuanha, an indispensable remedy for traveUers in Indian countries, I. 147. J. Jack, name of a mule, I. 37 ; — refuses to bear Pake's load, 77 ; — his fidehty, II. 307 ; — exchanged for an American horse, 425, 437. Jackson, est-ablishes the Fxpositor, against the Mormons, I. 388. Jackson County, the Land of Promise and Eden of the future Mormons, I. 250, 251. Jane, George's mule, I. 37. Jabed (People of), dispersed at the con fusion of tongues, I. 256. Jaeedites : their annals recovered ; the Israehtes succeed them, I. 258. Jesus Chbist, and his Apostles. Ac cording to the Mormons, they have taught and given example of poly gamy, like the Patriarchs, II. 99. John Day's Eiver, II. 509. Johnson, a scandalous scene in his house at Hiram, I. 282. Johnson (the missionary), his hospi tality at Payson ; his advice to the king of the Sandwich Islands ; tri umph over the rainister ; his visions not reahzed, II. 831, 383. Johnston (General), commanding the American expedition to the Salt 588 INDEX. Lake; entry of the city prohibited to his troops, I. 489; — he supports the Judges and opposes the Governor, 490, 491. Jones (Captain), his grog-shop and its customers, I. 88 ; — murdered by the Shoshonfes, 92. JoBDAN, a smaU stream thus named by the Morraons in Utah, I. 185, 443, 444 ; II. 317. JouBNALlST, a French : narrative of bis conversion, and Chant du depart pour Sion, IL 214, 215, Juab, Valley of; celebrated spring it contains, II, 335. Judd (Dr,), minister of Kamehameha IIL, king of the Sandwich Islands, IL 832. K. Kahbkili, the god of thunder of the Hawaiians, Introd. x, Kane (Colonel), his sympathy for the Mormons ; — writes a touching narra tive of their exodus, 1. 426 ; — charged with a special mission of concUiation from Washington, succeeds in repla cing matters between Utah and the Federal Government on the old foot ing, 486, Kanesville, from the name of Colonel Kane : first halt and head-quarters of the Mormons on the banks of the Missouri, I, 427, 428. (See CounoU- Bluffs.) Kanochi, chief of the tribe of the Pah vants, II. 349. Kate, one of the mules for the journey, L37. Kbtengua, a'mountain with a crene lated cone, I. 154. Kilauea, a volcano of Hawan ; episode attached to it, Introd. xi. ; — hot- springs, II. 522, Kimball (Heber), president of the Church, uncle of Carlos Murray, I, 138 ; — one of the twelve Apostles, 300 ; — eouneUlor of the Presidency, 438;— supports the speeches of his master, 478 ; — high-priest of the Mormon Freemasonry, II. 66 ; — ¦ president of the conference of El ders, 118 ; — his polygynic household, 137 ; — the alter ego of the great Pon tiff, 187 ; — his panegyric on Biigham Young, 250. Kingston Speing, II, 431 ; — the thea tre of a bloody scene, 433, 434. Kinikinik, tobacco of the Indians, I. 106, 130 ; II, 503. (See also Comus, Vaccinium,, Daphne.) KiNKBAD, II, 811. (See Livingston and Co,) Kinney, supreme judge of Utah ; his reception ; his hotel ; our apartments, 1, 190, 191 ; — visits from General Burr and Dr. Hurt, 191 ; — he is anxious to , serve us, 206 ; — his conduct at Salt Lake, 207 ; — he exercises together with the functions of a judge various kinds of trade, 208 ; — his table and his attention, II. 281 ; — repulsion of B. Young for our host, 290 ;— a dinner he offers us, and proof of his sympathy, 808, Kietland, a village of Ohio, where J, Smith resided for several years, I. 277 ;— a branch of Zion, I. 284 ;— a schism in the colony, 308. Kit Caeson, a famous trapper, II. 433, 502, Knight (John) of ColesviUe, his libe rality to the future Prophet, I, 248, Knight, Newel, cured by the exorcism of J, Smith, I. 272, Kusiutas, au Indian tribe, aUies of the Utahs, II. 412 ; — words used in their language, ib. L. Laban's Sword, pretended reho found by J. Smith, I. 240, 268. Lake Humboldt, I. 69. Lake Nicollet, caUed in honour of a French astronomer, II. 339. (See Sevier,) Lake, Salt, (See Salt Lake.) Lake Utah ; its blue waters, II. 318, INDEX. 589 321 ; — confounded witli Salt Lake under the name of Tirapanogos, 321 ; — fertility of its shores, 322. La Hontan (Baron), liis discovery of Salt Lake, I. 179, Laman, chief of the Israehtes who bore his name, I. 258, Lam.vnites, dosoendants of Israel, I, 256 ; — an accursed nation of South America, 259, 261 ; — their rivalry with the Nephites, 259, Lamanites (Indians) ; they will one day assist in buUding the temple of Jehovah in America, II, 79, Lampas, a malady wliich attacks cattle, L19. Languages, foreign (study of), in Utah, I. 464. Laramie (Fort) ; reception of Mr. Brenchley by its garrison, II. 501 ; — it« high temperature, ib. Las Vegas (plains of), II. 411 ; — a smaU fort constructed by the Mor mons, 411 ; — signification of this Spanish name, 412 ; — altitude, 418. Latter-day Saints' Messenger and Advocate, a journal set up by the Mormons, I. 288. Law (WiUiam), his enmity to the Pro phet, I. 888 note. Lawson (James), a Mormon mission ary ; reheves us fi'om financial trou ble, by satisfying the Mormon func tionaries, I, 205, 210 ; II, 311. Leadb (Jane), a precursor of J. Smith, I. 266;— her birth and theosophy, 267;— foundress of the PhUadel- phians, ih. Lee (Ann), foundress of the Shakers, Introd. xxu, ; II. 161, 549 seq. (See Shakers). Leeches, I, 168. Lehi, a smaU town near Lake Utah, II. 318 ; — a crowd of curious people besiege us, 318; — troublesome civi- hties, 321. Lesteade (Father), a missionary at Los Angeles, II, 483. Libeety, a condition of religious crea tions, Introd. xxviii. ; — the remedy for indillbrenee, xxix, ; — churacter of rolifrious liberty in Franco, cxviii. ; — importance of religious liberty, cxix, seq. Li.MNEAS (shoUs), I, 40. Lion op the Loed, narae of Brigham Young, I. 113. LiTEKATUUE (Mormon), is chiefly re stricted to theological matters, II. 189. Little Cottonwood, a vUlage four leagues frora Great Salt-Lake City ; our friends from Salt-Lake rejoin us at this our ih'st halt, II. 311. Livingston and Kinkead, a banking- house at Great Salt-Lake City, I. 205 ; II, 287, 308. LiZABDS with thorny taUs, I. 48 ; — eUiptic, flat, and with horns, 69, 87 ; II. 501 ; — their absence attributed to their consumption by the Indians, II. 411. — Of Utah. Common and local types ; species known to naturahsts ; unclassified varieties ; several Indian tribes consider their fiesh a dainty, hke the Arabs, II, 524, 525. Locusta vieidissima of Europe (a grasshopper), II. 525. Locusts : innumerable swarms devour aU vegetation ; the food of some In dian tribes, I. 90, 91, 136;— prodi gious clouds of them cause famine at Salt Lake ; the Mormons regard this scourge as a proof of the truth of their rehgion, 181 ; — they threaten to devour the crops, 439 ; — fresh ravages in 1855 ; they destroy the first crops of the colony of Utah, 465 ; — a de- hcacy with some nations ; variety of tastes in food, II. 526. Log house, a name given by the Ameri cans to dweUings constructed of logs, laid horizontaUy, I. 44. LuoiEBE, commander-in-chief of the evU spirits, II, 40, Lyman (the Apostle), goes to FiUmore, II. 401. Lynx, 1. 128, 690 INDEX. M. Mac Culloch, commissioner from the Federal Government to Great Salt- Lake City, I. 488. Mack (Lucy), mother of J. Smith, I. 228 ; —her piety, visions, wandering faith, and baptism, ib.; — her ten chUdren ; current of her mystical ideas, 229 ; — her interpretation of the Bible, id. ; — her search for reUgious truth, 233 ; — discrepancy in her and her son's statement, 248 note; — warns him of his danger, 253 ; — dies at Nauvoo, 406 note. Mackay, companion of Captain Jones ; his account of the murder of the cap tain ; suspicions he arouses, I. 92, 93. Mac Lean, his revenge on Parley Pratt, II. 151. Magistrates of the American Union ; weakness of their authority against the sovereign people, I. 425. (See Drummond.) Magistracy, American, I, 207, 208. Mahomet, not an impostor, Introd. xvi. xvii. xvui. Maid of Iowa, a steamer in the ser vice of the Prophet and his Church, I. 347. Maiheue Eiver, II. 505. Manti (town of), coal-mines discovered in its neighbourhood, II. 336. Manupactuebs, rapidly established and worked at Salt-Lake, I. 462. Manusceipt Found (the), by Spauld- ing ; its resemblance to the Book of Mormon, I. 264. Mabriage, monogamic ; its advantages over polygyny, II. 91 ; — Mormon rites practised, 44, 91, 180 ; — ma terial aspect, 140 ; — general con ditions, 146—148 ; — polygynic : ob ligatory formahties, nuptial ceremo nies and benedictions, 131-133 ; — consent of the first wife to the hus band's taking others, 132, 134. Mamus (Bremond), a French emi grant iu Cahfornia, 1. 12. Magpies, 1. 128, Marmots, II, 353, 476, 492, 501, MaeSden (Alston), a deaf and dumb person cured by the power of the Saints, II. 63. Maeshall (James) the fij-st to find gold in Cahfornia, I, 442 rtote. Maybe (Dr, Alexander), his book and opinion on monogamy, II. 109. Melchizedek, an Order conferred for the first time on some of the Mormon Elders at Kktland, I. 277;— defini tion, IL 46. Mephitis. (See Skunk.) Metaphysics of the Mormons, II. 11 seq. ; — materialism and pantheism, 19. Mica, fragments in the Sierra Nevada and Carson VaUey, I. 26, 36. Michael, or Adam. (See this name.) Militia : its formation at Salt-Lake, I. 462. Millennium, or reign of CJirist on the earth, II. 21. Milton : he exhibits more phUosophy than some pMlosophers, Introd, iv. MiLU, a god of the Hawaiians ; sacri fices of white hens to him, Introd. xiii. Mines, auriferous : their abundance in the environs of Monte-Cristo, I. 12 seq. I — mines of California ; their dis covery by the Mormons threatens the dissolution of the Utah settlement, 442. MiNiSTBES, Protestant : are alarmed at the spread of the Mormon sect, and obtain their expulsion fi-om Missouri, I. 286 ;- — resolutions taken in conse quence, 287. Minx {Putorius Bison), I. 128, Miracles, I. 142, 160 ; II. 62 seq. Mirage, nocturnal, I. 57; — singular illusion and dreary reahty, 169-171 j atmospheric 'phenomenon, II. 500. Missionary, credulity of a, Introd. xiu. Missionaries, Catholic; devotion of these heroes of Christianity, II. 196. INDEX. 591 MissiONAElES, Mormon ; in England and Araerica, I. 340 ; — scattered over every part of the globe, 457; — their proselytising, II, 191, 195 ; — their obedience and subraission, 197, 208 ; — their travelling luggage, 197 ; — miseries, trials, courage and fana ticism of these preachers, 198 ; — their retui-u, hke their departure, depends on the orders thoy receive, 203; — success of their preachmg in some countries, 211, 212, Missouri : the missionaries of Joseph Smith go there to preach his new doctrine, I, 276 ; — destined to be the inheritance of the Mormons, 278 ; — its hihabitants seek to expel the Mormons, 285. Moses : his laws sanction polygamy, II. 98. Mojave, a river which takes its name fi-om an Indian tribe, II. 441, 449. MoKUAVEOVEO, a volcano in Hawan ; the goddess Pele in its crater, Introd. xi. MoNEY-DlGGEB,a nickname of J. Smith, I. 241. Money in cirovdation, II. 270. Monogamy, regarded by the laws of nature, II. 109 note ; — practised by the minority in the world, 115 ; — en courages prostitution and adultery according to the Mormons, 116. Mountains, Blub : spectacle of an Aurora Borealis at the foot of these mountains, II. 506. Mountains of the Humboldt, their singular aspect, I. 108. Mountains, Eocky, I. 58 ;— traversed by the Mormons, 421 seq. ; — by the Saints from England, 460. MoNTB Ceisto, a tavern on the road from Sacramento to Carson, I. 12. MONTEBEY, a port ten hours' distant fi-om San Francisco, II. 494. Montesquieu, his opinion on the plu rality of wives, II, 95. Monuments, glyphic. (See Arts.) Moemon. Annals of his ancestors, I. 262; — the father and son are among the smaU number of Nophites who escape the Lamanites, ih. ; — etymo logy of tills name, 265. Moemon Island, a vUlage whieh takes its narae from a colony of Saints, I. 17. Mormonism. Causes of its progress, Introd. xeiv. seq.; — its spirit of equality and charity, xcviii, seq. ; — its morality, cui. ; — its universality, evu. seq. ; — its prosperity, I. 310, 470 ; — character of this religion, II. 3 ; — its pretensions, 7 ; — flexibUity of the doctrine, 8 ; — eclecticism and a conception of universal conciliation ; borrows from different rehgious, 9, 10 ; — statistics of its adherents, 212; • — rapidity of its spread, 214; — its progress amongst certain European communities, 225. Moemons (the). Colony in the plain of Carson, I. 33 ; — exploring party, 172 ; — example of courage aided by faith, 186 ; — morality and indefati gable activity, 197 ; — local customs, 198 ; — what they mean by the gift of tongues, 203 ; — wrongly accused of communism and homicidal practices, 215, 216 ; — aggressions against thera, 285 ; — they arm in self-defence ; are betrayed, and tracked like wUd- beasts ; they fly in confusion, and seek refuge in Clay county, 289, 290 ; — the American Government offers them reparation ; the law is pow erless to protect them, 292, 293 ; — their establishment at Shoal Creek, Caldwell county, 306 ; — caU to arms against them in Missouri, 312 ; — their houses are pUlaged, 314 ; — threatened with extermination, 815 ; — massacre and pillage 819 seq. ; — instruments of this persecution, 820 note ; — sincerity of their faith, 384 ; - — reception of the inbabitants of Quincy, 336 ; — they fix there the seat of the new Church, 337; — fimitless complaints to Congress, 339 ; — they 592 INDEX. dream of the empire of America, 376 ; — their resignation on the death of the Prophet, 400 ; — difficulty in choos ing a successor, 401 ; — ambitious com petitors, 410; — persecution by the GentUes, 115, 419 ;— their expulsion from Nauvoo resolved at Quincy, 417 ; — the emigration solemnly de cided, 419 ;— cross the Mississippi on the ice, 421 ; — they abandon Nauvoo, 423; — privations and sufferings on the journey, 426, 429, 430;— Mormon battahon formed, 428 ;— the rear guard of the eraigrants rejoin head quarters between the Missouri and the Platte, 429 ;— they cross the Eocky Mountains, traverse the soh tudes of Utah, and arrive on the borders of the Salt Lake, 483, 435, 489 ; — dearth and abundance, 441 ; — war with the Indian marauders, 447 ; — their republic under the name of the Territory of Utah, 458 ;— difficul ties with the Federal officers, 454 ; — trade, industry, revenues, 459: — celebration of the fifth anniversary of their arrival at Salt Lake, 460 ; — fresh war -with the Indians, 462 ; — fears of famine, and miracle, 465 ; — how represented to the Govern ment of Washington, 471 ; — expe dition against them, 473 ; — prepare for resistance, 478 ; — enthusiasm for war, 480 ; — negotiations ; memorial to Congress ; address to President Buchanan ; statement of wrongs, 483, 484 ; — the people resist the proposals of the American com missioners, and prepare to emigrate, 487 ; — they soon return home, 489 ; — the American Press attacks them, and finaUy directs its charges against the army-contractors, 491 ;- the li bels which led to the war are acknow ledged to be false, 492 ; — peace is celebrated with hymns of thanks giving, 495 ; — thousands of emi grants join them at Salt Lake, ib.; — destiny under their present leader, th. ; — views of the incar nation of Christ, II. 40;— opinions of the Church of Rome, 53 ;— defi nition of their faith, 61 ;— claim the power of working miracles, and tho gift of tongues, 62 ;— reprobate the science of medicine, ib. ; — iraportance they attach to Freemasonry, 75 ; — they heed contradictions little, 77; — believe their prophecies will be ful fiUed like those of the Old Testa raent, 78 ; — that the Lord wUl re-es- tabhsh them in their ancient heri tage in Jackson county (an article of faith), 79;— destiny they assign to the Pope and , Catholicism, 78 ; — their hopes and anticipations, 79 ; — examples of zeal in giving, 80 ; — mo rality in relation to polygyny, 1 56 ; — fanatical sincerity, 157 ;— better than their system, 158; — regularity of their conduct, 171 ; — instruction httle valued by the Heads of the Church, 177, 178 ; — favourite amusements, dance and music, 1^1 ; — presumption of knowledge, 184 ; — confused no tions cover their ignorance, and ef face good sense, 190 ; — claim to in tuitive knowledge and absolute re hgious truth, 192 ; — in what consists their erudition, 198 ;¦ — inteUectual balance-sheet of the Mormons, 194 ; pecuharities of the conversions, 204 ; — categories, 206 ; — haUucinations, 207, 209 ; — miraculous healing by means of prayer, 208 ; — sacrilegious frauds, 208 »oie; ^effects of mysti cism, 209 ; — last argument of these fanatics, 210 ; —their sincerity, ih. ; — they aim at estabUshing an inde pendent nation, 216, 230, 251 ; — ex amples they give to the Sociahsts of aU schools, 222 ; — enjoined to con form to the laws of the country they inhabit, 232 ; — their present and fu ture political system, 288 ; — they look to a complete autonomy, whUst their Territory acquires an admission to a State, 245 ; — expectations of the INDEX. 593 Saints, 250 ; — they aspire to the em pire of the world, 251 ; —wisdom of their policy regarding tbe Indians, 254 ; — being a disciple of Brigham is a passport among the hordes of savages, 255 ; — their resources and means of action in the event of a con test, 256 ; — their array costs not a farthing, but would not be the less formidable, ii. ; — their temperance and frugality, 271; — the most la borious of men, 272 ; — excellent maxim they have adopted, 273 ; — the author's conclusion, 275; — their re serve to strangers arises fi-om the de ceptions they have experienced, 875 ; — settlement at Las Vegas, 411, 412 ; — their fruitless atterapts to seduce the Indians fi-om the banks of the Eio Colorado, 414. Mormons, Enghsh, 1. 191 ; — their con tingent at Nauvoo, 340 ; — they mul tiply, 347, 875, 455. MoEONi, son of Mormon, the last of the Nephites, I. 257, 262. Mountain-Jack, a famous highway man, JI. 464. Mountain Sheep {Ovis montana), I. 128, 191 ; II, 266, 893, 502. Mosquitos : voracity of these insects, L 24. Muddy, vaUey and river of the, II. 407, 409, 410. Mules, their price in California, I. 4 ; — attracted by the horse, 87 ; — are preferable for bearing fatigue and privation (see Jack, P^k^, Djemi, Campora, Jane, Dick, Flora, Kate, Pinla), ib. ; — seem to scent the In dians as enemies, 96- MuEDOCH, an Irish farmer, I. 19; — second meeting, 51 ; — he brings good news ; becomes surety for us, 74. Murdoch, brother of the preceding, arrives at our encampment ; his ad vice, I. 109. Murray (Carlos), son-in-law of Peter Haws, I. 187 ; — his command over the Shoshon&s, and his murders ; he VOL. II. is tried, acquitted, and is mnssacrcd by tho Indians, 138 ; — his crimes avenged, 467 ; — scene of his murders, II. 392. Music of the savages, II. 529. Musk Eats {Fiber sihethinus), II, 266 ; — of tbe size of a leveret, I, 59, 63, Myles (H, R,), agent of the WeUs and Fargo Bank ; lends money at 60 per cent,, II. 473. N. Nature of man ; power of his intelU gence, II. 86 seq. Nauvoo : a city founded by the Mor mons ; its etymology, I. 339 ; — pros perity of the colony, 340 ; — its legion, 341 ; — disarming the mihtia, 392 ; — its public buUdings under Brigham Young, 414; — the Mormons abandon it, 423 ; — besieged, 424 ; — plundered after the departure of the Mormons, 425. Nauvoo House, provisional residence of the Prophet, I. 341. Navajos (the), an Indian tribe, II. 374. Nephi, name of the heavenly messen ger who appeared to J. Smith, I, 238 ; — name of several books of the annals of Mormon, I. 256. Nephites, a people privileged by tra dition, I. 252, 259 ; — their copy of the Holy Scriptures ; their annals ; their successes over the Lamanites, prosperity in North America, pro phecies, visions, revelations, and inter pretations, etc., 259, 260 ; — their ex termination by the Lamanites, 262. New Lebanon. Visit to the commu nity of the Shakers, II. 549 ; — its po pulation, 552. Nests, of unknown birds, 1. 162. O. Observations, barometrical, I. 117 ; — thermometrical, in the Mormon country, II. 556 seq. CEdipoda Corallipes {Hald&ma/rs) , the locust of Utah, I. 440 note. 2 Q 594 INDEX. Omahas, an Indian tribe on the shores of the Missouri, I. 430. Oedee op Aaeon, its temporal rights, II. 47, 48 ;— its degrees, II, 69 seq. Oedee op Melchizedek, its spiritual privUeges, II. 46, 47 ;— its antiquity 48 ; — hierarchy, 50 ; — hereditary transmission, 52 ; — degrees of the Order, II, 72, 73. Oebgon City, in the territory of this name, II. 510. Oetyx Vieginianus, a large species of Californian partridge, II. 388. (See Partridge.) Pahvants, an Indian tribe in the Mor mon country, I. 466 ; II. 349. Pale-paces, I, 5, 70, 71, 460. Palis of Koolan, or precipices, I. 164. Panobama of mountains, I. 169;— optical Ulusion frequent in cUmates where the transparency of the atmos phere shortens the distance to the eye, I. 184. Panthee, American, II. 266. Papee-manupactoey, established at Salt Lake, I. 464. Papyei of Abraham ; strange attesta tion of J. Smith on this subject, II. 536 ; — fragment of the translation of these papyri, 538. Paeowan, the capital of Iron County, II. 360 ;— a Mormon colony, 361. Partridge {Ortyx Calif ornicus), II. 385, 388, 444. Partridge (Edward), is baptized and receives the title of Bishop, I. 276. Pateiaech (the Grand) : special attri butes of this dignitary, II, 53. Pateiaechs (the), models of feith and good works in polygamy, II. 99. Patten (David), captain of the Danites (which see), I. 311. Payson, or Peteetneet, a Mormon colony, II. 331 ;— remarkable sta ture of the Indians of this country, 334. Payusitas, an Indian tribe of New Mexico, II. 388 ; — words of their lan guage, 889. Payutas, Indians on the banks of the Eio Virgen, II. 404. Pectobal. (See Breastplate,) Peke, one of our mules, I. 37 ; — dies on the road, and is devom-cd by the cayotes, 77; — her loss obhges us to abandon part of our coUections, 84. Pels, goddess of volcanos among the Hawaiians, Introd. xi-xiii. Pelicans, their cries, I. 176. Pemmican (flesh of the buffalo), II. 509, Peniston (WiUiam), proposes to ex clude the Mormons from voting, I. 312. Pentecost of the Saints : the Angels appear in place of the Holy Ghost, I. 304. Pbepetual Emigbating Fund Com pany, a Bank or Aid Society, I. 455 ; II. 219. Pebein's Station, a hut where the caravans halt, I. 51. Phabmacy, its utUity m the desert, I. 147- Phelps (W.), a journahst, astronomer, and apostle of the Morraons ; he joins the Prophet, with all his family, I. 277 ; — receives the order to set up a printing-office, 279 ; — privUege of faith, 280 ; — deputy to the Governor of Missouri, 288 ; — deposed and ex communicated, he seeks revenge in calumnies, 309-312 ; — his repentance and return to favour, 340, 345 ; — he plays the part of tbe devU in the masonic mysteries, II. 68 ; — this re gent of the university invents the Mormon alphabet; his understand ing, originahty, hterary works, and scientific discovery, II. 185, 186. Philips, an American traveller who be comes the ovvner of Jack, II. 425 ; — joins us on our journey, 455 ; — drives our team, 465. Philosophy of the traveUer, 1. 150. Pipes of the Indians : value attached INDEX. 595 to them, I. 130 ;— made of the stalks of Eriogonum, II. 431. Pitcher, Colonel, ends the hostUities between tho Mormons and Missou- rians, I. 289; — ^his conduct during the hostUities, 292, PiULA, one of our mules, I. 37. Placerville, or Hangtown (which see), L18. Plates. Written traditions of the first inhabitants of the American conti nent, I. 238 (see Cumorah) ;— de hvered to the Predestined, 242 ; — de scribed; characters on them, 243, 244;— Plates of lUinois, I. 267 ;— J. Smith deciphers the characters, and turns the discovery to profit, II. 534 ;— golden Plate of Ohio, I. 267 ; II. 535. Platte (the) or Nebraska, a tributary of the Missouri, II. 500. Plurality of wives. (See Polygamy and Polygyny.) POLYANDEIA (plurahty of husbands), exists in various nations, IT. 85 ; — compared with polygamy, 103 ; — its results, 104. Polygamy, Mormon, I. 217 : — time when believed to be first practised, 311 ; — revelation on the subject, 348 ; — the Prophet preaches it with re serve, ib. ; — is promulgated, 460 ; — general considerations, II. 83 ; — sanc tioned by religion, 85 ; — opinion of St. Augustine, ih. ; — defined by the author, 89; — counterfeit of love in this system, 91 ;— its moral conse quences, 93 ; — the mother degraded and the father corrupted, 95 ; — one cause of the inferiority of Eastern nations, and a contradiction in Mor monism, 95, 96; — its influence in this new society, ih. ; — seduces wo men of understanding, ih. ; — its de fence by a woman ; arguments and sophisms, 97 seq.; — compared with polyandria, 104 ; — a patriarchal law of God, 102, 104 ;— picture of its fehcity and pretended legitimacy, 107 ;— pi-ejudicos of tho West, 107, 108; — its introduction into Mormon institutions, 112; — practised by four- fifths of tho globe, 116 ; — its necessity to secure the blessings of Abraham, 116 ; — distinctions employed for wo men and children, 138 ; — numerical majority of the girls over the boys, 150 ; — moral effect it produces on children, ib. ; — disproportion be tween the births of boys and girls shows a degeneracy explained by science, 171 ; — considerations drawn from moral grounds, ib. ; — mortality of children, 173 ; — a source of vice in the Morraon society, 178 ; — pre vents the official recognition of the State of Utah, 246 ; — apparently in tended at Salt-Lake to multiply ra pidly the soldiers that are to conquer the world, 254; — ^prohibited to the Mormons of San Bernardino, 456. Polygamists. (See Polygamy or Poly gyny-) Polygyny, or plurality of wives. (Soe Polygamy.) Polynesians (the), personify ordinary events, and preserve the impress of their primitive faith, Introd. ix-xiii. Pope (the Mormon), alone has power to celebrate polygynic unions, IL 138. Poplars, curious account of one, I. 185. POEPHYEY, I. 133j POTTAWATAMIES (country of the). Banks of the Missouri, at the con fluence with the Platte, I. 427. Powees, executive, legislative, and ju dicial of Utah, II. 233, 234 ;— consti- tution for the Territory of Utah, 284. Powell, a commissioner charged with regulating terms of peace with the Mormons at Great Salt-Lake City, I. 488. Peaieie-dogs {Arctomys ludovicianus, A. Spermophilus), IL 353, 466 ; — particulars respecting them, 353 ; — ravages they commit, 476. Praieie-dog Valley, a district where 2 Q 2 596 INDEX. these rodents are found in large num bers, II, 358. Peatt (the brothers), their polygynic household, II. 137. Peatt (Orson), affirms the appearance of celestial personages to J. Smith, I. 237 ; — testifies again, 252 ; — elected one of the twelve Apostles, 300; — his astronomical knowledge, 484 ; — constitutes himself a teacher of philosophy, II. 11 ; — his explana tion of Mormon belief in material ism, 29 seq. ; — his talent as orator, 58 ; — discourse on the plurality of wives ; exordium, development of this doctrine and peroration, 112 seq. ; — considered too learned, 176 ; — phUosopher, theologian, and astro nomer, II. 187. Peatt (Parley), a CampbeUist minister, converted to Mormonism by the ser mons of Joseph Smith, I. 275 ; — his zeal and ardour for the doctrine ; baptizes his brother Orson, ib.; — starts for Missouri as missionary, 276 ; — is elected Apostle, 300 ; — sots forth the character of Mormonism, II, 7 ; — one of the best Mormon orators, 58 ; — liistory of one of his wives, 151 ;- -his death, ib. Predictions and prayers against the United States, II. 250. Pbbsidenoy of the Church; its Trinity, II. 53. Priests (Mormon), their teachings on the formation of the world, and the future state of man, II. 31 seq. ; — on the final state of man, 36 ; — on Adam and Eve, 37 ; — on original sin, 38, 39. Priesthood (Mormon), its practices, II. 42 seq. ; — its gratuitous service, 80. Peison, or Penitentiary, its construc tion, use, and number of prisoners, n. 239. Peovisions, their deamess in California, I. 4 note. Peoxy, for the discharge of conjugal duties ; immoral practices, II. 153 seq. Peomiscuousness of the sexes, existed among some ancient nations, and now among a few savage tribes, II. 85. Peopaganda, Mormon, its efforts to draw converts to Utah, II. 216 ; — its bank for aiding poor emigrants, 219, (See Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company.) Propagation of Christianity : reflec tions on its purpose and foreign mis sions, II. 226, 227. Prophecies. (See Gift of Prophecy.) Peovo, a town on the borders of Lake Utah ; origin of its name, II. 323 ; — answer of a boy when asked about his mother, 324. Putorius Bison (see Minx), I. 128. Q. Quakers, simphcity of their reUgious worship, Introd. Ii, Iu. Quartz, abounds in the Sierra Nevada mountains, I. 13. (See also pages 26,114; IL 397.) QuEBEADAS, fissures or ravines, I. 87. QuESNELLBS Eiver, II. 508. Quincy, a town in Illinois on the banks of the Mississippi, I. 336 ; — mission of its deputies to Nauvoo, I. 418. Quorum of the Seventy, I. 300, 303 ;— in the Presidency of the Church, II. 50. E. Eacoon {Procyon lotor), II. 266. Eagtown, a city consisting of three huts, I. 52, 58 ; — its position and possible future, 54, Eats, (See Musk-Eats.) Eed-Skins, a generic name of the Indians. (See White-Skins.) Ebese (Colonel), storekeeper of the Mormon colony at Carson, I. 34 ; — his advice, 36. INDEX. 597 Eeid (John), his opinion of J. Smith, I. 405. Religions, arise spontaneously in the soul, Introd. iu, ; — various modes of their formation, xiv, xv. ; — their transformations, xxv, xxvi. ete. ; — systems of rehgious creation, repre sented in America by Emerson, Channing, and J. Smith, xxx. xxxi. xxxiu, xxxiv ; — forms of religion as variable in America as pohtical opi nions, I. 233. Ebmaekable Visions, a pamphlet by Orson Pratt, I. 237. Eenan, his ideas on the formation of primitive rehgious, Introd. viii, Eeptiles (fiat-shaped hzards and rattle snakes), II. 267, 524 seq. Eevelation or Dispensation : a clumsy imitation of the Bible, I. 278; II. 3. (See J. Smith, Lucy Mack, Ohver Cowdery, etc) ; its spirit dis appeared frora the time of the first Apostles untU the appearance of J, Smith, 49 ; — teaches us that there are still living four witnesses to the Church founded by Christ, 50 ; — on polygamy (translated text), 120 seq. ; — proof of his fi'aud insufficient to the eyes of faith, 130. Eevivals, certain assembhes of dif ferent rehgious sects in America, I. 231 rtote. Ehizophora. (See Botany.) EiCHABDS (W,), his devotedness to the Prophet at Carthage, I, 394 ; — escapes with a slight wound, 396 ; — appointed CouncUlor of the Presi dency, 438. EiGAULT (H.), his remark on the Mormons in France, Introd. cxxiii. Eigdon (Sidney). His aUeged copy of Spaulding's " Manuscript Found," I. 264 ; — Parley Pratt converts him, 276 ; — experiences the same treat ment as his master, 282 ; — ordained CouncUlor of the Presidency, 284 ; — suggests to the Mormons to assume the name of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I. 296 note ; — his confidence and temerity, 311 ; — J, Smith sends him to Wash ington, 887 ; — his petition to the State of Pennsylvania, 351 ; — aspires to tho Pontificate, 410 ; — his doctrine of the spiritual wife aUenates others from him, 411 ; — his excommunica tion and exUe fi'om Nauvoo, 412 ; — aUiance of the temporal and spiritual indispensable, II. 9 ; — theory of the spiritual wife ; account of this social innovation, 110, Eiley, a horse of Indian breed, I. 36 ; exchanges for Campora, 82, 454. Eio Coloeado, o navigable river, II. 414. Eio Santa Claba, a river on the fron tier between Utah and New Mexico, II. 382, 384, Eio Viegen, and its vaUey, II, 397 ; — vegetation of the latter, 4-00 ; — cross ing the river, 403. ElTTEB, a banker at San Francisco ; his generosity, I, 4. EiTUALS of Osibis, Egyptian funeral manuscripts, I. 301 ; II. 540 seq. EOADS, I. 464. Eockwell, a friend of J. Smith, II. 311 ; sketch of this Samt, 814, 315 ; — suspected of an attempt to assassi nate Governor Boggs, I. 338, 343. Eome, effect of its atmosphere on the rehgious sentiment, Introd. cxu. Eubies, I. 134, Eussian and Tabtab, an aphorism of Napoleon I., I. 9. Sand conceetb, rocks of, II. 386. Sacbambnto : departure from this town for the Mormon territory, I. 5. Saobaments, recognized by the Saints, II. 44 ; — baptism received for the benefit of others, II. 43. Sainsevain, a nephew of M. Vigne at Los Angeles ; his reception, II. 469 seq. Saints, a name common to Mormon 598 INDEX. women ; their morals in a polygynic society, II. 158 seq. ; — then- question able happiness, 160-168 ; — history of a mother and her daughter, 164- 167. Saint-Hilaibe (Barthelemy), on Bud dhism, Introd. V. ; — the picture he draws of Buddha, xx. St, John the Baptist : how he con ferred the priesthood on J. Smith and liis secretary, II. 49. St, Joseph, on the Missouri, II. 499. St. Louis, on the Mississippi, II. 499. Saints, a synonym of the Mormons ; their convictions drawn up, II. 80 ; — their sacred song and appeal to aU the nations, 82 ; — their printing- house destroyed, I. 285 ; — a complete account of their faith impossible, II. 10 ; — obedience to their Church, 80 ; — claim to be the most righteous peo ple on earth, 117 ; — privUeges they attribute to the special favour of the Deity, 192 ; — their religious views absurd, but the virtues they practice, admirable, 272. (See Mormons,) Saints of Nauvoo, appeal to their brethren, I. 408; — expelled without raercy, 425. Salbbatus, or Saloeratus, carbonate of soda, I. 178. Salmon, II. 504, 506 ; — epidemic among, 511. Salt, its crystallizations and flakes, I. 168, 169, 171 ;— procured at Salt Lake, 178, 180 ; — its analysis, 530. San Bernardino, a settlement of the Mormons in California, I, 456, 464 ; — station for traveUers between CaU fornia and Utah ; capital of the coun ty ; soil, cultivation, crops, II. 456 seq. ; — observations on climate, ib. San Bbenaedino (Mount), its snowy dome, II. 454, SanDboed, a merchant at Los Angeles, II, 473, San Francisco. Departure, July 18th,. 1855, for Sacramento, I. 8 ; — we east anchor in the port, II. 494 ; — the re spectable citizens take the power into their own hands to vindicate morahty, 518; — prodigious increase of its popu lation, 515 ; — pubhc schools, hterary, scientific, and benevolent societies, churches, arts, industry, journals, etc, 515, 516. San-Jose, a smaU inn, II. 464. San Pedro, port of the city of Los Angeles, II, 492. Santa Barbara, its bituminous springs, II. 479 ; — a port situated between San Pedro and San Francisco, 479. Satan, commander-in-chief of the evU spirits and a gentleman, II. 40, Schisms and Schismatics, Mormon, II. 213. Schist, I, 26, 114, 133. Scott (General), directed to prepare an expedition against Utah, I. 473. Sebe-Stone, used by Scotch and Ame rican wizards, I. 268. Self-Govbhnment. Character of the Anglo-American race ; a rare ex ample, I, 150. Senator (the), a steamer from San Pedro to San Francisco, II, 493 ; — social distinctions on board this re pubhcan ship, 494. Sermons, II. 58 seq. Settlements of the Mormons, 1. 176, 455 ; II. 412. Seventy (the), their mission, II. 61. Sbvibe Eivee, its banks infested with iU-disposed Indians, II. 337, 338 ;— difficult crossing of this river, 338 ; — murder of Captain Gunnison, I. 463; II. 340;— Lake Sevier: see NicoUet. Shakees (the) : antipodes of the Mor mons, II. 171 ; — their settlement, 549 seq. ; — dress and religious exer cises, 550, 551 ; — conditions of admis sion to the sect, 552 ; — their chas tity ; education of chUdren, ib. Shoshones, or Snakes, formidable In dian robbers, I. ?8 ; — care taken to avoid them, 101, 106 ; — their cloth ing, food, habits, language ; their re- INDEX. 599 pubhc ; polygaray ; accouohemonts, and primitive cradles ; hmiting-wea- pons, sports, funerals, and barbarous customs, 122 seq. ;— savage concerts and general character, 132 ;— consti tute themselves executioners of the Divine vengeance, 467 note ;— their treaty of peace with tho Utahs ; bi vouac together in the great squai-e of the Mormons ; fear insph-ed by then- cries iu the night, II. 291 ; — su perstition of these savages respecting salmon, 508. (See also Indians.) SiBEEA Nevada, a chain of mountains in Cahfornia, I. 6 ; — its snow sum mits visible at a distance ; their eleva tion, 23, 26 ; II. 44.5, 44-9, 450, 452; ^ — terminates in Carson vaUey, 32 ; — varied vegetation, 44; — its volcanic nature, 521. Sioux : meeting with bands of them, II. 501. Skun'k {Mephitis occidentalis), a, smaU carnivorous animal, which secretes an infectious Uquid, II. 503. Smith (Amanda), her courage durmg the persecution of her co-rehgionists, I. 320., Smith (Emma), she prepares a selec tion of psalms for the use of the new Church, I. 274 ; — their pubhcation, 283 ; — selection, 301 ; — is present at a review of the Mormon legion, 347 ; — ^her repugnance to polygaray, 349 ; — burns the original of the revelation of Joseph on polygaray, II. 119 ; — how she receives this revelation, 130 note. Smith (Hybum), a brother of the foun der of the Mormon Church, I. 255 ; — his patriarchate, 342 ; — his tragical death, 395, Smith (the patriarch John), uncle of the Prophet, I. 458. Smith (Joseph), father of the Prophet, I, 255, Smith (Joseph), a speculator in reli gion, Introd. xxiu, xxiv ; — his abUity, xciv ; — his deference for Christianity, XCV ; — borrows from aU sects, ti.,-— liis concessions to the passions, xcvi ; — his sect essentitdly that of the poor and wretched, xcviii seq. ; — maintains the fundamental principles of civihzed society, cii ; — his creed, ciu ; — quah ties of mind and character, cv. seq. ; —called the Prophet, I, 139 ;— dies for the accomplishment of the pro phecies, 141 ; — his portrait, 148 ; — sermon entitled " Word of Wisdom," 198 ; — his opinion of Brigham Young, 201; — probability of his predisposi tion for the part of Prophet ; his sin cerity doubtful, 227; — his famUy in Windsor County, Norwich, and Pal myra, 227, 230;— liis birth, chUd hood, and early education, 229, 280 ; — attempt on his life, 230 ; — wavers between various communions, 231 ; — repudiates aU reUgions, 233 ;¦ — ana logy and difference of his views and his mother's, 233 ; — his precocity ; denial of religion, and first appear ance in the world of visions, 234, 235; — two angels appear to him, 235; — attracts attention ; his youthful faults, 237; — instructions of a celestial messenger, 238, 239 ; — enters the ser vice of J. Steal, marries the daughter of a tavern-keeper, and retires to his father's farm, 241 ; — the Plates and Urim and Thummim delivered to him by the heavenly messenger; the Metho dists attempt to steal them, 242, 243 ; — an angel claims of him the famous plates, 242—245 ; — the persecution he suffers decides him to go to Pennsyl vania ; he there copies and translates the sacred characters, 244 ; — faithless ness of his secretary ; revelations on revelations ; their fi-audulent fabrica tion, 246 ; — Oliver Cowdery offers his service ; they work together on the translation of the Golden Book, 247 ; — orders of a new divine messenger ; Joseph and Oliver baptize one an other, ih. — hip benefactors ; his ene mies, and their proceedings, 248, 249 ; 600 INDEX. — he completes his translation, and raakes proselytes ; fi'csh revelations and visions; three witnesses com manded by an angel ; record of facts, and certificates of miracle, 250, 251 ; — his presence of mind before a troop of ruffians,' 253 ; — titles he assumes, ib. ; — ^his plan of renovation, 263 ; — his impudence and imposture, ib. ; — plagiarism and compilations, 265 ; — contradictions of the Prophet, 266 ; — his faculty of observation, 269 ;— testimony on which the feith of his disciples rests, ih. ; — his first mh-aole attracts converts, 272; — miraculous heahngs and prophecies ; new perse cutions, 273, 274; — aU his brothers a'Te ordained priests ; he claims the sole power of oommimicating with Heaven, 275 ; — the Prophet receives a visit fi-om Sidney Eigdon and Ed ward Partridge, 276 ; — revelations foUow each other, according to the need of his cause ; his abuse of them, 277,278; — ^goes to Missouri with seve ral disciples, stops at Independence (Jaekson County), and declares that Here should be bmlt the temple of the New Zionj 279 ; — returns to Kirtland, and settles at Hiram, 280;— a desertion a"midst his triumphs, 281 ; — ^is pro- dlaimed President of the High-Priests, 283; — attempt to poison him, 284; — his translation of the Scriptures, ih. ; — his measra-es against the Missouri persecution, 288; — he prepares an stoned expedition, 294; — excommu- fiiCates members fi-om the Church ; charges brought against him, 294 ; — toasters the crisis, 295 ; — exliortations fo his brethren ; opens the campaign, 296 ; — his soldiers cross the Mis sissippi, 297 ;— the cholera disbands his army, 299 ; — statement of wrongs suffered in Missouri ; his return to Kirtland ; his accusers retract, 300; — activity and its reward, 301 ;— he cures his father, 302 ; — other visions, ib. ; — recognized as Prophet and Seer, 303 ; — establishes a bank, whioh faUs, 307 ; — he retires into Missouri, 308 ; — writ for his arrest, 313 ; — is arrested and condemned to death, 315 ; — Pratt, Sidney Eigdon, Hyrum Smith and others share his imprison ment, ii.; — he escapes, 318; — his he roism under trials ; reraarkable letter to his people, 321 seq. ; — he goes to Washington to plead his cause; his presence of raind saves his feUow-tra- veUers, 338 ; — mUitary review; blesses the foundation-stone of the new Tera ple, 342, 343 ; — arrested again, 347 ; — his attempts with the candidates for the Presidency of the United States, and quotations in seventeen languages, 351 ; —check to his efforts, his political programme, and his views on the Slave question, electoral mani festo, 352 seq.— hia ambition irritates his enemies, 372 ; — conceives the idea of a settlement in Oregon ; his can didacy for the Presidency of the United States preached with the new gospel, 374 ; — insolent letter to Henry Clay, 376 ; — his disciples carry him in triumph, 387 ; — is summoned be fore the court at Carthage, ib. ; — appeal to the legion of Nauvoo ; proclaims martial law, 390 ; — retires toward the Eocky Mountains, but recrosses the Mississippi, 391, 392 ; — resolves to give himself up to justice at Carthage, 392 ; — is imprisoned with his brother Hyrum, 394 ; — a band of armed men force an entrance into their prison, 395 ; — the detaUs of his murder, ib. ; — mourning of his co-religionists, 397 ; — funeral ; the bodies of the martyrs secretly transported fi-om Carthage to Nauvoo, ih. ; — the su periority of his inteUect, 403 ; — his moral quahties, 403, 404 ; — ac quitted thirty-nine times by different courts, 405 ; — his capacity as admi nistrator and organizer, ih. ; — his por trait, and that of his brother Hyrum, 406 J — his assassins brought to jus- INDEX. 001 tice; thou- plans revealed, 415 j— is regarded as successor of Moses and Christ, II. 4;— a new organ of the Divine wiU, 6 ; — undefined principles of this reformer, 8 ; — phu-ahty of gods, 24 ;— prediction for 1890, 25 ;— strange definition of gods and angels, 26 seq. ; — the dispensation of which he is the instrmnent foretold by the Apocalypse, 78 ; — congregation of wo men wliich he founded ; — revela tion on polygamy, 112 ; — his trans lation of Genesis and the Book of Abraham, 114, 115 ; — his efforts to obtain the assent of his wife to his views on polygamy, 130 ; — his sani tary precepts, 272. Smith (Samuel), brother of the Pro phet, baptized by Brigham Young, I. 274. Smith (WiUiam), brother of the Pro phet, excluded fi-om the pontifical throne, I, 412. Snake Eivee, II. 503. Snakes : danger of disturbing the abode of these reptUes, I. 30 ; — they sleep with us, 47 ; — do not prevent our bathing in the river, 49 ; — ooUed up in our blankets ; we become fami liarized with them, 88 ; — the prairie ahve with snakes, 109 ; — rattlesnakes, I. 112, 175 ; II. 501, 525. Snakes, Indian. (See Shoshones.) Snow (Lorenzo), presents the Book of Mormon to the Queen of England, I. 376 ; — his opinion on France, 457. Social Hall, I. 194, 198 ; — ^its inau guration ; dramatic representations, L462; IL 188. Society at Salt Lake in 1855, I. 464. Society op Agricultuee in Utah, (cattle, corn, various plants, fi-uit ; cotton, flax, hemp, sugar-cane, etc.), II. 267, 268. SooiBTiBS, philharmonic, polysophical, scientific, theological, and horticul tural, at Salt Lake, I. 464. Sokopitz, an Indian chief; his por trait, I. 145 ; — escorts us on our road | to Salt Lake, 147 ; — points out a hot- spring, 157 ; — returns to the desert, indifferent to our presents, I. 193. SoPHRONiA, a sister of Joseph Sraith ; her miraculous cure, I. 229, SouviLLB, a naval officer ; sends his good wishes for our enterprize, I. 7. Spanish Fork, » rivulet in Utah, II. 322. Spaulding (Salomon), his romantic history of the Indians of N, America, I, 264. Spencer (Daniel), mayor of Nauvoo j his advice, I. 408. Speingville, a fortified town, II. 327. Squaws, a generic name of Indian wo men, I. 85. Stansbuby (Captain Howard), envoy fi-om Washington, to make survey of the vaUey of Great Salt Lake, 1. 449 ; — attests the merit of the Prince of the Mormons, 496. Stbptob (Colonel), refuses to succeed Brigham Young as Governor, 1. 466 ; — his troops give offence to the Saints, 478 ; — his testimony in fa vour of Brigham Young, I. 496. Stoal (Josiah), of Chenango, takes J. Smith into his service, I. 241. Stbong, aspires to succeed the Pj-o- phet, I. 412. Styles, Federal judge at Salt Lake, I. 209. Sugar (beet-root), attempt to manufae- ture it, I. 456 ; — purchase of a ma chine for this purpose, 462. Summit Creek (river of), a mountain yielding salt, and a salt-spring in its vicinity, II. 335. Surnames of the Twelve Apostles, I. 413. T. Tobacco, its salutary effects on tra veUers, 1. 41. Tabbbnaolb, meaning of this word in the Mormon language, I. 142 ; II, 27 note, 32, 38, 114, 115, 117. Tarring and Feathebing, a dan- 602 INDEX. gerous joke practised upon the Pro phet, I. 282. Tayloe (John), companion in captivity of J. Smith at Carthage, I. 394;— wounded in the attack on the prison, 395 ; — a Mormon raissionary at Paris, 457 ; — head of the European mission ; his reports to the Great CouncU ; his opinion of France, II. 200, 201. Tempebatuee, I. 25, 59, 62, 156, 157, 166, 174. Temple, Mormon : its construction, I. 194, 195. Temple of Kirtland: subscription to finish it, I. 301 ; — its consecration, 302. Temple of Nauvoo : its construction and consecration, I. 422. Temple of Utah : its construction, I. 456, 461. Texas-Hill, a post farm, I, 12. Thayeb (Ezra), a disciple whom J. Smith denounces for disobedience, I. 278. Theatbe: taste of the Mormons for the drama, II, 189. Theocbacy of the Mormons in Utah, II. 230 ; — fusion of powers, ih. ; — constrained by fhe U. State govern ment, 232. Theogony of the Mormons, II. 22. Theology of the Mormons, connected with their metaphysics, II. 20, 22 ; — rambhng system, 27 ; — ^various read ings, 31. TiGEE, a Mormon dog of mixed race, II. 307, 358, 424. Timpanooos, or Utah, a lake discharg ing its waters into the Salt Lake, I. 182, 184, 185 (see Lake Utah) ;— a river flowing into the lake of the same name, II. 321, 323. Tithino-Opeice, I, 194. TocQUEViLLE (de). On the indifference of democracies to forms and symbols in religion, Introd. hi. ; — his opinion on religious unity in democracies, xcu ; — on the philosophical method of the Americans, cxvu ; — his description of the Sunday in the United States, cxxii, seq. Tombs of emigrants, sad impression they produce in a desert country, I. 52. ToucHAED, a banker at San Francisco ; his kindness, I. 4. Trading-post, or shop in the desert, 1.88. Trappers, Canadian ; hunters attracted to the desert in search of furs, II. 260, 266. Trees, gigantic, II. 520. Tribunal. (See Council,) Tunic, SEicred, a white dress which, according to the Mormons, protects those who wear it from danger, I, 196. U. U HUMAKAIKAI, a sea-monstcr, the god of storms, Introd. a. Umatilla (river), II. 508. Unio (moUusks), I. 82, University of Utah, 1. 462. Ueim and Thummim, heavenly eye glasses given by God to J. Smith, I. 238, 239 ; — in what these sacred re lics consist, 24-2 ; — their use, 214, 24fi ; — God resides on a great Urim- Thuramim, II. 22 ;— an ornament worn by the Jewish high-priest, I. 268 ; II. 531 ; — a singular optical in strument of faith, I. 282 ; — divining spectacles, II. 531 ; — contradictory traditions, ii. Utah, Territory of; its natm'al re sources, and changes effected by the Mormons, I. 443 seq. ; — its cultiva tion and climate, 445, 459, 473 ; — its first legislature, 454 ; — progress of the colony, 456 ; — development of in dustry, 456 ;— sohcitude for its mo ral interests, 456 ; — population, 460, 470 ; — arrival of new emigrants, 464 ; — relations of Utah with the Federal Government, 465 ; — commencement of the pohtical crisis, 468; — new counties, 470.; — requisition to ob- INDEX. 003 tain the title of a State, 470 ; — its delegates to Congress met by calum nious accusations ; anonymous let ters, 471 ; — census of male polyga mists ; numerical inferiority of the women, 169, 170 ; — derivation of the name Utah ; the Mexicans cede the country to the U, States ; its extent and geographical configuration, 258 ; — advantages of climate and tempera ture, 261 ; — sowing and harvesting, 262 ; scourges which occasionaUy ra vage this country ; roads and canals ; postal service, 263 ; — mineral riches of this territory, 264; — springs of mineral waters used in administering baptism, 265 ; (see also Hot-Springs.) — danger of some of the sohtudes in Utah, 294. Vaillant, a misanthropist who fled to the desert, I. 10 ; — his dwelling, hospitality, gold-diggings, 12, 13 ; — a day spent at his house with miners and other emigrants, 15 ; — his sensibUity under the appearance of aversion for society, 17. VAUiLAHTVlLLK, residence of M. VaU- lant (see this name) ; our reception, I. 15. Valdeso (Don Jose Maria), innkeeper, n. 463. Vancouver (Fort), II. 510. Van Viibt (Captain), his reception at Great Salt-Lake City, I, 474, 479. Vegetation, destroyed by fire in order to assist in hunting, L 121. Vigne, a French settler at Los Angeles, n. 468, 474. Voltaire, refutes an assertion of Bayle, Introd. vi. Vulpes maceueus of zoologists (ca yotes), I. 51. W. Wahsatch, mountains with angular peaks, I. 184 ; — summits covered with perpetual snow, II. 259. Wakaea, sumamod Joseph Walker ; a chief of an Indian tribe of the Utahs, 1. 446 ; — aggression of his marauders they sue for peace, 463 ; — he dies barbarous saci-ifices on his tomb, 466 II. 345 ; — ^marveUous history of his first death, ti. Walker, a clerk in a store, going to seek his fortune in Cahfornia ; his ideas on revelations, II. 424. Walker, Joseph. (See Wakara.) Washington, the Government of ; en dows the library of Great Salt-Lake City, I. 194 ; IL 188 ;— its represen tation at Salt- Lake, I. 209; — rigorous measures against Utah, 210 ; — abo minable conduct of the American officers, 206; — fi-iendly disposed to wards the Saints, 492 ; — a suggestion of the author with respect to the Sand wich Islands and the Mormons, II. 333. (See also American Congress.) Watbb-plkas, and Water- beetles, 1. 105. Watt, story of his meirriage with his half-sister, II. 139. Wblis, Artesian, of Los Angeles and San Francisco, II. 479. Wells (General), commander-in-chief of the Mormon army in Utah, I. 211, 480. White-Sklns, name of the European rae c s : their supeflbrity acknowledged by the Indians, I. 70, 71, 460. Whitmer (femUy of), of Fayette, their generous offers to J. Smith, I. 248, 249. Whitmer (David), is deposed fi-om his functions, I. 309; — ^revenges himself by calumniating the Mormons, 311. Whittlibg, a kind of play or pastime in vogue among the Yankees, 1. 346 ; II. 399. Wight (Lyman), a pretender to the Presidency of the Church, I. 412. Wiley (Robert) : the Plates of his discovery compared with those of J. Smith, I, 267. Willhamette (vaUey of) in Oregon, n. 610. 604 INDEX. Williams (Frederick), counciUorof the Presidency, I. 284. Williams (Colonel), his cruel order, I, 395. Willow Cheek, II. 317. WiNTEE (Dr.), his origin, hut, trade, rise, and pOrtwine, I. 48. WOLVEEINES {Gulo luscus), II. 266. WoED op Wisdom, I. 284; II. 272. Yebba Buena, the cradle of San Fran cisco, I. 482 note. Young (Brigham), successor of the Prophet Joseph Smith, I, 189 ; — Governor of Utah, 192 ; — ^his palace, his wives, 194 ; — his chUdren, titles, talent, and power, 201, 202 ; — first visit to this President of the Church, 202, 208 ;— second visit, 210 ;— impor tant personages; conversation, 210, 211 ; — his opinion of the French, 212; — impression made on his people by his reception of us, 213 ; — his pre sents after our identity was known ; his disUke of Judge Kinney, 205, 206 ; advice to his people with respect to thieves, 215 ;— his menaces of celes tial wrath, and his answer to the offers of doctors, 218; — is baptized by one of the brothers of Joseph Sraith, 275 ; — eldfcted into the Coun cil of the Apostles, 300 ; — favour ed with the gift of tongues, 308 ; — pursued by the hatred of the peo ple, 808; — nominated President of the twelve Apostles, 342 ; — his elo quence, 375 ; — his retm'n to Nauvoo, and exhortations in the narae of the CouncU of Twelve,, 409; — his bit-th andpiiofession,.413 ; — his pru dence opposed to the prejudices of the GentUeff,- 418 ; — apostoHc letter, 419 seq,; — departure for the West, 426 ; — at the head of a caravan he ventures across a desert 400 leagues in extent, in search of a hospitable country, 433, 434 ; — measures to es tablish his colony at Utah, 435 ; — retm-ns to Kanesville, 436 ; — is elected President of the Church, and succeeds Joseph Smith in aU his titles, 438 ; — is appointed Governor of the Territory of Utah, 449; — takes the oaths as'civU governor, 451 ; — a new epistle to the Saints throughout the world, 455 ; — success of his ad ministration, 458 ; — his fortune, his new palace, 4-64 ; — moderation of his pohcy towards the Indians, 466, 467; — proclamation to the citizens of Utah, 475; — address to the peo ple, -476 ; — organisation for resisting force, and summons to Colonel Alex ander, 480 ; — the Legislature ap prove his conduct and message, 482 ; — he visits the Governor, ap pointed by the Cabinet at Washing ton, 486 ; — he retires to the South with his family ; his conduct in cri tical circumstances worthy of praise, 488 ; — he deohnes the offers of the In dians as auxiliaries, and signs a peace with the American Commissioners, ih. ; - his qualities as au eminent pohtician and able administrator, 495; — his portrait by the author of this book ; coraparison with J, Smith, 497 seq. ; — his natural eloquence, II. 58 ; — named commander-in-chief of the camp of Israel, and termed the Moses of the Mormons, 81 ; — prophe sies the triumph of polygamy, 119; — censure of Christians opposing the principle of a plurahty of wives, 120 ; — domestic life in his harem, 136 ; — » Gordian knot cut, 140; — another privUege of attraction to beauty, 127 ; — intelligence without, instruction, 176 ; — ^his criticism on Professor Or son Pratt, 176 ; — his reasoning on the education of women, 182; — his policy opposes aU serious studies, 187; — analogy of his power to that of the Pope at Eome, 230 ; — confirma tion of his power by universal suf- rage, 231 ; — his abUity in dealing with the American Government ; ma- INDEX. 605 nifestation of independence in a ser mon, 248, 249 ; — extract from -one of his discourses, 250 note; — his prophecy on war and the coming of the Son of Man, 255 note ; — lucky miners enable him to coin money, 270; — he is beloved, respected, and venerated by the subjects of his rising empire, 275 ; — his influence brings about peace between the Indians, his neighbours ; thanked by their chiefs, 291 ; — consents to sit for his daguer reotype, 290; — farewell and benedic tion of tho Mormon pontiff, 303. Z. Zaeahbmla, an ignorant people whom the Nephites instructed, and after wards joined, I. 260 ; — a Mormon colony, 340. Zbdekiah, king of Judah, I. 258. Zion, the rehgious name of the Great Mormon city in Utah (see Great Salt Lake City) ; its prosperity, I. 455. THE END. pkinted by john edwabd tatloe, little queen etreet, Lincoln's inn eields. 3 9002