IV. First Week at Great Salt Lake City.--Preliminaries…

IV. First Week at Great Salt Lake City.--Preliminaries

Before entering upon the subject of the Mormons I would fain offer to the reader a few words of warning. During my twenty-four days at head-quarters, ample opportunities of surface observation were afforded me. I saw, as will presently appear, specimens of every class, from the Head of the Church down to the field-hand, and, being a stranger in the land, could ask questions and receive replies upon subjects which would have been forbidden to an American of the States, more especially to an official. But there is in Mormondom, as in all other exclusive faiths, whether Jewish, Hindoo, or other, an inner life into which I can not flatter myself or deceive the reader with the idea of my having penetrated. At the same time, it is only fair to state that no Gentile, even the unprejudiced, who are raræ aves, however long he may live or intimately he may be connected with Mormons, can expect to see any thing but the superficies. The writings of the Faithful are necessarily wholly presumed. And, finally, the accounts of Life in the City of the Saints published by anti-Mormons and apostates are venomous, and, as their serious discrepancies prove, thoroughly untrustworthy. I may therefore still hope, by recounting honestly and truthfully as lies in my power what I heard, and felt, and saw, and by allowing readers to draw their own conclusions, to take new ground.

[BIBLIOLOGY.]

The Mormons have been represented, and are generally believed to be, an intolerant race; I found the reverse far nearer the fact. The best proof of this is that there is hardly one anti-Mormon publication, however untruthful, violent, or scandalous, which I did not find in Great Salt Lake City.[129] The extent of the subjoined bibliographical list would deter me from a theme so used up by friend and foe, were it not for these considerations. In the first place, I have found, since my return to England, a prodigious general ignorance of the “Mormon rule;” the mass of the public has heard of the Saints, but even well-educated men hold theirs to be a kind of socialistic or communist concern, where, as in the world to come, there is no marrying nor giving in marriage. Even where this is not the case, the reader of travels will not dislike to peruse something more of a theme with which he is already perhaps familiar; for in this department of literature, as in history and biography, the more we know of a subject, the more we want to know. Moreover, since 1857, no book of general interest has appeared, and the Mormons are a progressive people, whose “go-a-headitiveness” in social growth is only to be compared with their obstinate conservatism in adhering to institutions that date from the days of Abraham. Secondly, the natural history of the New Faith--for such it is--through the several periods of conception, birth, and growth to vigorous youth, with fair promise of stalwart manhood, is a subject of general and no small importance. It interests the religionist, who looks upon it as the “scourge of corrupted Christianity,” as much as the skeptic, that admires how, in these days of steam-traveling, printing, and telegramming, when “many run to and fro,” and when “knowledge” has been “increased,” human credulity will display itself in the same glaring colors which it wore ere the diffusion of knowledge became a part of social labor. The philosophic observer will detect in it a notable example of how mens agitat molem, the “powerful personal influence of personal character,” and the “effect that may be produced by a single mind inflexibly applied to the pursuit of a single object;” and another proof that “it is easier to extend the belief of the multitude than to contract it--a circumstance which proceeds from the false but prevalent notion that too much belief is at least an error on the right side.” The statist will consider it in its aspect as a new system of colonization. In America the politician will look with curiosity at a despotism thriving in the centre of a democracy, and perhaps with apprehension at its future efforts, in case of war or other troubles, upon the destinies of the whilom Great Republic. In England, which principally supplies this number of souls, men, instead of regarding it as one of many safety-valves, will be reminded of their obligations toward the classes by which Mormonism is fed, and urged to the improvement of education, religion, and justice. And I hope to make it appear that the highly-colored social peculiarities of the New Faith have been used as a tool by designing men to raise up enmity against a peaceful, industrious, and law-abiding people, whose whole history has been a course of cruel persecution, which, if man really believed in his own improvement, would be a disgrace to a self-styled enlightened age. The prejudice has naturally enough extended from America to England. In 1845, when the Mormons petitioned for permission to retire to Vancouver’s Island, they met with nothing but discouragement. And even in 1860, I am told, when a report was raised that Mr. Brigham Young would willingly have taken refuge with his adherents in the valley of the Saskatchawan, the British minister was instructed to oppose the useful emigration to the utmost of his power.

[129] A list of works published upon the subject of Mormonism may not be uninteresting. They admit of a triple division--the Gentile, the anti-Mormon, and the Mormon.

Of the Gentiles, by which I understand the comparatively unprejudiced observer, the principal are,

1. The Exploration and Survey of the Great Salt Lake by Captain Stansbury, who followed up Colonel Frémont’s flying survey in 1849, or two years before the Mormons had settled in the basin, and found the young colony about 2-3 years old. Anti-Mormons find fault with Captain Stansbury for expending upon their adversaries too much of the milk of human kindness.

2. The Mormons or Latter-Day Saints, by Lieutenant J. W. Gunnison, of the U. S. Topographical Engineers. This officer was second in command of the exploration under Captain Stansbury, and has recorded, in unpretending style and with great impartiality, his opinions concerning the “rise and progress, peculiar doctrines, personal conditions and prospects” of the Mormons, “derived from personal observation.” Like his commanding officer, Lieutenant Gunnison is accused of having favored the New Faith, and yet, with all the inconsistency of the odium theologicum, the Faithful are charged with his subsequent murder; the only motive of the foul deed being that the Saints dreaded future disclosures, and were determined, though one of their number had been sent to accompany Captain Stansbury as assistant, to prevent other expeditions. Upon Lieutenant Gunnison’s volume is founded “Les Mormons” of M. Étourneau, first printed in the “Presse,” and afterward republished, Paris, 1856.

3. The Mormons; a Discourse delivered before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, March 26th, 1850, by Colonel T. L. Kane (U. S. Militia): this gentleman, an eye-witness, who has touchingly, and, I believe, truthfully related the details of the Nauvoo Exodus, is called by anti-Mormons an “apologist,” and is suspected of being a Latter-Day Saint--baptized under the name of Dr. Osborne--in Christian disguise. Arrived at Fort Bridger in 1857, he found assembled there the three heads of departments, Governor Cumming, Chief Justice Eccles, and General Johnston. According to the Saints, he was watched, spied, treated as a Mormon emissary, and nearly shot by a mistake made on purpose; he was, however, supported by the governor against the general, and the result was a coolness most favorable to the New Faith. Colonel Kane is said to have preserved an affectionate and respectful remembrance of his friends the Mormons.

4. History of the Mormons, by Messrs. Chambers, Edinburgh.

5. An Excursion to California, over the Prairies, Rocky Mountains, and Great Sierra Nevada, by W. Kelly, Esq., J.P. Mr. Kelly, whose work shared at the time of its appearance the interest and admiration of the public with Messrs. Hue and Gabet’s Travels in Tartary, Tibet, and the Chinese Empire, visited Great Salt Lake City in 1849, an important epoch in the annals of the infant colony, and leaves the reader only to regret that he devoted so little of his time and of his two volumes to the history of the Saints.

6. The Mormons or Latter-Day Saints, with Memoirs of the Life of Joseph Smith, the American Mahomet. Office of the National Illustrated Library, 198 Strand, London. This little compilation, dealing with facts rather than theories, borrows from the polemics of both parties, and displays the calmness of judgment which results from studying the subject at a distance; though Gentile, it is somewhat in favor with Mormons because it shows some desire to speak the truth. This solid merit has won it the honor of an abridged translation with the title “Les Mormons” (292 pages in 12mo, Messrs. Hachette, Paris, 1854), by M. Amédée Pichot, and a brilliant review by M. Prosper Mérimée in the “Moniteur,” and reprinted in “Les Mélanges Historiques et Littéraires” (p. 1-58, Michel Levy, 1855).

7. A Visit to Salt Lake, and a Residence in the Mormon Settlements at Utah, by William Chandless. London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 1857. Mr. Chandless, about the middle of July, 1855, crossed the prairies in the character of a “teamster for pay,” spent the end of the year at Great Salt Lake City, and thence traveled viâ Fillmore and San Bernardino to California. The book is exceedingly lively and picturesque, combining pleasant reading with just observation, impartiality, and good sense.

8. Voyage au Pays des Mormons, par Jules Remy (2 vols., E. Dentu, Paris, 1860). The author, accompanied by Mr. Brenchley, M.A., traveled in July and the autumn of 1855 from San Francisco along the line of the Carson and Humboldt Rivers to Great Salt Lake City, and returned, like Mr. Chandless, by the southern road. The two volumes are more valuable for the observations on the natural history of the little-known basin, than for the generalisms, more or less sound, with which the subject of the New Faith is discussed.

Not a few anomalies appear in the judgments passed by M. Remy upon the Saints: while in some places they are represented as fervent and full of faith, we also read: “Le Mormonisme n’a pas caractère de spontanéité des religions primitives, ce qui va, du reste, de soi, ni la naïveté des religions qui suivirent, ni la sincérité des révélations ou des réformes religieuses qui, durant les siècles derniers, out pris place dans l’histoire;” and while Mr. Joseph Smith is in parts tenderly treated, he is ruthlessly characterized in p. 24 as un fourbe et un imposteur, a “savage and gigantic Tartuffe.” An excellent English translation of this work has lately appeared, under the auspices of Mr. Jeffs, Burlington Arcade, but an account of Great Salt Lake City in 1855 is as archæological as a study of London life in A.D. 1800.

9. Incidents of Travel and Adventure in the Far West, by M. Carvalho, who accompanied Colonel Frémont in his last exploration. According to anti-Mormons, the account of the Saints is far too favorable (1856).

10. Geological Survey of the Territory of Utah, by H. Englemann. Washington, 1860.

The principal anti-Mormon works are the following, ranged in the order of their respective dates. The Cons, it will be observed, more than treble the Pros.

1. A brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints (commonly called Mormons), including an Account of their Doctrine and Discipline, with the reason of the Author for leaving the said Church, by John Corrill, a member of the Legislature of Missouri (50 pages, 8vo, St. Louis, 1839). I know nothing beyond the name of this little work, or of the nine following.

2. Addresses on Mormonism, by the Rev. Hays Douglas (Isle of Man, 1839).

3. Mormonism weighed in the Balances of the Sanctuary and found Wanting, by Samuel Haining (66 pages, Douglas, Isle of Man, 1839).

4. The Latter-Day Saints and Book of Mormon. By W. J. Morrish, Ledbury.

5. An Exposure of the Errors and Fallacies of the Self-named Latter-Day Saints. By W. Hewitt, Staffordshire.

6. Tract on Mormonism. By Capt. D. L. St. Clair. (1840.)

7. Mormonism Unveiled. By E. D. Howe. (1841.)

8. Mormonism Exposed. By the Rev. L. Sunderland. (1841.)

9. Mormonism Portrayed; its Errors and Absurdities Exposed, and the Spirit and Designs of its Author made Manifest. By W. Harris (64 pages, Warsaw, Illinois, 1841).

10. Mormonism in all Ages; or, the Rise, Progress, and Causes of Mormonism; with the Biography of its Author and Founder, Joseph Smith, junior. By Professor J. B. Turner, Illinois College, Jacksonville. (304 pages, 12mo, New York, 1842.)

11. Gleanings by the Way. By the Rev. John A. Clark, D.D. (352 pages in 12mo, Philadelphia, 1842), Minister at Palmyra in New York at the time when the New Faith arose.

12. The History of the Saints, or an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. By John C. Bennett (344 pages, 12mo, Boston, 1842). This is the work of a celebrated apostate, who for a season took a prominent propagandist part in the political history of Mormondom. Defeated in his hopes of dominion, he has revenged himself by a volume whose title declares the character of its contents, and which wants nothing but the confidence of the reader to be highly interesting. The Mormons speak of him as the Musaylimat el Kazzáb--Musaylimat the Liar, who tried, and failed to enter into partnership with Mohammed--of their religion.

The four following works were written by the Rev. Henry Caswall, a violent anti-Mormon, who solemnly and apparently honestly believes all the calumnies against the “worthless family” of the Prophet; unhesitatingly adopts the Solomon Spaulding story, discovers in Mormon Scripture as many “anachronisms, contradictions, and grammatical errors” as ever Celsus and Porphyry detected in the writings of the early Christians, and designates the faith in which hundreds of thousands live and die as a “delusion in some respects worse than paganism, and a system destined perhaps to act like Mohammedanism (!) as a scourge upon corrupted Christianity” (sub. the American?). The Mormons speak of this gentleman as of a 19th century Torquemada: he appears by his own evidence to have combined with the heart of the great inquisitor some of the head qualities of Mr. Coroner W---- when insisting upon the unhappy Fire-king’s swallowing his (Mr. W.’s) prussic acid instead of the pseudo-poison provided for the edification of the public. Mr. Caswall went to Nauvoo holding in his hand an ancient MS. of the Greek Psalter, and completely, according to his account, puzzled the Prophet, who decided it to be “reformed Egyptian.” Moreover, he convicted of falsehood the “wretched old creature,” viz., the maternal parent of Mr. Joseph Smith, called a mother in Israel, looked upon as one of the holiest of women, and who, at any rate, was a good and kind-hearted mother, that could not be reproached, like Luther’s, with “chastising her son so severely about a nut that the blood came.” It is no light proof of Mormon tolerance that so truculent a divine and opponent par voie de fait should have been allowed to depart from among a people whom he had offended and insulted without loss of liberty or life.

13. The City of the Mormons, or three Days in Nauvoo in 1842 (87 pages, Messrs. Rivingtons, London, 1843).

14. The Prophet of the 19th Century; or, the Rise, Progress, and Present State of the Mormons (277 pages, 8vo, published by the same, London, 1843).

15. Joseph Smith and the Mormons. Chapter xiii. of America and the American Church (John and Charles Mozley, Paternoster Row, London, 1851).

16. Mormonism and its Author; or, a Statement of the Doctrines of the Latter-Day Saints. London: Tract Society, No. 866 (16 pages, 1858).

17. Narrative of some of the Proceedings of the Mormons, giving an Account of their Iniquities, with Particulars concerning the Training of the Indians by them; Descriptions of their Mode of Endowment, Plurality of Wives, &c. By Catharine Lewis Lynn (24 pages, 8vo, 1848). As will presently appear, when the fair sex enters upon the subject of polygamy, it apparently loses all self-control, not to say its senses.

18. Friendly Warnings on the Subject of Mormonism. By a Country Clergyman (London, 1850).

19. The Mormon Imposture: an Exposure of the Fraudulent Origin of the Book of Mormon (8vo, Newbury, London, 1851).

20. Mormonism Exposed. By Mr. Bowes. (1851.)

21. Mormonism or the Bible; a Question for the Times. By a Cambridge Clergyman (12mo, Cambridge and London, 1852). According to Mormon view, the title should have been Mormonism and the Bible.

22. History of Illinois. By Governor Ford (Chicago, 1854). The author was a determined opponent of the New Faith, and gives his own version of the massacres at Carthage and Nauvoo: it is valuable only on the venerable principle “audi alteram partem.”

23. Mormonism. By J. W. Conybeare, first printed in the “Edinburgh Review” (No. ccii., April, 1854, and reprinted in 112 pages, 12mo, by Messrs. Longman, London, 1854).

24. Utah and the Mormons; the History, Government, Doctrines, Customs, and Prospects of the Latter-Day Saints, from Personal Observations during a Six-months’ Residence at Great Salt Lake City. By Benjamin G. Ferris, late Secretary of Utah Territory (347 pages, 12mo, Messrs. Harper, New York, 1854). The author being married, appears to have lived among them to as little purpose--for observation--as possible. Every thing is considered from an anti-Mormon point of view, and some of the accusations against the Saints, as in the case of the Eldridges and the Howards, I know to be not founded on fact. The calmness of the work, upon a highly exciting subject, contrasts curiously with the feminine violence--the natural result of contemplating polygamy--of another that issued under the same name.

25. Mormonism Unveiled; or, a History of Mormonism to the Present Time (235 pages, 8vo, London, 1855).

26. Mormonism Examined: a few Kind Words to a Mormon (8vo, Birmingham, 1855).

27. Female Life among the Mormons, published anonymously for the demand of the New York market, and especially intended for the followers of Miss Lucy Stone and of the Rev. Miss Antoinette Brown, but known to be by Mrs. Maria Ward, who subsequently edited another work. The authoress, who professes to have escaped from the Mormons, was manifestly never among them. This “tissu de mensonges et de calomnies,” as M. Remy somewhat ungallantly, but very truthfully styles it, has had extensive currency. M. Révoil has given a free translation of it, under the name of “Les Harems du Nouveau Monde” (308 pages, Paris, 1856). Its success was such that its writeress was in 1858 induced to repeat the experiment.

28. The Mormons at Home; in a Series of Letters, by Mrs. Ferris, wife of the late United States Secretary for Utah Territory (Dix and Edwards, Broadway, New York, 1856). The reasons for this lady’s rabid hate may be found in polygamy, which is calculated to astound, perplex, and enrage fair woman in America even more than her strong-opinioned English sister, and in the somewhat contemptuous estimation of a sex--which is early taught and soon learns to consider itself creation’s cream--conveyed in these words of Mr. Brigham Young: “If I did not consider myself competent to transact business without asking my wife, or any other woman’s counsel, I think I ought to let that business alone.”

Accordingly, Mrs. Ferris finds herself in the hands and of a “society of fanatics,” controlled by a “gang of licentious villains”--an unpleasant predicament pour cette vertu--in fact, for virtue at any time of life--characterizes the land as a “Botany Bay” for society in general, and a “region of moral pestilence;” and while she lavishes the treasures of her pity upon the “poor, poor wife,” holds her spiritual rival to be tout bonnement a “concubine,” and consigns the wretches assembled here (scil. in Zion on the tops of the Mountains) to the “very hottest part of the infernal torrid zone.” Tantæne animis cœlestibus iræ?

The Mormons declare that they incurred this funny amount of feminine wrath and suffered from its consequent pin-pricks by their not taking sufficient interest in, or notice of the writer, especially by the fact that on one occasion--it is made much of in the book--some rude men actually did walk over a bridge before her. But coming direct from the land of woman’s rights’ associations, lecturesses on propagandism and voluntary celibatarians, whose “mission” it is to reform, purify, and exalt the age, especially our wicked selves, what else could be expected of outraged delicacy and self-esteem? Not being “vivisectors,” we can not, however, quite join with Mrs. Ferris in the complacency with which she relates her “probing the hearts” of her Mormon guests and visitors “with ruthless questions” about their domestic affairs; and we remark with pleasure that in more than one place she has most unwillingly confessed the kindness and civility of the Latter-Day Saints.

29. Adventures among the Mormons, by Elder Hawthornthwaite, an Apostate Missionary. (1857.)

30. The Mormons, the Dream and the Reality; or, Leaves from the Sketchbook of Experience. Edited by a Clergyman. W. B. F. (8vo, London, 1857).

31. The Husband in Utah; or, Sights and Scenes among the Mormons. By Austin N. Ward. Edited by Mrs. Maria Ward, Author of “Female Life among the Mormons” (212 pages, 8vo, Derby and Jackson, Nassau Street, New York, 1857). It is regretable that a respectable publisher should lend his name to a volume like this. The authoress professes to edit the MS. left by a nephew of her husband, who lived among the Mormons en route to California, went on to the gold regions and died. I can not but characterize it as a pure invention. The writer who describes markets where not one ever existed, and “the tall spires of the Mormon temples glittering in the rich sunlight” (p. 15), there being no spires and no temples at Utah, can hardly expect to be believed, even when, with all the eloquence of Mr. Potts, of the “Eatanswill Gazette,” she dwells upon the “fanaticism and diabolism that ever attends (?) the hideous and slimy course of Mormonism in its progress over the world.” The imposture, too, is not “white;” it is premeditatedly mischievous. Although Brother Underwood is a fancy personage, Miss Eliza R. Snow, with whose name improper liberties are taken, is no myth, but a well educated and highly respectable reality.

32. Fifteen Years among the Mormons, being the Narrative of Mrs. Mary Ettie V. Smith, late of the Great Salt Lake City, a Sister of one of the Mormon High-Priests, she having been personally acquainted with most of the Mormon leaders, and long in the confidence of the Prophet Brigham Young. By Nelson Winch Green. (Charles Scribner, Broadway, New York, 1858, and unhappily republished by Messrs. Routledge, London.) This work, whose exceedingly clap-trap title is a key to the “popular” nature of the contents, is, par excellence, the most offensive publication of the kind, and bears within it marks of an exceeding untruthfulness. The human sacrifices and the abominable rites performed in the Endowment House are reproductions of the accounts of hidden orgies in the Nauvoo Temple, invented and promulgated by Mr. Bowes. The last words placed in the mouth of Mr. Joseph Smith, “My God! my God! have mercy upon us, if there is a God!”--a palpable plagiarism from Lord P----’s will--may be a pious fraud to warn stray lambs from the fold of Mormonism, but as a history shows, it is wholly destitute of fact. The murder in Mr. Jones’, the butcher’s house, so circumstantially related, never took place. Colonel Bridger, who is killed off by the Danites at the end of the book, still lives; and a dream (ch. xxxviii.) seems to be the only proof of Lieutenant Gunnison having been slaughtered by the Latter-Day Saints, not, as is generally supposed, by the Indians. “Milking the Gentiles,” coining “Bogus-money,” “whistling and whittling” anti-Mormons out of the town, the dangers of competition in love-matters with an apostle, and the imminent peril of being scalped by white Indians, are stock accusations copied from book to book, and rendered somewhat harmless by want of novelty. But nothing will excuse the reckless accusations with which Mrs. Smith takes away the characters of her Mormon sisters, and the abominations with which she charges the wives of the highest dignitaries. Among those thus foully defamed is Miss Snow, who also appears as a leading actress in Mrs. Ward’s fiction. The “poetess of the Mormons,” now married to the Prophet, has ever led a life of exceptional asceticism--cold in fact as her name. The Latter-Day Saints retort upon Mrs. Smith, of course, in kind, quoting Chaucer (but whether truthfully or not I can not say):

“A woman she was the most discrete alive, Husbandes at chirche-dore had she had five.”

33. Mormonism; its Leaders and Designs, by John Hyde, Jun., formerly a Mormon Elder, and resident of Great Salt Lake City. (385 pages, 8vo, W. P. Fetridge & Co., Broadway, New York, 1857.) This is the work of an apostate Mormon, now preaching, I believe, Swedenborgianism in England: it has some pretensions to learning, and it attacks the Mormons upon all their strongest grounds. It is also satisfactory to see that in the circumstantial description of the mysteries of the Endowment House, Mrs. Smith and Mr. Hyde, whose account has apparently been borrowed by M. Remy, disagree, thus justifying us in doubting both; and it is curious to remark, that while the lady leans to the erotic, the gentleman dwells upon the treasonous and mutinous tendency of the ceremony. According to Mr. Hyde, he left the Mormons from conscientious motives. The Mormons, who, however, never fail thoroughly to denigrate the character of an enemy, especially of an apostate, declare that the author, when a missionary at Havre de Grâce, proved useless, always shirking his duty; and that, since dismissal from the ministry, he has left a wife unprovided for at Great Salt Lake City.

The now almost forgotten polemical and anti-Mormon works are,

M. Favez. Fragments sur J. Smith et les Mormons. A methodistical brochure.

Mr. Gray. Principles and Practices of Mormons.

M. Guers. L’Irvingisme et le Mormonisme jugés par la parole de Dieu.

Dr. Hurlburt’s Mormonism Unveiled. This work first set on foot the story of “Solomon Spaulding” having composed the Book of Mormon, concerning which more anon.

Mormonism a Delusion. By the Rev. E. B. Chalmers.

Mormonism Unmasked. By R. Clarke.

Mormonism, its History, Doctrine, etc. By the Rev. S. Simpson.

Mormonism an Imposture. By P. Drummond.

The Latter-Day Saints and their Spiritual Views. By H. S. J.

Tracts on Mormonism. A brochure by the Rev. Edmund Clay.

A Country Clergyman’s Warning to his Parishioners. (Wertheim & M‘Intosh, London.)

The Materialism of the Mormons, or Latter-Day Saints, Examined and Exposed. By S. W. P. Taylder.

The Book of Mormon Examined, and its Claims to be a Revelation from God proved to be False. (12mo, Anonymous.)

The principal notices of Mormonism in periodical literature are,

Archives du Christianisme: articles de MM. Agénor de Gasparin et Monod sur le Mormonisme. Nos. of the 11th of December, 1852, and 14th of May, 1853, quoted in the “Bibliographie Universelle” of MM. Ferdinand Denis, Pinçon et De Narbonne, under the article “Utah.”

Sectes religieuses au xix^{me} siècle; Les Irvingiens et les Saints du Dernier Jour, par M. Alfred Maury. Revue des Deux-Mondes. Vol. iii. of the 23d year (A.D. 1853), 1st of September, pages 961-995.

History and Ideas of the Mormons. “Westminster Review,” vol. iii., pages 196-230. (1853.)

Le Mormonisme et sa valeur morale--La Société et la Vie des Mormons, by M. Émile Montégut, “Revue des Deux-Mondes,” vol. i. of the 26th year, pages 689-725, 15th of February, 1856.

Visite aux Mormons du Lac Salé par Jules Remy. Articles in the “Echo du Pacifique,” San Francisco, January and February, 1856.

L’Illustration, Journal Universel. Vols. xv. and xxi. Articles by M. Depping, “Sur les Mormons” (1858).

Biographie Genérale du Dr. Hæfer, publiée chez MM. Didot frères: a long article upon Mr. Brigham Young, by M. Isambert (1858).

Une Campagne des Américains contre les Mormons. By M. Auguste Laugel. “Revue des Deux-Mondes,” 1er Septembre, 1859, pages 194-211.

Magasin Pittoresque. Several articles upon the Great Salt Lake, by M. Ferdinand Denis. Vol. xxvii., pages 172-239. Vol. xxviii., page 207. (1859-1860.)

Le Mormonisme et les Etats-Unis. “Revue des Deux-Mondes,” 15th April, 1861, signed by M. Elisée Reclus; an article formed chiefly upon the work of M. Remy. It is an able article, but written by one who, unfortunately, was never in the country--a sine quâ non for correct description. The “Revue” had already undertaken the subject in the number of the 1st of September, 1853, the 15th of February, 1856, and the 1st of September, 1859.

The foreign works omitted in the catalogue at the end of this note are,

Mormonismen och Swedenborgianismen. Upsala (8vo, 1854).

Geschichte der Mormonen, oder Jüngsten-Tages-Heiligen in Nord-Amerika, von Theodor Olshausen. (Göttingen, 244 pages, 8vo, 1856.)

Geographische Wanderungen. Die Mormonen und ihr Land, von Karl Andree. Dresden, 1859.

The Mormons have published at their General Repository only one purely laical book, “The Route from Liverpool to Great Salt Lake Valley,” illustrated with steel engravings and wood-cuts, from sketches made by Frederick Piercy. Edited by James Linworth. It is a highly creditable volume, especially in the artistic department, but the letter-press is uninteresting, and appears a mere peg upon which to hang copious notes and official returns. The price varies from £1 to £1 3_s._, and the three first parts, containing an accurate history of the Latter-Day Saints’ emigration from Europe up to 1854, may be had separately, 1_s._ each.

So good a theme for romance could not fail to fall into the hands of Captain Mayne Reid, who is to Mormonism what Alexander Dumas was to Mesmerism. In his pages the exaggerated anti-Mormon feeling attains its acme; the explorer Stansbury, who spoke fairly of the Saints, is thus qualified: “the captain is at best but a superficial observer”--quite a glass-house stone-throwing critique. Mr. Brigham Young is a “vulgar Alcibiades;” the City of the Saints is a “modern Gomorrah,” and the Saints themselves are “sanctified forbans;” the plurality wife is a “femme entretenue.” In the tale of the “Wild Huntress,” a young person married by foul means to Josh. Stebbing, the Mormon, and rescued mainly by a young hero--of course a Mexican volunteer--we have a sound abuse of the many-wife-system, despotism, theocracy, Danites, tithes, “plebbishness,” and the “vulgar ring which smacks (!) of ignoble origin.” On the other hand, the rascal Wakara, an ignoble sub-chief of the Yutas, known mainly as a horse-thief, contrasts splendidly by his valor, by his “delicate attentions” to the pretty half-caste, and by his chivalry and hospitality, which make him a very “Rolla of the North!” And this is “fact taught through fiction!”

The Mormon Scriptures, corresponding with the Old Testament, the Evangels, and the epistles of Christianity, consist of the following works: purely bibliographical notices are here given; the contents will be the subject of a future page.

1. The Book of Mormon, an Account written by the hand of Mormon, upon plates taken from the Plates of Mormon. Translated by Joseph Smith, Jun. The first edition was printed in 1830, at Palmyra, New York, and consisted of 5000 copies. Since that time it has frequently been republished in England and America: it was translated into French in 1852 (Marc Ducloux, Rue Saint Benoît 7, Paris, 1852), and versions have appeared in the German, Italian, Danish, Welsh, and Hawaïan tongues.

2. The Book of Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus of Latter-Day Saints, selected (!) from the Revelations of God. By Joseph Smith, President (336 pages, 12mo). The first American edition was printed in 1832, or ten years after the Book of Mormon, and was published at Mr. Joseph Smith’s expense. Many translations of this important work have appeared.

3. The Pearl of Great Price; being a Choice Selection from the Revelations, Translations, and Narratives of Joseph Smith (56 pages, 8vo, Liverpool, first published in 1851). This little volume contains the Book of Abraham, “translated from some records that have fallen into our hands from the catacombs of Egypt, purporting to be the writings of Abraham while he was in Egypt, called the Book of Abraham, written by his own hand on papyrus. With a fac-simile of three papyri.”

4. The Latter-Day Saints’ Millennial Star, begun in 1839, Manchester, United States, and now published 42 Islington, Liverpool, every Saturday. It has reached its 21st volume. The periodical is a single sheet (16 pages), and the price is one penny. It is an important publication, embracing the whole history of Mormonism; the hebdomadal issue now contains polemical papers, vindications of the Faith, with a kind of appendix, such as emigration reports, quarterly lists of marriages and deaths, varieties, and money lists.

5. Journal of Discourses by Brigham Young and others. First published in 1854 (8vo, Liverpool). It now appears in semi-monthly numbers, 1st and 15th, costing 2_d._, making up one volume per annum. The above-mentioned and the writings of “Joseph the Seer and Parley P. Pratt, wherever found,” are considered by the authorities of the Church as direct revelations.

The Mormons do not hold the “Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet and his Progenitors, for many Generations, by Lucy Smith, mother of the Prophet,” to be entirely trustworthy. Beyond its two pages of preface by Orson Pratt, it is deep below criticism. This work, 18mo, of 297 pages (including “Elegies” by Miss E. R. Snow), was first printed in 1853.

The Controversialist works, not usually included in the London catalogue, are the following. They are characterized by abundant earnestness and enthusiasm, and are purposely written in a style intelligible to the classes addressed:

The Word of our Lord to the Citizens of London, by H. C. Kimball and W. Woodruff (1839).

The Millennium, and other Poems; to which is annexed a Treatise on the Regeneration and Eternal Duration of Matter, by Parley P. Pratt, New York, 1840.

A Cry out of the Wilderness, by Elder Hyde. This hook was first published in Germany and in German (120 pages, in 1842).

Three Nights’ Public Discourse at Boulogne-sur-Mer, by Elder John Taylor (46 pages in 8vo, Liverpool, 1850).

Three Letters to the “New York Herald,” of James Gordon Bennett, Esq., from J. M. Grant (Mayor and President of the Quorum of Seventies), of Utah, March, 1852. These epistles have been reprinted in pamphlet form; they chiefly set forth Mormon grievances, especially the injury done by the federal officials.

History of the Persecutions endured by the Church of Jesus of Latter-Day Saints in America, compiled from Public Documents and drawn from Authentic Sources, by C. W. Wandell, Minister of the Gospel (without date, but subsequent to the 64 pp. 8vo edition, printed at Sydney).

Journal of the House of Representatives, Council and Joint Sessions of the First Annual Special Sessions of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah, held at Great Salt Lake City, 1851-1852. (Printed by Brigham Young, 175 pages 12mo, 1852.)

Defense of Polygamy, by a Lady of Utah (Mrs. Belinda Marden Pratt) to her Sister in New Hampshire (11 pages, 8vo, first printed at Great Salt Lake City in 1854, and subsequently republished in the “Millennial Star” of the 29th of July in the same year). I shall presently quote this curious work.

Acts and Resolutions of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah, Great Salt Lake City, 40 pages, 12mo. First printed in 1854, and now published for every Annual Session (that of ’60-’61 being the 10th) at Great Salt Lake City. Printed at the “Mountaineer” Office, by John S. Davis, Public Printer.

Acts, Resolutions, and Memorials passed at the several Annual Sessions (the 9th in 1859-60) of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah. Published by virtue of an Act approved January 19th, 1855, Great Salt Lake City, Joseph Cain, afterward J. S. Davis, Public Printer, 1855-1860. 460 pages, 12mo. It contains the Territorial Code of Deserét, and is purely secular.

Report of the First General Festival of the Renowned Mormon Battalion, Great Salt Lake City. 39 pages in 8vo.

Discourses delivered by Joseph Smith (30th of June, 1843) and Brigham Young (18th of February, 1855) on the Relations of the Mormons to the Government of the United States. Great Salt Lake City, 16 pages.

Marriage and Morals in Utah, by Parley P. Pratt. 8 pages, 8vo, Liverpool, 1856.

Twenty-four Miracles, by O. Pratt. Liverpool, 16 pages, 8vo, 1857.

Latter-Day Kingdom; or, the Preparation for the Second Advent, by O. Pratt. Liverpool, 16 pages, 8vo, 1857.

Spiritual Gifts, by Orson Pratt. Liverpool and London, 80 pages, 8vo, 1857.

Universal Apostasy; or, the Seventeen Centuries of Darkness, by O. Pratt, Liverpool, 16 pages in 8vo, 1857.

Compendium of the Faith and Doctrines of the Church of Jesus of Latter-Day Saints, compiled from the Bible, and also from the Book of Mormon, Doctrines and Covenants, and other publications of the Church; with an Appendix, by Franklin D. Richards, one of the Twelve Apostles of said Church. 42 Islington, Liverpool, 243 pages, long 18mo. (1857.) A concordance and compilation of the chief doctrinal works and seven sermons.

The following is the Catalogue of English Works published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and for sale by Orson Pratt, at their General Repository and “Millennial Star” Office, 42 Islington, Liverpool, and removed from 35 Jewin Street, City, to 30 Florence Street, Islington, London.

Hymn-Book, first edition in 1851. Morocco extra, 4_s._; calf, gilt edges, 2_s._ 6_d._; calf grained, 2_s._; roan embossed, 1_s._ 6_d._

The Harp of Zion. Poems by John Lyon. Published for the benefit of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund. First printed in 1853. Morocco extra, 6_s._ 6_d._; cloth, gilt extra, 3_s._ 6_d._; cloth embossed, 2_s._ 6_d._

Poems, Religious, Historical, and Political. By Eliza R. Snow. Vol. I. Morocco extra, 6_s._ 6_d._; calf gilt, 5_s._; cloth gilt, 3_s._ 6_d._; cloth embossed, 2_s._ 6_d._

The Government of God, by John Taylor, one of the Twelve Apostles. First printed in 1852. Stiff covers, 1_s._ 9_d._

Latter-Day Saints in Utah. Opinion of Judge Snow upon the Official Course of His Excellency Gov. B. Young--Trial of Howard Egan on Indictment, for the Murder of James Monroe, verdict--A Bill to Establish a Territorial Government for Utah. The Territorial Officers, etc. 9_d._

One Year in Scandinavia. Results of the Gospel in Denmark and Sweden, by Erastus Snow, one of the Twelve Apostles. 3_d._

Reports of Three Nights’ Public Discussion in Bolton, between William Gibson, H. P., Presiding Elder of the Manchester Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and the Rev. Woodville Woodman, Minister of the New Jerusalem Church. First published in 1851. 6_d._

Assassination of Joseph and Hyrum Smith; also a condensed History of the Expulsion of the Saints from Nauvoo, by Elder John S. Fullmer, Pastor of the Manchester, Liverpool, and Preston Conferences. First printed in 1856. 5_d._

Testimonies for the Truth; a Record of Manifestations of the Power of God--miraculous and providential--witnessed in the travels and experience of Benjamin Brown, H. P., Pastor of the London, Reading, Kent, and Essex Conferences. It is a list of the Miracles performed by the first Mormons. Printed in Liverpool, 1853. 4_d._

Works by Parley P. Pratt, one of the Twelve Apostles.

Key to the Science of Theology; designed as an Introduction to the First Principles of Spiritual Philosophy, Religion, Law, and Government, as delivered by the Ancients, and as restored in this Age, for the Final Development of Universal Peace, Truth, and Knowledge. First published in 1855. It is a volume far superior in matter and manner to the average run of Mormon composition. Morocco extra, 5_s._ 6_d._; calf grained, 3_s._ 6_d._; cloth embossed, 2_s._

The Voice of Warning; or, an Introduction to the Faith and Doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This work has been translated into French. Morocco extra, 4_s._; calf, gilt edges, 3_s._; calf grained, 2_s._ 6_d._; cloth embossed, 1_s._ 6_d._

Works by Orson Pratt, A.M., one of the Twelve Apostles.

Absurdities of Immaterialism; or, a Reply to T. W. P. Taylder’s Pamphlet, entitled “The Materialism of the Mormons, or Latter-Day Saints, Examined and Exposed.” First edition in 1849. 4_d._

Great First Cause; or, the Self-moving Forces of the Universe. 2_d._

Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon, in 6 parts. Each part 2_d._

Divine Authority, or the Question, was Joseph Smith sent of God? First published in 1848. 2_d._

Remarkable Visions. First published in 1849. 2_d._

The Kingdom of God, in 4 parts. First edition in 1849. Parts 1, 2, 3, each 1_d._ Part 4, 2_d._

Reply to a Pamphlet printed at Glasgow, with the approbation of Clergymen of different denominations, entitled, “Remarks on Mormonism.” First edition in 1849. 2_d._

New Jerusalem; or, the Fulfillment of Modern Prophecy. First published in 1849. 3_d._

Title and Index to the above Works, ¹⁄₂_d._

The Seer. Vol. I., 12 numbers; II., 8 numbers. Each number 2_d._ The two volumes bound in one, in half calf, 5_s._

A Series of Pamphlets, now being published on the first Principles of the Gospel.

The following numbers are already out: Chap. 1, The True Faith. Chap. 2, True Repentance. Chap. 3, Water Baptism. Chap. 4, The Holy Spirit. Chap. 5, Spiritual Gifts. First printed in 1857. Each number, 2_d._

Works by Lorenzo Snow, one of the Twelve Apostles.

The Voice of Joseph. A brief Account of the Rise, Progress, and Persecutions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, with their present Position and Prospects in Utah Territory; together with American Exiles’ Memorial to Congress. First published in 1852. 3_d._

The Only Way to be Saved. An Explanation of the First Principles of the Doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 1_d._

The Italian Mission, 4_d._

Works by Elder Orson Spencer, A.B.

Letters exhibiting the most prominent Doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in reply to the Rev. William Crowel, A.M., Boston, Mass., U. S. A. First printed in 1852. Morocco extra, 4_s._; calf grained, 2_s._ 6_d._; cloth embossed, 1_s._ 6_d._

Patriarchal Order, or Plurality of Wives. (Being the Fifteenth Letter in Correspondence with the Rev. William Crowel, A.M.) 2_d._

The Prussian Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Report of Elder Orson Spencer, A.B., to President Brigham Young. 2_d._

Works by Elder John Jacques.

Catechism for Children. Cloth, gilt edges, 10_d._; stiff covers, 6_d._

Exclusive Salvation, 1_d._

Salvation. A Dialogue in two parts. Each part 1_d._

I will conclude this long enumeration with Catalogue of the principal Works in foreign languages.

Works in French.

Le Livre de Mormon (Book of Mormon), 3_s._ 6_d._

Une Voix d’Avertissement (Voice of Warning). Par Parley P. Pratt. Morocco, gilt edges, 4_s._; roan, 1_s._ 9_d._; cloth, 1_s._ 6_d._; paper covers, 1_s._ 3_d._

Les Mormons et leurs Enemis (The Latter-Day Saints and their Enemies). Par T. B. H. Stenhouse, President des Missions Suisse et Italienne. 1_s._ 6_d._

Autorité Divine (Divine Authority). Par L. A. Bertrand, Elder. 4_d._

De la Nécessité de Nouvelles Révélations prouvée par la Bible. Par John Taylor, un des Douze Apôtres. 4_d._

Aux Amis de la Vérité Religieuse. Par John Taylor, Elder. 2_d._

Epitre du President de la Mission Française à l’Eglise des Saints des Derniers-jours en France et dans les Iles de la Manche (Epistle of the President of the French Mission, etc.), 1¹⁄₂_d._

Traité sur le Baptême. Par John Taylor, un des Douze Apôtres. 2_d._

Works in German.

Das Buch Mormon (The Book of Mormon), 3_s._ 6_d._

Eine Gottliche Offenbarung; und Belehrung uber den Ehestand (Revelation on Marriage; and Patriarchal order or Plurality of Wives). Stiff covers, 6_d._

Zion’s Panier (Zion’s Pioneer). No. 1, 3_d._

Works in Italian.

Il Libro di Mormon (The Book of Mormon). Morocco extra, 6_s._ 6_d._; grained roan, 4_s._ 6_d._

Works in Danish.

Mormons Bog (The Book of Mormon). Grained roan, 4_s._

Works in Welsh.

Llyfr Mormon (Book of Mormon). Grained roan, 4_s._; roan, gilt edges, 4_s._ 6_d._

Athrawiaeth a Chyfammodau (Doctrine and Covenants). Grained roan, 3_s._ 6_d._; roan, gilt edges, 3_s._ 6_d._

Llfyr Hymnau (Hymn Book). Marble calf, 2_s._; grained roan, 2_s._ 3_d._; calf, gilt edges, 2_s._ 6_d._

Y Perl o Fawr Bris (Pearl of Great Price), 1_s._ 2_d._

Priodas a Moesau yn Utah, gan Parley P. Pratt (Marriage and Morals in Utah, by Parley P. Pratt), 1_d._

Prophwyd y Jubili (The Millennial Prophet), Vol. III. unbound, 2_s._ 0¹⁄₂_d._

By Elder Dan Jones.

Yr Eurgrawn Ysgrythyrol (Casket, or Treatises on upward of 100 subjects). Half calf, 3_s._ 3_d._; unbound, 2_s._ 6_d._

Pwy yw Duw y Saint? (Who is the God of the Saints?), 2¹⁄₂_d._

Yr Hen Grefydd Newydd (The old Religion anew), 6_d._

Annerchiad i’r Peirch, etc. (Proclamation to the Reverends, etc.), 1¹⁄₂_d._

Gwrthbrofion i’r Spaulding Story am Lyfr Mormon (Spaulding Story, etc., refuted), 2_d._

Anmhoblogrwydd Mormoniaeth (Unpopularity of Mormonism), 1_d._

Arweinydd i Seion (Guide to Zion), 1¹⁄₂_d._

Pa beth yw Mormoniaeth? (What is Mormonism?), ¹⁄₂_d._

Pa beth yw gras Cadwedigol? (What is saving Grace?), ¹⁄₂_d._

Dadi ar Mormoniaeth? (Discussion on Mormonism), 2_d._

Anffyddiaeth Sectyddiaeth (Skepticism of Sectarianism), 1_d._

Amddiffyniad rhag Cam-gyhuddiadau (Replies to False Charges), 1_d._

Y Lleidr ar y Groes (The Thief on the Cross), ¹⁄₂_d._

“Peidiwch a’u Gwrando” (“Don’t go to hear them”), ¹⁄₂_d._

Egwyddorion Cyntaf a Gwahoddiadau (First Principles and Invitations), ¹⁄₄_d._

Ai duw a Ddanfonodd Joseph Smith (Divinity of Joseph’s Mission), 1_d._

Llofruddiad Joseph a Hyrum Smith (Assassination of Joseph and Hyrum Smith), 1_d._

Tarddiad Llfyr Mormon (Origin of the Book of Mormon), 1_d._

Dammeg y Pren Ffrwythlawn (Parable of the Fruitful Tree), ¹⁄₂_d._

Darlun o’r Byd Crefyddol (The Religious World Illustrated), ¹⁄₂_d._

Traethodau D. Jones, yn rhwyn mewn hanner croen llo (D. Jones’ Works bound in half calf), 6_s._ 4_d._

By Elder John Davies.

Yr hyn sydd o ran, etc. (That which is in part, etc.), 1_d._

Epistol Cyffredinol Cyntaf (First General Epistle of the first Presidency), 1_d._

Traethawd ar Wyrthiau (Treatise on Miracles), 1_d._

Etto Adolygiad, etc., Chwech Rhifyn (Do. in reply to Anti-Mormon Lectures). Six Nos. (Each No. 1_d._)

Pregethu i’r Ysbrydion yn Ngharchar, etc. (Preaching to the Spirits in Prison, etc.), 1_d._

Ewch a Dysgwch (Go and Teach), ¹⁄₄_d._

Darlithiau ar Ffydd, gan Joseph Smith (Joseph Smith’s Lectures on Faith), 4_d._

Y Doniau Ysbrydol yn Mrawdlys y Gelyn (The Spiritual Gifts before their Enemies’ Tribunal), 2_d._

Traethawd ar Fedydd (Treatise on Baptism), 1_d._

Corff Crist, neu yr Eglwys (The Body or Church of Christ), 1_d._

Ffordd y Bywyd Tragywyddol (The Way of Eternal Life), 1_d._

Yr Achos Mawr Cyntaf, gan O. Pratt (Great First Cause, by O. Pratt), 2_d._

Profwch Bob Peth, etc. (Prove all things, etc.), ¹⁄₂_d._

Athrawiaeth Iachus (Sound Doctrine), ¹⁄₂_d._

Ymddyddanion yn Gymraeg a Saesonaeg (Dialogues in Welsh and English), ¹⁄₂_d._

Llythyron Capt. Jones o Ddyffryn y li. H. Mawr, yn desgrifio arderchawgrwydd Seion (Beauties of Zion described by Captain Jones, in a Series of Letters from Great Salt Lake Valley), 2_d._

[SAN FRANCISCO ROAD.]

On the evening of our arrival Lieutenant Dana and I proceeded to the store of Messrs. Livingston, Bell, and Co.--formerly Livingston and Kinkhead--the sutlers of Camp Floyd, and the most considerable Gentile merchants in Great Salt Lake City; he to learn the readiest way of reaching head-quarters, I to make inquiries about the San Francisco road. We were cordially received by both these gentlemen, who, during the whole period of my stay, did all in their power to make the place pleasant. Governor Bell, as he is generally called, presently introduced me to his wife, a very charming person, of English descent, whose lively manners contrasted strongly and agreeably with the almost monastic gloom which the régime of the “lady-saints” casts over society. Lieutenant Dana was offered seats in Mr. Livingston’s trotting-wagon on the ensuing Monday. I was less fortunate. Captain Miller, of Millersville, the principal agent and director at this end of the road, informed me that he had lately ceased to run the wagon, which had cost the company $15,000 a month, returning but $30,000 per annum, and was sending the mails on mule-back. However, my informants agreed that a party would probably be starting soon, and that, all things failing, I could ride the road, though with some little risk of scalp. We ended with a bottle of Heidseck, and with cigars which were not unpleasant even after the excellent “gold-leaf tobacco” of the States.

[GOVERNOR CUMMING.]

On the next day, Sunday, we walked up the main street northward, and doubling three corners of Temple Block, reached the large adobe house, with its neat garden, the abode of the then governor, Hon. Alfred Cumming. This gentleman, a Georgian by birth, after a long public service as Indian agent in the northern country, was, after several refusals, persuaded by the then president, who knew his high honor and tried intrepidity, to assume the supreme executive authority at Great Salt Lake City. The conditions were that polygamy should not be interfered with, nor forcible measures resorted to except in extremest need. Governor Cumming, accompanied by his wife, and an escort of 600 dragoons, left the Mississippi in the autumn of 1857, at a time when the Mormons were in arms against the federal authority, and ended his journey only in April of the ensuing year. By firmness, prudence, and conciliation, he not only prevented any collision between the local militia and the United States army, which was burning to revenge itself for the terrible hardships of the campaign, but succeeded in restoring order and obedience throughout the Territory. He had been told before entering that his life was in danger; he was not, however, a man to be deterred from a settled purpose, and experiment showed that, so far from being molested, he was received with a salute and all the honors. Having been warned that he might share the fate of Governor Boggs, who in 1843 was shot through the mouth when standing at the window, he enlarged the casements of his house in order to give the shooter a fair chance. His determination enabled him to issue, a few days after his arrival, a proclamation offering protection to all persons illegally restrained of their liberty in Utah. The scrupulous and conscientious impartiality which he has brought to the discharge of his difficult and delicate duties, and, more still, his resolution to treat the Saints like Gentiles and citizens, not as Digger Indians or felons, have won him scant favor from either party. The anti-Mormons use very hard language, and declare him to be a Mormon in Christian disguise. The Mormons, though more moderate, can never, by their very organization, rest contented without the combination of the temporal with the spiritual power. The governor does not meet his predecessor, the ex-governor, Mr. Brigham Young, from prudential motives, except on public duty. Mrs. Cumming visits Mrs. Young, and at the houses of the principal dignitaries, this being nearly the only society in the place. As, among Moslems, a Lady M. W. Montague can learn more of domestic life in a week than a man can in a year, so it is among the Mormons. I can not but express a hope that the amiable Mrs. Cumming will favor us with the results of her observation and experience, and that she will be as disinterested and unprejudiced as she is talented and accomplished. The kindness and hospitality which I found at the governor’s, and, indeed, at every place in New Zion, is “ungrateful to omit,” and would be “tedious to repeat.”

We dined with his excellency at the usual hour, 2 P.M. On the way I could dwell more observantly upon the main features of the city, which, after the free use of the pocket-compass, were becoming familiar to me. The first remark was, that every meridional street is traversed on both sides by a streamlet of limpid water, verdure-fringed, and gurgling with a murmur which would make a Persian Moollah long for improper drinks. The supplies are brought in raised and hollowed water-courses from City Creek, Red Buttes, and other kanyons lying north and east of the settlement. The few wells are never less than forty-five feet deep; artesians have been proposed for the benches, but the expense has hitherto proved an obstacle. Citizens can now draw with scanty trouble their drinking water in the morning, when it is purest, from the clear and sparkling streams that flow over the pebbly beds before their doors. The surplus is reserved for the purposes of irrigation, without which, as the “distillation from above” will not suffice, Deserét would still be a desert, and what is not wanted swells the City Creek, and eventually the waves of the Jordan. The element, which flows at about the rate of four miles an hour, is under a chief water-master or commissioner, assisted by a water-master in each ward, and by a deputy in each block, all sworn to see the fertilizing fluid fairly distributed. At the corners of every ward there is a water-gate which controls the supplies that branch off to the several blocks, and each lot of one and a quarter acres is allowed about three hours’ irrigation during the week. For repairs and other expenses a property tax of one mill per dollar is raised, and the total of the impost in 1860 was $1163 25. The system works like clock-work. “The Act to Incorporate the Great Salt Lake City Water-works” was approved January 21, 1853.

[THE HOLY CITY.]

Walking in a northward direction up Main, otherwise called Whisky Street, we could not but observe the “magnificent distances” of the settlement, which, containing 9000-12,000 souls, covers an area of three miles. This broadway is 132 feet wide, including the side-walks, which are each twenty, and, like the rest of the principal avenues, is planted with locust and other trees. There are twenty or twenty-one wards or cantons, numbered from the S.E. “boustrophedon” to the N.W. corner. They have a common fence and a bishop apiece. They are called after the creeks, trees, people, or positions, as Mill-Creek Ward, Little Cotton-wood, Denmark, and South Ward. Every ward contains about nine blocks, each of which is forty rods square. The area of ten acres is divided into four to eight lots, of two and a half to one and a quarter acres each, 264 feet by 132. A city ordinance places the houses twenty feet behind the front line of the lot, leaving an intermediate place for shrubbery or trees. This rule, however, is not observed in Main Street.

The streets are named from their direction to the Temple Block. Thus Main Street is East Temple Street No. 1; that behind it is State Road, or East Temple Street 2, and so forth, the ward being also generally specified. Temple Block is also the point to which latitude and longitude are referred. It lies in N. lat. 40° 45′ 44″, W. long. (G.) 112° 6′ 8″, and 4300 feet above sea level.

Main Street is rapidly becoming crowded. The western block, opposite the hotel, contains about twenty houses of irregular shape and size. The buildings are intended to supply the principal wants of a far-Western settlement, as bakery, butchery, and blacksmithery, hardware and crockery, paint and whip warehouse, a “fashionable tailor”--and “fashionable” in one point, that his works are more expensive than Poole’s--shoe-stores, tannery and curriery; the Pantechnicon, on a more pretentious style than its neighbors, kept by Mr. Gilbert Clements, Irishman and orator; dry-goods, groceries, liquors, and furniture shops, Walker’s agency, and a kind of restaurant for ice-cream, a luxury which costs 25 cents a glass; saddlers, dealers in “food, flour, and provisions,” hats, shoes, clothing, sash laths, shingles, timber, copper, tin, crockery-ware, carpenters’ tools, and mouse-traps; a watch-maker and repairer, a gunsmith, locksmith, and armorer, soap and candle maker, nail-maker, and venders of “Yankee notions.” On the eastern side, where the same articles are sold on a larger scale, live the principal Gentile merchants, Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Nixon, an English Saint; Mr. R. Gill, a “physiological barber;” Mr. Godbe’s “apothecary and drug stores;” Goddard’s confectionery; Messrs. Hockaday and Burr, general dealers, who sell every thing, from a bag of potatoes to a yard of gold lace; and various establishments, Mormon and others. Crossing the street that runs east and west, we pass on the right hand a small block, occupied by Messrs. Dyer and Co., sutlers to a regiment in Arizona, and next to it the stores of Messrs. Hooper and Cronyn, with an ambrotype and daguerrean room behind. The stores, I may remark, are far superior, in all points, to the shops in an English country town that is not a regular watering-place. Beyond this lies the adobe house, with its wooden Ionic stoop or piazza (the portico is a favorite here), and well-timbered garden, occupied by Bishop Hunter; and adjoining it the long tenement inhabited by the several relicts of Mayor Jedediah M. Grant. Farther still, and facing the Prophet’s Block, is the larger adobe house belonging to General Wells and his family. Opposite, or on the western side, is the well-known store of Livingston, Bell, and Co., and beyond it the establishment now belonging to the nine widows and the son of the murdered apostle, Parley P. Pratt. Still looking westward, the Globe bakery and restaurant, and a shaving saloon, lead to the “Mountaineer Office,” a conspicuous building, forty-five feet square, two storied, on a foundation of cut stone stuccoed red to resemble sandstone, and provided with a small green-balconied belvidere. The cost was $20,000. It was formerly the Council House, and was used for church purposes. When purchased by the Territory the Public Library was established in the northern part; the office of the “Deserét News” on the first story, and that of the “Mountaineer” on the ground floor. This brings us to the 1st South Temple Street, which divides the “Mountaineer” office from the consecrated ground. In this vicinity are the houses of most of the apostles, Messrs. Taylor, Cannon, Woodruff, and O. Pratt.

Crowds were flocking into Temple Block for afternoon service; yet I felt disappointed by the scene. I had expected to see traces of “workmen in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work,” reposing from their labors on the Sabbath. I thought, at any rate, to find

“pars ducere muros Molirique arcem, et manibus subvolvere saxa.”

It seemed hardly in accordance with the energy and devotedness of a new faith that a hole in the ground should represent the House of the Lord, while Mr. Brigham Young, the Prophet, thinking of his own comfort before the glory of God, is lodged, like Solomon of old, in what here appears a palace. Nor, reflecting that without a Temple the dead can not be baptized out of Purgatory, was I quite satisfied when reminded of the fate of Nauvoo (according to Gentiles the Mormons believe that they must build nine temples before they will be suffered to worship in peace), and informed that the purely provisional works, which had been interrupted by the arrival of the army in 1858, would shortly be improved.

[THE TEMPLE BLOCK.]

The lines of Temple Block--which, as usual, is ten acres square = forty rods each way--run toward the cardinal points. It stands clear of all other buildings, and the locust-trees, especially those on the sunny south side, which have now been planted seven years, will greatly add to its beauties. It is surrounded with a foundation wall of handsomely dressed red sandstone, raised to the height of ten feet by adobe stuccoed over to resemble a richer material. Each facing has thirty flat pilastres, without pedestal or entablature, but protected, as the adobe always should be, by a sandstone coping. When finished, the whole will be surmounted by an ornamental iron fence. There are four gates, one to each side--of these, two, the northern and western, are temporarily blocked up with dry stone walls, while the others are left open--which in time will become carriage entrances, with two side ways for foot passengers. According to accounts, the wall and the foundations have already cost one million of dollars, or a larger sum than that spent upon the entire Nauvoo Temple.

Temple Block--the only place of public and general worship in the city--was consecrated and a Tabernacle was erected in September, 1847, immediately after the celebrated exodus from “Egypt on the banks of the Mississippi,” on a spot revealed by the past to the present Prophet and his adherents. Two sides of the wall having been completed, ground was broken on the 14th of February, 1853, for the foundation of the building. One part of the ceremony consisted of planting a post at the central point, the main “stake for the curtains of Zion:” every successive step in advance was commemorated by imposing ceremonies, salvos of guns, bands playing, crowds attending, addresses by the governor, Mr. Brigham Young, prayers and pious exercises. The foundations of the Temple, which are sixteen feet deep, and composed of hard gray granite, in color like that of Aberdeen or Quincy, are now concealed from view; and the lumber huts erected for the workmen were, when the Mormons made their minor Hegira to Provo City, removed to the Sugar-house Ward, three miles southeast of the city.

The Temple Block is at present a mere waste. A central excavation, which resembles a large oblong grave, is said by Gentiles to be the beginning of a baptismal font twenty feet deep. The southwestern corner is occupied by the Tabernacle, an adobe building 126 feet long from N. to S., and 64 wide from E. to W.: its interior, ceilinged with an elliptical arch--the width being its span--can accommodate 2000-3000 souls. It urgently requires enlarging. Over the entrances at the gable ends, which open to the N. and S., is a wood-work representing the sun, with his usual coiffure of yellow beams, like a Somali’s wig, or the symbol of the Persian empire. The roof is of shingles: it shelters under its projecting eaves a whole colony of swallows, and there are four chimneys--a number insufficient for warmth at one season, or for ventilation at the other. The speaker or preacher stands on the west side of the building, which is reserved for the three highest dignities, viz., the First Presidency, the “Twelve” (Apostles), and the President of the State of Zion: distinguished strangers are also admitted. Of late, as in the old Quaker meeting-houses at Philadelphia, the brethren in the Tabernacle have been separated from the “sistern,” who sit on the side opposite the preacher’s left; and, according to Gentiles, it is proposed to separate the Christians from the Faithful, that the “goats” may no longer mingle with the sheep.

Immediately north of the Tabernacle is the Bowery--in early spring a canopy of green leafy branches, which are left to wither with the year, supported on wooden posts. The interior will be described when we attend the house of worship next Sunday.

In the extreme northwest angle of the block is the Endowment, here pronounced On-dewment House, separated from the Tabernacle by a high wooden paling. The building, of which I made a pen and ink sketch from the west, is of adobe, with a pent roof and four windows, one blocked up: the central and higher portion is flanked by two wings, smaller erections of the same shape. The Endowment House is the place of great medicine, and all appertaining to it is carefully concealed from Gentile eyes and ears: the result is that human sacrifices are said to be performed within its walls. Mrs. Smith and Mr. Hyde have described the mysterious rites performed within these humble walls, but, for reasons given before, there is reason to doubt the truth of their descriptions; such orgies as they describe could not coexist with the respectability which is the law of the land. M. Remy has detailed the programme with all the exactitude of an eye-witness, which he was not. The public declare that the ceremonies consist of some show, which in the Middle Ages would be called a comedy or mystery--possibly Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained--and connect it with the working of a mason’s lodge. The respectable Judge Phelps, because supposed to take the place of the Father of Sin when tempting Adam and Eve, is popularly known as “the Devil.” The two small wings are said to contain fonts for the two sexes, where baptism by total immersion is performed. According to Gentiles, the ceremony occupies eleven or twelve hours. The neophyte, after bathing, is anointed with oil, and dressed in clean white cotton garments, cap and shirt, of which the latter is rarely removed--Dr. Richards saved his life at the Carthage massacre by wearing it--and a small square masonic apron, with worked or painted fig-leaves: he receives a new name and a distinguishing grip, and is bound to secrecy by dreadful oaths. Moreover, it is said that, as in all such societies, there are several successive degrees, all of which are not laid open to initiation till the Temple shall be finished. But--as every mason knows--the “red-hot poker” and other ideas concerning masonic institutions have prevailed when juster disclosures have been rejected. Similarly in the Mormonic mystery, it is highly probable that, in consequence of the conscientious reserve of the people upon a subject which it would be indelicate to broach, the veriest fancies have taken the deepest root.

[THE FUTURE TEMPLE.]

The other features of the inclosure are a well near the Tabernacle, an arched sewer in the western wall for drainage, and at the eastern entrance a small habitation for concierge and guards. The future Temple was designed by an Anglo-Mormon architect, Mr. Truman O. Angell. The plan is described at full length in the Latter-Day Saints’ “Millennial Star,” December 2, 1854, and drawings, apparently copied from the original in the historian’s office, have been published at Liverpool, besides the small sketches in the works of Mr. Hyde and M. Remy. It is hardly worth while here to trouble the general reader with a lengthy description of a huge and complicated pile, a syncretism of Greek and Roman, Gothic and Moorish, not revealed like that of Nauvoo, but planned by man, which will probably never be completed. It has been transferred to the Appendix (No. II.), for the benefit of students: after briefly saying that the whole is symbolical, and that it is intended to dazzle, by its ineffable majesty, the beholder’s sight, I will repeat the architect’s concluding words, which are somewhat in the style of Parr’s Life Pills advertisements: “For other particulars, wait till the house is done, then come and see it.”

[MR. STENHOUSE.]

After dining with the governor, we sat under the stoop enjoying, as we might in India, the cool of the evening. Several visitors dropped in, among them Mr. and Mrs. Stenhouse. He--Elder T. B. H. Stenhouse--is a Scotchman by birth, and has passed through the usual stages of neophyte (larva), missionary (pupa), and elder or fully-developed Saint (imago). Madame was from Jersey, spoke excellent French, talked English without nasalization or cantalenation, and showed a highly cultivated mind. She had traveled with her husband on a propagandist tour to Switzerland and Italy, where, as president of the missions for three years, he was a “diligent and faithful laborer in the great work of the last dispensation.” He became a Saint in 1846, at the age of 21; lived the usual life of poverty and privation, founded the Southampton Conference, converted a lawyer among other great achievements, and propagated the Faith successfully in Scotland as in England. The conversation turned--somehow in Great Salt Lake City it generally does--upon polygamy, or rather plurality, which here is the polite word, and for the first time I heard that phase of the family tie sensibly, nay, learnedly advocated on religious grounds by fair lips. Mr. Stenhouse kindly offered to accompany me on the morrow, as the first hand-cart train was expected to enter, and to point out what might be interesting. I saw Elder and High-Priest Stenhouse almost every day during my stay at Great Salt Lake City, and found in his society both pleasure and profit. We of course avoided those mysterious points, into which, as an outsider, I had no right to enter; the elder was communicative enough upon all others, and freely gave me leave to use his information. The reader, however, will kindly bear in mind that, being a strict Mormon, Mr. Stenhouse could enlighten me only upon one side of the subject; his statements were therefore carefully referred to the “other part;” moreover, as he could never see any but the perfections of his system, the blame of having pointed out what I deem its imperfections is not to be charged upon him. His power of faith struck me much. I had once asked him what became of the Mormon Tables of the Law, the Golden Plates which, according to the Gentiles, were removed by an angel after they had done their work. He replied that he knew not; that his belief was independent of all such accidents; that Mormonism is and must be true to the exclusion of all other systems. I saw before me an instance how the brain or mind of man can, by mere force of habit and application, imbue itself with any idea.

Long after dark I walked home alone. There were no lamps in any but Main Street, yet the city is as safe as at St. James’s Square, London. There are perhaps not more than twenty-five or thirty constables or policemen in the whole place, under their captain, a Scotchman, Mr. Sharp, “by name as well as nature so;” and the guard on public works is merely nominal. Its excellent order must be referred to the perfect system of private police, resulting from the constitution of Mormon society, which in this point resembles the caste system of Hindooism. There is no secret from the head of the Church and State; every thing, from the highest to the lowest detail of private and public life, must be brought to the ear and submitted to the judgment of the father-confessor-in-chief. Gentiles often declare that the Prophet is acquainted with their every word half an hour after it is spoken; and from certain indices, into which I hardly need enter, my opinion is that, allowing something for exaggeration, they are not very far wrong. In London and Paris the foreigner is subjected, though perhaps he may not know it, to the same surveillance, and till lately his letters were liable to be opened at the Post-office. We can not, then, wonder that at Great Salt Lake City, a stranger, before proving himself at the least to be harmless, should begin by being an object of suspicion.

[A MURDER.--SAFETY OF THE CITY.]

On Monday, as the sun was sloping toward the east, Mr. Stenhouse called to let me know that the train had already issued from Emigration Kanyon; no time to spare. We set out together “down town” at once. Near the angle of Main Street I was shown the place where a short time before my arrival a curious murder was committed. Two men, named Johnston and Brown, mauvais sujets, who had notoriously been guilty of forgery and horse-stealing, were sauntering home one fine evening, when both fell with a bullet to each, accurately placed under the heart-arm. The bodies were carried to the court-house, which is here the morgue or dead-house, to be exposed, as is the custom, for a time: the citizens, when asked if they suspected who did the deed, invariably replied, with a philosophical sangfroid, that, in the first place, they didn’t know, and, secondly, that they didn’t care. Of course the Gentiles hinted that life had been taken by “counsel”--that is to say, by the secret orders of Mr. Brigham Young and his Vehm. But, even had such been the case--of course it was the merest suspicion--such a process would not have been very repugnant to that wild huntress, the Themis of the Rocky Mountains. In a place where, among much that is honest and respectable, there are notable exceptions, this wild, unflinching, and unerring justice, secret and sudden, is the rod of iron which protects the good. During my residence at the Mormon City not a single murder was, to the best of my belief, committed: the three days which I spent at Christian Carson City witnessed three. Moreover, from the Mississippi to Great Salt Lake City, I noticed that the crimes were for the most part of violence, openly and unskillfully committed; the arsenic, strychnine, and other dastardly poisonings of Europe are apparently unknown, although they might be used easily and efficiently with scant chance of detection. That white emigrants have sometimes wiped off the Indian, as the English settler settled with corrosive sublimate the hapless denizen of the great Southern Continent, is scarcely to be doubted; at the same time, it must be owned that they have rarely tried that form of assassination upon one another.

As we issued from the city, we saw the smoke-like column which announced that the emigrants were crossing the bench-land; and people were hurrying from all sides to greet and to get news of friends. Presently the carts came. All the new arrivals were in clean clothes, the men washed and shaved, and the girls, who were singing hymns, habited in Sunday dresses. The company was sunburned, but looked well and thoroughly happy, and few, except the very young and the very old, who suffer most on such journeys, troubled the wains. They marched through clouds of dust over the sandy road leading up the eastern portion of the town, accompanied by crowds, some on foot, others on horseback, and a few in traps and other “locomotive doin’s,” sulkies, and buckboards. A few youths of rather a rowdyish appearance were mounted in all the tawdriness of Western trappings--Rocky Mountain hats, tall and broad, or steeple-crowned felts, covering their scalp-locks, embroidered buckskin garments, huge leggins, with caterpillar or millepede fringes, red or rainbow-colored flannel shirts, gigantic spurs, bright-hilted pistols, and queer-sheathed knives stuck in red sashes with gracefully depending ends. The jeunesse dorée of the Valley Tan was easily distinguished from imported goods by the perfect ease with which they sat and managed their animals. Around me were all manner of familiar faces--heavy English mechanics, discharged soldiers, clerks, and agricultural laborers, a few German students, farmers, husbandmen, and peasants from Scandinavia and Switzerland, and correspondents and editors, bishops, apostles, and other dignitaries from the Eastern States. When the train reached the public square--at Great Salt Lake City the “squares” are hollow as in England, not solid as in the States--of the 8th ward, the wagons were ranged in line for the final ceremony. Before the invasion of the army the First President made a point of honoring the entrance of hand-cart trains (but these only) by a greeting in person. Of late he seldom leaves his house except for the Tabernacle: when inclined for a picnic, the day and the hour are kept secret. It is said that Mr. Brigham Young, despite his powerful will and high moral courage, does not show the remarkable personal intrepidity of Mr. Joseph Smith: his followers deny this, but it rests on the best and fairest Gentile evidence. He has guards at his gates, and he never appears in public unattended by friends and followers, who are of course armed. That such a mental anomaly often exists, those familiar with the biographies of the Brahmin officials at the courts of Poonah, Sattara, and other places in India, well know: many a “Pant,” whose reckless audacity in intrigue conducted under imminent danger of life argued the courage of a Cœur de Lion, was personally fearful as Hobbes, and displayed at the death the terrors of Robespierre. A moment of fear is recounted of St. Peter; Erasmus was not the stuff of which martyrs are made, and even the beau sabreur once ran. However, in the case of the Prophet there is an absolute necessity for precautions: as Gentiles have themselves owned to me, many a ruffian, if he found an opportunity, would, from pure love of notoriety, even without stronger incentive, try his revolver or his bowie-knife upon the “Big Mormon.”

On this occasion the place of Mr. Brigham Young was taken by President Bishop Hunter, a Pennsylvanian, whom even the most fanatic and intentionally evil-speaking anti-Mormon must regard with respect. Preceded by a brass band--“this people” delight in

“Sonorous metal blowing martial sounds”--

and accompanied by the City Marshal, he stood up in his conveyance, and, calling up the Captains of Companies, shook hands with them and proceeded forthwith to business. In a short time arrangements were made to house and employ all who required work, whether men or women. Having read certain offensive accounts about “girl-hunting elders,” “gray-headed gallants,” and “ogling apostles,” I was somewhat surprised to see that every thing was conducted with the greatest decorum. The Gentiles, however, declare that Mr. Brigham Young and the high dignitaries have issued an order against “pre-emption” on the part of their followers, who escort and accompany the emigrant trains across the prairies.

[SAINTS’ NAMES.]

Mr. Stenhouse circulated freely among the crowd, and introduced me to many whose names I do not remember; in almost every case the introduction was followed by some invitation. He now exchanged a word with this “brother,” then a few sentences with that “sister,” carefully suppressing the Mr. and Madam of the Eastern States. The fraternal address gives a patriarchal and somewhat Oriental flavor to Mormon converse; like other things, however, it is apt to run into extremes. If a boy in the streets be asked, “What’s your name?” he will reply--if he condescends to do so--“I’m brother such-and-such’s son.” In order to distinguish children of different mothers, it is usual to prefix the maternal to the paternal parent’s name, suppressing the given or Christian name of monogamic lands. Thus, for instance, my sons by Miss Brown, Miss Jones, and Miss Robinson, would call themselves Brother Brown Burton, Brother Jones Burton, and so on. The Saints--even the highest dignitaries--wave the Reverend and the ridiculous Esquire; that “title much in use among vulgar people,” which in Old and New England applies to every body, gentle or simple, has not yet extended to Great Salt Lake City. The Mormon pontiff and the eminences around him are simply Brother or Mister--they have the substance, and they disdain the shadow of power. En revanche, among the crowd there are as many colonels and majors--about ten being the proportion to one captain--as in the days when Mrs. Trollope set the Mississippi on fire. Sister is applied to women of all ages, thus avoiding the difficulty of addressing a dowager, as in the Eastern States, Madam, in contradistinction to Mrs., her daughter-in-law, or, what is worse, of calling her after the English way, old Mrs. A., or, Scotticè, Mrs. A. senior.

[A “GOWK.”]

The dress of the fair sex has, I observed, already become peculiar. The article called in Cornwall a “gowk,” in other parts of England a “cottage bonnet,” and in the United States a “sun-bonnet,” is here universally used, with the difference, however, that the Mormons provide it with a long thick veil behind, which acts like a cape or shawl. A loose jacket and a petticoat, mostly of calico or of some inexpensive stuff, compose the tout visible. The wealthier affect silks, especially black. The merchants are careful to keep on hand a large stock of fancy goods, millinery, and other feminine adornments. Love of dress is no accident in the mental organization of that sex which some one called ζωον φιλοκοσμον; the essential is a pleasing foible, in which the semi-nude savage and the crinolined “civilizee,” the nun and Quakeress, the sinner and the saint, the biche, the petite maîtresse, and the grande dame, all meet for once in their lives pretty much on a par, and on the same ground. Great Salt Lake City contains three “millinery stores,” besides thirteen of dry goods and two of fancy goods, or varieties; and some exchange their merchandise for grain.

The contrast of physique between the new arrivals and the older colonists, especially those born in the vicinity of the prairies, was salient. While the fresh importations were of that solid and sometimes clumsy form and dimensions that characterize the English at home--where “beauty is seldom found in cottages or workshops, even when no real hardships are suffered”--the others had much of the delicacy of figure and complexion which distinguishes the American women of the United States. Physiologists may perhaps doubt so rapid and perceptible an operation of climate, but India proves clearly enough that a very few years suffice to deteriorate form and color, especially in the weaker half of humanity; why, then, should we think it impossible that a climate of extremes, an air of exceeding purity and tenuity, and an arid position 4000 feet above sea level, can produce the opposite results in as short a space of time? But, whether my theory stand or fall, the fact remains the same. I remarked to my companion the change from the lymphatic and the sanguine to the bilious-nervous and the purely nervous temperament, and admired its results, the fining down of redundancy in wrist, ankle, and waist, the superior placidness and thoughtfulness of expression, and the general appearance of higher caste blood. I could not but observe in those born hereabouts the noble regular features, the lofty, thoughtful brow, the clear, transparent complexion, the long silky hair, and, greatest charm of all, the soft smile of the American woman when she does smile. He appeared surprised, and said that most other Gentiles had explained the thinness of form and reflective look by the perpetual fretting of the fair under the starveling régime of polygamy. The belle of the crowd was Miss Sally A----, the daughter of a lawyer, and of course a ci devant judge. Strict Mormons, however, rather wag the head at this pretty person; she is supposed to prefer Gentile and heathenish society, and it is whispered against her that she has actually vowed never to marry a Saint.

[AN ILLUSTRATION.]

I “queried” of my companion how the new arrivals usually behave at Great Salt Lake City, when the civilization, or rather the humanization of a voyage, a long journey, and the sense of helplessness caused by new position, have somewhat mitigated their British bounce and self-esteem. “Pretty well,” he replied; “all expect to be at the top of the tree at once, and they find themselves in the wrong box; no man gets on here by pushing; he begins at the lowest seat; a new hand is not trusted; he is first sent on mission, then married, and then allowed to rise higher if he shows himself useful.” This bore a cachet of truth:

Les sots sont un peuple nombreux, Trouvant toutes choses faciles; Il faut le leur passer; souvent ils sont heureux, Grand motif de se croire habiles.

(L’Ane et la Flûte.)

Many of these English emigrants have passed over the plains without knowing that they are in the United States, and look upon Mr. Brigham Young much as Roman Catholics of the last generation regarded the Pope. The Welsh, Danes, and Swedes have been seen on the transit to throw away their blankets and warm clothing, from a conviction that a gay summer reigns throughout the year in Zion. The mismanagement of the inexperienced travelers has become a matter of Joe Miller. An old but favorite illustration, told from the Mississippi to California, is this: A man rides up to a standing wagon, and seeing a wretched-looking lad nursing a starving baby, asks him what the matter may be: “Wal, now,” responds the youth, “guess I’m kinder streakt--ole dad’s drunk, ole marm’s in hy-sterics, brother Jim be playing poker with two gamblers, sister Sal’s down yonder a’ courtin’ with an in-tire stranger, this ’ere baby’s got the diaree, the team’s clean guv out, the wagon’s broke down, it’s twenty miles to the next water, I don’t care a ---- if I never see Californy.”

[THEATRICALS.]

We returned homeward by the States Road, in which are two of the principal buildings. On the left is the Council Hall of the Seventies, an adobe tenement of the usual barn shape, fifty feet long by thirty internally, used for the various purposes of deliberation, preaching, and dancing; I looked through the windows, and saw that it was hung with red. It is a provisional building, used until a larger can be erected. A little beyond the Seventies’ Hall, and on the other side of the road, was the Social Hall, the usual scene of Mormon festivities; it resembled the former, but it was larger--73 × 33 feet--and better furnished. The gay season had not arrived; I lost, therefore, an opportunity of seeing the beauty and fashion of Great Salt Lake City in ballroom toilette, but I heard enough to convince me that the Saints, though grave and unjovial, are a highly sociable people. They delight in sleighing and in private theatricals, and boast of some good amateur actors, among whom Messrs. B. Snow, H. B. Clawson, and W. C. Dunbar are particularly mentioned. Sir E. L. Bulwer will perhaps be pleased to hear that the “Lady of Lyons” excited more furore here than even in Europe. It is intended, as soon as funds can be collected, to build a theatre which will vie with those of the Old Country. Dancing seems to be considered an edifying exercise. The Prophet dances, the Apostles dance, the Bishops dance. A professor of this branch of the fine arts would thrive in Zion, where the most learned of pedagogues would require to eke out a living after the fashion of one Aristocles, surnamed the “broad-shouldered.” The saltation is not in the languid, done-up style that polite Europe affects; as in the days of our grandparents, “positions” are maintained, steps are elaborately executed, and a somewhat severe muscular exercise is the result. I confess to a prejudice against dancing after the certain, which we are told is the uncertain, epoch of life, and have often joined in the merriment excited among French folks by the aspect of some bald-headed and stiff-jointed “Anglais” mingling crabbed age with joyful youth in a public ball. Yet there is high authority for perseverance in the practice: David danced, we are told, with all his might, and Scipio, according to Seneca, was wont thus to exercise his heroic limbs.

Besides the grand fêtes at the Social Hall and other subscription establishments, there are “Ward Parties,” and “Elders’ Weekly Cotillon Parties,” where possibly the seniors dance together, as the Oxford dons did drill--in private. Polkas, as at the court of St. James’s, are disapproved of. It is generally asserted that to the New Faith Terpsichore owes a fresh form of worship, the Mormon cotillon--alias quadrille--in which the cavalier leads out, characteristically, two dames. May I not be allowed to recommend the importation of this decided improvement into Leamington and other watering-places, where the proportion of the sexes at “hops” rarely exceeds one to seven?

The balls at the Social Hall are highly select, and are conducted on an expensive scale; invitations are issued on embossed bordered and gilt-edged white paper, say to 75-80 of the élite, including a few of the chief Gentiles. The ticket is in this form and style:

+----------------------------------------------------------------+ | PARTY AT SOCIAL HALL. | | | | Mr. ---- and Ladies are respectfully invited to attend a | | Party at the SOCIAL HALL, | | | | ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1860. | | | | Tickets, $10 (£2) per Couple. | | | | Mayor A. O. SMOOT, } Managers. | | Marshal J. C. LITTLE, } | | | | Committee of Arrangements. | | | | WILLIAM C. STAINES, | WILLIAM EDDINGTON, | JOHN T. CAINE, | | H. B. CLAWSON, | ROBERT T. BURTON, | DAVID CANDLAND. | | | | Great Salt Lake City, | | Feb. 1, 1860. | +----------------------------------------------------------------+

The $10 tickets will admit only one lady with the gentleman; for all extra $2 each must be paid. In the less splendid fêtes $2 50 would be the total price. Premiums are offered when the time draws nigh, but space is limited, and many a Jacob is shorn of his glory by appearing with only Rachel for a follower, and without his train of Leahs, Zilpahs, and Billahs.

[THE SUPPER.]

An account of the last ball may be abridged. The hall was tastefully and elegantly decorated; the affecting motto, “Our Mountain Home,” conspicuously placed among hangings and evergreens, was highly effective. At 4 P.M. the Prophet and ex-President entered, and “order was called.” (N.B.--Might not this be tried to a purpose in a London ball-room?) Ascending a kind of platform, with uplifted hands he blessed those present. Farther East I have heard of the reverse being done, especially by the maître du logis. He then descended to the boards and led off the first cotillon. At 8 P.M. supper was announced; covers for 250 persons had been laid by Mr. Candland, “mine host” of “The Globe.” On the following page will be found the list of the somewhat substantial goodies that formed the carte.

It will be observed that the cuisine in Utah Territory has some novelties, such as bear and beaver. The former meat is a favorite throughout the West, especially when the animal is fresh from feeding; after hibernation it is hard and lean. In the Himalayas many a sportsman, after mastering an artificial aversion to eat bear’s grease, has enjoyed a grill of “cuffy.” The paws, which not a little resemble the human hand, are excellent--experto crede. I can not pronounce ex cathedrâ upon beavers’ tails; there is no reason, however, why they should be inferior to the appendage of a Cape sheep. “Slaw”--according to my informants--is synonymous with sauer-kraut. Mountain, Pioneer, and Snowballs are unknown to me, except by their names, which are certainly patriotic, if not descriptive.

[DANCING.]

After supper dancing was resumed with spirit, and in its intervals popular songs and duets were performed by the best musicians. The “finest party of the season” ended as it began, with prayer and benediction, at 5 A.M.--thirteen successive mortal hours--it shows a solid power of enduring enjoyments! And, probably, the revelers wended their way home chanting some kind of national hymn like this, to the tune of the “Ole Kentucky shore:”

“Let the chorus still be sung, Long live Brother Brigham Young. And blessed be the Vale of Deserét--rét--rét! And blessed be the Vale of Deserét.”

+--------------------------------------------------+ | | | TERRITORIAL AND CIVIL BALL, | | | | SOCIAL HALL, FEBRUARY 7, 1860. | | ---- | | BILL OF FARE. | | ---- | | | | First Course. | | | | SOUPS. | | | | Oyster, Vermicelli, | | Ox-tail, Vegetable. | | | | Second Course. | | | | MEATS. | | | | Roast. Boiled. | | | | Beef, Sugar-corned beef, | | Mutton, Mutton, | | Mountain Mutton, Chickens, | | Bear, Ducks, | | Elk, Tripe, | | Deer, Turkey, | | Chickens, Ham, | | Ducks, Trout, | | Turkeys. Salmon. | | | | STEWS AND FRICASSEES. | | | | Oysters and Ox Tongues, Chickens, | | Beaver Tails, Ducks, | | Collard Head, Turkeys. | | | | VEGETABLES. | | | | Boiled. Baked. | | | | Potatoes, Potatoes, | | Cabbage (i. e., greens), Parsnips, | | Parsnips, Beans. | | Cauliflower, | | Slaw. | | Hominy. | | | | Third Course. | | | | Pastry. Puddings. | | | | Mince Pies, Custards, | | Green Apple Pie, Rice, | | Pineapple Pie, English Plum, | | Quince Jelly Pie, Apple Soufflé, | | Peach Jelly Pie, Mountain, | | Currant Jelly Pie. Pioneer. | | Blancmange. Jellies. | | | | Fourth Course. | | | | Cakes. Fruits. | | | | Pound, Raisins, | | Sponge, Grapes, | | Gipsy, Apples, | | Varieties. Snowballs. | | Candies. Nuts. | | Tea. Coffee. | +--------------------------------------------------+

[RELIGIOUS ACRIMONY.]

Returning to the hotel, we found the justiciary and the official party safely arrived; they had been delayed three days at Foot of Ridge Station, but they could not complain of the pace at which they came in. The judge was already in confab with a Pennsylvanian compatriot, Colonel S. C. Stambaugh, of the Militia, Surveyor General of Utah Territory. This gentleman is no great favorite with the Saints: they accuse him of a too great skillfulness in “mixing”--cocktails, for instance--and a degree of general joviality that swears (qui jure) with the grave and reverend seigniory around him. His crime, it appears to me, chiefly consists in holding a fat appointment. I need hardly say that at Great Salt Lake City party feeling rises higher, perhaps, than in any other small place, because religious acrimony is superadded to the many conflicting interests. Every man’s concerns are his neighbor’s; no one, apparently, ever heard of that person who “became immensely rich”--to quote an Americanism--by “minding his own business.” As often happens, religion is made, like slavery in the Eastern States and opium in China, the cheval de bataille; the root of the quarrel must be sought deeper; in other words, interest, and interest only, is the Tisiphone that shakes the brand of war. As Mormonism grows, its frame becomes more strongly knit. Thus the Gentile merchants, who have made from 120 to 600 per cent. on capital, were, at the time of my visit, preparing to sell off, because they found the combination against them overpowering. For the most part they vowed that there is no people with whom they would rather do business than with the Mormons; praised their honesty and punctuality in payments, and compared them advantageously in such matters with those of the older faith. Yet they had resolved to remove. The total number of Gentiles in the city is probably not more than 300, a small proportion to a body of at least 9000.

[CLIQUISM.]

A stranger, especially an official, is kindly warned, on his first arrival at Great Salt Lake City, of its inveterate cliquism, and is amicably advised to steer a middle course, without turning to the right or to the left, between the Scylla and Charybdis of Christianity and Mormonism. This mezzo-termine may be possible in official matters; in society it is not. I soon saw that, though a traveler on the wing might sit alternately in the tents of Shem and Japhet, a resident would soon be obliged to dwell exclusively in either one or the other. When Gentile and Mormon meet, they either maintain a studied or surly silence, or they enter into a dialogue which, on a closer acquaintance with its formation, proves to be a conglomerate of “rile” and “knagg”--an unpleasant predicament for those en tiers. Such, at least, was my short experience, and I believe that of my companions.

Colonel Stambaugh, a day or two after the introduction, offered to act cicerone through the settlement, and I was happy to accept his kindness. One fine evening we drove along the Tooele Road westward, and drank of the waters of the New Jordan, which, to the unregenerate palate, tasted, I must say, somewhat brackish and ill-flavored. The river is at this season about one hundred feet broad, and not too deep below its banks to be useless for irrigation, which, as the city increases, will doubtless be extended. It is spanned by a wooden bridge so rickety that it shakes with a child’s tread--the governor has urgently but unavailingly represented the necessity of reconstruction. But, although the true Western, or rather Keltic recklessness of human life--which contrasts so strongly with the sanctity attached to it by the old Roman and the modern Anglo-Scandinavian--here still displays itself, in some points there is no disregard for improvement. Mr. Brigham Young has seen the evils of disforesting the land, and the want of plantations; he has lately contracted for planting, near Jordan and elsewhere, a million of young trees at the rate of one cent each. On the way we saw several fine Durhams and Devons, which are driven out every morning and back every evening under the charge of a boy, who receives one and a half cent per mensem a head. The animals have been brought across the prairies at great trouble and expense: stock-breeding is one of the Prophet’s useful hobbies, and the difference between the cattle in Utah Territory and the old Spanish herds still seen in the country parts of California is remarkable. The land, as will presently appear, is better calculated for grazing than for agriculture, and a settlement of 500 souls rarely has less than 500 head of cattle.

Returning from Jordan, we re-entered the city by the western road, and drove through Mr. Brigham Young’s block toward the Northern Kanyon. The gateway was surmounted by a plaster group, consisting of a huge vulturine eagle, perched, with wings outspread, neck bended as if snuffing the breeze of carrion from afar, and talons clinging upon a yellow bee-hive--a most uncomfortable and unnatural position for the poor animal. The device is doubtless highly symbolical, emblematical, typical--in fact, every thing but appropriate and commonsensical. The same, however, may be said of one of the most picturesque ensigns in the civilized world--what have stars to do with stripes or stripes with stars? It might be the device of the British or Austrian soldier--only in their case, unlike the flag of the United States, the stripes should be many and the stars few. En passant we remarked a kind of guard-room at the eastern doorway of the White House--a presidential title which the house of prophecy in New Zion shares with the house of politication[130] at Washington: my informants hinted that, in case of an assault upon head-quarters by roughs, marshals, or other officials, fifty rifles could at once be brought to bear upon the spot, and 1000 after the first hour. On the eastern side of the compound were the stables; a lamb in effigy surmounted the entrance, and meekly reposed under the humane injunction, “Take care of your flocks.” Beyond this point lay a number of decrepit emigrant wagons, drawn up to form a fence, a young plantation of fruitless peaches, and the remnants of the falling wall.

[130] The Western press uses to “politicate,” v. n. to make a trade of politics, and the participle politicating--why not, then, politication?

[BRIGHAM’S KANYON.]

We then struck into “City,” usually known as “Brigham’s” Kanyon, the Prophet having a saw-mill upon the upper course. It is the normal deep narrow gorge, with a beautiful little stream, which is drawn off by raised water-courses at different altitudes to supply the settlement. The banks are margined with dwarf oaks and willows; limestone, sandstone, and granite, all of fine building quality, lie scattered about in profusion, while high above rise the acclivities of the gash, thinly sprinkled with sage and sunflower. Artemisia in this part improves like the population in appearance, nor is it always a sign of sterility; in parts wheat grows well where the shrub has been uprooted. The road along the little torrent was excellent; it would have cost $100,000 in Pennsylvania, but here much is done by tithe-work; moreover, the respect for the Prophet is such that men would rather work for him on credit than take pay from others.

[UTAH LIBRARY.]

Being in want of local literature, after vainly ransacking the few book-stalls which the city contains, I went to the Public Library, and, by sending in a card, at once obtained admission. As usual in the Territories of the United States, this institution is supported by the federal government, which, besides $1500 for books, gave $5000 for the establishment, and $400 from the treasury of Utah is paid to the Territorial librarian, Mr. John Lyon, who is also a poet. The management is under the Secretary of the Territory, and the public desire to see an extra grant of $500 per annum.[131] The volumes, about 1000 in number, are placed in a large room on the north side of the “Mountaineer” office, and the librarian attends every Thursday, when books are “loaned” to numerous applicants. The works are principally those of reference, elementary, and intended for the general reader, such as travels, popular histories, and novels. The “Woman in White” had already found her way across the prairies, and she received the honors and admiration which she deserved.

[131] An Act in relation to Utah Library:

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah, That a librarian shall be elected by a joint vote of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah, whose duty it shall be to take charge of the library (known in law as the Utah Library), as hereinafter prescribed.

Sec. 2. Said librarian shall hold his office during the term of two years, or until his successor is appointed, and shall give bonds for the faithful discharge of his duties in the sum of $6000, and file the same in the office of Secretary of the Territory before entering upon his duties, who may also appoint a deputy, as occasion requires, to act in his stead, under the same restrictions as the principal librarian.

Sec. 3. It shall be the duty of the librarian to cause to be printed, at as early a date as practicable, a full and accurate catalogue of all books, maps, globes, charts, papers, apparatus, and valuable specimens in any way belonging to said library; also to use diligent efforts to preserve from waste, loss, or damage, any portion of said library.

Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of the librarian, for and in behalf of the Territory of Utah, to plant suits, collect fines, prosecute, or defend the interests of said library, or otherwise act as a legal plaintiff or defendant in behalf of the Territory, where the interests of the library are concerned.

Sec. 5. The location of the library shall be at the seat of government of the Territory of Utah, and it shall be the duty of the librarian to have all the books of the library orderly and properly arranged within the library-room, for the use of such officers and persons as are named in the fourteenth section of the Organic Act for Utah Territory, during each session of the Legislative Assembly of Utah; provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall debar the librarian, in vacation of the Legislative Assembly, from permitting books, maps, and papers being drawn from said library, for professional and scientific purposes, by officers of the United States and of Utah Territory, and other citizens of Utah, where the librarian shall judge the public good may justify.

Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of the librarian to let out books for a specified time, and call in the same when due, inflict fines for damage or loss of books, and collect the same, and keep an accurate account of all his official doings in a book kept for that purpose, and make an annual report of the same to the Legislative Assembly of Utah; provided that no fine shall be excessive, or more than four times the purchase price of the book or books for the loss or damage of which the fine may be inflicted.

Sec. 7. The librarian is hereby entitled to draw from the treasury of Utah for the current year as compensation for his services the sum of $400, not otherwise appropriated; also the sum of $200 to defray the expenses of stationery, printing catalogue, and other contingencies.

Approved March 6, 1852.

[HARROWGATE WATERS.]

On the evening of the 30th of August, after dining with the governor, I accompanied him to the Thermal Springs, one of the lions of the place. We struck into the north road, and soon issued from the town. On the right hand we passed a large tumble-down tenement which has seen many vicissitudes. It began life as a bath-house and bathing-place, to which the white sulphury waters of the Warm Springs,[132] issuing from below Ensign Peak, were brought in pine-log pipes. It contained also a ballroom, two parlors for clubs and supper-parties, and a double kitchen. It afterward became a hotel and public house for emigrants to California and Oregon. These, however, soon learned to prefer more central quarters, and now it has subsided into a tannery of low degree. About two and a half miles beyond the northern suburb are the Hot Springs,[133] which issue from the western slope of the hills lying behind Ensign Peak. A generous supply of water, gushing from the rock into a basin below, drains off and forms a lakelet, varying according to season from one to three miles in circumference. Where the water first issues it will boil an egg; a little below it raises the mercury to 128° F. Even at a distance from the source it preserves some heat, and, accordingly, it is frequented throughout the winter by flights of water-fowl and camping Indians, whose children sit in it to thaw their half-frozen limbs. These springs, together with the fresh-water lake and the Jordan, are held to be more purifying than Abana and Pharphar, rivers of Damascus; and, being of the Harrowgate species, they will doubtless be useful to the Valley people as soon as increased luxury requires such appliances. When the wind sets in from the north, the decided perfume of sulphureted hydrogen and saleratus is any thing but eau de Cologne. An anti-Mormon writer, describing these springs and other evidences of igneous and volcanic action, dwells with complacency upon the probability that at some no distant time New Zion may find herself in a quandary, and--like the Cities of the Plain, to which she is thus insinuatingly compared--fuel for the flames. On our way home the governor pointed out the remains of building and other works upon a model farm, which had scarcely fared better than that of Niger celebrity. The land around is hoar with salt, and bears nothing but salsolæ and similar hopeless vegetation.

[132] The following is the analysis of the warm spring by Dr. L. D. Gale, printed by Captain Stansbury in Appendix F. It dates from 1851, but apparently more detailed trials have not yet been made. One hundred parts of the water (whose specific gravity was 1·0112) give the following results:

Sulphureted hydrogen absorbed in the water 0·037454 „ „ combined with bases 0·000728 Carbonate of lime precipitated by boiling 0·075000 „ „ magnesia 0·022770 Chloride of calcium 0·005700 Sulphate of soda 0·064835 Chloride of sodium 0·861600 -------- 1·023087

The usual temperature is laid down at 102° F.

[133] The water of the Hot Springs was found to have the specific gravity of 1·0130, and 100 parts yielded solid contents 1·1454.

Chloride of sodium 0·8052 „ magnesia 0·0288 „ calcium 0·1096 Sulphate of lime 0·0806 Carbonate of lime 0·0180 Silica 0·0180 ------ 1·0602

The usual temperature is laid down at 128° F.

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

V. Second Week at Great Salt Lake City.--Visit to the Prophet

[BRIGHAM YOUNG.]

Shortly after arriving, I had mentioned to Governor Cumming my desire to call upon Mr., or rather, as his official title is, President Brigham Young, and he honored me by inquiring what time would be most convenient to him. The following was the answer: the body was in the handwriting of an amanuensis--similarly Mr. Joseph Smith was in the habit of dictation--and the signature, which would form a fair subject for a Warrenologist, was the Prophet’s autograph.

“GOVERNOR A. CUMMING.

“Great Salt Lake City, Aug. 30, 1860.

“SIR,--In reply to your note of the 29th inst., I embrace the earliest opportunity since my return to inform you that it will be agreeable to me to meet the gentleman you mention in my office at 11 A.M. to-morrow, the 31st.

BRIGHAM YOUNG.”

The “President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints all over the World” is obliged to use caution in admitting strangers, not only for personal safety, but also to defend his dignity from the rude and unfeeling remarks of visitors, who seem to think themselves entitled, in the case of a Mormon, to transgress every rule of civility.

About noon, after a preliminary visit to Mr. Gilbert--and a visit in these lands always entails a certain amount of “smiling”--I met Governor Cumming in Main Street, and we proceeded together to our visit. After a slight scrutiny we passed the guard--which is dressed in plain clothes, and to the eye unarmed--and walking down the veranda, entered the Prophet’s private office. Several people who were sitting there rose at Mr. Cumming’s entrance. At a few words of introduction, Mr. Brigham Young advanced, shook hands with complete simplicity of manner, asked me to be seated on a sofa at one side of the room, and presented me to those present.

Under ordinary circumstances it would be unfair in a visitor to draw the portrait of one visited. But this is no common case. I have violated no rites of hospitality. Mr. Brigham Young is a “seer, revelator, and prophet, having all the gifts of God which he bestows upon the Head of the Church:” his memoirs, lithographs, photographs, and portraits have been published again and again; I add but one more likeness; and, finally, I have nothing to say except in his favor.

The Prophet was born at Whittingham, Vermont, on the 1st of June, 1801; he was consequently, in 1860, fifty-nine years of age; he looks about forty-five. La célébrité vieillit--I had expected to see a venerable-looking old man. Scarcely a gray thread appears in his hair, which is parted on the side, light colored, rather thick, and reaches below the ears with a half curl. He formerly wore it long, after the Western style; now it is cut level with the ear-lobes. The forehead is somewhat narrow, the eyebrows are thin, the eyes between gray and blue, with a calm, composed, and somewhat reserved expression: a slight droop in the left lid made me think that he had suffered from paralysis; I afterward heard that the ptosis is the result of a neuralgia which has long tormented him. For this reason he usually covers his head, except in his own house or in the Tabernacle. Mrs. Ward, who is followed by the “Revue des Deux-Mondes,” therefore errs again in asserting that “his Mormon majesty never removes his hat in public.” The nose, which is fine and somewhat sharp-pointed, is bent a little to the left. The lips are close like the New Englander’s, and the teeth, especially those of the under jaw, are imperfect. The cheeks are rather fleshy, and the line between the alæ of the nose and the mouth is broken; the chin is somewhat peaked, and the face clean shaven, except under the jaws, where the beard is allowed to grow. The hands are well made, and not disfigured by rings. The figure is somewhat large, broad-shouldered, and stooping a little when standing.

The Prophet’s dress was neat and plain as a Quaker’s, all gray homespun except the cravat and waistcoat. His coat was of antique cut, and, like the pantaloons, baggy, and the buttons were black. A neck-tie of dark silk, with a large bow, was loosely passed round a starchless collar, which turned down of its own accord. The waistcoat was of black satin--once an article of almost national dress--single-breasted, and buttoned nearly to the neck, and a plain gold chain was passed into the pocket. The boots were Wellingtons, apparently of American make.

[“BRIGHAM.”]

Altogether the Prophet’s appearance was that of a gentleman farmer in New England--in fact, such as he is: his father was an agriculturist and revolutionary soldier, who settled “down East.” He is a well-preserved man; a fact which some attribute to his habit of sleeping, as the Citizen Proudhon so strongly advises, in solitude. His manner is at once affable and impressive, simple and courteous: his want of pretension contrasts favorably with certain pseudo-prophets that I have seen, each and every of whom holds himself to be a “Logos” without other claim save a semi-maniacal self-esteem. He shows no signs of dogmatism, bigotry, or fanaticism, and never once entered--with me at least--upon the subject of religion. He impresses a stranger with a certain sense of power; his followers are, of course, wholly fascinated by his superior strength of brain. It is commonly said there is only one chief in Great Salt Lake City, and that is “Brigham.” His temper is even and placid; his manner is cold--in fact, like his face, somewhat bloodless; but he is neither morose nor methodistic, and, where occasion requires, he can use all the weapons of ridicule to direful effect, and “speak a bit of his mind” in a style which no one forgets. He often reproves his erring followers in purposely violent language, making the terrors of a scolding the punishment in lieu of hanging for a stolen horse or cow. His powers of observation are intuitively strong, and his friends declare him to be gifted with an excellent memory and a perfect judgment of character. If he dislikes a stranger at the first interview, he never sees him again. Of his temperance and sobriety there is but one opinion. His life is ascetic: his favorite food is baked potatoes with a little buttermilk, and his drink water: he disapproves, as do all strict Mormons, of spirituous liquors, and never touches any thing stronger than a glass of thin Lager-bier; moreover, he abstains from tobacco. Mr. Hyde has accused him of habitual intemperance: he is, as his appearance shows, rather disposed to abstinence than to the reverse. Of his education I can not speak: “men, not books--deeds, not words,” has ever been his motto; he probably has, as Mr. Randolph said of Mr. Johnston, “a mind uncorrupted by books.” In the only discourse which I heard him deliver, he pronounced impětus, impētus. Yet he converses with ease and correctness, has neither snuffle nor pompousness, and speaks as an authority upon certain subjects, such as agriculture and stock-breeding. He assumes no airs of extra sanctimoniousness, and has the plain, simple manners of honesty. His followers deem him an angel of light, his foes a goblin damned: he is, I presume, neither one nor the other. I can not pronounce about his scrupulousness: all the world over, the sincerest religious belief and the practice of devotion are sometimes compatible not only with the most disorderly life, but with the most terrible crimes; for mankind mostly believes that

“Il est avec le ciel des accommodements.”

He has been called hypocrite, swindler, forger, murderer. No one looks it less. The best authorities--from those who accuse Mr. Joseph Smith of the most heartless deception, to those who believe that he began as an impostor and ended as a prophet--find in Mr. Brigham Young “an earnest, obstinate egotistic enthusiasm, fanned by persecution and inflamed by bloodshed.” He is the St. Paul of the New Dispensation: true and sincere, he gave point, and energy, and consistency to the somewhat disjointed, turbulent, and unforeseeing fanaticism of Mr. Joseph Smith; and if he has not been able to create, he has shown himself great in controlling circumstances. Finally, there is a total absence of pretension in his manner, and he has been so long used to power that he cares nothing for its display. The arts by which he rules the heterogeneous mass of conflicting elements are indomitable will, profound secrecy, and uncommon astuteness.

Such is His Excellency President Brigham Young, “painter and glazier”--his earliest craft--prophet, revelator, translator, and seer; the man who is revered as king or kaiser, pope or pontiff never was; who, like the Old Man of the Mountain, by holding up his hand could cause the death of any one within his reach; who, governing as well as reigning, long stood up to fight with the sword of the Lord, and with his few hundred guerrillas, against the then mighty power of the United States; who has outwitted all diplomacy opposed to him; and, finally, who made a treaty of peace with the President of the Great Republic as though he had wielded the combined power of France, Russia, and England.

Remembering the frequent query, “What shall be done with the Mormons?” I often asked the Saints, Who will or can succeed Mr. Brigham Young? No one knows, and no one cares. They reply, with a singular disdain for the usual course of history, with a perfect faith that their Cromwell will know no Richard as his successor, that, as when the crisis came the Lord raised up in him, then unknown and little valued, a fitting successor to Mr. Joseph Smith--of whom, by-the-by, they now speak with a respectful reverential sotto voce, as Christians name the Founder of their faith--so, when the time for deciding the succession shall arrive, the chosen Saints will not be left without a suitable theocrat to exalt the people Israel. The Prophet professes, I believe, to hold office in a kind of spiritual allegiance to the Smith family, of which the eldest son, Mr. Joseph Smith, the third of that dynasty, has of late years, though blessed by his father, created a schism in the religion. By the persuasions of his mother, who, after the first Prophet’s death, gave him a Gentile stepfather, he has abjured polygamy and settled in the Mansion House at Nauvoo. The Mormons, though ready to receive back the family at Great Salt Lake City when manifested by the Lord, hardly look to him as their future chief. They all, however, and none more than Mr. Brigham Young, show the best of feeling toward the descendants of their founder, and expect much from David Smith, the second and posthumous son of him martyred at Carthage. He was called David, and choicely blessed before his birth by his father, who prophesied that the Lord will see to his children. Moreover, all speak in the highest terms of Mr. Joseph A. Young, the dweller at the White House, the eldest son of the ex-governor, who traveled in Europe and England, and distinguished himself in opposition to the federal troops.

[“SQUIRE WELLS.”--HEBER C. KIMBALL.]

After finishing with the “Lion of the Lord,” I proceeded to observe his companions. By my side was seated Daniel H., whose title is “General,” Wells, the Superintendent of Public Works, and the commander of the Nauvoo Legion. He is the third President of the Mormon triumvirate, and having been a justice of the peace and an alderman in Illinois, when the Mormons dwelt there in 1839, he is usually known as Squire Wells: he became a Saint when the Mormons were driven from Nauvoo in 1846, and took their part in battles against the mob. In appearance he is a tall, large, bony, rufous man, and his conduct of the affair in 1857-’8 is spoken of with admiration by Mormons. The second of the Presidency, Mr. Heber C. Kimball, was not present at that time, but on another occasion he was: Mr. Brigham Young introduced me to him, remarking, with a quiet and peculiar smile, that during his friend’s last visit to England, at a meeting of the Methodists, one of the reverends attempted to pull his chair from under him; at which reminiscence the person alluded to looked uncommonly grim. Mr. Kimball was born in the same year as Mr. Brigham Young, and was first baptized in 1832: he is a devoted follower of the Prophet, a very Jonathan to this David, a Umar to the New Islam. He is a large and powerful man, not unlike a blacksmith, which I believe he was, and is now the owner of a fine block, with houses and barns, garden and orchard, north of and adjoining that of Mr. Brigham Young. The third person present was the apostle Mr. George A. Smith, the historian and recorder of the Territory, and a cousin of the first Prophet: he is a walking almanac of Mormon events, and is still full of fight, strongly in favor of rubbing out the “wretched Irishmen and Dutchmen sent from the East to try whether the Mormons would receive federal officers.” Mr. Willford Woodruff, like Mr. Smith, one of the original apostles, has visited England as a missionary, appeared before the public as polemic and controversialist, and has now settled down as an apostle at Great Salt Lake City. Mr. Albert O. Carrington, a graduate of Dartmouth College, had acted as second assistant on the topographical survey to Captain Stansbury, who speaks of him as follows: “Being a gentleman of liberal education, he soon acquired, under instruction, the requisite skill, and by his zeal, industry, and practical good sense materially aided us in our subsequent operations. He continued with the party till the termination of the survey, accompanied it to the city (Washington), and has since returned to his mountain home, carrying with him the respect and good wishes of all with whom he was associated.” Of Mr. F. Little, who completed the septem contra Christianitatem then present, I shall have more to say in a future chapter.

The Prophet received us in his private office, where he transacts the greater part of his business, corrects his sermons, and conducts his correspondence. It is a plain, neat room, with the usual conveniences, a large writing-desk and money-safe, table, sofas, and chairs, all made by the able mechanics of the settlement. I remarked a pistol and a rifle hung within ready reach on the right-hand wall; one of these is, I was told, a newly-invented twelve-shooter. There was a look of order, which suited the character of the man: it is said that a door badly hinged, or a curtain hung awry, “puts his eye out.” His style of doing business at the desk or in the field--for the Prophet does not disdain handiwork--is to issue distinct, copious, and intelligible directions to his employés, after which he dislikes referring to the subject. It is typical of his mode of acting, slow, deliberate, and conclusive. He has the reputation of being wealthy. He rose to power a poor man. The Gentiles naturally declare that he enriched himself by the tithes and plunder of his followers, and especially by preying upon and robbing the Gentiles. I believe, however, that no one pays Church-dues and alms with more punctuality than the Prophet, and that he has far too many opportunities of coining money, safely and honestly, to be guilty, like some desperate destitute, of the short-sighted folly of fraud. In 1859 he owned, it is said, to being possessed of $250,000, equal to £50,000, which makes a millionaire in these mountains--it is too large a sum to jeopardize. His fortunes were principally made in business: like the late Imaum of Muscat, he is the chief merchant as well as the high priest. He sends long trains of wagons freighted with various goods to the Eastern States, and supplies caravans and settlements with grain and provisions. From the lumber which he sold to the federal troops for hutting themselves at Camp Floyd, he is supposed to have netted not less than $200,000. This is one of the sorest points with the army: all declare that the Mormons would have been in rags or sackcloth if soldiers had not been sent; and they naturally grudge discomfort, hardship, and expatriation, whose only effect has been to benefit their enemies.

[“LEMUEL.”--SLAVERY.]

After the few first words of greeting, I interpreted the Prophet’s look to mean that he would not dislike to know my object in the City of the Saints. I told him that, having read and heard much about Utah as it is said to be, I was anxious to see Utah as it is. He then entered briefly upon the subjects of stock and agriculture, and described the several varieties of soil. One delicate topic was touched upon: he alluded to the “Indian wars,” as they are here called: he declared that when twenty are reported killed and wounded, that two or three would be nearer the truth, and that he could do more with a few pounds of flour and yards of cloth than all the sabres of the camp could effect. The sentiment was cordially seconded by all present. The Israelitic origin of “Lemuel,” and perhaps the prophecy that “many generations shall not pass away among them save they shall be a white and delightsome people,”[134] though untenable as an ethnologic theory, has in practice worked at least this much of good, that the Mormons treat their step-brethren with far more humanity than other Western men: they feed, clothe, and lodge them, and attach them by good works to their interests. Slavery has been legalized in Utah, but solely for the purpose of inducing the Saints to buy children, who otherwise would be abandoned or destroyed by their starving parents.[135] During my stay in the city I did not see more than half a dozen negroes; and climate, which, disdaining man’s interference, draws with unerring hand the true and only compromise line between white and black labor, has irrevocably decided that the African in these latitudes is valueless as a chattel, because his keep costs more than his work returns. The negro, however, is not admitted to the communion of Saints--rather a hard case for the Hamite, if it be true that salvation is nowhere to be found beyond the pale of the Mormon Church--and there are severe penalties for mixing the blood of Shem and Japhet with the accursed race of Cain and Canaan. The humanity of the Prophet’s followers to the Lamanite has been distorted by Gentiles into a deep and dangerous project for “training the Indians” to assassinate individual enemies, and, if necessary, to act as guerrillas against the Eastern invaders. That the Yutas--they divide the white world into two great classes, Mormon and Shwop, or American generally--would, in case of war, “stand by” their patrons, I do not doubt; but this would only be the effect of kindness, which it is unfair to attribute to no worthier cause.

[134] Second Book of Nephi, chap. xii., par. 12. Lemuel was the brother of Nephi; and the word is used by autonomasia for the Lamanites or Indians.

[135] The wording of the following act shows the spirit in which slavery was proposed:

A PREAMBLE AND AN ACT FOR THE FARTHER RELIEF OF INDIAN SLAVES AND PRISONERS.

“Whereas, by reason of the acquisition of Upper California and New Mexico, and the subsequent organization of the Territorial Governments of New Mexico and Utah by the acts of the Congress of the United States, these territories have organized governments within and upon what would otherwise be considered Indian territory, and which really is Indian territory so far as the right of soil is involved, thereby presenting the novel feature of a white legalized government on Indian lands; and

“Whereas the laws of the United States in relation to intercourse with Indians are designed for, and only applicable to, territories and countries under the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the United States; and

“Whereas, from time immemorial, the practice of purchasing Indian women and children of the Utah tribe of Indians by Mexican traders has been indulged in and carried on by those respective people until the Indians consider it an allowable traffic, and frequently offer their prisoners or children for sale; and

“Whereas it is a common practice among these Indians to gamble away their own children and women; and it is a well-established fact that women and children thus obtained, or obtained by war, or theft, or in any other manner, are by them frequently carried from place to place, packed upon horses or mules, larieted out to subsist upon grass, roots, or starve, and are frequently bound with thongs made of raw-hide until their hands and feet become swollen, mutilated, inflamed with pain, and wounded; and when with suffering, cold, hunger, and abuse they fall sick, so as to become troublesome, are frequently slain by their masters to get rid of them; and

“Whereas they do frequently kill their women and children taken prisoners, either in revenge, or for amusement, or through the influence of tradition, unless they are tempted to exchange them for trade, which they usually do if they have an opportunity; and

“Whereas one family frequently steals the children and women of another family, and such robberies and murders are continually committed, in times of their greatest peace and amity, thus dragging free Indian women and children into Mexican servitude and slavery, or death, to the almost entire extirpation of the whole Indian race; and

“Whereas these inhuman practices are being daily enacted before our eyes in the midst of the white settlements, and within the organized counties of the Territory; and when the inhabitants do not purchase or trade for those so offered for sale, they are generally doomed to the most miserable existence, suffering the tortures of every species of cruelty, until death kindly relieves them and closes the revolting scenery:

“Wherefore, when all these facts are taken into consideration, it becomes the duty of all humane and Christian people to extend unto this degraded and downtrodden race such relief as can be awarded to them, according to their situation and circumstances; it therefore becomes necessary to consider,

“First, the circumstances of our location among these savage tribes under the authority of Congress, while yet the Indian title to the soil is left unextinguished; not even a treaty having been held, by which a partition of territory or country has been made, thereby bringing them into our door-yards, our houses, and in contact with our every avocation.

“Second, their situation, and our duty toward them, upon the common principles of humanity.

“Third, the remedy, or what will be the most conducive to ameliorate their condition, preserve their lives and their liberties, and redeem them from a worse than African bondage; it suggests itself to your committee that to memorialize Congress to provide by some act of national legislation for the new and unparalleled situation of the inhabitants of this Territory, in relation to their intercourse with these Indians, would be one resource, prolific in its results for our mutual benefit; and, farther, that we ask their concurrence in the following enactment, passed by the Legislature of the Territory of Utah, January 31, A.D. 1852, entitled,

“‘An Act for the Relief of Indian Slaves and Prisoners.

“‘Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah, That whenever any white person within any organized county of this Territory shall have any Indian prisoner, child, or woman, in his possession, whether by purchase or otherwise, such person shall immediately go, together with such Indian prisoner, child, or woman, before the selectmen or probate judge of the county. If, in the opinion of the selectmen or probate judge, the person having such Indian prisoner, child, or woman, is a suitable person, and properly qualified to raise or retain and educate said Indian prisoner, child, or woman, it shall be his or their duty to bind out the same, by indenture, for the term of not exceeding twenty years, at the discretion of the judge or selectmen.

“‘Sec. 2. The probate judge or selectmen shall cause to be written in the indenture the name and age, place where born, name of parents if known, tribe to which said Indian person belonged, name of the person having him in possession, name of Indian from whom said person was obtained, date of the indenture--a copy of which shall be filed in the probate clerk’s office.

“‘Sec. 3. The selectmen in their respective counties are hereby authorized to obtain such Indian prisoners, children, or women, and bind them to some useful avocation.

“‘Sec. 4. The master to whom the indenture is made is hereby required to send said apprentice to school, if there be a school in the district or vicinity, for the term of three months in each year, at a time when said Indian child shall be between the ages of seven years and sixteen. The master shall clothe his apprentice in a comfortable and becoming manner, according to his said master’s condition in life.

“‘Approved March 7, 1852.’”

The conversation, which lasted about an hour, ended by the Prophet asking me the line of my last African exploration, and whether it was the same country traversed by Dr. Livingstone. I replied that it was about ten degrees north of the Zambezi. Mr. A. Carrington rose to point out the place upon a map which hung against the wall, and placed his finger too near the equator, when Mr. Brigham Young said, “A little lower down.” There are many educated men in England who could not have corrected the mistake as well: witness the “London Review,” in which the gentleman who “does the geography”--not having the fear of a certain society in Whitehall Place before his eyes--confounds, in all the pomp of criticism upon the said exploration, lakes which are not less than 200 miles apart.

[THE PROPHET NO COMMON MAN.]

When conversation began to flag, we rose up, shook hands, as is the custom here, all round, and took leave. The first impression left upon my mind by this short séance, and it was subsequently confirmed, was, that the Prophet is no common man, and that he has none of the weakness and vanity which characterize the common uncommon man. A desultory conversation can not be expected to draw out a master spirit, but a truly distinguished character exercises most often an instinctive--some would call it a mesmeric--effect upon those who come in contact with it; and as we hate or despise at first sight, and love or like at first sight, so Nature teaches us at first sight what to respect. It is observable that, although every Gentile writer has represented Mr. Joseph Smith as a heartless impostor, few have ventured to apply the term to Mr. Brigham Young. I also remarked an instance of the veneration shown by his followers, whose affection for him is equaled only by the confidence with which they intrust to him their dearest interests in this world and in the next. After my visit many congratulated me, as would the followers of the Tien Wong, or heavenly King, upon having at last seen what they consider “a per se” the most remarkable man in the world.

Before leaving the Prophet’s Block I will describe the rest of the building. The grounds are surrounded by a high wall of large pebble-like stones and mortar--the lime now used is very bad--and strengthened with semicircular buttresses. The main entrance faces south, with posts and chains before it for tethering horses. The “Lion House,” occupied by Mrs. Young and her family, is in the eastern part of the square: it is so called from a stone lion placed over the large pillared portico, the work of a Mr. William Ward, who also cut the block of white limestone, with “Deserét” beneath a bee-hive, and other symbols, forwarded for the Washington Monument in 1853. It is lamentable to state that the sculptor is now an apostate. The house resembles a two-storied East Indian tenement, with balcony and balustrade, here called an observatory, and is remarkable by its chunamed coat; it cost $65,000--being the best in the city, and was finished in one year. Before building it the Prophet lived in the White House, a humbler bungalow farther to the east; he has now given it up to his son, Joseph A. Young.

On the west of the Lion House lies the private office in which we were received, and farther westward, but adjoining and connected by a passage, is the public office, where the Church and other business is transacted. This room, which is larger than the former, has three desks on each side, the left on entering being those of the public, and the right those of the private clerks. The chief accountant is Mr. Daniel O’Calder, a Scotchman, whose sagacity in business makes him an alter ego of the President. At the end opposite the door there is a larger pupitre railed off, and a gallery runs round the upper wall. The bookcases are of the yellow box-elder wood, which takes a fine polish; and all is neat, clean, and business-like.

Westward of the public office is the Bee House, so named from the sculptured bee-hive in front of it. The Hymenopter is the Mormon symbol of industry; moreover, Deserét (pronounced Des-erétt) is, in “reformed Egyptian,” the honey-bee; the term is applied with a certain violence to Utah, where, as yet, that industrious insect is an utter stranger.[136] The Bee House is a large building, with the long walls facing east and west. It is double storied, with the lower windows, which are barred, oblong: the upper, ten in number, are narrow, and shaded by a small acute ogive or gable over each. The color of the building is a yellowish-white, which contrasts well with the green blinds, and the roof, which is acute, is tiled with shingles. It was finished in 1845, and is tenanted by the “plurality wives” and their families, who each have a bedroom, sitting-room, and closet simply and similarly furnished. There is a Moslem air of retirement about the Bee House; the face of woman is rarely seen at the window, and her voice is never heard from without. Anti-Mormons declare it to be, like the state-prison at Auburn, a self-supporting establishment, for not even the wives of the Prophet are allowed to live in idleness.

[136] “And they (scil. Jared and his brother) did also carry with them Deserét, which by interpretation is a honey-bee; and they did carry with them swarms of bees, and all manner of that which was upon the face of the land, seeds of every kind.”--Book of Ether, chap. i., par. 3.

[THE PROPHET’S PROGENY.]

I was unwilling to add to the number of those who had annoyed the Prophet by domestic allusions, and therefore have no direct knowledge of the extent to which he carries polygamy; some Gentiles allow him seventeen, others thirty-six, out of a household of seventy members; others an indefinite number of wives scattered through the different settlements. Of these, doubtless, many are but wives by name, such, for instance, as the widows of the late Prophet; and others are married more for the purpose of building up for themselves spiritual kingdoms than for the normal purpose of matrimony. When treating of Mormon polygamy I shall attempt to show that the relation between the sexes as lately regulated by the Mormon faith necessitates polygamy. I should judge the Prophet’s progeny to be numerous from the following circumstance: On one occasion, when standing with him on the belvidere, my eye fell upon a new erection: it could be compared externally to nothing but an English gentleman’s hunting stables, with their little clock-tower, and I asked him what it was intended for. “A private school for my children,” he replied, “directed by Brother E. B. Kelsey.” The harem is said to have cost $30,000.

[TITHES.]

On the extreme west of this block, backed by a pound for estrays, which is no longer used, lies the Tithing House and Deserét Store, a long, narrow, upper-storied building, with cellars, store-rooms, receiving-rooms, pay-rooms, and writing offices. At this time of the year it chiefly contains linseed, and rags for paper-making; after the harvest it is well stuffed with grains and cereals, which are taken instead of money payment. There is nothing more unpopular among the American Gentiles, or, indeed, more unintelligible to them, than these Mosaic tithes, which the English converts pay, from habit, without a murmur. They serve for scandalous insinuations, viz., that the chiefs are leeches that draw the people’s golden blood; that the imposts are compulsory, and that they are embezzled and peculated by the principal dignitaries. I have reason to believe that the contrary is the case. The tithes which are paid into the “Treasury of the Lord” upon the property of a Saint on profession, and afterward upon his annual income, or his time, or by substitute, are wholly voluntary. It sometimes happens that a man casts his all into the bosom of the Church; in this case the all is not refused, but--may I ask--by what Church body, Islamitic, Christian, or pagan, would it be? If the Prophet takes any thing from the Tithing House, he pays for it like other men. The writers receive stipends like other writers, and no more; of course, if any one--clerk or lawyer--wishes to do the business of the Church gratis, he is graciously permitted; and where, I repeat, would he not be? The Latter-Day Saints declare that if their first Presidency and Twelve Apostles--of whom some, by-the-by, are poor--grow rich, it is by due benevolence, not by force or fraud. Much like the primitive college, and most unlike their successors in this modern day, each apostle must have some craft, and all live by handiwork, either in house, shop, or field, no drones being allowed in the social hive. The tithes are devoted in part to Church works, especially to “building up temples or otherwise beautifying and adorning Zion, as they may be directed from on high,” and in part to the prosperity of the body politic, temporal, and spiritual; by aiding faithful and needy emigrants, and by supporting old and needy Saints. Perhaps the only true charge brought by the Gentiles against this, and, indeed, against all the public funds in the Mormon City, is, that a large portion finds its way eastward, and is expended in “outside influence,” or, to speak plain English, bribes. It is believed by Mormons as well as Gentiles that Mr. Brigham Young has in the States newspaper spies and influential political friends, who are attached to him not only by the ties of business and the natural respect felt for a wealthy man, but by the strong bond of a regular stipend. And such is their reliance upon this political dodgery--which, if it really exists, is by no means honorable to the public morality of the Gentiles--that they deride the idea of a combined movement from Washington ever being made against them. In 1860 Governor Cumming proposed to tax the tithing fund; but the Saints replied that, as property is first taxed and then tithed, by such proceeding it would be twice taxed.

“This people”--a term reiterated at Great Salt Lake City usque ad nauseam--declares its belief “in being subject to kings, queen, presidents, rulers, and magistrates; in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.” They are not backward in open acts of loyalty--I beg America’s pardon--of adhesion to the Union, such as supplying stones for the Washington Monument and soldiers for the Mexican War. But they make scant pretension of patriotism. They regard the States pretty much as the States regarded England after the War of Independence, and hate them as the Mexican Criollo does the Gachupin--very much also for the same reason. Theirs is a deep and abiding resentment, which time will strengthen, not efface: the deeds of Missouri and Illinois will bear fruit for many and many a generation. The federal government, they say, has, so far from protecting their lives and property, left them to be burned out and driven away by the hands of a mob, far more cruel than the “red-coated minions” of poor King George; that Generals Harney and Johnston were only seeking the opportunity to act Burgoyne and Cornwallis. But, more galling still to human nature, whether of saint or sinner, they are despised, “treated, in fact, as nobodies”--and that last of insults who can bear? Their petitions to become a sovereign state have been unanswered and ignored. They have been served with “small-fry” politicians and “one-horse” officials: hitherto the phrase has been, “Any thing is good enough for Utah!” They return the treatment in kind.

[NEW INDEPENDENCE DAY.]

“The Old Independence,” the “glorious” 4th of July, ’76, is treated with silent contempt: its honors are transferred to the 24th of July, the local Independence Day of their annus mirabilis 1847, when the weary pioneers, preceding a multitude, which, like the Pilgrim fathers of New England, left country and home for conscience’ sake, and, led by Captain John Brown, whose unerring rifle saved them from starvation when the Indians had stampeded their horses, arrived in the wild waste of valley. Their form of government, which I can describe only as a democratic despotism with a leaven of the true Mosaic theocracy, enables them to despise a political system in which they say--quoting Hamilton--that “every vital interest of the state is merged in the all-absorbing question of ‘who shall be the next president.’” There is only one “Yankee gridiron” in the town, and that is a private concern. I do not remember ever seeing a liberty-pole, that emblem of a tyrant majority, which has been bowed to from New York to the Rhine.[137] A favorite toast on public occasions is, “We can rock the cradle of Liberty without Uncle Sam to help us,” and so forth. These sentiments show how the wind sets. In two generations hence--perhaps New Zion has a prophet-making air--the Mormons in their present position will, on their own ground, be more than a match for the Atlantic, and, combined with the Chinese, will be dangerous to the Pacific States.

[137] The first liberty-pole was erected on the open space between the Court-house and Broadway, New York. It is a long flag-staff, often of several pieces, like the “mast of some tall ammiral,” surmounted by a liberty-cap, that Phrygian or Mithridatic coiffure with which the Goddess of Liberty is supposed to disfigure herself. With a peculiar inconsequence, “the whole is” said to be “an allusion to Gesler’s cap which Tell refused to do homage to, leading to the freedom of Switzerland.”--Bartlett. The French soon made of their peuplier a peuple lié. The Americans, curious to say, still believe in it.

The Mormons, if they are any thing in secular politics, are Democrats. It has not been judged advisable to cast off the last rags of popular government, but, as will presently appear, theocracy is not much disguised by them. Although not of the black or extreme category, they instinctively feel that polygamy and slavery are sister institutions, claiming that sort of kindness which arises from fellow-feeling, and that Congress can not attack one without infringing upon the other. Here, perhaps, they may be mistaken, for nations, like individuals, however warmly and affectionately they love their own peculiar follies and prejudices, sins and crimes, are not the less, indeed perhaps they are rather more, disposed to abominate the follies and prejudices, the sins and crimes of others. The establishment of slavery, however, though here it serves a humanitarian rather than a private end, necessarily draws the Mormons and the Southern States together. Yet the Saints preferred as President the late Mr. Senator Douglas, a Northern Democrat, to his Southern rival, Mr. Breckinridge. They looked with apprehension of the rise to power of the Republican party, which, had not a weightier matter fallen into their hands, was pledged to do them a harm. I can not but think that absolute independence is and will be, until attained, the principal end and aim of Mormon haute politique, and when the disruption of the Great Republic shall have become a fait accompli, that Deserét will arise a free, sovereign, and independent state.

[MORALS.--ARDENT SPIRITS.]

Should this event ever happen, it will make the regions about Great Salt Lake as exclusive as Northern China or Eastern Tibet. The obsolete rigors of the sanguinary Mosaic code will be renewed in the middle of the nineteenth century, while the statute-crime “bigamy” and unlimited polygamy will be legalized. Stripes, or, at best, fine and imprisonment, will punish fornication, and the penalty of adultery will be death by lapidation or beheading. As it is, even under the shadow of the federal laws, the self-convicted breaker of the seventh commandment will, it is said, offer up his life in expiation of his crime to the Prophet, who, under present circumstances, dismisses him with a penance that may end in the death which he has legally incurred. The offenses against chastity, morality, and decency are exceptionally severe.[138] The penalty attached to betting of any kind is a fine not exceeding $300, or imprisonment not exceeding six months. The importation of spirituous liquors is already burdened with an octroi of half its price, raising cognac and whisky to $12 and $8 per gallon. If the state could make her own laws, she would banish “poteen,” hunt down the stills, and impose a prohibitory duty upon every thing stronger than Lager-bier.[139]

[138] Sec. 32 (of an “Act in relation to Crimes and Punishment”). Every person who commits the crime of adultery shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding twenty years, and not less than three years; or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and not less than three hundred dollars; or by both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court. And when the crime is committed between parties any one of whom is married, both are guilty of adultery, and shall be punished accordingly. No prosecution for adultery can be commenced but on the complaint of the husband or wife.

Sec. 33. If any man or woman, not being married to each other, lewdly and lasciviously associate and cohabit together; or if any man or woman, married or unmarried, is guilty of open and gross lewdness, and designedly make any open and indecent, or obscene exposure of his or her person, or of the person of another, every such person so offending shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding ten years, and not less than six months, and fine not more than one thousand dollars, and not less than one hundred dollars, or both, at the discretion of the court.

Sec. 34. If any person keep a house of ill-fame, resorted to for the purpose of prostitution or lewdness, he shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding ten years, and not less than one year, or by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or both fine and imprisonment. And any person who, after being once convicted of such offense, is again convicted of the like offense, shall be punished not more than double the above specified penalties.

Sec. 35. If any person inveigle or entice any female, before reputed virtuous, to a house of ill-fame, or knowingly conceal, aid, or abet in concealing such female so deluded or enticed, for the purpose of prostitution or lewdness, he shall be punished by imprisonment not more than fifteen years, nor less than five years.

Sec. 36. If any person without lawful authority willfully dig up, disinter, remove, or carry any human body, or the remains thereof, from its place of interment, or aid or assist in so doing, or willfully receive, conceal, or dispose of any such human body, or the remains thereof; or if any person willfully or unnecessarily, and in an improper manner, indecently exposes those remains, or abandons any human body, or the remains thereof, in any public place, or in any river, stream, pond, or other place, every such offender shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court.

Sec. 37. If any person torture or cruelly beat any horse, ox, or other beast, whether belonging to himself or another, he shall be punished by fine not more than one hundred dollars.

Sec. 38. If any person import, print, publish, sell, or distribute any book, pamphlet, ballad, or any printed paper containing obscene language, or obscene prints, pictures, or descriptions manifestly tending to corrupt the morals of youth, or introduce into any family, school, or place of education, or buy, procure, receive, or have in his possession any such book, pamphlet, ballad, printed paper, picture, or description, either for the purpose of loan, sale, exhibition, or circulation, or with intent to introduce the same into any family, school, or place of education, he shall be punished by fine not exceeding four hundred dollars.

Sec. 39. If any person keep a house, shop, or place resorted to for the purpose of gambling, or permit or suffer any person in any house, shop, or other place under his control or care to play at cards, dice, faro, roulette, or other game for money or other things, such offender shall be fined not more than eight hundred dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, at the discretion of the court. In a prosecution under this section, any person who has the charge of, or attends to any such house, shop, or place, may be deemed the keeper thereof.

[139] I quote as an authority,

An Ordinance regulating the Manufacturing and Vending of Ardent Spirits.

Sec. 1. Be it ordained by the General Assembly of the State of Deserét, That it shall not be lawful for any person or persons in this state to establish any distillery or distilleries for the manufacture of ardent spirits except as hereafter provided for; and any person or persons who shall violate this ordinance, on conviction thereof, shall forfeit all property thus invested to the state, and be liable to a fine at the discretion of the court having jurisdiction.

Sec. 2. Be it farther ordained, That when the governor shall deem it expedient to have ardent spirits manufactured within this state, he may grant a license to some person or persons to make and vend the same, and impose such restrictions thereon as he may deem requisite.

Approved Feb. 12, 1851.

[JUDGE PHELPS.]

On the saddest day of the year for the bird which has lost so much good fame by condescending to appear at table aux choux, I proceeded with my fidus Achates--save the self-comparison to pious Æneas--on a visit to Mr. W. W., alias Judge Phelps, alias “the Devil.” He received me with great civility, and entered without reserve upon his hobbies. His house, which lies west of Temple Block, bears on the weathercock ‏הננו‎ (Job, xxxviii., 35, “Adsumus:” “Here we are”). Besides Hebrew and other linguistic studies, the judge is a meteorologist, and has been engaged for some years in observations upon the climate of the Territory. An old editor at Independence, he now superintends the Utah Almanac, and gave me a copy for the year 1860, “being the 31st year of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.” It is a small duodecimo, creditably printed by Mr. J. M‘Knight, Utah, and contains thirty-two pages. The contents are the usual tables of days, sunrises, sunsets, eclipses, etc., with advertisements on the alternate pages; and it ends with the denominations and value of gold and silver coins, original poetry, “scientific” notes concerning the morning and evening stars, a list of the United States officers at Utah, the number of the planets and asteroids, diarrhœa, and “moral poetry,” and an explanation of the word “almanac,” concluding with the following observation:

“A person, without an almanac is somewhat like a ship at sea without a compass; he never knows what to do nor when to do it.”

“So Mormon, other sects, and Quaker, Buy Almanacs, and pay the maker.--K. J.”

The only signs of sanctity are in the events appended to the days of the week; they naturally record the dates of local interest, and the births and deaths of prophets and patriarchs, presidents and apostles. Under the head of “Time,” however, some novel information is provided for the benefit of the benighted chronologist.

“TIME.--There is a great mystery about time as recorded in the Bible. Authors differ as to what length of time this world has occupied since it came into being. Add 4004 to 1860, and we have 5864 years.

“Again, some authors allow, before the birth of the Savior, 5509 years, which, added to 1860, gives 7369 years since the beginning.

“The book of Abraham, as translated by Joseph Smith, gives 7000 years for the creation by the gods, one day of the Lord being a thousand years of man’s time, or a day in Kolob. This important revelation of 7000 years at first shows 5960 years since the transgression of Adam and Eve, and 40 years to the next ‘day of rest,’ if the year 1900 commences the return of the ‘ten tribes,’ and the first resurrection; or 13,000 years since the gods said, ‘Let there be light, and there was light,’ so that the fourteen thousandth year will be the second Sabbath since creation.

“A day of the Moon is nearly thirty of our days, or more than ten thousand of earth’s time. Verily, verily,

“Man knows but little, Nor knows that little right.”

The judge then showed me an instrument upon which he had expended the thought and labor of years: it was that grand desideratum, a magnetic compass, which, pointing with a second needle to the true north, would indicate variation so correctly as to show longitude by inspection. The article, which was as rough-looking as it could be, was placed upon the table; but it would not, as the inventor explained, point to the true north unless in a particular position. I refrain from recording my hundred doubts as to the feasibility of the operation, and my own suspicions concerning the composition of the instrument. I presently took leave of Judge Phelps, pleased with his quaint kindness, but somehow suspecting him of being a little tête-montée on certain subjects.

[THE “DESERÉT NEWS.”--NEWSPAPERS.]

As it was newspaper day, we passed by the “Mountaineer” office and bought a copy. The press is ably and extensively represented in Great Salt Lake City, as in any other of its Western coevals.[140] Mormonism, so far from despising the powers of pica, has a more than ordinary respect for them.[141] Until lately there were three weekly newspapers. The “Valley Tan,” however, during the last winter expired, after a slow and lingering dysthesis, induced by overindulgence in Gentile tendencies. It was established in 1858; the proprietor was Mr. J. Hartnett, the late federal secretary; the editor was Mr. Kirk Anderson, followed by Mr. De Wolf and others; the issue hebdomadal, and the subscription high = $10 per annum. The recognized official organ of the religion, which first appeared on the 15th of June, 1850, is the “Deserét News,” whose motto is “Truth and Liberty” under a hive, over which is a single circumradiated eye in disagreeable proximity to the little busy bee. It has often changed its size, and is now printed in small folio, of eight pages, each containing four columns of close type: sometimes articles are clothed in the Mormon alphabet. It had reached in 1860 its tenth volume; it appears every Wednesday; costs at Utah $6 per annum, in England £1 13_s._ 8_d._ per annum, in advance; single number 9_d._; and is superintended by Mr. Brigham Young. It is edited by Mr. Elias Smith, also a Probate judge; he is assisted by Mr. M‘Knight, formerly the editor of a paper in the United States, and now the author of the important horticultural, agricultural, and other georgic articles in the “Deserét News.” This “Moniteur” also contains corrected reports of the sermons spoken at the Tabernacle. An account of a number may not be uninteresting.

[140] According to the “Elgin Courant,” there are between 700 and 800 of a fishing population in Hopeness who never see a newspaper.

[141] The first Mormon newspaper was the “Latter-Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate,” published at Kirtland, Ohio, in the time of Mr. Joseph Smith.

The “Evening and Morning Star,” published at Independence, Mo., and edited by W. W. Phelps.

“Elders’ Journal,” published in 1838, in the time of Mr. Joseph Smith.

“The Upper Missouri Advertiser,” published about the same time; it did not last long.

“The Nauvoo Neighbor” disappeared in the days of the Exodus.

“The Times and Seasons,” containing a compendium of intelligence pertaining to the upbuilding of the kingdom of God, and the signs of the Times, together with a great variety of information in regard to the history, principles, persecutions, deliverances, and onward progress of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Nauvoo 1839-1843. It was edited by Elder John Taylor (now one of the “Twelve”) under the direction of Mr. Joseph Smith, and arrived at the fourth volume (octavo): this journal is full of interesting matter to Mormons.

“The Wasp,” begun at Nauvoo in 1842.

“The Frontier Garden,” published at Council Bluffs during the Exodus from Nauvoo.

“The Seer,” edited at Washington, by Elder Orson Pratt, reached the second volume.

“The Gospel Reflector,” published at Philadelphia, lasted for a short time.

“The Prophet,” published at New York.

“Le Reflecteur,” in French, published at Geneva.

“Etoile du Deserét, Organe de l’Eglise de Jésus-Christ des Saints des Derniers Jours,” par John Taylor, Paris. It lasted from May, 1851, to April, 1852, and forms 1 vol. large 8vo, containing 192 pages.

“The Western Standard,” edited and published weekly at San Francisco, California, United States of America, by Elder George Q. Cannon, now an Apostle and President of the Church in Great Britain. This paper, which was distinguished by the beauty of its type and the character of its composition, lasted through 1856 and 1857; in 1858 it ceased for want of funds.

“Zion’s Watchman,” published in Australia.

“Udgorn Seion” (the Trump of Zion), published in Wales, a bi-monthly print, which has reached the ninth volume.

“The Luminary,” St. Louis, Mo.

“The Mormon,” published in New York, a hebdomadal print.

No. 28, vol. x., begins with a hymn of seven stanzas, by C. W. Bryant. Follow remarks by President Brigham Young, at Provo and in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City; the three sermons, which occupy four columns and a half, are separated by “Modern Germany, II.,” by Alexander Ott. There is an article from the “New York Sun,” entitled the “Great Eastern in Court.” It is followed by nearly half a page of “Clippings,” those little recognized piracies which make the American papers as amusing as magazines. Then come advertisements, estray notices, and others, which nearly fill the third and sixth pages, and the column at the eighth, which is the conclusion. I subjoin terms for advertising.[142] The fourth page contains “News by Eastern Mail”--Doings of the Probate Court--Special term of the Probate Court--Another excusable homicide--The season--Imprisoning convicts without labor--Discharge of the city police--Swiss Saints (lately arrived)--Arrival of missionaries at Liverpool--Drowned, Joseph Vest, etc.--Deserét Agriculturing and Manufacturing Society--Information wanted -- and Humboldt’s opinion of the United States (comparing it to a Cartesian vortex, liberty a dead machinery in the hands of Utilitarianism, etc.). The fifth and sixth pages detail news from Europe, the Sicilies, Damascus, and India, proceedings of a missionary meeting in the Bowery, and tidings from Juab and Iron County, with a few stopgaps, such as an explanation of the word Zouave, and the part conversion of the fallen Boston elm into a “Mayor’s seat.” The seventh page is agricultural, and opens with the “American Autumn,” by Fanny Kemble, four stanzas. Then comes Sheep-husbandry No. iii., treating of change of pasture, separation of the flock, and fall management. The other morceaux are “Training the peach-tree,” “Stick to the Farm,” an article concluding with “We shall always sign ‘speed the plow;’ we shall always regard the American farmer, dressed for his employment (!) and tilling his grounds, as belonging to the order of real noblemen”--the less aristocratic Englander would limit himself to “Nature’s gentleman;” “Why pork shrinks in the pot,” and “Wheat-straw, its value as fodder.” The eighth and last page opens with “Correspondence,” and a letter signed Joseph Hall, headed “More results of ‘civilization,’” and dated Ogden City, Sept. 8, 1860. It contains an account of occurrences resulting in the “death of one John Cornwell, a discharged government teamster, and, as is often the case with those Christians who are sent to civilize the ‘Mormons’ of these mountains, a corrupt, profane, and quarrelsome individual, who doted on belonging to the ‘bully tribe.’” Then follows more news from San Pete County. A test of love (that capital story out of C. R. Leslie’s autobiography). Siege of Magdeburg. A hard-shell sermon (preached at Oxford, England), a scrap illustrating the marvelous growth of Quincy, Illinois, and the Legend of the origin of the Piano-forte. The latter is followed by a valuable abstract containing a summary of meteorological observations, barometric and thermometric, for the month of August, 1860, at Great Salt Lake City, Utah, by W. W. Phelps, and concluding with a monthly journal.[143] Then follow the deaths, six in number, and after one of them is inserted [Millennial Star, copy]. There are no marriages, and the Western papers, like those of the East, are still bégueules enough to consider advertising the birth of a child indelicate; at least that was the reason given to me. The last column contains the terms for advertising and the “fill-up” advertisements.

[142] ADVERTISING.--Ten lines or less constitute one square.

Regular Advertisements.

One quarter column (four squares or less), for each insertion $1 50 Half column (seven squares or less), each insertion 3 00 One column (fourteen squares or less) 6 00

Sundry Advertisements.

One square, each insertion $1 00 Two „ „ 1 50 Three „ „ 2 00

Thus upward, with half a dollar to the additional square for each insertion.

[143]

The maximum of the barometer during the month is 26·100; min. 25·400 „ „ „ thermometer „ „ 95° F.; „ 60° F.

There fell of rain water 0·670 inches during five days marked showery. Fifteen days are marked clear and pleasant, or hot and dry, or hot and very dry, the 22d being the hottest; and the others are partially clear, or clear and cloudy, or hazy and cloudy.

[THE “MOUNTAINEER.”]

The “Mountaineer,” whose motto is “Do what is right, let the consequence follow,” is considered rather a secular paper. It appears on Saturdays, and the terms of subscription are $6 per annum; the occasional supplement is issued gratis. It formerly belonged to three lawyers, Messrs. Stout, Blair, and Ferguson; it has now passed into the hands of the two latter. Mr. Hosea Stout distinguished himself during the Nauvoo troubles; he was the captain of forty policemen who watched over the safety of Mr. Joseph Smith, and afterward went on missions to India and China. Major S. M. Blair served under General Sam. Houston in the Texan war of independence, and was a distinguished lawyer in the Southern States. A description of the “Deserét News” will apply to the “Mountaineer.” I notice in the issue of September 15, 1860, that a correspondent, quoting an extract from the “New York Tribune”--the great Republican organ, and therefore no favorite with the Mormons--says, outspokenly enough to please any amount of John Bull, “The author of the above is a most consummate liar”--so far, so good--“and a contemptible dastardly poltroon”--which is invidious.

I passed the morning of the ensuing Sunday in a painful but appropriate exercise, reading the Books of Mormon and of Moroni the Prophet. Some writers tell me that it is the best extant imitation of the Old Testament; to me it seems composed only to emulate the sprightliness of some parts of Leviticus. Others declare that it is founded upon a romance composed by a Rev. Mr. Spaulding; if so, Mr. Spaulding must have been like Prince Puckler-Muskau of traveling notoriety, a romancer utterly without romance. Surely there never was a book so thoroughly dull and heavy: it is monotonous as a sage-prairie. Though not liable to be terrified by dry or hard reading, I was, it is only fair to own, unable to turn over more than a few chapters at a time, and my conviction is that very few are so highly gifted that they have been able to read it through at a heat. In Mormonism it now holds the same locus as the Bible in the more ignorant Roman Catholic countries, where religious reading is chiefly restricted to the Breviary, to tales of miracles, and to legends of Saints Ursula and Bridget. It is strictly proper, does not contain a word about materialism and polygamy[144]--in fact, more than one wife is strictly forbidden even in the Book of Doctrines and Covenants.[145] The Mormon Bible, therefore, is laid aside for later and lighter reading. In one point it has done something. America, like Africa, is a continent of the future; the Book of Mormon has created for it an historical and miraculous past.

[144] Behold the Lamanites (North American Indians), your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness, and the cursings which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you, for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our fathers, that they should have, save it were one wife; and concubines they should have none; and there should not be whoredoms committed among them.--Book of Jacob, chap. ii., par. 9.

[145] See Chap. IX.

[THE BOWERY.--MUSIC.]

At 9 45 A.M. we entered the Bowery; it is advisable to go early if seats within hearing are required. The place was a kind of “hangar,” about a hundred feet long by the same breadth, with a roofing of bushes and boughs supported by rough posts, and open for ventilation on the sides; it can contain about 3000 souls. The congregation is accommodated upon long rows of benches, opposite the dais, rostrum, platform, or tribune, which looked like a long lane of boarding open to the north, where it faced the audience, and entered by steps from the east. Between the people and the platform was a place not unlike a Methodist “pen” at a camp-meeting: this was allotted to the orchestra, a violin, a bass, two women and four men performers, who sang the sweet songs of Zion tolerably well--decidedly well, after a moment’s reflection as to latitude and longitude, and after reminiscences of country and town chapels in that land where it is said, had the Psalmist heard his own psalms,

“In furious mood he would have tore ’em.”

I was told that “profane”--i. e., operatic and other--music is performed at worship, as in the Italian cathedrals, where they are unwilling that Sathanas should monopolize the prettiest airs; on this occasion, however, only hymns were sung.

[DRESS.]

We--the judge’s son and I--took our seats on the benches of the eighth ward, where we could see the congregation flocking in, a proceeding which was not over--some coming from considerable distances--till 10 15 A.M. The people were all endimanchés; many a pretty face peeped from the usual sun-bonnet with its long curtain, though the “mushroom” and the “pork-pie” had found their way over the plains, and trim figures were clad in neat stuff dresses, sometimes silk: in very few cases there was a little faded finery--gauze, feathers, and gaudy colors--such as one may see on great festivals in an Old-Country village. The men were as decently attired: the weather, being hot, had caused many of them to leave their coats at home, and to open their vests; the costume, however, looked natural to working-men, and there was no want of cleanliness, such as sometimes lurks behind a bulwark of buttons. The elders and dignitaries on the platform affected coats of black broadcloth, and were otherwise respectably dressed. All wore their hats till the address began, and then all uncovered. By my side was the face of a blear-eyed English servant-girl; en revanche in front was a charming American mother and child: she had, what I have remarked in Mormon meetings at Saville House and other places in Europe, an unusual development of the organ which phrenologists call veneration. I did not see any Bloomers “displaying a serviceable pair of brogues,” or “pictures of Grant Thorburn in petticoats.” There were a few specimens of the “Yankee woman,” formerly wondrous grim, with a shrewd, thrifty gray eye, at once cold and eager, angular in body and mind, tall, bony, and square-shouldered, now softened and humanized by transplantation and transposition to her proper place. The number of old people astonished me; half a dozen were sitting on the same bench; these broken-down men and decrepit crones had come to lay their bones in the Holy City; their presence speaks equally well for their faith and for the kind-heartedness of those who had brought the encumbrance. I remarked some Gentiles in the Bowery; many, however, do not care to risk what they may hear there touching themselves.

At 10 A.M. the meeting opened with a spiritual song. Then Mr. Wallace--a civilized-looking man lately returned from foreign travel--being called upon by the presiding elder for the day, opened the meeting with prayer, of which the two short-hand writers in the tribune proceeded to take notes. The matter, as is generally the case with returned missionaries delivering their budget, was good; the manner was somewhat Hibernian; the “valleys of the mountains”--a stock phrase, appeared and reappeared like the speechifying Patlander’s eternal “emerald green hills and beautiful pretty valleys.” He ended by imploring a blessing upon the (Mormon) President, and all those in authority; Gentiles of course were included. The conclusion was an amen, in which all hands joined: it reminded me of the historical practice of “humming” in the seventeenth century, which caused the universities to be called “Hum et Hissimi auditores.”

[THE SERMON.]

Next arose Bishop Abraham O. Smoot, second mayor of Zion, and successor to the late Jedediah M. Grant, who began with “Brethering,” and proceeded at first in a low and methody tone of voice, “hardly audible in the gallery,” to praise the Saints, and to pitch into the apostates. His delivery was by no means fluent, even when he warmed. He made undue use of the regular Wesleyan organ--the nose; but he appeared to speak excellent sense in execrable English. He recalled past persecutions without over-asperity, and promised future prosperity without over-prophecy. As he was in the midst of an allusion to the President, entered Mr. Brigham Young, and all turned their faces, even the old lady--

“Peut-on si bien prêcher qu’elle ne dorme au sermon?”--

who, dear soul! from Hanover Square to far San Francisco, placidly reposes through the discourse.

The Prophet was dressed, as usual, in gray homespun and homewoven: he wore, like most of the elders, a tall, steeple-crowned straw hat, with a broad black ribbon, and he had the rare refinement of black kid gloves. He entered the tribune covered and sat down, apparently greeting those near him. A man in a fit was carried out pumpward. Bishop Smoot concluded with informing us that we should live for God. Another hymn was sung. Then a great silence, which told us that something was about to happen: that old man held his cough; that old lady awoke with a start; that child ceased to squall. Mr. Brigham Young removed his hat, advanced to the end of the tribune, expectorated stooping over the spittoon, which was concealed from sight by the boarding, restored the balance of fluid by a glass of water from a well-filled decanter on the stand, and, leaning slightly forward upon both hands propped on the green baize of the tribune, addressed his followers.

The discourse began slowly; word crept titubantly after word, and the opening phrases were hardly audible; but as the orator warmed, his voice rose high and sonorous, and a fluency so remarkable succeeded falter and hesitation, that--although the phenomenon is not rare in strong speakers--the latter seemed almost to have been a work of art. The manner was pleasing and animated, and the matter fluent, impromptu, and well turned, spoken rather than preached: if it had a fault it was rather rambling and unconnected. Of course, colloquialisms of all kinds were introduced, such as “he become,” “for you and I,” and so forth. The gestures were easy and rounded, not without a certain grace, though evidently untaught; one, however, must be excepted, namely, that of raising and shaking the forefinger; this is often done in the Eastern States, but the rest of the world over it is considered threatening and bullying. The address was long. God is a mechanic. Mormonism is a great fact. Religion had made him (the speaker) the happiest of men. He was ready to dance like a Shaker. At this sentence the Prophet, who is a good mimic, and has much of the old New English quaint humor, raised his right arm, and gave, to the amusement of the congregation, a droll imitation of Anne Lee’s followers. The Gentiles had sent an army to lay waste Zion, and what had they done? Why, hung one of their own tribe! and that, too, on the Lord’s day![146] The Saints have a glorious destiny before them, and their morality is remarkable as the beauty of the Promised Land: the soft breeze blowing over the Bowery, and the glorious sunshine outside, made the allusion highly appropriate. The Lamanites, or Indians, are a religious people. All races know a God and may be saved. After a somewhat lengthy string of sentences concerning the great tribulation coming on earth--it has been coming for the last 1800 years--he concluded with good wishes to visitors and Gentiles generally, with a solemn blessing upon the President of the United States, the territorial governor, and all such as be in authority over us, and, with an amen which was loudly re-echoed by all around, he restored his hat and resumed his seat.

[146] Alluding to one Thos. H. Ferguson, a Gentile; he killed, on Sept. 17th, 1859, in a drunken moment, A. Carpenter, who kept a boot and shoe store. Judge Sinclair, according to the Mormons, was exceedingly anxious that somebody should be sus. per coll., and, although intoxication is usually admitted as a plea in the Western States, he ignored it, and hanged the man on Sunday. Mr. Ferguson was executed in a place behind the city; he appeared costumed in a Robin Hood style, and complained bitterly to the Mormon troops, who were drawn out, that his request to be shot had not been granted.

Having heard much of the practical good sense which characterizes the Prophet’s discourse, I was somewhat disappointed: probably the occasion had not been propitious. As regards the concluding benedictions, they are profanely compared by the Gentiles to those of the slave, who, while being branded on the hand, was ordered to say thrice, “God bless the State.” The first was a blessing. So was the second. But at the third, natural indignation having mastered Sambo’s philosophy, forth came a certain naughty word not softened to “darn.” During the discourse, a Saint, in whose family some accident had occurred, was called out, but the accident failed to affect the riveted attention of the audience.

Then arose Mr. Heber C. Kimball, the second President. He is the model of a Methodist, a tall and powerful man, a “gentleman in black,” with small, dark, piercing eyes, and clean-shaven blue face. He affects the Boanerges style, and does not at times disdain the part of Thersites: from a certain dislike to the Nonconformist rant and whine, he prefers an every-day manner of speech, which savors rather of familiarity than of reverence. The people look more amused when he speaks than when others harangue them, and they laugh readily, as almost all crowds will, at the thinnest phantom of a joke. Mr. Kimball’s movements contrasted strongly with those of his predecessor; they consisted now of a stone-throwing gesture delivered on tiptoe, then of a descending movement, as

“When pulpit, drum ecclesiastic, Was beat with fist and not with stick.”

He began with generalisms about humility, faithfulness, obeying counsel, and not beggaring one’s neighbor. Addressing the hand-cart emigrants, newly arrived from the “sectarian world,” he warned them to be on the look-out, or that every soul of them would be taken in and shaved (a laugh). Agreeing with the Prophet--Mr. Kimball is said to be his echo--in a promiscuous way concerning the morality of the Saints, he felt it notwithstanding his duty to say that among them were “some of the greatest rascals in the world” (a louder laugh, and N.B., the Mormons are never spared by their own preachers). After a long suit of advice, à propos de rien, to missionaries, he blessed, amen’d, and sat down.

[MR. KIMBALL’S STYLE.]

I confess that the second President’s style startled me. But presently I called to mind Luther’s description[147] of Tetzel’s sermon, in which he used to shout the words Bring! bring! bring! with such a horrible bellowing, that one would have said it was a mad bull rushing on the people and goring them with his horns; and D’Aubigné’s neat apology for Luther,[148] who, “in one of those homely and quaint, yet not undignified similitudes which he was fond of using, that he might be understood by the people,” illustrated the idea of God in history by a game of cards! “... Then came our Lord God. He dealt the cards:... This is the Ace of God....” Mormons also think it a merit to speak openly of “those things we know naturally:” they affect what to others appears coarseness and indelicacy. The same is the case with Oriental nations, even among the most modest and moral. After all, taste is in its general development a mere affair of time and place; what is apt to froisser us in the nineteenth may have been highly refined in the sixteenth century, and what may be exceedingly unfit for Westminster Abbey and Notre Dame is often perfectly suited to the predilections and intelligence of Wales or the Tessin. It is only fair to both sides to state that Mr. Kimball is accused by Gentiles of calling his young wives, from the pulpit, “little heifers;” of entering into physiological details belonging to the Dorcas Society, or the clinical lecture-room, rather than the house of worship; and of transgressing the bounds of all decorum when reproving the sex for its penchants and ridicules. At the same time, I never heard, nor heard of, any such indelicacy during my stay at Great Salt Lake City. The Saints abjured all knowledge of the “fact,” and--in this case, nefas ab hoste doceri--so gross a scandal should not be adopted from Gentile mouths.

[147] History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century. Book iii., chap. i.

[148] Ditto, Preface.

After Mr. Kimball’s address, a list of names for whom letters were lying unclaimed was called from the platform. Mr. Eldridge, a missionary lately returned from foreign travel, adjourned the meeting till 2 P.M., delivered the prayer of dismissal, during which all stood up, and ended with the benediction and amen. The Sacrament was not administered on this occasion. It is often given, and reduced to the very elements of a ceremony; even water is used instead of wine, because the latter is of Gentile manufacture. Two elders walk up and down the rows, one carrying a pitcher, the other a plate of broken bread, and each Saint partakes of both.

Directly the ceremony was over, I passed through the thirty carriages and wagons that awaited at the door the issuing of the congregation, and returned home to write my notes. Before appearing in the “Deserét News” the discourses are always recomposed; the reader, therefore, is warned against the following report, which appeared in the “News” of Wednesday, the 5th of September.

“BOWERY.--Sunday, Sept. 2, 10 A.M., Bishop Abraham O. Smoot addressed the congregation. He said he rejoiced in the opportunity he had been favored with of testing both principles and men in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; he was fully satisfied that those who do right are constantly filled with joy and gladness by the influence of the Holy Ghost. Every man must know God for himself, and practice the principles of righteousness for himself; learn the truth and the light, and walk therein. Men are too much in the habit of patterning after their neighbors’ actions instead of following the dictates of the Spirit of God; if the Saints do right they are filled with light, truth, and the power of God. It has been a matter of astonishment to many how we could so much rejoice in the things of God, but the reason is our religion is true, and we know it, for God has revealed it unto us, and hence we can rejoice in the midst of calamities that would make our enemies very cross, and cause them to swear about their troubles. Nine tenths of those who have apostatized have done it on account of prosperity, like Israel of old, but the Lord desires to use us for the advancement of his kingdom, and the spreading abroad of light and truth. We should live for God, and prepare ourselves for all the temporal and spiritual blessings of his kingdom.

“President Brigham Young said if our heavenly Father could reveal all he wishes to his Saints, it would greatly hasten their perfection, and asked the question, Are the people prepared to receive those communications and profit by them, that would bring about their speedy perfection? He discovered a very great variety of degrees of intelligence in the people; he also observed a manifest stupidity in the people attempting to learn the principles of natural life. Observed that God is just and equal in his ways, and that no man will dare to dispute; also that there is no man in our government who will speak truthfully, and according to his honest convictions, but who will admit that we are the most law-abiding people within its jurisdiction. Remarked that all the heathen nations have devotional instincts, and none more than the natives of this vast continent; and they all worship according to the best of their knowledge. The whole human family can be saved in the kingdom of God if they are disposed to receive and obey the Gospel. Reasoned on the subject of fore-ordination, and said the religion of Jesus Christ is designed to make the bad good and the good better. Argued that there is a feeling in every human breast to acknowledge the supremacy of the Almighty Creator. God is just, he is true, and if this were not the case no mortal could be exalted in his presence; advised all to improve upon the knowledge they had received of the things of God. Referred briefly to the birth of Christ, and the attendant opposition and threatening of the governments of the nations of the earth.

“President Heber C. Kimball followed with appropriate remarks on the practical duties of life, the necessity of humility and faithfulness among the Saints, and admonished all to be obedient to the mandates of heaven, and to the counsels of the living oracles. In giving advice to the elders who are expected to go on missions to preach the Gospel, he said: ‘The commandment of Jesus to his apostles anciently has been renewed unto us, viz., Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’”

[MR. BRIGHAM YOUNG’S SERMON.]

The student of the subject may desire to see how one of these sermons reads; I therefore extract from the “Deserét News” one spoken by Mr. Brigham Young during my stay in the city; it is chosen impartially, neither because it is better nor because it is worse than its fellows. The subject, it will be observed, is uninteresting; in fact, what negroes call “talkee-talkee”--pour passer le temps. But Mr. Brigham Young can, all admit, when occasion serves ability, “bring the house down,” and elicit thundering amens.

REMARKS by President BRIGHAM YOUNG, Bowery, A.M., August 12, 1860. (Reported by G. D. Watt.)--“I fully understand that all Saints constantly, so to speak, pray for each other. And when I find a person who does not pray for the welfare of the kingdom of God on the earth, and for the honest in heart, I am skeptical in regard to believing that person’s religion to be genuine, and his faith I should consider not the faith of Jesus. Those who have the mind of Christ are anxious that it should spread extensively among the people, to bring them to a correct understanding of things as they are, that they may be able to prepare themselves to dwell eternally in the heavens. This is your desire, and is what we continually pray for.

“Brother J. V. Long’s discourse this morning was sweet to my taste; and the remarks of Brother T. B. H. Stenhouse were very congenial to my feelings and understanding. Brother Long has good command of language, and can readily choose such words as best suit him to convey his ideas.

“Brother Stenhouse remarked that the Gospel of salvation is the great foundation of this kingdom; that we have not built up this kingdom, nor established this organization, we have merely embraced it in our faith; that God has established this kingdom, and has bestowed the priesthood upon the children of men, and has called upon the inhabitants of the earth to receive it, to repent of their sins, and return to him with all their hearts. This portion of his remarks I wish you particularly to treasure up.

“If the Angel Gabriel were to descend and stand before you, though he said not a word, the influence and power that would proceed from him, were he to look upon you in the power he possesses, would melt this congregation. His eyes would be like flaming fire, and his countenance would be like the sun at midday. The countenance of an holy angel would tell more than all the language in the world. If men who are called to speak before a congregation rise full of the Holy Spirit and power of God, their countenances are sermons to the people. But if their affections, feelings, and desires are like the fool’s eye to the ends of the earth, looking for this, that, and the other, and the kingdom of God is far from them and not in all their affections, they may rise here and talk what they please, and it is but like sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal--mere empty, unmeaning sounds to the ears of the people. I can not say this of what I have heard to-day.

“Those faithful elders who have testified of this work to thousands of people on the continents and islands of the sea will see the fruits of their labors, whether they have said five words or thousands. They may not see these fruits immediately, and perhaps in many cases not until the millennium, but the savor of their testimony will pass down from father to son. Children will say, ‘The words of life were spoken to my grandfather and grandmother; they told me of them, and I wish to become a member of the Church; I also wish to be baptized for my father, and mother, and grandparents;’ and they will come and keep coming, the living and the dead, and you will be satisfied with your labors, whether they have been much or little, if you continue faithful.

“Brother Long remarked that before he gathered to Zion he had imbibed an idea that the people were all pure here. This is a day of trial for you. If there is any thing that should give us sorrow and pain, it is that any of the brethren and sisters come here and neglect to live their religion. Some are greedy, covetous, and selfish, and give way to temptation; they are wicked and dishonest in their dealings with one another, and look at and magnify the faults of every body, on the right and on the left. ‘Such a sister is guilty of pilfering; such a brother is guilty of swearing,’ etc., ‘and we have come a long distance to be joined with such a set; we do not care a dime for “Mormonism,” nor for any thing else.’ The enemy takes the advantage of such persons, and leads them to do that for which they are afterward sorry. This is a matter of great regret to those who wish to be faithful. But no matter how many give themselves up to merchandising and love it better than their God, how many go to the gold mines, how many go back on the road to trade with the wicked, nor how many take their neighbors’ wood after it is cut and piled up in the kanyons, or steal their neighbors’ axes, or any thing that is their neighbors’, you live your religion, and we shall see the day when we shall tread iniquity under foot. But if you listen to those who practice iniquity, you will be carried away by it, as it has carried away thousands. Let every one get a knowledge for himself that this work is true. We do not want you to say that it is true until you know that it is; and if you know it, that knowledge is as good to you as though the Lord came down and told you. Then let every person say, ‘I will live my religion, though every other person goes to hell; I will walk humbly before God, and deal honestly with my fellow-beings.’ There are now scores of thousands in this Territory who will do this, and who feel as I do on this subject, and we will overcome the wicked. Ten filthy, dirty sheep in a thousand cause the whole flock to appear defiled, and a stranger would pronounce them all filthy; but wash them, and you will find nine hundred and ninety pure and clean. It is so with this people; half a dozen horse-thieves tend to cause the whole community to appear corrupt in the eyes of a casual observer.

“Brother Long said that the Lord will deal out correction to the evil-doer, but that he would have nothing to do with it. I do not know whether I shall or not, but I shall not ask the Lord to do what I am not willing to do; and I do not think that Brother Long is any more or less ready to do so than I am. Ask any earthly king to do a work that you would not do, and he would be insulted. Were I to ask the Lord to free us from ungodly wretches, and not lend my influence and assistance, he would look upon me differently to what he now does.

“You have read that I had an agent in China to mix poison with the tea to kill all the nations; that I was at the head of the Vigilance Committee in California; that I managed the troubles in Kansas, from the beginning to the end; that there is not a liquor-shop or distillery but what Brigham Young dictates it: so state the newspapers. In these and all other accusations of evil-doing I defy them to produce the first show of evidence against me. It is also asserted that President Buchanan and myself concocted the plan for the army to come here, with a view to make money. By-and-by the poor wretches will come bending and say, ‘I wish I was a “Mormon.”’ All the army, with its teamsters, hangers-on, and followers, with the judges, and nearly all the rest of the civil officers, amounting to some seventeen thousand men, have been searching diligently for three years to bring one act to light that would criminate me; but they have not been able to trace out one thread or one particle of evidence that would criminate me; do you know why? Because I walk humbly with my God, and do right so far as I know how. I do no evil to any one; and as long as I can have faith in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to hinder the wolves from tearing the sheep and devouring them, without putting forth my hand, I shall do so.

“I can say honestly and truly before God, and the holy angels and all men, that not one act of murder or disorder has occurred in this city or Territory that I had any knowledge of, any more than a babe a week old, until after the event has transpired; that is the reason they can not trace any crime to me. If I have faith enough to cause the devils to eat up the devils, like the Kilkenny cats, I shall certainly exercise it. Joseph Smith said that they would eat each other up as did those cats. They will do so here, and throughout the world. The nations will consume each other, and the Lord will suffer them to bring it about. It does not require much talent or tact to get up opposition in these days; you see it rife in communities, in meetings, in neighborhoods, and in cities; that is the knife that will cut down this government. The axe is laid at the root of the tree, and every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit will be hewn down.

“Out of this Church will grow the kingdom which Daniel saw. This is the very people that Daniel saw would continue to grow, and spread, and prosper; and if we are not faithful, others will take our places, for this is the Church and people that will possess the kingdom forever and ever. Will we do this in our present condition as a people? No; for we must be pure and holy, and be prepared for the presence of our Savior and God, in order to possess the kingdom. Selfishness, wickedness, bickering, tattling, lying, and dishonesty must depart from the people before they are prepared for the Savior; we must sanctify ourselves before our God.

“I wanted to ask Brother Long a question this morning--what he had learned in regard to the original sin. Let the elders, who like speculation, find out what it is, if they can, and inform us next Sabbath; or, if you have any thing else that is good, bring it along. I wish to impress upon your minds to live your religion, and, when you come to this stand to speak, not to care whether you say five words or five thousand, but to come with the power of God upon you, and you will comfort the hearts of the Saints. All the sophistry in the world will do no good. If you live your religion, you will live with the Spirit of Zion within you, and will try, by every lawful means, to induce your neighbors to live their religion. In this way we will redeem Zion, and cleanse it from sin.

“God bless you. Amen.”

The gift of unknown tongues--which is made by some physiologists the result of an affection of the epigastric region, and by others an abnormal action of the organ of language--is now apparently rarer than before. Anti-Mormon writers thus imitate the “blatant gibberish” which they derive directly from Irvingism: “Eli, ele, elo, ela--come, coma, como--reli, rele, rela, relo--sela, selo, sele, selum--vavo, vava, vavum--sero, seri, sera, serum.” Lieutenant Gunnison relates[149] a facetious story concerning a waggish youth, who, after that a woman had sprung up and spoken “in tongues” as follows, “Mela, meli, melee,” sorely pressed by the “gift of interpretation of tongues,” translated the sentence into the vernacular, “My leg, my thigh, my knee.” For this he was called before the Council, but he stoutly persisted in his “interpretation” being “by the Spirit,” and they dismissed him with admonition. Gentiles have observed that whatever may be uttered “in tongues,” it is always translated into very intelligible English.

[149] The Mormons. Chap. vi. Social Condition.

That evening, when dining out, I took a lesson in Mormon modesty. The mistress of the house, a Gentile, but not an anti-Mormon, was requested by a saintly visitor, who was also a widow, to instruct me that on no account must I propose to see her home. “Mormon ladies,” said my kind informant, “are very strict;” unnecessarily so on this occasion, I could not but think. Something similar occurred on another occasion: a very old lady, wishing to return home, surreptitiously left the room and sidled out of the garden gate, and my companion, an officer from Camp Floyd, at once recognized the object of the retreat. I afterward learned at dinner and elsewhere among the Mormons to abjure the Gentile practice of giving precedence to that sex than which, according to Latin grammar, the masculine is nobler. The lesson, however, was not new; I had been taught the same, in times past, among certain German missionaries who assumed precedence over their wives upon a principle borrowed from St. Paul.

[MR. STAINES.--ADOPTION.]

I took the earliest opportunity of visiting, at his invitation, the Prophet’s gardens. The grounds were laid out by Mr. W. C. Staines, now on Church business in London.[150] Mr. Staines arrived at Great Salt Lake City an exceptionally poor emigrant, and is now a rich man, with house and farm, all the proceeds of his own industry. This and many other instances which I could quote prove that although, as a rule, the highest dignitaries are the wealthiest, and although the polygamist can not expect to keep a large family and fill at the same time a long purse, the Gentiles somewhat exaggerate when they represent that Church discipline keeps the lower orders in a state of pauperdom. Mr. Staines is also the “son of ‘Brigham’ by adoption.” This custom is prevalent among the Mormons as among the Hindoos, but with this difference, that while the latter use it when childless, the former employ it as the means of increasing their glory in the next world. The relationship is truly one of parent and child, by choice, not only by the mere accident of birth, and the “son,” if necessary, lives with and receives the necessaries of life from his “father.” Before entering the garden we were joined by Mr. Mercer, who, long after my departure from India, had missionarized at Kurrachee in “Scinde, or the Unhappy Valley.”

[150] I have to thank Mr. Staines for kind assistance in supplying me with necessary items of information.

[FRUIT.]

The May frost had injured the fruit. Grapes were but quarter-grown, while winter was fast approaching. I suggested to the civil and obliging English gardener that it would be well to garnish the trellised walls, as is done in Tuscany, with mats which roll up and can be let down at night. Bacchus appeared in three forms: the California grape, which is supposed to be the Madeira introduced into the New World by the Franciscan Missions; the Catawba--so called from an Indian people on a river of the same name--a cultivated variety of the Vitis labrusca, and still the wine-grape in the States. The third is the inferior Isabella, named after his wife by “ole man Gibbs,”[151] who first attempted to civilize the fox-grape (Vitis vulpina), growing on banks of streams in most of the temperate states. A vineyard is now being planted on the hill-side near Mr. Brigham Young’s block, and home-made wine will soon become an item of produce in Utah. Pomology is carefully cultivated; about one hundred varieties of apples have been imported, and of these ninety-one are found to thrive as seedlings: in good seasons their branches are bowed down by fruit, and must be propped up, or they will break under their load. The peaches were in all cases unpruned: upon this important point opinions are greatly divided. The people generally believe that the foliage is a protection to the fruit during the spring frosts. The horticulturists declare that the “extremes of temperature render proper pruning even more necessary than in France, and that the fervid summers often induce a growth of wood which must suffer severely during the inclement months, unless checked and hardened by cutting back.” Besides grapes and apples, there were walnuts, apricots and quinces, cherries and plums, currants, raspberries, and gooseberries. The principal vegetables were the Irish and the sweet potato, squashes, peas--excellent--cabbages, beets, cauliflowers, lettuce, and broccoli; a little rhubarb is cultivated, but it requires too much expensive sugar for general use, and white celery has lately been introduced. Leaving the garden, we walked through the various offices, oil-mill, timber-mill, and smithy: in the latter oxen are shod, according to the custom of the country, with half shoes. The animal is raised from the ground by a broad leather band under the belly, and is liable to be lamed by any but a practiced hand.

[151] Similarly, the Constantia of the Cape was named after Madam Van Stell, the wife of the governor.

[THE PENITENTIARY.]

On the evening of the 3d of September, while sauntering about the square in which a train of twenty-three wagons had just bivouacked, among the many others to whom Mr. Staines introduced me was the Apostle John Taylor, the “Champion of Rights,” Speaker in the House, and whilom editor. I had heard of him from the best authorities as a man so morose and averse to Gentiles, “who made the healing virtue depart out of him,” that it would be advisable to avoid his “fierceness.” The véridique Mr. Austin Ward describes him as “an old man deformed and crippled,” and Mrs. Ferris as a “heavy, dark-colored, beetle-browed man.” Of course, I could not recognize him from these descriptions--a stout, good-looking, somewhat elderly personage, with a kindly gray eye, pleasant expression, and a forehead of the superior order; he talked of Westmoreland his birthplace, and of his European travels for a time, till the subject of Carthage coming upon the tapis, I suspected who my interlocutor was. Mr. Staines burst out laughing when he heard my mistake, and I explained the reason to the apostle, who laughed as heartily. Wishing to see more of him, I accompanied him in the carriage to the Sugar-house Ward, where he was bound on business, and chemin faisant we had a long talk. He pointed out to me on the left the mouths of the several kanyons, and informed me that the City Creek and the Red Buttes on the northeast, and the Emigration, Parley’s, Mill Creek, Great Cotton-wood and Little Cotton-wood Kanyons to the east and southeast, all head together in two points, thus enabling troops and provisions to be easily and readily concentrated for the defense of the eastern approaches. When talking about the probability of gold digging being developed near Great Salt Lake City, he said that the Mormons are aware of that, but that they look upon agriculture as their real wealth. The Gentiles, however--it is curious that they do not form a company among themselves for prospecting--assert that the Church has very rich mines, which are guarded by those dragons of Danites more fiercely than the Hesperidian Gardens, and which will never be known till Miss Utah becomes Mistress Deserét. Arriving at the tall, gaunt Sugar-house--its occupation is gone, while the name remains--we examined the machinery employed in making threshing and wool-carding machines, flanges, wheels, cranks, and similar necessaries. After a visit to a nail manufactory belonging to Squire Wells, and calling upon Mrs. Harris, we entered the Penitentiary. It is a somewhat Oriental-looking building, with a large quadrangle behind the house, guarded by a wall with a walk on the summit, and pepper-caster sentry-boxes at each angle. There are cells in which the convicts are shut up at night, but one of these had lately been broken by an Indian, who had cut his way through the wall; a Hindoo “gonnoff” would soon “pike” out of a “premonitory” like this. We found in it besides the guardians only six persons, of whom two were Yutas. When I remarked to Gentiles how few were the evidences of crime, they invariably replied that, instead of half a dozen souls, half the population ought to be in the place. On our return we resumed the subject of the massacre at Carthage, in which it will be remembered that Mr. John Taylor was severely wounded, and escaped by a miracle, as it were. I told him openly that there must have been some cause for the furious proceedings of the people in Illinois, Missouri, and other places against the Latter-Day Saints; that even those who had extended hospitality to them ended by hating and expelling them, and accusing them of all possible iniquities, especially of horse-thieving, forgery, larceny, and offenses against property, which on the borders are never pardoned--was this smoke quite without fire? He heard me courteously and in perfect temper; replied that no one claimed immaculateness for the Mormons; that the net cast into the sea brought forth evil as well as good fish, and that the Prophet was one of the laborers sent into the vineyard at the eleventh hour. At the same time, that when the New Faith was stoutly struggling into existence, it was the object of detraction, odium, persecution--so, said Mr. Taylor, were the Christians in the days of Nero--that the border ruffians, forgers, horse-thieves, and other vile fellows followed the Mormons wherever they went; and, finally, that every fraud and crime was charged upon those whom the populace were disposed, by desire for confiscation’s sake, to believe guilty. Besides the theologic odium there was also the political: the Saints would vote for their favorite candidates, consequently they were never without enemies. He quoted the Mormon rules: 1. Worship what you like. 2. Leave your neighbor alone. 3. Vote for whom you please; and compared their troubles to the Western, or, as it is popularly called, the Whisky insurrection in 1794, whose “dreadful night” is still remembered in Pennsylvania. Mr. Taylor remarked that the Saints had been treated by the United States as the colonies had been treated by the crown: that the persecuted naturally became persecutors, as the Pilgrim fathers, after flying for their faith, hung the Quakers on Bloody Hill at Boston; and that even the Gentiles can not defend their own actions. I heard for the first time this view of the question, and subsequently obtained from the apostle a manuscript account, written in extenso, of his experience and his sufferings. It has been transferred in its integrity to Appendix No. III., the length forbidding its insertion in the text: a tone of candor, simplicity, and honesty renders it highly attractive.

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