CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT QF Alpha Delta Phi Cornell University Library BX8641 .S82 olin 3 1924 029 474 909 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029474909 X t/i EXPOSi: OF POLYGAMY IN UTAH. A LADY'S LIFE AMONG THE MORMONS. A RECORD OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AS ONK OF THE WIVES OF A MORMON ELDER DURING A PERIOD OF MORE THAN TWENTY YEARS. BY Mrs. T. B. H. STENHOUSE, OF SALT LAKE CITY. ILLUSTRATED BY H. L. STEPHENS. NEW-YORK AMERICAN NEWS COMPANY, 119 NASSAU STREET. 1872. ALL BIGHT OF TRANSLATION BESBBYED. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 18T2, b; Mks. T. B. H. STBNHOtrSE, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. S. Yf, ftBBCH, Printer, 16 and 18 Jacob Street, New-Tor^, " Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife : and they twdn shall be one flesh ?" — Matthew 19 : 4-5. ' ' There shall not any man among you have save it bi one wife ; and eoneuiines ie shall heeve none." — Book of Mormon, p. 118. " Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shalt cleave unto her and none else." — Book of Covenants, p. 124. TO THE READER. In presenting this little volume to the public, I trust I may be excused if I give^utterance to a few words by way of pre- face. This I think especially needful, as very probably what I have written will fall into the hands of many who are but imperfectly acquainted with Mormon doctrines and Mor- mon practice, and who would thus be at a loss to understand much of my story. It is only right that I should explain, among other things — what may appear strange to the reader — that is, the poverty and privations which we endured for so many years. It must be fully understood that this poverty was entirely voluntary. My husband and myself were both zea- lously devoted to the faith, and when called to missionary labour, we obeyed. We were not only willing to sacrifice cheerfully all the pleasures and comforts of life for the sake of our religion, but we did so, and rejoiced that we were counted worthy to suffer. Again, I must here state that, although I am necessarily com- pelled to speak of many circumstances of a personal nature, I have studiously avoided all mention of names or details which might reasonably give the least pain to any of my former friends and acquaintances. Even in the case of Brigham Young and his family, with whom I have been on terms of the most intimate acquaintance, although I felt myself at liberty to speak more freely of him as a public man, I have in no instance betrayed the confidence which any of his wives or members of his household have placed in me. This statement I am assur- ed they will willingly confirm. The following pages are simply what they pretend to be : " What I know about Polygamy ;" and in order to set the whole matter plainly before the reader, I have given a brief ac- 6 TO THE READER. count of my own personal experience — what I myself felt, what I saw and knew. Every statement which I make, I can prove to be strictly correct ; and if I have erred in any thing, it has been in not giving my subjects so high a colouring, or so sensa- tional a character, as perhaps they had in their reality. The women of Utah will bear me witness that every word which I have written is true, although perhaps only a weak picture of the facts as they occurred. I do not wish to apologize for any imperfections in what I have written, although perhaps I might, as a woman, claim a little consideration. This is the first time that I have appear- ed in print, and probably it will be the last It had been fre- quently suggested to me that I should write a short history of my own life as a Mormon, but I never seriously entertained the idea. Only two or three weeks ago, not a single word was written, or a plan even outlined for a work of any kind. Very recent and unforeseen circumstances, although they found me, in every literary sense, unprepared for such an effort, led to a resolution that I would give to the world, and especially to my sisters in Utah, whose sympathy I feel assured I possess, an account of my own trials, which have been, and in many in- stances still are, their own. At the end of the volume I give an exact copy of the " Reve- lation," that any curiosity felt respecting it may be satisfied, and that my readers may see for themselves what the Mormon women are expected to believe and obey. The few " choice'' extracts which follow it are taken from the writings and dis- courses of eminent modern Apostles. They will amply corro- borate every statement which I have made, and prove to the impartial mind that in no instance have I exaggerated or de- viated from the truth — ^but rather the reverse. I have told a plain story of facts, and have endeavoured to present a feith- ful picture of the terrible realities of Mormon Polygamy. Whether I have succeeded or not, let the reader determine. FANNY STENHOUSE. Salt Lake City, Utah. CONTENTS. Chapter I. Early Life and Experience of the Authoress, . . . "13 Chapter II. Seeking after Truth — First Acquaintance with Mormon- ism — Favourable Impressions — I become the Wife of a Mormon Elder, 16 Chapter III. My Husband leaves for Italy — Experiences as the Wife of a Missionary— Privations and Struggles with Poverty in England-tSuspicions of Polygamy — "Privilege" of "washing the Elders' Feet"— Cheering Words in Time of Trouble, 19 Chapter IV. Our Mission to Switzerland — Introducing Mormonism — Terrible Trials of Faith — Geneva — Days without Food — The new Convert — " The Labourer worthy of his Hire" — Timely Aid, 26 Chapter V. The " Revelation" on Polygamy — How I received it — Left without Hope — The Doctrine of "plural Marriage" first taught — " Beauties" of the System — My first Con- vert to Polygamy — A Scene — Trials — How Work pro- gressed — Disaster to Swiss Emigration, -33 CONTENTS. Chapter VI. We return to England — How Polygamy was taught there — The Girls happy — The Wives miserable — General Ef- fects of the Doctrine — A Runaway Wife — How she acted in Haste and repented at Leisure — A Mother leaves her Babes — A Lady is " counselled " to emigrate with- out her Husband — Follies of certain Elders — Polygamic . "Poetry"! -44 Chapter VIL Mormon Life in London — " Counselled " to go to Salt Lake . Valley — Sickness and Annoyances — Doubts and Fears — Faith wavering — Loneliness in the great City — The " Dear American Brethren" — Preparations for leaving England, 55 Chapter VII L We emigrate to America— ^New York— The Mormon — An " Apostle," two " High-Priests," and a " Seventy," and what they did — Polygamy in New York — The Elders from Utah choose othef Wives— Plans disarranged — We set out for " Zion" — Three Months on the Plains — First Glimpse of " the City of the Saints," . . .62 .^Chapter IX. Life in Salt Lake City— Polygamy in Practice — The first Wife to be " destroyed " unless she consents — Deceptive Teaching about taking a second Wife— The Mormon Plan — " Labouring" with refractory Wives — Elderly Ladies assisting in Courtsljip— A first Wife's Trials- Anomalies of Polygamic Life, 1, 68 Chapter X. Shocking Effects of Polygamy— Marrying a Half-Sister- A Mother and Daughter married to one Man— Marry- ing three Sisters on one Day !—« Covenants of Mar- CONTENTS. 9 riage"— Influence of Elders— A deluded "Sister" and"™ her Persecutor — Mistaken Ideas of Duty — Another " Sister" betrayed — Men unhappy in Polygamy, . 77 Chapter XI. lUustratijins. of- practical. Polygamy— A " Sister" in deep Affliction — A Husband's Cruelty — A sad End— Various and fearful Results_ofjiolygamy— Broken Hearts and Lunacy— Men " Sparking" in the Bali-Room— Women sitting like Waltfowers !— Painful Memories — Intro- duced to five Wives at once — " Are these all you have got i"" — ]V{atrimonial Felicities^ . . . .85 Chapter XII. Going to the " Endowment House" — Wives cruel to other Wives — The Story of a young second Wife — How she came to marry — How she was treated — Neglect of the Husband — Cruelty of the first Wife — Goes to the " Bishop" — How young Girls in Polygamy value the Attentions of their Husbands — The Ways of Mormon Men, 94 Chapter XIII. Fears realized — Meeting an old Friend from Switzerland — The Vicissitudes of himself and Family — How he was "counselled" to take another Wife — Brigham sends for me — My young Charge — "Not feeling well" — My Husband seeking a second Wife — A " painful " Task ! — Striving to submit — My attempts at Friendship with his Fiancie — My Heart not quite subdued, . . . 104 Chapter XIV. The Sacrifice of my Life — I give another Wife to my Hus- band — The Scene in the " Endowment House" — My Day of Trial — It was all over now— ^^Bitter Miseries of Polygamy — Rebellious Thoughts — Retrospect of that Time — The first Wife not alone unhappy — Watchful lO CONTENTS. FAGB Eyes — A ludicrous Picture;— Want of Sympathy— Seek- ing another "Jewel" for his " Corwn" — Enlarging the " Kingdom"— " Stolen Waters"— Love-Letters read in Secret — Reading the " Revelation" a j^-fc^rf Time, . Ii7 Chapter XV. Trouble with the Church — Implicit Obedience demanded — Confidence in the Church Authorities declining — Cling- ing to Faith — Attempting to suppress Doubts — How Inquiry was suggested — Brlgham angry — " A Prophet might be mistaken" — Day dawning at last — " Obeying Counsel," and what it cost — An Article on " Pro- gress" — A Scene — We withdraw from the Church — A brutal and scandalous Outrage upon my Husband and myself — Strange Police ! — Without redress — Popular Anger — Private Sympathy, ..... 129 Chapter XVI. Recent Conclusions on Polygamy — Faith in the Doctrine declining — How Women in Utah feel — False Notions and Statements — Sophistries about Want of Faith — Opi- nions of the young Girls — Better Chances now — Changes operating in Utah — Brigham becomes fashionable — He abandons his own Teachings — How a Man with two Wives cleverly escaped from Utah and Polygamy- Difficulties of Husbands when they leave the Mormon Faith— Effects of the Law of 1862 — Domestic Sympa- thies^Evil Effects of Example upon Boys, . . 146 Chapter XVII. An interesting Courtship — Brigham Young seeks an- other Wife— Martha Brotherton tells her Story -of the Wooing— Abstract of her History — Difficulties in creat- ing Faith in Polygamy— " Tricks that are Vain" — "Are you ready to take Counsel ?" — ^Joseph Smith's little Room^" Positively no Admittance" — Joseph comes in — He assists Brigham's Courtship — The Prophet a CONTENTS. 1 1 , 7AGB *' proxy" Lover — " A few Questions" — " Lawful and Right"—" The best Man in the World but Me"—" I will have a Kiss anyhow" — " Don't you believe in me ?" — "If you accept Brigham, you shall be blessed" — " If he turns you off, I will take you on" — " Not exactly, sir," IS4 Chapter XVIII. Marriage — The Age for Marrying — Seventy and Seven- teen — Women privileged to choose their own Husbands — Some Women make a Choice — Joseph's Widows — " Serving for seven Years" — Celestial Marriages — Bap- tism and Marriage for the Dead — Saving one's Ances- tors ad infinitum — Marrying for " Time and for Eter- nity" — The Register at Salt Lake, from which the World shall be judged — Difficulties of "proxy" Mar- riages — " Proxies" for the Empress Josephine and Napoleon I. — " The next best Thing" — Joseph's un- productive Polygamy — Divorce — Woman's solitary Pri- vilege — Divorce for ten Dollars! — Re-Marrying — Shocking instance of self-fulfilling a " Revelation" — Perverted Heroism — " Affinity" — Brother Hyde's Ar- gument — The Woman with seven Husbands — Statisti- cal Facts 163 Chapter XIX. Domestic Life in Polygamy — Management of Families — Separate Homes — Half-a-dozen Wives under one Roof — Internal Arrangements — The "odd Day" for the first Wife — " Generosity" — How six Wives are visited — The Misery of poor Polygamists — The greater Misery in a wealthy House— "The Kingdom"— The Tale of the Doors and Windows — Fruitless good Intentions — Illustrative Instance of the Effects of Polygamy and Monogamy — An Economical Wife and her Object — Lost for Want of a little good Cooking — Wives in va- rious Places — Utilizing the Services of Wives — A Hus- 12 CONTENTS. FACE band's Difficulties — Brigham Young— His " Homes" — Mrs. Young : Nineteen of her ! — Wives, and "proxy" Wives— The Bee-Hive House— The Lion House — Six other Houses — Domestic Relations — Brigham's Favourite— The Prophet in the Bail-Room — His Proscenium-Box at the Theatre — Delusion of Utah Women — Can this be from God ? . . . • 182 Chapter XX. Gentiles in Utah — Mormon Women not allowed to mingle with them — Restrictions and Prejudices — Women and Men kept apart in the Tabernacle and in the Theatre — Keeps a Gentile Boarding-House — Times changed — Mormon Girls marrying Gentile Husbands — Why they prefer the Gentiles — Reasons of Jealousy — The Looks of the Mormon Women — False Notions — The Railway working Changes — An Appeal to Congress — The wisest Course to be adopted — To the Women of Utah, . . 198 APPENDIX. The " Revelation" of Joseph Smith on Polygamy, . . 207 ILLUSTRATIONS. His New Wife— The "Wallflowers," . . .89 " I could tear you to pieces !".... 41 " Labouring " with a Rebellious Wife, . . .72 Mother and Daughter Wives to the same Husband, 77 " Are these all you have got ?" . . . .92 Wife at Home — Husband Abroad, . . . 112 The Wealthy Polygamist, 183 Polygamy in Poverty, igr Brigham Young at Home, 104 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. CHAPTER I. Early Life and Experience of the Authoress. I WAS once a Mormon woman, and for over twenty years I have lived among Mormons. Their faith was once mine as truly as any words can express ; their thoughts were the same as mine ; their hopes were my hopes ; their religious opinions were in sympathy with my own. But that was in the time ^ast. It seems long past, and yet it was, as I may say, only a little while ago — a few months, which I might almost count upon my fingers. Yet now all this is changed, and I have learned to see matters in another light. When I first listened to the preaching of the Mor- mon elders, I endeavored to judge impartially of their doctrines. I thought then that they were right. To me, at the time, they were right. But other views, which I now believe to be purer, better, and more truthful, have dawned upon my soul, and I can, I think, fairly say that I am a free woman — free from the bondage of superstition ; and as I write this, I feel the pleasure of the captive who shakes himself free from his chains. 14 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. It has been suggested to me that I should, from my own personal experience, write the story of a Mor- mon woman living in the midst of Mormonism. I shall endeavour, in the following pages, to do so impar- tially and truthfully. But I wish to tell my story as simply as I can. Others, who are but partially in- formed, may write critically of what they have seen or heard ; but I shall give a record of what I myself have known and /«■//. Whatever opinion the reader may form of my life, past or present, is to me of little moment, and to him it can not be of much consequence. Personally, I have no claims to the attention and consideration of the world, nor do I desire that it should be other- wise. But as no woman's experience in Utah, who has been associated with Mormonism and seen its polygamic life, could be very difiFerent from my own, the facts set forth in this little work will enable the reader to comprehend the operation of the order of " celestial marriage." To answer the inquiry, how any woman can sub- mit to the practice of polygamy, I must of necessity give a brief history of my early life. From what I shall there state, the reader will see how I was led on, little by little, from total ignorance of that doc- trine, to a firm faith that it was a revelation from God, necessary to salvation. However strange what I relate may appear to those who are unacquainted with life in Utah, my story is but a shadow of the truth, although my expe- i/rience was, probably, the same as that of nine tenths of the Mormon women. WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 15 My first recollections of life were in St. Helier's, Jersey, one of the islands in the English Channel, where I was born. Through the preferences of my parents, my religious education and associations were with the Baptist denomination, my own disposition and feelings making this connection very agreeable, as I had, probably, for a girl of my age, a more than ordinary interest in religious observances. When fifteen years of age, I went to Brittany, in France, and entered into a Roman Catholic school as a teacher of English. While there, I had, of course, to conform to the rules of the school, and attend church with the pupils at all times when required to do so. Much as I respected the people with whom I was associated, for their kindness, I could not con- scientiously join with them in their devotions. I always took my Bible with me, and read it during the service ; and frequently in my loneliness and anxiety for some living religious truth, I would say, " Oh ! if there were only a prophet ministering now on earth, that I might go to him and ask, ' What shall I do to be saved .' ' and thus receive an answer which would satisfy the craving of my soul." I remained in France six years, and then I obtained two months' vacation, for the purpose of visiting my parents, who had now removed from the island of Jersey to Southampton, (England.) CHAPTER ri. Seeking the Truth— First Acquaintance with Mormonism— Favourable Impressions— I become the Wife of a Mormon Elder. On visiting ray birthplace, in the summer of 1849, I went to the house of my brother-in-law, who was an "apostate" Mormon. During my stay in his house, he spoke to me about the Mormons in not very flattering terms. At the same time, he told me that my father, mother, and, in fact, all my family, had adopted that faith. As I knew my parents, particularly my mother, to be sincere and devoted Christians, I began to think that Mormonism must be something different from what he represented it to be, or they never would have accepted it. I there- fore determined to investigate this religion, for the purpose of exposing its errors to my parents, for whom I entertained the deepest affection. I attended my first Mormon meeting at St. Helier's, Jersey. With what I heard that afternoon I could find no fault, although I was very much prejudiced against the new religion. On arriving the following week at my father's home in Southampton, I began to observe very closely every thing that was said and done, to see if I could detect any change in the life of my parents and sisters. I could see no difference in my father and mother ; but I certainly saw a change in my sisters, who now forsook alt amuse- ments suitable tg their age, and thought of nothing WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I J but going to church and making clothing for the missionaries who were to be sent out " without purse or scrip." All this interested me very much ; and, at my sis- ters' request, I went one Sunday morning to their place of worship. The sermon that I then heard per- fectly fascinated me. It was delivered by an elo- quent and enthusiastic young Mormon " Elder," who felt, or thought he felt, that he was "a servant of God," sent to preach deliverance to the people. He said that " an angel of God had appeared to Joseph Smith, and had revealed to him the everlast- ing Gospel." "There were now," he said, " living apostles ordained by the angels, the same as in days of old." At first I thought, " This is indeed glorious news ; but can it be true .■'" The reflection then came that what the Lord had done already He could certainly do again. We were urged to be " baptized for the remission of our sins," with the promise that " we should receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, to witness unto us that we had done what the Lord had com- manded." I knew that all this was according to Scripture, and I dared not reject it. Indeed, I had no desire to do so. I received it gladly. It was life to my soul. It was that which I had been desiring for years ; and I firmly believed that the Lord, in His mercy, had answered my prayers. I concluded to be baptized ; and I had no sooner made up my mind to do so, than I wanted it done. Two weeks after my arrival in England, I became formally a member of the Mormon Church. l8 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I felt that I had obeyed the commands of God, and was entitled to His blessing ; indeed, I felt that I was blessed, for my heart was full of joy and grati- tude. This the elders taught me was the Spirit of God. I now believe it was simply the answer of my conscience, which every sincere person enjoys in all religions. I had been taught, and I obeyed. I felt so happy and satisfied that I was in the right path that I could not make up my mind to return to France and the isolation which I felt there. I there- fore determined to resign my position, and make my home among the " Saints." A few months later, I was married to that same young Mormon Elder ; and then, in the joint prose- cution of our missionary labours, my troubles began. Some of my friends thought I was risking a great deal by becoming the wife of a man whose life was devoted to the Mormon ministry ; while others thought that I was highly honoured in getting a husband who held such a prominent position in the church. I was, however, satisfied, and willingly en- tered upon my new sphere as a missionary's wife^ feeling sure that there were no obstacles so great that I could not overcome them. How little could I imagine then the life that was before me ! CHAPTER III. My Husband leaves for Italy — Experiences as the Wife of a Mission- ary — Privations and Struggles with Poverty in England— Suspicions of Polygamy— The " Privilege" of " Washing the Elders' Feet"— Cheerful Words in Time t)f Trouble. I HAD been married about four months when my husband was called to go on a mission tp Italy. What terrible news this was to me, for I \7as to be left behind ! In my grief I exclaimed, " Ah ! why could they not have selected some one else .'" Then I remembered how that, in my first joy and gratitude after being baptized into the church, I had said that I would do any thing that the Lord required of me ; and now I felt that He was going to put me to the test. Thus it was that, when asked by one of the " Twelve Apostles" if I were willing that my husband should go, I answered " Yes," although even at the time I thought that my very heart would break. As Mormon elders receive no salary, nor any re- muneration whatever, my husband was very much troubled about leaving me dependent on others, not being sure how I might be provided for, and knowing better than I did what want I should probably be exposed to. At his request, an old and valued friend was appointed his successor ; Mr. S. believing that in doing so I should be provided for and watched over ! In June, 1850, Mr. S. went on his mission, in com- pany with Lorenzo Snow, one of the " Twelve Apos- 20 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. ties." Though terribly grieved at his departure, I felt some pride in the fact that my husband was the first of the elders in Britain who was sent on a foreign mission. For the first few weeks after his departure, my friends gathered around me and provided me with all that I needed. Before long, however, most of the " Saints" with whom I had been on intimate terms began to prepare for emigration to Utah. I soon saw that I should be obliged to break up my home, and be contented with one room. This I did cheer- fully ; for, after the great trial of separating from ray husband for three years — as I then Jhought — this was comparatively nothing. I got but little assistance from the church, and the question which now presented itself to my mind most imperatively was, " What can I do ?" The reply, mentally returned, was, " Nothing !" I could only teach English. But to whom could I teach English' in England }. Still, I was not altogether useless or helpless. I could sew very well ; but I had as yet no confidence in myself, never having done any thing of the kind before as a matter of business. I was in the greatest trouble. I had neither food nor fire. I could not venture to write to my husband about this, for fear of unfitting him for carrying out fully his mission, which I then believed would be a sin. I then resolved that I would go round and visit some of my lady acquaintances, who had frequently invited me to come to their houses. I wished, it possible, to see whether, through their influence and introduction, I could do any thing to earn a little WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY, 21 money. Besides which I had another reason : I thought that possibly some one would ask me to dine with them. I was hungry enough, but I walked about the city, afraid to carry out my resolution, until I was quite worn out ; for I feared in my pride that they might suspect that I came purposely for something to eat. Of this I was perfectly ashamed. No one who has not gersonally passed through such an ordeal can have any idea of what my feelings were. The shame I felt was only equalled by my necessi- ties, innocent as I was of any fault which could have placed me in this position. I was utterly miserable, and did not venture to call upon any one, but turned my steps toward my dreary home — only to fast and pray. The fasting, however, was not in my pro- gramme at that time. I had no inclination for it, although I was utterly unable to prevent it. I then earnestly prayed to the Lord to help me, and at the same time I thanked Him that I was counted worthy to suffer for. His sake. The time was fast approaching when I knew that I should be compelled to have fire and other necessa- ries ; but where to get them I knew not. One evening I was asked to dine at the house of a friend where some of the elders from Salt Lake were visiting, and I accepted the invitation with a great deal of pleasure, for more than one reason. It was thought a great privilege at that time to meet with American elders. Some of these gentlemen assumed such authority that they impressed the " Saints" with the idea that they were little gods. We had not then seen them at home ! 22 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I went to dine with these brethren, and as it is a Mormon woman's " privilege" [?] to sit and " listen" to the " lords of creation," without joining in the con- versation at all, I had then, of course, that same privi- lege of listening while dinner was preparing. I can not tell the horror of what I then heard. They were talking among themselves about Polyga- my, but in such a covert way that it was evident that they thought I could not understand what was said. Neither should I have understood it had it not been that I had heard some whisperings of this kind once, before my husband went away, though then I did not believe it. I had asked him about the new doctrine, and he had reassured me by stating that there was " no truth in it ;" that it was a slander, promulgated by some evil-tongued people to injure " the cause." I heard, however, something that day which troubled me very much, and I resolved to ask these " brethren" now present to tell me the honest truth — whether Polygamy really existed in Utah, or did not. They positively denied its existence, and though I did believe then that what they said was true, I afterwards discovered much which troubled and wor- ried me, and being constantly anxious to learn the truth, there was not much that escaped my notice. I became wretchedly suspicious. At times, I even fancied that my husband had deceived me ; and that thought was to me madness. I said — whatever othef men may do, my husband will not deceive me. O dear ! no. That I could not believe. I now felt more inclined for fasting than for pray- ing. In fact, just then it would have been utterly WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 23 impossible for me to pray, I was so wretched. Doubts and fears had begun to creep into my mind, and it appeared to me (if I may say so) that the Lord, like a hard task-master, was exacting from me more than I had bargained to do or suffer when I embraced Mormonism. These troubled thoughts were not calcu- lated to make me feel happy in my relations with the church, and I tried to overcome my feelings, and attain to a better state of mind, trusting sincerely in God that all would yet be well. But to return to my difficulty in earning a living. After some time I finally got a little plain sewing to do. This enabled me to win my daily bread and to pay the rent of my room, as well as to make a few scanty preparations for the little stranger which I now daily expected. The reader may suppose that it was, after all, a very hard struggle. Now began the arduous task of endeavouring to support myself and my babe. In this dear little one there was to me another strong incentive to exertion. But how and where I was to get work, and what I was to do — and, in fact, what I could do — I did not know. There was nothing for me as far as I could see. I was willing to do any work, if only I could get it to do — ^that was now the difficulty. Yet I determined not to be ftiiled. I managed to live ; but how ? Sometimes, for two weeks together, I had nothing but dry bread. I became pale and thin, and so weak that I could scarcely walk. I now became better acquainted with Mormonism, as I was able to go more among the Saints. But I lost confidence in the missionary brethren when I 24 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. saw how familiarly they conducted themselves with the young " sisters ;" for I knew that the elders I allude to were married men. They taught the " sisters," both married and single, that it was their Privilege to wash the elders' feet, and to comb their hair, and in fact to wait on them in every way imaginable. This I mean literally. There was nothing symboli- cal about it, and many of our silly girls liked nothing better. I saw even then that this was not right, and it annoyed me greatly. With the President of the London Conference and his family I was well acquainted, and I knevy that this man came down from London to the Southamp- ton Conference about every two or three weeks, to court a young "sister." He supplied her with money, and otherwise acted in a way which appeared to me almost scandalous. His conduct shook the faith of some of the older Saints. In these days the elders would take young girls to the theatres and other places of amusement, while their own wives remained at home. I sincerely believe now that many of these men taught Polygamy to the girls, while they denied it to the public. I felt lonely, wretched, and disappointed in my re- ligion, though I still believed it. Yet I dared not ask my husband to abandon his mission and come home. I resolved that I would try to endure to the end. Then, too, I knew that even at the worst he would return some time, and all my troubles, I felt, would then be ended ; for I believed that he would be able to explain all to me — yes, every thing. About this time I learned that Lorenzo Snow (the WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 25 " Apostle" in whose company Mr. S. went to Italy) was on his way to England. This intelligence made me very happy, as may be supposed. I waited anx- iously to see him. On his arrival, he came directly to my house. He seemed very much shocked to see the change in my appearance, and said that he would send for my husband to come home immediately. CHAPTER IV. Our Mission to Switzei land— Introducing Mormonism— Terrible Trials of Faith — Geneva — Days without Food — ^The new Convert — "The Labourer worthy of his Hire" — Timely Aid. After about a year's absence, Mr. S. returned to England, and we were invited to attend a conference of the Saints, which was to be held in London, in June, 1851. During this conference, the "Apostle" Snow expressed his great indignation at the manner in which I had been neglected, and said that I should no longer remain in connexion with the Southampton Conference. It was decided that my husband should go on a mission to Switzerland^ ; that I should go with him, and that we should begin our missionary labours in Geneva. One great incentive to this re- solution was, that I could speak the French language fluently. It was, therefore, thought that I should be of great service in assisting Mr. S. with his work. I was ready to do any thing that might be required ol me, if only I could be with him. Mr. S. had once more silenced my fears about Poly- gamy, and I was again happy. We started on our journey — Mr. S., myself, and our dear little Clara, who was then only six months old. How much I loved that little child, no tongue can tell ! Had she not been my sole companion through so many weary days and nights of sorrow .' WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 2J On our arrival at Geneva, we commenced our mis- sionary labours immediately ; but we made very little progress, as Mr. S. was not much acquainted with the French language, and the Genevese do not readily receive strangers. We had but a small sum of money left when we reached our destination, and we econo- mized as much as we possibly could, hoping to make what we had last until some one should join the church, who might be able to assist the mission. We had full faith and confidence that the Lord would raise up friends to aid us in the work. But time rolled on, and we had laboured faithfully for several months with apparently little success. My whole soul was in njy mission, and I was re- solved to fulfil it, as far as human power, aided by the grace of God, could do so. I sought every opportu- nity of introducing among the ladies the Mormon faith ; and I tried in every way to live in such, a manner as to be an example to those who might be converted and join the church, or who might be in- clined to do so. We kept " The Word of Wisdom" * strictly, and never took tea, coffee, wine, or warm drinks of any kind for years. Mr. S. studied early and late to acquire a knowledge of the French language, hoping soon to be able to make some impression upon the people. One day he received a letter from an " infidel," who lived in a neighbouring canton, asking him to come and see him, in order that they might talk over Mor- monism, for he had heard of us and our doctrine. We * A " Revelation" of Joseph Smith, which all good Mormons observed. 28 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. were very much pleased at this invitation, for it seemed now that the Lord was about to do something. Mr. S. accordingly went to see this man. He stayed with him several days^^convinced him of the truth of the new faith, and, finally, baptized him. He then returned home. Our money was now nearly gone, and I was very weak from lack of proper nourishment, and dispirited by continual anxiety. I caught a severe cold, and was confined to my bed for a time. My courage at last entirely failed me. Weak and sick as I was, not a soul came to my room. In fact, who should come } I had no friend there. The very knowledge that we had come to set forth a strange and unpopular reli- gion, made every one avoid me. My husband was sad and very anxious. Nor need this excite wonder when it is considered that there was nothing to make life pleasant to either of us, ex- cept the thought that we were both the servants of God, and had dedicated our lives to His service. About a month after the return of Mr. S. from the house of the gentleman whom he had baptized, we received a letter from him. As it was opened, a piece of gold fell on the table. It afterward appeared that this new convert, although he " suspected it might be useful," did not like to offer money to Mr. .S. But when he had gone, he determined to send a trifle, saying, at the same time, that " the labourer is worthy of his hire." Never was a Scripture phrase more truthful and welcome in its application. We were very grateful indeed for this timely help, small as it WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY, 29 was, for it seemed to us like a recognition of our work. How great are trifles to the hopeful mind ! There were dark clouds on every side, and in mo- ments of despondency we almost feared that they would never clear away. Yet in all this trouble, our faith remained unshaken ; and even in the darkest hour of trial, we felt happy in the belief in the divi- nity of Mormonism. With all our faith, one question was, perforce, ever uppermost in our minds, how to obtain the necessary means of subsistence .' This was an unanswerable difficulty. With the very greatest economy^ the time came at last when our money was all gone. We had not a coin, or any representative of money, and we had no reason to hope for any. We were in a strange country, among strangers, and in the depth of winter, without fire and without food. What was to be done .' In the anguish of my soul, I exclaimed, with bitter tears, " Look down, O God ! in Thy mercy, upon my innocent little one, who is now suffering from cold and hunger, while we, her parents, are devoting our lives, our all, to Thy service." In this trying hour we were speechless. We both felt our helplessness, but neither dared to speak to the other about that which weighed so heavily upon our hearts. It was only our belief in the divinity of our mission that sustained us. Incredible as it may appear, for nearly one week all that we had to exist upon was about a pint of corn flour or maize, and that was principally reserved for our child. Up to this time, but two persons had joined the church in Geneva. They were poor men, and their 30 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. wives were very much opposed to the step which they had taken in embracing Mormonism, and thus there was very little to expect from them. We were living in a furnished room, and my little daughter was a great favourite with the family in whose house we were. I was not sorry for this ; for in the time of our greatest distress, I used often quietly to open my door at their meal times, and the child would make her way to the dining-room, and get something to eat. Humiliating as this was to me, I felt satisfied for a while, at least, that she was not suffering from hunger as much as we ourselves were. At the end of that week, when it seemed that we could not exist another day without some nourish- ment, Mr. S. went to the house of one of the newly converted brethren, whom I have mentioned, with the intention of telling him of our peculiarly distress- ing circumstances ; but when he arrived there, he really had not courage to do so, and he returned again without saying any thing- of the matter. My heart sank within me, for I entered into his thoughts, al- though he did not speak. My little one was then reposing in my arms. She had cried herself to sleep, hungry and cold. I could not say any thing to my husband when he came home ; for I felt instinctively that he had been unsuccessful, and I was almost choking with emotion, which I attempted to suppress. As we sat there silently in the, twilight, neither of us venturing to speak to the other, I mentally prayed to the Lord, (if it was His will,) that rather than see my darling wake up again to hunger and suffering, she might WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY, J I quietly sleep her sweet young life away. As I now write, the recollection of that time comes back so vividly that my eyes fill with tears. While sitting in this fearful gloom, which afterward seemed to me the most solemn hour of my life, I heard a step in the hall, and something whispered to me, " Help is coming." A moment after, the brother whom Mr. Stenhougg had called upon entered the room with some provisionSj and he slipped a five-franc piece into my hand. Mr. S. had said nothing to him ; but after he had left the house, this brother said that from my husband's manner, he felt convinced that we were suffering, as he knew that as missionaries we had no means of subsistence, and that according to the usual custom among the Mormons, we had to preach " without purse or scrip." The assistance thus received was a relief from pre- sent want, but the future seemed like a dark cloud to hang over my path. I was now in worse circum- stances than I had been at the birth of myfirst child ; for I was among strangers, and had absolutely no- thing but what the few brethren were kind enough to bring to us from time to time. I again found, as I had previously experienced at many other periods of my life, the truth of the old verse : " Behind a frowning providence, God hides a smiling face." The " smiling face" this time took once more the form of the " Apostle" Snow. Oh ! how glad I was to see him. He had, as I have related, brought me joy and gladness once before when I was in great 32 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. trouble, and I almost looked upon him as my good genius. After all, I was not so very much mistaken ; for he gave me a little money to provide for our pre- sent necessities, and told Mr. Stenhouse that after a while he should return to England, and raise what- ever funds might be needful to enable us to carry out our mission ; for he plainly saw that, however endur- ing faith might be, no one could live without money. In fact, the American elders, as I afterward discov- ered, did not themselves try, under similar circum- stances, to work unaided, although they had no objec- tion to the British elders doing so. After the birth of my second child, we went to Lausanne,Canton de Vaud; for Mr. Stenhouse thought it would be better for me to remain there during his absence in England, as he had, in addition to this " infidel," whom he had baptized, made the acquain- tance of a very good man of very excellent family. In this gentleman's house I engaged apartments, ex- pecting to pay for them, but he never permitted me to do so ; and from that day, I never suffered in Switzer- land from want of the necessaries of life. I lived very quietly and comfortably for three months, during the absence of Mr. S. in England. I had not much, it is true ; but then a very little sufficed for my wants. I had that, and I was satisfied and happy ; for this Mr. B. and his family were very kind indeed to me, and even now, as I review the past, I can say, with all truthfulness, that from the com- mencement of my missionary life — now over twenty years ago— till I left Mormonism, that brief period in Switzerland was the only happy time I ever knew. CHAPTER V. The " Revelation" on Polygamy— How I received it — Left without Hope — ^The Doctrine firsttaught— "Beauties", of the System — My first Convert to Polygamy — ^A Scerie — How Work progressed^Dis- aster to Swiss emigration. Mr. S. returned from England, and, after a while, began in conversation to introduce — gently and enig- matically, I thought— the subject of Polygamy, at the same time telling me that he " did, not kHpw" that it was true, but that he had heard that there had been a revelation given about it. He dreaded to tell me the truth ; but I had heard enough, and determined not to accept the doctrine. -Still, at times, I tried to hide my feelings from him ;i for I hoped that, after all, the intelligence rtiight even now not prove, true. Vain hope ! for very soon the " revelation" was sent from " Zion," with instructions to make : no secret of it. A printed copy of the " revelation" was given to me to read. I was just about to sit, down to the breakfast-table. There were f)resent a Protestant minister, whom Mr. S. had baptized, and two^ Mor- mon elders. The minister knew nothing of the "re- velation ;" but my husband and the two elders looked at me, to watch the effect produced upon my mind by its perusal, with an interest and solemnity as if they were breaking to me cautiously the news of my mother's death. 34 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I immediately left the room and sought the retire- ment of my own apartment, where, after locking the door, I began to read the document ; but before I had got through one half I threw it aside, feeling al- together rebellious against God. I now began to feel perfectly reckless, and even willing to throw aside my religion, and take " my chance of salvation," ra- ther than submit to Polygamy ; for I felt that that new doctrine was a degradation to womankind. I asked myself, " Why did the Lord wish to humiliate my sex in this manner .'" though at the same time I believed, as I was told, that the " revelation" was in- deed sent from God. Perhaps if I had kept calm, and had I read it through very carefully and allowed my own judgment to be exercised upon it, I might have detected there and then that there was no di- vinity in it, as I afterwards discovered, to my satis- faction, when I read it a second time, after the lapse of many years. After some time I began to feel a little more calm, and was able to reason with myself about Polygamy; If, said I, this " revelation" is of God, (and of course it is,) then I ought not to oppose it. It never once entered my mind that any man would dare to give a revelation to the world as coming from God except it was tFue. Then, I thought, if the Lord requires me to submit, it must be for some good purpose ; for " He doeth all things well." I must, therefore, try to sub- due this wicked and rebellious nature of mine, and submit to His divine will, and surely He will aid and bless me. After these reflections and constant prayer, I managed to subdue my disobedient heart WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 35 sufficiently to make my appearance again among the brethren in the breakfast-room. JBut, oh ! that was indeed a wretched day for me ; and every day after was more wretched than the previous one. Polygamy was the last thing I thought of at night, and the first thing in the morning. It was with me in my waking hours and in the dead of the night. It haunted me like a spectre. It was like a fearful blight that had fallen upon me and was withering my soul. One thought was ever present in my mind — that thought, Polygamy ! How should I be ever able to bear it .' In a mo- ment, every thing in life appeared to have lost its charm for me, except my darling children, and they seemed now to be dearer than ever ; for I felt that they were indeed my own, and that no one could take them away from me. But how I mourned over my little daughter ; for I felt that she, perhaps, would some day suffer as I did. Oh ! I exclaimed, may heaven forbid it ! She is to-day a polygamic wife, and the mother of two children ! I would not have my readers think that J bore all my troubles in the introduction of Polygamy meekly, like a saint. Indeed I did not ; and I firmly believe that I was a sore trial to my husband. I was wicked and rebellion^ at times, and said very bitter things of " the Prophet of the Lord," and all his sex, my hus- band included ; for I began" to hate the very name of "man." I am afraid that Mr. S. was very much shocked indeed, for he was then a devoted Mormon. He often told me that I was a great clog to him, and 36 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMV. more than once he said he could not enjoy the Spirit of God and live with me. But I was not always so rebellious. There were days when I was full of sorrow and regret for what I deemed my wicked thoughts about " celestial mar- riage," and thpn I would fast and pray, and seek for- giveness from the Lord and from my husband. But even in my best moments, I could never bear to hear him speak about Polygamy ; and whenever theelders came to our house, the painful topic was sure to be discussed. As soon as I heard it, all my angry ex- citement returned, and I instantly felt a spirit of re- bellion stirring within me. I could not help it. I felt that womankind was insulted whenever the sub- ject was mentioned, and I never got over the feeling. Oh ! I thought, how shall I ever " get salvation" with such an offending heart as mine .' It was necessary, however, for me to do something ; for I was told by my husband, and the other elders who were present at the time, that it devolved on me to teach the hateful doctrine to the women of Switz- erland. That was to be my mission, and I, poor, de- luded thing that I was, believed it to be so. I con- cealed my feelings as best I could, for I was obliged to nerve myself to the task, and prepare to perform my duty, trusting in God to assist me. How fearful a task this was ! My sorrow concerning the introduction of Polygamy' was riot like any other grief) for it was utterly with- out hope. Had its teachings been for this life only, I could have borne it with more fortitude, and should have endeavoured to resign myself to my fate. But WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 37 we were taught that it was to be "for time and for eternity." When I thought that some time my life must end, and that then earthly sorrows would cease, this brought me no comfort ; for the cause of niy grief was still to exist beyond the grave. Polygamy was to be practised in heaven as well as on the earth. The only possible hope that remained to me was that there — in another world — I might perhaps be so changed as not to know myself or any one else ; or that my feeling's might be so greatly altered from what they were in this world that I should not real- ize any pain from what we were taught were the matrimonial arrangements in heaven. Feeling, as I did, so acutely myself, how was I to break the intelligence of this new and terrible " reve- lation" to those honest, loving women with whom I was acquainted ? I shrank from the task of inflict- ing so much pain. Their own husbands, had not courage to tell them, and I am sure that I had not. But I had already been instructed in the manner in which I was to endeavour to impart to them a know- ledge of the doctrine. I had also myself been taught respecting the beauties of the "system/' so that I might be able to introduce it in a proper manner. It is needless to say that I failed to see those " beauties." It was soon settled which of the sisters was to be the first victim. She was one whom we all dreaded most, although for rather peculiar reasons. She was a good woman ; but, like myself, possessed the weak- ness of being too fond of her husband. She was pos- sessed also of a very high spirit, and was indeed a completely spoiled child. 38 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. It was told her that I had some new principle to communicate to her from " Zion," and she was sent to my apartment to hear it. " No, I have nothing to tell you," I said. " Yes, you have," she replied ; " for your husband and mine said so." " No," I answered ; " if there was any thing, I can not now remember what it might be." The truth was, my courage had all left me. I stood there, pale and trembUng, 6ven though she was my intimate friend. She noticed it, and feared that I was ill. I was ill — worse than she thought or could yet imagine. However, I presently regained composure enough to commence telling her, and she listened quietly for a while, when suddenly she sprang up, and, with great emotion, cried, " O mon Dieu ! Quelle religion des animaux ! And your husband to come to us Swiss with such a religion as that !" She perfectly scared me. She nearly annihilated me with her looks. What a commencement to my mission ! I did not attempt to stop her or get away, say what she liked, for I knew from my own experience what she suffered. I believed, however, that there was no other way for her to " obtain salvation," and my heart ached for her. After she had spent her wrath, she came and sat by me and said, " Does my husband believe this T "Yes," I repHed, "he does." Then followed another outburst of grief and rage fearful to witness. I tried to soothe her, but it was useless. She was one of those gushing, impulsive WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 39 women, who give way to passions of grief, and I saw that it was best to leave her alone. When she be- came more calm, we talked over it and wept together, and together knelt and prayed. I was almost going to add, we swore together in the same breath ! This, of course, we did not do. It was something else ! Finally, we came to the conclusion that we would both of us fight against the doctrine, and that we would likewise teach all the sisters to do so. This was certainly a pretty state of affairs ! After she had left the room, I began to feel ashamed of myself, that I, a missionary's wife, should have thus given way. Here, I thought, is all my work to do over again. However, she repented, and I repented ; and we now agreed to talk to the other " sisters about it, and see how they would take it. I felt a little better, now that I had a companion in misery who could sympathize with me ; and we con- soled each other, neither of us believing that «7«r hus- bands would ever practically adopt the doctrine, or, at least, not for a long time to come. We taught it to the other sisters ; but it was the same sad story over and over again. Some rebelled, and some even fell sick over it. They all lost their joyous, happy looks ; and now understood why, for some time past, I had appeared so unhappy and miserable. At every council of the missionary brethren, the sisters became suspicious of their husbands and'what teaching they might be listening to. It was very evident that Polygamy was not going to contribute in any way to our peace of mind or happiness. We 40 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. could not see how it was possible that any good could result from it. The missionary elders, on the con- trary, seemed deeply interested in the new doctrine, and saw "glories" and " beauties" in it that had never been dreamed of before. They could see far away into the eternal world the " exaltation" that awaited the women who would "give wives to their hus- bands." The teaching of the doctrine of plural wives, in Switzerland, was fortunately limited. The Protestant minister, of whom I before spoke, received at first the announcement of " celestial marriage" with unfeigned pleasure. He had no son to transmit his name to posterity, and he flattered himself with hope. But his wife, who was not very young, attacked him so violently that he soon abandoned not only the ideas of patriarchal marriage, but also Mormonism itself. A sister of the lady to whom I had first taught the doctrine of Polygamy, as soon as she discovered that I had converted her sister, called to see me, in com- pany with another lady. She was a tall, angular woman. As she entered the room, she asked me it I were Mrs. Stenhouse. I answered affirmatively; and, before I had time to ask her to be seated, she caught hold of me by the shoulders, like a maniac, and shook me violently, quite taking away my breath. I was like a child in her hands, and could offer no re- sistance. I had not been accustomed to such vio- lence as this. She then began to declaim wildly against me, and declared that she hated me for teach- ing her sister such an abominable religion. Her passion rising again, she seized me a second time, WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 4I and, forcing me into a corner, stood nervously clutch- ing her hands and making for my face, screaming violently that she felt as if she "could tear me to pieces." All this time her friend stood by, with an amused expression on her countenance, as if she quite enjoyed the sight. But to me it was no joke ; and I do not know what the enraged woman would have done to me, h^ not a gentleman, who was a friend of Mr. S., happened to come in at the moment, and, hearing the uproar, hastened to my rescue. The reader may well suppose that I shall not easily for- get my experiences in introducing Polygamy among the Swiss. The first emigration from Switzerland had a sad history. The emigrants were a good people, of the class bourgeoisie, who for the Mormon faith left all that was dear to them in fatherland, and, in many cases, gave up the homesteads which had been theirs and their ancestors' for many generations. Once, when Mr. S. returned from visiting several cantons where he had been for the purpose of coun- selling the Saints to emigrate, he told me it took all the courage he could muster to tell people in such comfortable circiimstances to sell all and to gather to the deserts of Utah. The thought was painful ; but faith prevailed, and those among the simple people of the Helvetian Republic who had embraced the Mor- mon faith, set out, regarding little the perils of the ocean or the privations of the prairie, believing only that every weary step they took led them nearer to the " Zion" of their hopes. 42 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. The story of that emigrant band is very sad. Faith had been the actuating principle which induced each one of the company to leave all that was dear on earth and set out for the City of the Saints. But privation and misery shook the faith of some, and in many instances banished even the shadow of hope. On their way to " Zion," some of the emigrants became dissatisfied, and separated from the general company. They were overtaken between St. Louis and the frontiers by the dreadful cholera of 1853, and almost totally perished. When the news reached Switzerland, the friends of those who were thus lost were very naturally enraged with the Mormon mis- sionary who had " led them into all their trouble and to death." This demonstration of anger was some- what unreasonable, for every emigrant must himself have known that his way to Utah was not over a path strewn with roses ; and the missionaries who advised the journey, being only human, could not possibly foresee the visitation of the cholera, which proved so fatal to the pilgrims. These facts, however, no one seemed to take into consideration ; and it was with difficulty that Mr. S. escaped from personal violence in Lausanne. Though his friends counselled his instant departure from the place, with his usual " confidence in God," he stopped over night ; but the morning's reflections suggested discretion and an early departure. Those of the Swiss pilgrims who escaped the scourge of the cholera were only spared to realize that other scourge — Polygamy. Many a time, amidst the horrors of polygamous WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 43 "Zion," have faithful wives, who passed unscathed through that terrible plague, wished that it might have been their own fate to have perished with their countrywomen on the desert wilds. We remained in Switzerland about three years and a half. The mission, notwithstanding its dark be- ginning, had been very successful. Mormonism had been introduced into Steven cantons ; a paper, in the French language, was published by Mr. S., in the in- terests of that faith, in Geneva, as well as books and brochures in the French, German, and Italian lan- guages, almost entirely supported at the expense of the converted Swiss. By the time that we left, there were several missionaries from Utah, and about the same number from England, labouring in Helvetia. Mr. S. requested to be released from his presidency of the Swiss and Italian missions ; and, with the means which some of the more wealthy of the emi- grating Swiss had generously furnished, we were provided with what was necessary for our journey to Utah. CHAPTER VI. We return to England— How Polygamy was taught there— The Girls happy — The Wives miserable — General Effects of 'the Doc- trine — ^A Runaway Wife — How she acted in Haste and repented at Leisure — ^A Mother leaves her Babes — ^A Lady is "counselled" to emigrate without her Husband — Follies of certain Elders — Polygamic " Poetry!" We returned to England in November, 1854, with the intention of leaving for Utah in the following spring. Until the period of emigration arrived, we went to reside in the house of the President of the London Conference, and it was at that time that I first began seriously to doubt the truth of Mormon- ism. I gradually became convinced, though 1 could scarcely explain how, tha.t there vra.ssometM^g'wrvng; something that I did not understand, underlying the whole system. I began to realize that there was more of frail humanity about it than of the pure and holy religion that I had believed it to be ; for the reader must remember that, however much I was opposed to Polygamy, it never once entered my thoughts to question that it was a pure and religious principle. I believed that my opposition to Polygamy in Swit- zerland was the result of my own " depraved nature," and not the fault of my religion. But soon after our arrival in London, I began to hear things about the authorities of the church in Utah that I was con- vinced could not be right. WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 45 On the continent we had only seen and heard our- selves and our own converts on the new revelation. On our arrival in England, I was somewhat anxious to learn how others had received it. The young girls were pleased with it, for it ex tended their chances of marriage, and they were the recipients of many attentions from the elders. It was natural for them to be gratified with the assu- rance that it was their " privilege" to tell any man of their love, and that it was his duty to marry them. But during a year's residence in London, I never met a happily married woman in the Mormon Church who did not abhor it. They were submissive to its teachings, as it had no immediate results there ; but it troubled them terribly and rendered them mise- rable when they thought of going to Utah. Married women had, however, the same favourable attentions and compliments paid them as the young girls, for the Gentile marriage never stood in the way. It could at any time be broken, if the lady had only the inclination or nerve to do it. No married missionary could take another wife in Europe with- out special permission from Brigham Young; but they could, and did, teach married women that in " Zion" the " Gentile chain was broken," and that the ladies could choose for husbands, " whom they would in the Lord," when they got there, hinting, at the same time, that they, themselves, would be in the market. That teaching was not listened to by some; but it was by others, and many homes in England have been blighted by it, and broken up. Women who were ill-mated, or imagined that they 46 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMV. were, saw an easy way of settling their difRculties when Polygaraic teaching instructed them that all marital covenants and obligations, before entering into the church, were unrecognized by the Lord. All that they had to do was to induce their husbands to take them to Utah, and if the husband refused to go, the wife could go alone. " Get away pleasantly and quietly if you can ; if you cannot — get away any how." This was frequently the counsel given, and not infre- quently acted upon. A pretty face or attractive person never lacked facilities for getting away. Husbands who were dissatisfied with their wives could leave them and their families, also, and go to " Zion" alone, if the wife and family refused to accom- pany them. The husband was the head of the wife, and should do his own duty, whether his wife and children did theirs or not. If his family, did not follow him, he could take a young wife or wives there, arid '•' lay the foundation anew'' for another family ; and in his experience he believed that the promise was singularly fulfilled, that " he who forsaketh wife or child for my sake shall have a hundred fold." That run-a-way husband was, of course, entitled to a hun- dred young girls, if he could only get them and keep them. Such things were not taught to ignorant men and women only, but also to people in very much better positions. I know one gentleman in Liverpool who separated from his family because of their unbelief in Mormonism, and made great sacrifices in order to go to Utah. He married an accomplished young lady in Salt Lake City, and lived long enough in Zion tq WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 47 wish that he had never been there. The last marriage was happy enough ; but the gentleman and lady outlived their faith, and concluded to separate and leave the country. The young lady returned to London, the gentleman to Liverpool — a poorer, but a wiser man. There was also an old couple with whom I was well acquainted in Porj;?mouth. They were engaged in business, and doing very well. The wife joined the Mormon Church, and the husbfed, being a good- natured old gentleman, allowed her to do just what she liked, and she was very" liberal to the mission- aries. She heard so much of the glories of " Zion" that she began to tease her husband to emigrate, although he did not wish to do so. But as he dis- covered that she was growing dissatisfied and un- happy about it, he consented to let her go alone, believing that she would return again. She went to Utah provided with abundance of every thing and plenty of money. Soon after her arrival there, she was married to an old Mormon elder, who built a house with her money and otherwise made himself very comfortable. Then he took a young wife, and then another ; and among them they led the old lady such a life that she was glad to leave the house and labour for her support as best she could. She fre- quently heard from her husband in England, who had fretted until he fell sick. He had to get a nurse or housekeeper, and as he was well to do, this person contrived to get him to marry her. After a year or two, he died, leaving all his property to her ; while the poor old lady was living in Utah in poverty, very 48 WHAT 1 KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. unhappy and bitterly repenting her folly in leaving so good a husband as he had been to her. While the old gentleman was sick, I saw the old lady in deep distress of mind, as she could not get money to take her back to England. Had she got there while the old gentleman was still alive, she would doubtless have inherited all his property ; but now she is poor and homeless. Some years later, while living in New York, I saw other illustrations of the baneful teachings in Eng- land. One of the Mormon elders, on his return from a mission to Europe, came to my house accompanied by a " sister," who, he said, had just arrived with other emigrants from England. He told me that she was feeling dull, and he would like her to be with some family of the Saints where she would feel at home for about two weeks. At the end of that time, they intended to go to Salt Lake. She took one of my little ones in her arms, and seemed, for a stranger, to fondle it with great affec- tion. I soon noticed that she was in tears, and my sympathy was instantly enlisted for her. I saw she had trouble on her mind, and I tried to discover the cause of her sorrow. She told me that she had left two little children, at home, and was pining to see them. I asked her why she had left them, and she told me that she had been " counselled " to leaye a good husband, a good home, and two darling little ones, and go to " Zion." She was perfectly wretched. She had nothing to complain of in her husband's con- duct towards her, only he did not believe in Mor- monism, and would not allow her to attend the WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 49 meetings of the Saints. She had come off stealthily with the assurance from " the servants of God " that she should have her children soon. I told her that I did not believe she would ever see them again, nor did I think that she deserved to, unless she returned to her husband immediately and sought his forgiveness. She had been taught, she said, that it was necessfiry for her salvation that she should " gather with the Saints to Salt Lake." Her husband opposed her going, and as she had to leave unknown to him, she could not manage to get her children away. I used every means in my power to get her to re- turn, and tried to picture to her that once happy home now made desolate through her desertion ; but she felt that her religion required her to make the sacrifice, believing as she had been taught, that if she " sought first the kingdom of God and His righteous- ness," all other things should be added unto her. She was, after all, very much to be pitied ; for she was a victim to the teachings of the elders, and she firmly believed that whatever they told her was the revelation of heaven to her. She left me, and I feared that she would still pursue her journey in despite of all that I had said to her ; but in about two months from that time, I was one morning told that a lady wished to see me. I was agreeably surprised to find that it was the runaway mother. She told me that after our conver- sation she could not go to Salt Lake, but had re- mained in St. Louis, had written to her husband and had made every thing right with him, and she was so WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. now on her way back again to her home in England. She was very happy, and I rejoiced with her. This circumstance is given to illustrate the power of the teachings of the elders. To all appearances it could not have been a love affair, for there was no- thing in the look of the man that could captivate any woman. To be sure, there is no accounting for taste in matters of love, and she might have seen qualities in him that every one else had foiled to perceive. Another circumstance somewhat similar to this came directly under my personal notice, In this instance the lady, whom I knew, was married very happily. Her husband held a very lucrative position, but who was at times obliged to be absent from home for several months together, on one occasion found it necessary to leave his family for nearly a year. He went ; but not wishing to be separated from his fami- ly for so long a time, he wrote to her, requesting that she would come out to him with her children, send- ing her at the same time funds necessary for that purpose. The brethren heard of this, and " coun- selled" her to go to "Zion" instead, telling her that if she did not go then she might not have another opportunity for a long time, as the country would be involved in war. She obeyed the "counsel," and without replying to her husband, left for Utah, and crossed the plains with her four little children, and arrived in " Zion" almost dead with the trials and difficulties she had had to encounter, not having a protector, and being so entirely ignorant of the na- ture of the journey. Her husband, who was a very excellent man, followed her, some time subsequent- WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 5 1 ly ; but of course he felt that he had been very badly treated, and it was with difficulty that he could be reconciled. All the missionaries, before they leave Utah, are in- structed to make no selections from the lambs of the flock ; and though many of them have no doubt hon- oured these instructions, many others have seemed to do little more than preach on Sundays, attend one or two meetings during, the week, and devote the rest of their leisure to the "sisters" — taking them to theatres, public entertainments, and wherever they themselves were invited to visit. If any family invited a Utah elder to dine with them on any given day, if he was at all familiar with them, he was almost certain to bring " a sister" with him. This was frequently a great annoyance ; for instead of imparting instruction to the family, or entertaining them with information about " Zion," his chair after dinner was almost certain to travel with that of the lady visitor to the neighbourhood of a window, or to a quiet corner, where they could entertaijti each other with soft nonsense. The follies of such missionaries, (though they doubt- less preserved themselves free from immorality,) their silly talk, -childish amusements, nonsense, flirting, and extravagance with girls as silly as themselves, was a great stumbling-block to many a married woman at the introduction of the principles of Polygamy in England. At the time of my sojourn in London, there was a feeling of great uncertainty among the Saints about every thing connected with domestic relations. Ig- 52 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. norant men preaching the doctrine of Polygamy to a public audience might be expected to talk a great deal of nonsense upon such a delicate subject, and that was bad enough ; but when to this was added the fanatical feeling about the glory of " Zion," and the destruction of the Gentile world within a few years, it was worse still. There was much anxiety and excitement among the Saints. It was one contin- ued stream of prediction that the world was to be devastated by wars that would destroy the greater portion of the men, and thus bring about a fulfilment of the prophecy which says that " Seven women shall take hold of one man." The women were to become ,so urgent in their importunities for marriage, that they would gladly promise to " eat their own bread and wear their own apparel ;" and all they would ask would be the privilege of being called by some man's name, to " take away their reproach." With such preaching, Sunday after Sunday, it is not to be wondered at that the Saints became bewildered, scarcely knowing what to do. One thing alone they knew : that they, were to " flee to Zion," and get all their marital relations settled in the "Endowment House," so that every woman should have a husband who could " save her," and every man have all the Avives and children that he could gather round him, before the " great day of wrath, and the coming of the Lord." One of the most popular axioms of the elders at that time was, " It is better to be the mate of a ship of war than the captain of a schooner." This was well understood by the sisters to mean that it was WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 53 better to be one of the wives of a great man in " the kingdom," than to be the only wife of a little man. It was of no consequence how kind a husband might be to his wife and family ; if he was not also abound- ing with zeal, and full of talk in the meetings, he was very little esteemed. Many a silly woman has been carried away by such nonsense till she scarcely knew what she was doing ot; wanted to do. She probably loved her husband, but mourned to think that he could not take his stand among the favoured of the Lord. In the course of time, her regrets would grow into discontent ; and when some raving, enthusiastic preacher came along, she was ready to form the con- clusion that she ought to hasten to Zion ; and thus, from one step to the other, she was soon on her way to Utah, with her children, if she could, or without them if she could do no better. This was the period when Polygamy was intro- duced, and that was the spirit of the times when I made my visit to London, preparatory to going to " Zion." The following are one or two of about a dozen verses of Mormon " poetry," once extremely popular among the " Saints," and which certainly express very truly their sentiments at the time of which I speak : " The time the prophet saw is on the wing. When seven woi|ieB to one man shall cling. " Not for the lack of clothing or of bread. But for a husband — a man — a head ! To obviate reproach and share his name, As to be single then will be a shame; 54 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. "For war will strew its victims o'er the plain, And maddened men rush heedless to be slain ; A man shall be more precious in the land Than golden wedges from the Ophir strand. " If you perchance among the worthies stand. And seven women claim your saving hand, Do not reject the six and save the one. And boast of magnanimity when done." Doggerel, no better than this, and much of it a great deal worse, might be heard in almost every meeting of the " Saints." CHAPTER VII. Mormon Life in London — " Counselled " to go to Salt Lake Valley — Sickness and Annoyances — Doubts and Fears — Faith wavering — Loneliness in the Great City — " The dear American Brethren" — Preparations for leaving E^land. Mr. M., the Mormon President in London, was con&tantly in receipt of letters from Salt Lake during the time of our residence in his house.; and I ob- served that he acted in a very mysterious manner with them. He would read them to my husband when he thought that they were alone, and conceal them when I came into the room. This made me resolve to see these letters, if possible. I mentioned this to Mrs. M., and she volunteered to get them for me. What I discovered I have no right to r«veal now, just as I had then no right (although through the kindness of this lady they had been placed in my hands) to pry into them. Suffice it, however, to say that they set me thinking, and the more I thought the worse I felt. I was bewildered and wretched, losing coniidence in myself and in every thing. In fact, I had not enough experience to rely upon my own judgment, and my husband was a slave to Mor- raonism ; but from what I had read in those letters about the teachings in Utah, and from my observa- tion of the conduct of the American brethren, I began to feel the greatest horror of going out to Salt Lake. I knew it was decided that we should go in 56 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. the spring, and the thought made me very melan- choly. At this time — Christmas Day, 1854 — my fourth child was born. When he was three weeks old, my second daughter was taken very ill. I mention these things for reasons which will soon be apparent to the reader. I had now another — a real and tangible trouble added to the grief caused by my previous forebodings respecting the future, which I have already described. My child was very ill indeed. Her life was even despaired of, and in ray then weak state I felt this additional trial all the more. When the time arrived for us -to prepare for emi- gration, it seemed to me impossible for us even to think of such a thing. The reader will understand this when I remind him that we had four little chil- dren — ^the youngest only a month old — and one dan- gerously ill. The Utah brethren knew my state of mind, for I had talked with them very freely about the matter. It was therefore suspected that I was not willing to emigrate, and perhaps might even re- fuse to do so. This was an entire mistake ; for I had not yet arrived at the feeling that I could reject Mormonism altogether and throw off my connexion with that faith. How often, afterwards, I wished it had been so ! Had I then been as devoted a Mormon as I was a few months previously, I know that I should have made a greater effort to go. But, although I still clung to that religion, my faith was already under- mined ; I was soulless and dispirited. WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 57 One day Mr. M. came home and said to me : — " Mrs. Stenhouse, it has been decided to ' counsel ' your husband to emigrate without you if you will not immediately get ready. I thought I would let you know this much, although it is not right for me to relate what takes place in council. But," he con- tinued, " I think it is villainous with this sick child on your hands and a )^ung babe, to require you to do so. Yet, what can be done ? Their plan is this : Your husband, if he finds you will not go, is to get ready and leave for Liverpool ; and, as soon as he is gone, I shall be instructed to tell you that I need the rooms you now occupy, and that you must leave directly. You will be puzzled in the midst of your trouble to know what to do. Then some of the brethren will be at hand to send you after your hus- band, and you will be very glad to go ; for you will have no choice, and will be ready to do any thing to get out of your troubles." Oh ! I can not tell how indignant I was when I heard this. I utterly loathed and detested everyone of them ; and I walked about the room so full of contendmg emotions that it was some time before T could utter a word. At last I was able to speak, and I said : — " Mr. M , would you send me away ?" " If they ' counsel ' me to do so," he replied, " I shall have to do it." " Can you not, or have you not enough courage to oppose a thing you know to be wrong ?" I enquired. " If I did so," said he, " I should get into trouble." He knew me too well to suppose that I should repeat what he said while it could harm him ; nor S8 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. would I now have written so much had he remained a Mormon. ^ " Now," said I, " I shall tell them that I will not go in my present^ condition ; nor will I ! If my hus- band wishes to take their counsel and go, he may go alone ; and they shall see that I will not follow him now or ever after." I was greatly excited as I said this. When Mr. S. returned home, I told him what had been said ; .but, as he agreed with me in believing that it was impossible for me to go with our- sick child, that settled it for the present. The elders visited me and talked with me until I was nearly worried to death. They made Mr. M. give us notice to leave his apartments purely on that account ; and I had to move our sick child in cold, damp weather, just as she was getting better. As might be ex- pected, she caught cold and had a relapse, and we despaired of her ever recovering. I was now so worn out with care and anxiety and watching my sick child that my health began to fail, and I grew weaker and weaker. My little one was, Jiowever, now becoming better. She had been sick for more than two months ; and I myself alone had carefully tended her during all that period, at the same time having the charge and nursing of my young babe. All. the help I had was the assistance of a girl, a mere child, only twelve years of age. My husband having frequently to preach at a dis- tance, was now a great deal from home, and I led a lonely life. I was, in fact, buried alive in the vast wilderness of London ; and nothing can be more WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 59 desolate than the feeling of loneliness in the midst of a great city. Left to my own melancholy thoughts about Polygamy and the reported teachings in Utah, my confidence in the authorities of the church was most terribly shaken, and I dreaded worse than death going to Salt Lake City. This so preyed upon my mind that my health was fast failing, and I was un- able to walk across the room or hold my infant in my arms. My physician told me that he did not know what was the matter with me ; and twice, when visiting me, he urged me to confi.de in him, that he might be able to benefit me. He said that I had no disease, yet I was failing fast. I could not tell him of the sorrow that was eating my life away. I never knew what he said to my husband ; but, immediately after consultation, I was sent to the West End of London with a nurse, hoping by this slight change to recruit my health, and a kind friend took charge of -my chil- dren. I did not care much what was done with me, for I fully believed that I was going to die. I had not been away more than a week when Mr. S. came to tell me that he had been notified that a ship would sail from Liverpool in the course of two weeks from that time, and that it was expected that we should sail in her. I did not feel that this was possible ; but the fact of Mr. S. speaking to me about it, showed me that he particularly wished to go, and I resolved to make the attempt. We ordered a carriage and I went to my apartment, leaving my babe with the nurse. Mr. S., after taking me to the house, left me, and I began to 60 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. pack a trunk. Before I had. been busy ten minutes, I fainted ; but how long I remained in that condition I cannot tell. When Mr. S. returned and found that I was so very ill, he telegraphed to Liverpool to say that I was not well enough to make the journey. A telegram was returned : — " Bring her along, and she will get better." But Mr. S. had a little independence left, and we did not go. The summer passed very drearily, as Mr. S. was away from home nearly all the time, lecturing in dif- ferent places. My children were too young to be companions, and the Mormons rather shunned me, because of my weakness in the faith. The young sisters did not like to hear me talk about those " dear American Brethren," and therefore they stayed away. I had, however, a few particular friends, and I felt that that was sufficient. And yet it was my husband's society that I yearned for, and this fearful Mormonism always deprived me of that. I could not, therefore, feel happy; for when he was away from me, I was always imagining some dreadful thing, which afterwards proved to have had no foundation in truth. I was doubtful of every thing now. This was the beautiful result of my religion ! I fear that by this time the reader may begin to think that I must be of a very unhappy temperament. But this is not exactly the truth. Until the time when the horrors of apprehension respecting the doctrine of Polygamy began to weigh upon my mind, I had always been looked upon as a cheerful, light- hearted, and hopeful girl. But there was a canker- worm gnawing continually at my heart now. Hope WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 6l had died out. I felt that I was doomed for time and for eternity, and sometimes it seemed to me impos- sible that I should pray to a God who could make such unjust laws. How could I teach my little ones to love Him .' How different to me were these ideas of God and of His truth, from the feelings and sentiments which were mine when a girl U Then I could look around upon the beauties of nature and see the hand of God in every thing, while my soul would be filled with joy and gladness ; my only anxiety being to know what I should do to become acceptable in His sight. But now I saw no beauty in any thing. Nothing had power to divert me from my^sad thoughts. Mormonism to me at that time was a melancholy fact. CHAPTER VIII. We emigrate to America — New York — The Mormon — An " Apos- tle," two "High-Priests," and a " Seventy," and what they did— Polygamy in New York — Disarrangement of Plans — We set out for "Zion" — The Utah Elders choose other Wives — ^Three Months on the Plains— First Glimpse of " The City of Saints." About the middle of November, 1855, we sailed from Liverpool, with several hundred Mormons, for New York, where we landed on the last day of the year. Before we left England, Mr. Stenhouse concluded, that ten years' constant missionary service, without fee or reward, and living in the dependent condition that I have related, was all that the church had any right to expect of him, especially as his family was growing up, and would soon demand more than daily bread. It was his purpose to seek in the New World any occupation for which he might be fitted. He regretted that the vessel we were to sail in was to land us at New York ; but in emigration, as in every thing else in Mormonism, the priesthood dic- tate ; and to have sailed in any other vessel would have been evidence of want of faith and a good spirit. He would have preferred almost any-other seaport, as he wished to avoid the Mormon newspaper office ; for he had an idea that he might possibly be called to associate himself with it in some way, and that again WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 63 would be a renewal of missionary life. The very thing he dreaded came upon him. Our residence in New York, while Mr. S. was as- sociate editor of the Mormon, was characterized by extreme poverty. But, with all the luxuries in the world around me, my spectre — Polygamy — ^would have spoiled them all. There were four brethren from Utah at that time in New York — an " Apostle," two " High-Priests," and a " Seventy." The last was much like myself in faith ; and, on his return to Utah, he settled up his affairs, and, with his family, left the country. The High-Priests picked up each a young lady, to whom they were married after they returned to the moun- tains ; but the Apostle was favoured with a 'special dispensation from Brigham Young, and took his sixth wife — a very amiable young lady, then living in Con- necticut. They occupied a pleasant house in East- Brooklyn, and had all the comforts and endearments of home while on mission. The "Apostle" was well used to the polygamic business, and suffered no inconvenience on returning home with his youngest bride ; but the High-Priests realized the truth of the adage, that the course of true love does not always run smooth. The first wife of one of them kept him at a respectful distance from her " bed and board," and the first wife of the other kept her younger rival at an equally respectful distance from herself. The first " High-Priest " has " gone to heaven," and the second High-Priest had, in course of time, to give a bill of divorce to his young wife. They were all three good girls, and ac- 64 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMy. cepted their copartnership in matrimony as purely for the sake of their faith as ever women could do. What happiness they have had in it they best know ; but the young widow seems the most contented of the three. The difficulty in Utah in 1857 brought the Mor- mon to a close, and, with its expiration, my poverty vanished. Mr. S. was now at liberty to do as he pleased, and his pen found ready remuneration on the staff of the New-York Herald. The settlement of the " Utah Difficulty" in 1858 threatened another change in our life. Mr. S. was appointed by Brigham Young to preside over the Saints in tfie Eastern States ; but he had got a taste of freedom, and he never afterwards was wholly engaged in the propagation of Mormonism. In the following year. Elder George Q. Cannon, now the prominent Apostle in Utah, was appointed to succeed Mr. Stenhouse ; and, at the end of the emigration season of that year, we were permitted to go to " Zion." Our journey across the plains occupied three months, and we experienced the same vicissitudes of travel as other emigrants who have already told their tale. It was the month of September — the commence- ment of our beautiful Indian summer — when we emerged from the canon and caught sight of Salt Lake City. Every thing looked green and lovely ; and, in spite of all the sad forebodings which troubled me in crossing the plains, I involuntarily exclaimed, " Ah ! what a glorious spot !" It looked like a beautiful WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMV. 6$ garden — another Eden — in the midst of a desert val- ley. We had a glimpse of the Great Salt Lake, far away in the distance, stretching out like a placid sheet of molten silver, while everywhere were the lofty and lonely-looking snow-capped mountains, which entirely encircled uSj like mighty prison walls. It would be impossible for me to describe my feel- ings at that time. Evgn while I was enchanted with the glorious prospect before me, there arose again in my mind that haunting spectre of my existence — Polygamy ! I remembered that this little earthly paradise would probably be to me a prison-house ; and with a mother's instinct, I dreaded what my daughters might be destined to suffer there. Lovely as the scene was, there was yet a fatal shadow over- hanging it all. If the sad forebodings of my heart were realized, I could see no prospect of ever getting away. As to having a railroad across those plains — that seemed to me utterly impossible. Even if I had ever thought for a moment that such a work could be carried out, I never should have believed that it could be accom- plished in my own lifetime. No ! there was no help for me — even if it came to the worst. I felt that my doom was sealed ; and many another woman in the company was troubled at heart with thoughts as sad as mine. What living contradictions we were ! — singing the songs of Zion night and morning in a circle, and lis- tening to prayers of thankfulness for being permitted to gather out of Babylon ; and during the day, as we trudged along over the plains, in twos and threes, we 66 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. were expressing to each other the bitterness of our thoughts. How little, sometimes, do the songs of gladness reflect the sentiments of the heart ! Have I not heard many a woman sing, to the tune of the " Bonnie Breast-knots," the sweet though untruthful song, " Hey, the merry Mormons !" " I never knew what joy was Till I became a Mormon 1" My edition of the song was slightly changed. I sub- stituted sorrow for "joy," and then the words seemed more applicable to my own case. We were kindly received in Salt Lake City. Hav- ing been missionaries for so many years, we were known by name; and we also had a wide circle of personal acquaintances among the chief Elders and emigrants. It was now that that fearful Polyga- my, which I so much dreaded, was to be brought be- fore my eyes in practice. Almost all the elders with whom I had formerly become acquainted had more than one wife. Some of these brethren called on me, and kindly insisted that I should visit their families, which I, in many instances, refused, for fear that what I might see would make me feel worse, and that was not at all necessary. Shortly after our arrival, we visited President Young, who received us " very graciously, and ap- pointed an early day after that for us to dine with him. On that occasion, he invited some of the apos- tles and leading elders, with their families, to meet us at his table ; and we passed an exceedingly plea- WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 6/ sant afternoon and evening, Brigham making himself very affable. His wives, I found, were all, as far as I could judge, amiable and kind-hearted ladies, mak- ing every effort to render our visit agreeable. I was much pleased with the manner and appearance of Brigham Young, and felt greatly reassured ; and I began to hope that there was no truth in the reports which I had heard of ^m while in London. I was thankful to feel this, for it gave me encouragement to think that, after all, things might not be so bad as I had anticipated. Brigham to-day does not seem the same man ! I have no doubt that if he were to deign to read this little work, he would say, " It is Sister Stenhouse who has changed, not me." I would give' much to believe that some of the facts of Utah history were but an idle dream ! During that visit, Brigham hinted to Mr. S. some- thing about another mission ; and when we got home, Mr. S. asked me how I should feel if he were sent away again. After all that we had gone through for Mormonism, I thought that this would be exacting too much ; but Mr. S. was ready, and really began to plan how he could secure bread for us during his ab- sence — the butter I should have had to provide my- self, or go without ; but he soon became very useful with his pen, and, therefore, was not sent away. CHAPTER IX. Life in Utah— Polygamy in. Practice— The first Wife to be "Destroy, ed," unless she " consents" — Deceptive Teaching about taking a second Wife — ^The Mormon Plan — "Labouring" with refractory Wives — Elderly Ladies assisting in Courtship — ^A first Wife's Trials — Anomalies of Polygamic 'Life. I WAS now in the chief city of" Zion" — the dwellingr place of the Prophet and the principal Saints, which every good Mormon longed so earnestly to see. I had suffered very much, as I anticipated the time when we should arrive in Utah, and my fears of the future had long banished all peace from my mind. Now I had an opportunity of learning whether the evils which I dreaded really existed, or whether I had too credulously listened to scandalous reports, and the promptings of my own womanly apprehen- sions. - I had the daily and hourly cares oi a young and dependent family devolving upon me, and, of course, had not much leisure for any thing else. At the same time I had abundant opportunities of observa- tion, and thus my experience of Mormonism and Polygamy in Utah is much the same as that which any woman of ordinary sense could tell, if she had the inclination and opportunity. When Polygamy was first taught in Europe and in the United States, great stress was laid upon the assertion that in no case would any man be allowed WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 69 to take a second or third wife without (as they wished it to be supposed) the entire consent and approval of the first. -This statement, though false and deceptive, naturally silenced the fears of many women who would otherwise have opposed the doc- trine ; for they were deceived into thinking that, as their husbands could not take another wife without first consulting them and obtaining their permission to do so, it would always be in their power to refuse ; and thus they supposed they would not themselves be practically affected by Polygamy until their own faith prompted them to consent. I need not say how greatly they were deceived. The elders have been often accused of deception in thus explaining away the doctrine to the women. But it seems to me that, although they were not right in doing so, it is very probable that they were influenced by good and kind motives. The fact is, many of the elders were much better men than their religion taught them to be ; and when the " revelations" which they had to teach were harsh or unjust, they would try to adapt them to the weakness of their hearers, and put them in as pleasant a way as possible. Such was the case when the revelation on Polygamy was introduced, / The theory of plural marriages in Utah is this : When a Mormon husband desires to take another wife, the prescribed formula requires (i) that the Lord give a revelation to Brigham Young that He approves of the proposed extension of the man's family ; next, (2) that the would-be patriarch obtain the " consent" of the first wife to take another ; then (3) he is to obtain the consent of the parents or guar- fO WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. diahs of the selected damsel, so that he can address her in loving terms respecting his devotion to God^ His kingdom, and herself personally; and (4) he must secure the acquiescence of the damsel. Should " the Lord " * veto the proposition, the suit is ended. Should " the Lord" approve and the wife disapprove, no further advance can be made. Should the parents withhold consent, " the Lord " and the wife are held in check. Finally, ii they are all agreed and the maiden objects, then the approval of all the other consenting parties is set aside. That is the theory: But there is no truth in all these statements — not a particle. Without the consent and approval, of Brigham Young, no patriarchal marriage can be con- summated ; ' with his approval, that of the wife, the parents, and the girl herself ean all be dispensed with. Cases are not few to sustain these assertions. Many a maiden has been married without the con- sent of her parents ; and others have." obeyed coun- sel," when they had no heart in the matter — then or ever after. The " Revelation on Polygamy" was written by the scribe of Joseph Smith, from the prophet's dictation, after he had already taken other "wives." It is worded so as to have at one moment the appearance * On one occasion, when a Mormon gentleman from Liverpool was expressing to one of the Apostles his dissatisfaction about somethings he remarked, "Surely the Lord would not sanction this!" Where- upon the Apostle, touching him on the arm, pointed to the White House, where Brigham Young resided, and emphatically remarked, "Your 'Lord'' resides up there !" WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. yj of a fair and proper understanding between the hus- band and wife whenever the former entertained the •idea of taking to himself another bride ; and yet, when viewed in another light, it has quite an oppo- site sense, and tries to terrify the first wife, if disobe- dient, with threats of the wrath of God. When a woman's "consent" is asked, she knows very well that she will Jiave to give it — if she is not prepared to live in open warfare with her husband. She knows, too, that he will take that other wife in- dependently of her, and she is powerless to prevent it. She may as well consent. But some brave \yo- men have never given their consent, and have never allowed the second wife to enter their homes. Some refined ladies, with excellent families, have had the happiest of homes destroyed by withholding their consent ;■ and where peace and warm affection were proverbial, the bitterest strife ensued. The men who have acted in this way are iiOt the gross and ignorant brethren, but more Often the par- ticularly " pious" men, who make long prayers in their families, who preach in the ward meetings, and in the Tabernacle; men of smooth words, with the name of the Lord always upon their lips. These are the men who have mercilessly wrung the hearts of the wives of Utah. What to such men are a wife's tears and sorrows ? Nothing. If the wife shows " temper," it makes it only worse. He wants peace, so he says ; and if he can not find it there, it fjirnishes him with the better excuse for go- ing back again to his younger wife — just where he wants to go ! 72 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT- POLYGAMY. Aiding and abetting theSe brethren, and encour- aging them in multiplying their wives, there is a class of good-meaning sisters who are always dab- bling in other people's affairs, and making love- matches. These go round from one unhappy victim to another, and talk to the poor, broken-hearted wo- men, to Soothe and comfort them ; and before they go away they give them the very pleasing assurance that woman was cursed in the Garden of Eden, and that "We've all got the cross for to bear." * They are " laboured with" in the interest of the husband till they are, in most cases, entirely subdued. If a woman gets " broken in," or " tamed," the hus- band rejoices, and the " sisters" " join in prayer," re- lating in the subjugated woman's ears all the blessings of " obedience," and the great glory that awaiteth all who live in the holy order of " celestial marriage." When their work is complete, it is fortunate for all parties ; but a dose of that kind generally only lasts * The following is from the New- York World, November 14th, 1871 :— Reporter — What is really the position of the women on the ques- tion of Polygamy ? Mr. Perris — ^They are generally subject to what may be called a forced lead, by the older women — those who are childless, and the others who seem to be entirely without maternal instincts. These go about among the mass of better women, talk to them, impress upon them the practice as a religious duty, even necessary to their salvation ; get them to sign papers in its favour, and, if they hesi- tate, threaten to expose them as having become dangerously weak in the faith. That is the way an appearance of unanimity in favour of Polygamy is maintained. WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 73 till the first wife gets a glimpse again of the second wife, or hears about her and her husband going to- gether to the theatre or to the dance. Then " the devil," who was only scotched, is " raised " again ; and before he can be finally " laid," the whole affair has to be repeated from the beginning, and in many cases the experiment has to be tried again and again before the desired results are produced, and not infrequently this labour of love is a total failure, when a bitterness ensues which is unknown outside of polygamic house- holds. When kindness fails to " soften down" the rebel- lious wife, then wrath is poured into her ears, and she learns from the revelation that " If any man have a wife who hold the keys of this power, and he teach- es her the law of my priesthood, as pertaining to these things, then she shall believe, and administer Tinto him, or she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord your God, for T will destroy her." This is a beautiful position for any loving wife to be placed in ! Her. husband is to teach her Polyga- my, and she must believe ; for it is distinctly said, " She shall believe." But should she lack evidence of the truth of the revelation, and can not believe in its divinity, then " She shall be destroyed;" and the Lord, like a kind and loving father, adds, " I will de- stroy her" What language to place in the mouth of a kind and loving God and Father ! How opposife is this to the teachings of Jesus Christ ! But it is in keeping with the other teachings of the Mormon Church. Mormonism taught me to look upon the great Ruler of the Universe as a " God of vengeance," 74 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. while every thing in nature has taught me that He is a " God of love." So repugnant has this teaching of the Lord's ven- geance been to the women in Utah, who oppose Polygamy, that many of them have the utmost dis- gust for religion, and care as little about " the Lord " as they do about their husbands. How little do the Mormon men of Utah know what it is, in the truest sense, to have a wife, though " they have so many " wives," after their own fashion. Almost imperceptibly to the husband,. and even to the wife herself, a barrier rises between them from the very day that he marries another woman. It matters not how much she believes in the doctrine of plural marriages, or how willing she may be to sub- mit to it ; the fact remains the same. The estrange- ment begins by her trying to hide from him all her secret sorrow ; for she feels that what has been done can not be undone now, and she says, " I can not change it ; neither would I if I could, because it is the will of God, and I must bear it ; Besides, what good will it do to worry my husband with all my feelings ? He can not help me, and is he not another woman's husband ?" Then comes the painful feeling, " I have no longer any desire to confide in him." Perhaps, too, she may detect some familiarity be- tween her husband and the other wife. Then she would feel full of anger and bitterness toward thera both, and, strive as she may, human nature would prevail. His presence becomes irksome to her; even his What i know about polygamy. 75 touch would make her shudder. And yet she might hide all" this ; but with what anguish of soul ! She might keep up a calm exterior, and when spoken to about plural marriages, might lead persons to believe that all was pleasant ; and even her own husband might think that his wife had become " used to it." Don't you believe it, men of Utah ! Your wives never ge,t "used to i|" until they have, in a great measure, or perhaps entirely, lost their love for you. When this little book falls into the hands of some of the women of Utah, they will, I know, acknowledge in their hearts, if not in -words, how true my state- ments are. A man may have a dozen wives ; but from the whole of them combined he will not r'eceive as much real love and devotion as he might from one alone, if he had made her feel that she had his undi- vided affection and coniidence. How terribly thiese men deceive themselves ! When peace, or rather quiet, reigns in their homes, they think that the spirit of God is there. But it is not so ! It is a calm,^ not like the gentle silence of sleep, but as the horri- ble stillness of death — the death of the heart's best affections, and all that is worth calling love. All true love has fled, and indifference has taken its place. The very children feel it. What do they — what can . they care about their fathers .■' They seldom see them. I am writing now of polygamists in general. Of course there are exceptions to this rule. When a man has more than one wife, his affections must certainly be divided ; and he really has no particular home, for his homes are simply boarding- houses. Should he have all his wives in one house. y6 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. as is often the case, then they are all slaves ; for they know that each one is watching the others, and in many instances trying to discover something that they can secretly tell their husband, to draw away his affections from the rest, and secure them to them- selves. There are again other women, frequently the first and second wives, who become friendly to each other. When this is the case, they care very little for the hus- band. They set their faces against the third, and the others who come after. The poor girl is to be pitied, and the husband, too, who ventures to bring her home ; for the two friendly wives are sure to lead her and him a terrible life. The man who enters this most delightful order of marriage ought not to allow his wives to become too "intimate, for they will certainly plot mischief, and destroy his power and peace. The more they hate each other, the more secure he is. But what a state of mind is this for mothers to be in ! And if children partake of the nature and feel- ings of their mothers, what kind of dispositions can these poor children inherit, whose mothers have been the victims of these strong and fearful emotions .' Oh ! it is a cruel wrong to womankind ; it is a terri- ble wrong to innocent children ! It is a most wicked wrong, in every sense of the word ! CHAPTER X. Shocking Effects of Polygamy — Marrying a Half-Sister — ^A Mother and Daughter married to one M|ji — Marrying three Sisters in one Day — " Covenants of Marriage" — A' deluded " Sister" — Her Persecutor — Influence of Elders — Mistaken Ideas of Duty — Another " Sister" betrayed — Men unhappy in Polygamy. The practice of Polygamy in some instances results in alliances which aniong, all civilized peoples would be considered equally unnatural, immoral, and op- posed to the dictates of religion. It is quite a common thing in Utah for a man to marry two, and even three sisters. I was very well acquainted with one man who married his half-sister ; and I know of several who have married mother and daughter. I know also another man who married a widow with several children ; and when one of the girls had grown into her teens, he insisted on marry- ing her, having first by some means won her affec- tions. The lady, however, was, I am pleased to say, very much opposed to this marriage, and finally gave up her husband entirely to her daughter ; but to this very day this daughter bears children to her step- father, living in the same house with her mother ! These things are so revolting to me that I have scarcely patience to write about them. I will, however, mention another instance which is nearly as bad. A rather prominent man in Salt 78 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. Lake City, who has several wives and married daugh- ters, only a few weeks ago married a young girl about fifteen years of age — a child that his first wife had adopted and brought up as her own. It is said to be a source of great sorrow to his first wife. Such men deserve punishment ; for there is no shadow of religious obligation in the transaction. I know that he has next to no faith in Brigham Young. But there is a pleasing change noticeable in the plural marriages in Salt Lake. There are not nearly so many marriages of this kind among the actual citizens of Salt Lake City as there were three or four years ago. The girls, although they will tell you that they believe it is right, will also sgy that they would rather do with "a little less glory"' here- after and take a little more comfort here. Many at the same time do not hesitate to say that they are altogether doubtful about the propriety of such mar- riages, for the doctrine and practice of Polygamy have made such bad men of their fathers and such victims of their mothers. It is not our city girls who maintain so much the plural marriages ; but it is chiefly the newly arrived English and country girls who supply the Patriarchs. The American Elders have derived a rich harvest from Britain for many years past. Soon, after the introduction of Polygamy, an elder Was seldom known to return from his mission to England with- out arranging there for one, sometimes two, and I have known as many as three girls — and these own sisters also — brought out at one time and all married by the same man. I personally know several men WHAT 1 KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 79 who have done so, but, on account of their families, I do not wish to mention their names. The elders are not permitted to marry these extra wives while engaged on their missions in foreign countries, but are counselled to wait till they return " home." Some of these weak brothers, however, have not been able to wait for the ceremonies of the " Endowment House." ^t is but just to add that they do marry them when they get to " Zion." Some elders have bound the foreign girls by solemn vows or covenants to become their wives when they get to Utah ; and the poor girls, believing that these men, because they were missionaries, were justified in all they did, have many times, to their great injury, kept those " covenants" and married them. ' One young lady, on her arrival in Salt L,ake Gity, came to my house to live, and after she had been with me about a week, I noticed that amarried man came very frequently to see her. As I took, a great interest in her, I questioned her, and advised her not to enter rashly into any marriage. She was a very handsome and a good girl, and she assented to the propriety of, what I said. But the visitor still continued to come, and I observed that the girl be- came very much depressed and unhappy, and I fre- quently found her in tears. I then determined to inquire into the matter, for I had heard so much of the elders binding women by these covenants; and I found that in this case the man had persecuted her with his attentions and protestations of undying love, and his power to " exalt " her in the kingdom of God, until he had exacted from her a promise to become 8o WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. his wife. Not contented with her simple promise, for he knew that she did not really love him, he framed an oath and made her repeat it after him. She would not tell me the nature of the oath, for she said it was too dreadful to repeat. She said that since she had taken this vow she had become perfectly wretched, and could not tell what to do. I advised her to go to President Young about it ; for I knew that he had publicly told the Elders that they were not to make these covenants, and I thought that he was to6 honourable a man to see ^ helpless girl imposed upon. She did not like to go and see him, and said that she was ashamed of hav- ing made such a covenant ; " besides," she added, " no matter what the President might say, I know that the Lord would curse me if I were to break that covenant." As she did not lodge at my house, I could not keep her out of this man's company as much as I wished ; and he, knowing that delays are dangerous, lost no time in accomplishing his wishes. She had no relations, and was therefore entirely in his power. Oiie Friday evening I asked Mr. Stenhouse to in- vite her to accompany us to a ball, and she gladly accepted, as she had refused to go with her tor- menter, and she hoped that it would offend him. Next day she did not make her appearance as usual, and I became alarmed, for Saturday is the day on which they marry at the " Endowment House." I sent to her friend's house where she slept, and they replied that she had gone to be married. In the afternoon she came to me looking the pic- WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 8£ ture of wretchedness, and said, " Mrs. Stenhouse, last night at the ball, that man brought Presi- dent to me and told him that I had promised to marry him, and now would not do so. President said, ' If you have promised, keep your covenant.' I have fulfilled my covenant, but I have wrecked my happiness, for I cannot bear the man I have married. I have told him so," sljp continued, " but he does not care about it." I even then begged of her to let me see President Young, and consult with him, that if possible something might be done to assist her out of her trouble. But she would not let me do so ; and it was evident that the man had acquired such, a terrifying influence over her that she really believed she would be lost for ever if she did not literally fulfil the covenant which she had made. This was one case that came particularly under my notice. But I have frequently heard of such follies and das- tardly impositions upon young and inexperienced girls. Another young lady, a very near and dear friend, was crossing the plains to Utah, when she met with one of the elders, who had been on a mission and was returning. They became quite intimate, as people did at that time when taking so long a journey together ; and he proposed marriage to her. At the same time he used all his eloquence to show her how much better it would be to marry a man who held such a high position in the chqrch as he held. He managed to convince her, and then persuaded her to enter into a covenant with him by which she would be bound to marry him. 82 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. Upon their arrival in Utah, he took her straight to his home, fearing, I suppose, that some one else might get her ; for at that time young girls did not long remain single, and she was a very fine-looking girl and very clever with her needle. She would, therefore, have made a desirable addition to any man's family ; but when she saw the home he took her to, she was horrified, and made up her mind to escape. But he had got her there, and as she knew no one in the country, she felt that there was no pos- sibility of escape. When I arrived in Salt Lake City, I made enquiry about all this, as I had a right to, and found that he had actually frightened her into marrying him by making her believe that the curse of heaven would rest upon her if she were to break that covenant ; and she passed a most wretched life, raising a family in abject poverty. I would not have my readers think that I wish to say unkind things of the men of Utah, for I do not feel unkindly towards them. I once felt as if I per- fectly hated the whole of the male sex, so great was my indignation. But now it is different ; for I am a free woman, and therefore happy. How delightful is the sepse of liberty ! Oh ! that all the women of Utah could feel as I do this day. My object is not to decry or speak evil of individuals. I simply want to show what men will do when under the influence of superstition, and how it will destroy the finest feel- ings of their natures. People upon whom I could rely have told roe of men who have unexpectedly married other wives and WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 83 brought them home before their first wives knew any thing about it ; and this, simply because they had not courage to introduce the subject, and thought, as they say, that it would be best to " take a deep plunge and struggle out." Who can conceive the feelings of a wife who has been thus treated ; and what does a man know of woman's nature, who can dare to treat her ^o ; thinking and saying that " bye-and-bye she will be all right, and will get over it!" Men of Utah ! don't you believe it ! Women never do get over such treatment. They may appear calm ; they may appear to forget ; but all the while the remembrance of their wrongs is rankling in their hearts against you, and is never, never forgotten. The more devotedly a woman loves her husband, the more keenly she feels any thing that is calculated to destroy her confidence in the man she has looked upon as superior to all others, and when once that con- fidence is destroyed, how is it to be renewed ? O men of Utah ! if you only knew the secret heart-aches of those you have vowed to love and pro- tect, (and I believe that many of you would guard and protect them from sorrow, if you could,) sift this matter, and know for yourselves how more than foolish it is for you to cast away the true and un- divided love of one devoted heart. Pay no attention to your wives when they tell you that they are happy, that'they are satisfied. They may tell yow. this when their very hearts are breaking, simply because they wish to please their husbands, and, above all, to do the will of God. If you had the least discernment, 84 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. you Would discover by the changed manner, the almost cold indifference of the loved ones, who once were gushing with affection, whose winning and en- dearing ways captivated your hearts, that something must be wrong. I can never believe that thegreat God Created our natures, such as they are, and then gave us laws that would outrage them. I know that the Mormons would answer — " But you must bring your natures into subjection to the laws of God." I know that no human being ever tried harder than I did to bring my own nature into subjection to this so-called " law of God ;" but the more I saw of it, the more I loathed it, until I became perfectly disgusted and humiliated at being obliged to live in accordance with it. CHAPTER XI. Illustrations of practical Polygamy — A " Sister" in deep Affliction — A Husband's Cruelty — A sad End — ^Various and fearful Results of Polygamy — Broken Heartj and Lunacy — Men "sparking" in the Ball-Room-^Women sitting as " Wall-flowers" — Painful Memories — Introduced , to _/&< Wives — "Are these o//you have got?" — Ma- trimonial Felicities. Soon after my arrival in Salt Lake City, I visited a family where there were five wives, three of whom I met on my first visit. They were all three intelli- gent women ; but it pained me very much to see the sorrow depicted on the face of the first ,wife. She appeared to me to be suffering intensely while I was there ; for the last wife, who seemed, to be a thought- less, lively girl, was jesting with her husband, toying with his hait^, and fussing with him in general, in a manner which I felt at the time was quite out of place, even had she been his only wife; Under the circumstances, it was to me terribly offensive ; and I felt that,- if I had been the first wife, I Should have annihilated her, could I have done so. My sympathies then were all with the first wife. In fact, they have been always so, to a very great ex- tent. But I also feel deeply for young girls, who contract such marriages from a sincere conviction that they are doing what is right, and what will be most pleasing in the sight of God. Then there are women who ignore religion, and every thing else, in 86 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. the matter ; all they think about is getting the man they want. These women are devoid of principle, and , invariably cause trouble. My whole soul was drawn out toward the lady whom I have just mentioned, when I saw how deeply she was suffering. I felt as if I wanted to throw my arms around her and speak words of comfort, if one in misery could console another ; and I resolved to become better acquainted with her. I did so, and we became very friendly. She told me of Tier sor- rows. She thought it was very wicked of her to feel as she did, but she could not help it ; and she told me that when she saw her husband so happy with the other wives, it was then that she felt most mise- rable, and could not hide her feelings from him. At those times, he would " sulk" with her, coming in and out of the house for days together without noticing her, and showing, more than ever his fondness for the other one. She said, " I bear it as long as I can, and then I beg of him not to treat me so, as I can not live without his love." I asked her how she could continue to love him when he treated her so ? " O Mrs. Stenhouse ! " she said, " when he treats me at all kindly, I am satisfied. When he smiles on me, I am only too happy. When I cease to love him, then I must be dead ; and even then," she added, " I think I should love him still !" I felt all this very much ; and, after a few words of sympathy to the neglected wife, I left her. But what I had heard made a great impression on my mind. " Thank God," I said, " wj^ husband will never act like WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 8/ this 1" In fact, I did not at that time believe that he would even wish to take another wife ; but I was soon to be undeceived. I saw this lady many times after the occasion which I have mentioned, and I be- came very much attached to her. She was a very sweet, intelligent little woman ; and she would often say to me, " I think I should like to die when my babe is born ; for I fegl that they could do without me, and I am only a trouble to them here. I am al- ways sick, because I am always unhappy." I tried to rally her out of these sad feelings, but my efforts availed but little. I was myself sick a few weeks after ; and, when I recovered, I heard that she was dead, and her babe also. I said, " Thank. God, she is now at rest !" This is only one sad story out of many equally as sad. Some wives have gone crazy, and died in this con- dition, all through their sad experience in Polygamy. Not long since, the fifth or sixth wife of one of the leading men of Salt Lake City died bereft of reason. Her husband was about marrying a young girl at the same time, and refused to go and see his dying wife. That man's name would astonish my readers, did I publish it, for he is universally respected as one of the best men in Mormonism ; and I can only account for his inhumanity, by considering the poverty and debasement into which Polygamy had plunged him. Several cases of lunacy have come under my own personal notice ; and two young women, of very re- spectable families, with whom I am acquainted, nar- rowly escaped from the effects of poison, which, in 88 WHAJ I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. their misery, they had taken as a last resource. I have heard of many more cases of desperate attempts at suicide. To say that there are no men who try to be just in the practice of Polygamy would be very wrong, for there are men in Utah who try their best to act rightly to all their wives. These men are generally those who care very little about religion ; and I have often said of them, (of one in particular,) if they- are good with Mormonism, how much better would they be without it. It is my firm belief that Mormonism has perverted some of the best of natures. On the other hand, I have known men who were reputed good husbands and fathers before they went to Utah, and, after they had been there a few years, they did not seem like the same beings. They be- came harsh and cold in their natures, and so cruel to their wives and neglectful of their children, that it seemed as if they thought of nothing but getting wives and pleasing themselves, regardless of whether they could support their families or not. These were generally the most religious men. We had not been long in Salt Lake City before the ball season commenced. These balls afford splendid opportunities to the men for flirting with the girls. No matter how old and homely a man is, he thinks that he has as much right to flirt and dance with the girls as the youngest boy ; for they all look upon themselves and each other as boys and siiagle men, even if they have a dozen wives. There is no limit to their " privileges." They are always in the mar- ket, grigham, in his public discourses, has said that WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 89 the brethren "are all young men under a hundred years of age." With such an extended privilege, it is here in Utah that hoary Winter and smiling May can be seen galloping forth in the dance together. A. thoughtful subject for the artist's pencil. It is of no consequence how much a man may flirt in the presence of his wife or wives. They must not presume to say one ^ord to him about it ; for the husband is free to do whatever he likes. He is one of the lords of creation. He is master of his wives, of his children. Then, how can one of his own dare to call in question any thing he may think fit. to do .■• She may, it is true, do so ; but she must take the consequences of that rash act. Oh ! how I loathe even the very remembrance of those hateful ball-rooms, where I have seen so many unhappy wives, and have heard so many tales of sor- row. For, while the wives would be sitting as " wall- flowers," along the sides of the hall, after having danced the first dance with their husbands, as a mat- ter of form, I have heard them many times telling each other about what they had seen their husbands doing during the evening ; and how they had been compelled to pay attention to some jabbering little girl that their husbands chanced to fancy ; and they had to do it also for peace' sake, and appear to be satisfied. . I do not mean to say that I did not like these so- cial amusements myselfj for I did ; and could, under other circumstances, have enjoyed them very much. But I had been told so many things of the unplea- santnesses of a ball-room in Salt Lake City — at least, 90 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. to married women — that my apprehensions were aroused. But all that was ever told me never half came up to the truth ; nor can I possibly myself give the reader any correct idea of the heart-aches and sorrows which these scenes bring to the wives of Mormons. It is quite a common thing for married men to go with young girls to these balls. The ma- jority of the men, however, prefer to take their first wives with them at the same time ; but it is not infrequent to hear a lady say, in the ball- room, " My husband has brought his girl here to-night ; but I have not spoken one word to her, nor will I do so." Yet if any one were to ask these same ladies if they believed that Polygamy was right, they would say, " Certainly, I do ; but I do not like her" — and this simply because their husbands had paid her attentions. This seems like inconsis- tency ; but it serves to show what conflicting feelings Mormon women have to contend with. The men should hear what their wives say about them in the ball-rooms, and the hatred they feel for them. I have seen some women sitting quietly eye- ing their husbands, as they danced or flirted with their younger loves, till their cup of indignation was full. Then they would make for the dressing-rooms, where their anger would burst upon the ears of a group of eager listeners, who were seemingly pleased to learn that some one else was suffering as well as themselves. A half-repressed threat, " I will be equal with him," has escaped the lips of those who, before that, had passed for being happily situated. WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 9t Where new matrimonial alliances are continually taking place, the arrival of a gentleman, with his wife, wives, or a maiden, in the ball-room, is never re- marked ; and, not infrequently, different wives arrive at different hours during the evening, as it suits their convenience; and thus it would be difficult to say who came with their " lord." Besides, no observation is made if a lady tlms enters the ball-room alone, though it is expected that her husband is aware of her coming. This coming alone, however, is not a common habit ; but, as it is admissible, it does occa- sionally happen that a husband is dancing or enjoy- ing himself in the ball-room with his last fiancee, when a vigilant pair of eyes searches over the room and lights- upon the happy " lord." When eyes like these encounter the eyes they seek, a change is seen, and the youthful airiness of the gentleman vanishes, and sober looks follow the gaiety of the earlier hour. It is a very difficult thing for a woman, after pass- ing through such scenes over and over again, and knowing them to be true, to have much respect left for the Mormon men who practice Polygamy. Though they consider themselves to be benefactors, they act like oppressors of womankind. I am not alone in this opinion. I know scores of ladies in Utah, both married and single, who feel and speak exactly as I do on this subject. I met President Heber C. Kimball at one of these balls, soon after my arrival. He said that he would introduce me to kis wife. Every one liked Heber for his outspoken, honest bluntness. He took me up the hall and introduced me to five wives in succes- 92 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. sion ! " Now," said he, " I think I'll quit ; for I fanqr you are not over strong in the faith." I asked, " Are these all you have got .?" " O dear ! no," he said ; " I have a few more at home, and about fifty more scattered over the earth somewhere. I have never seen them since they were sealed to me in Nauvoo, and I hope. I never shall again." I thought this was terrible ; but it was only the beginning of worse things. After this winter, I had very little peace ; for the women were constantly talking to me about my hus- band getting another wife. He held out, however, for five years, but at last he " felt it was his duty to do so," and I was silly enough to allow that " he was not living up to his religion" unless he took an extra wife. I shall never forget those ball-room scenes. Even to this day, when I chance to listen to tunes which I used to hear played in those times, they grate so ter- ribly upon my ear, and bring back so many sad re- collections, that I want to get away from the sound of them as quickly as possible, for they are more than I can endure. Bygone recollections are often recalled by trifles such as this. A few months ago, I attended a ball in Salt Lake City. It was the first I had been to since I withdrew from the church ; and of course it was got up by the '■ Liberal Party." I felt free and happy, for there was nothing to annoy or disturb me. Suddenly the band struck up a tune which I had heard while attending the Mormon balls. It sounded like the death-knell WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 93 of all ray pleasant feelings, and aroused memories of the past which were so intensely painful that I could not rally from the depression that I felt for the rest of the evening. I had heard that tune before, and many like it, and had even danced to it, while my heart was breaking. Can it excite wonder that I should feel thus .' I knew too much of those assem- blies, which to some are heaven, to others purga- tory ! (^ Let me ask my lady readers — those, I mean, who have never been in Utah — Ladies, how do you think you would feel iiyou were kept waiting long after the hour of midnight, far away into the morning, until your husbands had got through with their dancing and flirting, while your own hearts were breaking.' I think I hear you say, " I would not stand it." You do not know, I assure you, what you would do under the circumstances. What can you know — you, Ameri- can women, who are petted and indulged to such an extent that you do not really know what sorrow is .' How can you possibly judge what the feelings of a Mormon woman are, who has been taught to be- lieve that " her desire shall be unto her husband, and he shall rule over herP This is no imaginary " rule," but a stern fact. Wo- man in Utah is only a chattel ! CHAPTER XII. Going to the " Endowment House" — ^Wives cruel to other Wives— The Story of a young second Wife — How she came to Marry- How shewas treated— Her Husband's neglect-+-Cruelty of the first Wife — Goes to the "Bishop" — How young Girls in Polygamy value the Attentions of their Husbands — The Ways of Mormon Men. One day my husband came home, apparently very much pleased about something, and said to me, " What do you think ? — we have the privilege of re- ceiving our ' Endowments' * next Saturday." This, he added, was really a great favor, as many had been there a much longer time and had not received them. I made no answer, and finally he asked — " Are you not pleased with the invitation .'" I answered — " No, I do not want to have my En- dowments." " And why not ?" he enquired. " Because," I said, " I have heard so much about it, that I have not only no desire, but I have a great repugnance to ' going through the Endowments.' " This surprised him. We had, as might be eX' pected, a little very pleasant (?) conversation on the subject ; and finally Mr. S., dissatisfied with my opposition, left the house. When he returned, he told me that it was- not absolutely needful for us to go on the ensuing Saturday, but we could go on the * Secret rites' of the Priesthood. WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 95 Saturday following, and that would give me time to think of it. In my own mind I said — I shall not go at all ! But, after quietly reflecting about the matter, I saw that my husband was willing to concede some- what, and it only seemed fair that I should do as much ; particularly as I knew that when he was told to go there, he was obliged to do so. For if he had said that he could not go to receive the Endowments because his wife did not wish to, he would have made himself an object of ridicule. He would probably have been " counselled" to take another wife and go through the Endowments with her, (as he could not go alone,) and I should have been bafHed and humi- liated. I, therefore, thought it was best for me to submit ; but I did not do so by any means with a good feeling. I simply " stooped to conquer." I went through that "Endowment House" with the very worst feelings that any woman could have, and scarcely noticed what was passing around me. In justice to the Mormons, I feel bound to state that the accounts which I have frequently read, professing to give a description of the " Endowments" given in Salt Lake City, are almost altogether exaggerated, and have generally been written either by the ene- mies of the Saints, or by those who knew nothing at all about the matter. I myself saw nothing indeli- cate ; though I had been led to believe that improper things did take place there, and I was determined not to submit to any thing of the kind. When we had got through, I thought — " If there is really any good in these ceremonies, or any bless- ing to be derived from them, I certainly shall never 96 , WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. get it." It did not, however, trouble me very much ; for I. was beginning in real earnest to feel tired of serving " the Lord" after the fashion taught by the Mormon elders, and that I should have to give up the whole religion. It was a one-sided affair alto- gether, and it was rarely that I could get so much as a good feeling to help me along. There was scarcely a day passed without some- thing unpleasant, or something calculated to shake my faith, occurring before my eyes. Either some woman was suffering from neglect, while her husband was living with a young wife and spending all his time and money with her ; or some young girl was abused and persecuted by the first wife ; or it might be that there was nothing but quarrelling, hatred, and complaints among them all. Then I would ask myself — " Where is the Spirit of God in all this ? Surely this is none of His work !" The injustice and cruelty of men to their wives, the hardness of women towards each other, and the dejected, timid, cringing women who were afraid to call their lives their own, were sights so painful to behold that I could scarcely continue to believe that the Lord had any thing to do with the Mormon faith. These are things that I have seen, and that I know to be true. Were I at liberty to do so, and were it not a betrayal of confidence, I could give the names of women in Salt Lake City who are now residing there, and who have suffered and are suffering this oppression as much now as then. I could tell the reader -tales of such cruelty in the case of one woman towards another — wives of the WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 97 same man — that he would hardly believe it could be true, and I should be ashamed to relate the story. I will, however, give one short account which will per- haps afford an insight into the whole system, when illustrated by bad men. I knew a young woman who was a second wife, and she had two children. She came to me one day in great distress, and» asked me if I would allow her to come and work for me. I saw she was in trouble ; and, as I had seen her several times before, and knew that she was a second wife to a man who lived only a short distance from us, I asked her to tell me what her trouble was. At first she hesitated, and then she told me that she had nothing to eat and nothing for her little ones. I was surprised at this, for I knew that her husband was in good circum- stances ; and I asked her where he was. She said, " He is away just now, but it makes no difference when he is at home ; it is all the same. I live," she added, " in the garret, and the wind blows through the roof, and it is so cold that we are nearly frozen ; and, when I have asked for a stove, he has told me to go and earn one. I can cook at their kitchen stove ; but, if I stay there too long, his first wife and children do not like it. I have not been out to work since I have been confined." Her babe was then only one month old. Presently she continued — " I am out of every thing, and the other wife says that she won't give me any thing ; that I must go and work for it." " But," I said, " you can not work yet ; you are not strong enough." g8 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. " Oh ! yes, I can," said she. " My husband made me work in the yard when I had only been confined two weeks." Reader, would you believe that this man (if I may call such a creature a " man") was an American } Now, I have always thought that the American hus- bands spoiled their wives ; but I do not think tkis man was guilty of doing so. The poor girl told me that during her confinement she had been left alone in that garret. They would bring her, once a day, something to eat of whatever chanced to be at hand, but she had no light or warmth, and she added — "I have neither food nor proper clothing for my children, and I must go to- work ; I must try to get a place to live in, as my husband will not give me one.'" I told her that she might come and work for me, and she had to bring her two little children with her. How I pitied her ! She was a really good-looking Danish girl ; and, before she had married this man, she had worked in his family as a servant, and had helped in the field. I believe that he married her only to retain her services ; for she said that both he and his wife ill-treated her because she would not work in the field all the time. Another case I think I may mention as confirma- tory of what I have stated. It is that of a young woman who was a sempstress. The first wife had induced her to marry her husband ; and, as soon as they were married, she (the first wife) discovered that she could not endure Polygamy. Then began a series of persecutions. She managed to make her do all WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 99 the sewing for the family, which consisted of boys ; and, when that was done, she insisted on her going out to work by the day, and giving her the money that she earned ; saying that she knew best how to spend it. This poor silly girl did as she was told ; all the home that was allotted to her being a mise- rable little room scarcely furnished. She worked as long as she could, trudging through all kinds of weather to go to her every-day labor, until the very day that her first child was born. The first three days after the birth of her child, the first wife procured some help for her ; but after that she would just open the door and put in something for her to eat, on a tin-plate. This she did, not because she had no other plates, but because she wanted to show her contempt for the young mother ; and if her husband went into the room for ten minutes to see her, there would be a tremendous fuss. As soon as she was able, she was made to go to work again. This was a house where the first wife ruled. The poor creature (the second wife) went to the Bishop, and asked what she should do. He told her to bear it> and " the Lord " would make it all right some day. " The Lord," however, failed to do so. After she had borne her weary trials for four years, and after a long illness, in which she was shamefully neglected, she concluded very wisely that she would endure it no longer, and she left them. It is hardly possible to believe what the poor girl suifered in that illness. Weak and sick as she was, she had to get out of bed and crawl to the fire-place, (for she was far too weak to walk,) and then prepare a fire as well lOO WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. as she could, in order to make herself a little tea, or any thing she might require. This was when her second child was born. But this is nothing, com- pared with what I might write. I pass over such very painful details. This is the kind of treatment that one woman will sometimes give to another under Polygamy ; and it is those women who, from religious zeal, are most anxious to " get wives for their hi;s- bands," who thus misconduct themselves, when their religion is put into practice. Thank God that such women are comparatively few ! There is another class of men in Polygamy who are deserving of notice. These are honest, good men, untiring in their efforts to make their wives comfortable and happy — were that possible. If they could provide a palace for each wife, they would do so. Such men, it may well be said, are slaves to their families ; but, with their best efforts, they can not chase away from their homes this skeleton — Polygamy. With their several wives these men try to be scrupulously just, never showing partiality in look, word, or deed. I know quite a number of such. But a short time since I met with one of them while spending the evening with some of my friends. His fourth wife — a young lady — ^was present with him. He was very attentive and kind to her ; and, had she been his only wife, he could not -have been more so. My attention was attracted by her manner towards him. A stranger would probably never have noticed what I then observed. There was a certain sarcastic bitterness of tone while accepting his atten- WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMV. 101 tions, as if she felt that they were simply hers by right. I looked at her and thought — " Is it possible that you have arrived at that condition already ?" She was a young lady scarcely out of her teens, only a few months married, and surrounded with every comfort. I knew how she felt, for I had passed through a similar experience myself It recalled vividly to my mij;id scenes that had passed in my own home, when my husband had perhaps taken particular pains to show me some attention, or speak kind words to me ; and I had met him with that same half-concealed bitter tone, believing that he was only acting a part with me. I was pained to think that one so young, whom I had seen only a few months before a gay and happy girl, should feel like this ; and yet I knew that it was the fate of every woman who lives in Polygamy. It can not be otherwise. She felt, I know, that all these attentions and loving words would be given to an- other — perhaps an hour after leaving her — and then to another and another still ; and thus they lost their value to her. Thence the cold and thankless tones with which she responded to her husband. A gentleman of my acquaintance who has lived many years in Polygamy, a good, kind husband and father, recently said to me that one of his wives suf- fered terribly from Polygamy. He always avoided any mention of the word in her presence. He told me that he had often seen her happy and gay, with every thing pleasant and agreeable around her, when, by some unforeseen fatality, some one present would allude to Polygamy. In an instant a deep gloom 102 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. would come over her face ; and, strive as he might to drive it away, it was impossible. It would haunt her even for days. Such men as these lose no opportunity of showing their wives every kind attention. If they are affluent and keep a carriage, they may be seen driving out with one of the wives on every occasion. Their sleighs are the first out in the season. They are to be seen at nearly every public amusement. They attend all the balls, and dance only with their wives and other married ladies, except when compelled to do otherwise with their intimate acquaintances. All this they do to try to make their wives happy and divert their thoughts from their secret sorrow. These poor men do not know that the very means which they take to destroy that feeling only excites it the more. A woman, as she receives these kind- nesses, only loves her husband the better and wishes that she had all his love. There is no possible happiness in Polygamy, even with such men. There can be none! And, there- fore, the less love there is, the better are women able to bear it. Brigham knew it when he said in the Bowery some years ago that there should be no love ; it was only a weakness. He understood the case perfectly. It was once remarked to me by a visitor to Salt Lake City, in speaking of a lady friend of mine — " How beautiful she is when she smiles, but what a difficult thing it is to get her to smile ; she looks so sad and mournful." I had known that lady for many years and how deep her sorrow was. Her husband WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. IO3 had been away for a long time on a mission ; and on his return, when he had been home only a week or two, he married two young girls. It is said that his father " counselled " him to do so ; and from that day, now many years ago, she has mourned in deep affliction, to which has been added the troubles which her two lovely daughters have experienced. Some men, feeling that they have got to practice Polygamy or else lose their hopes for futurity, set themselves to work to discover in what way the task can be most easily accomplished to spare their wives' feelings, and make as little change as possible in their households. On the arrival of the emigrants, they will visit the camp ; and, if they see a young girl who takes their fancy, (it may be that they have met be- fore in another country ; if not, it makes no differ- ence,) they will oifer to take her home until she can " look around and see what she can do." Or, if it should be the fall when they arrive, (and it always was so before the railroad was in operation,) they would offer them a home for the winter, which was generally accepted with gratitude, as a great many of them had no relatives to go to. Then they had an opportunity of becoming well acquainted with each other and with the first wife ; and many a wife consents to this addition, believing that, as she has got to pass through the ordeal at some time, this will be the best way. I know an indulgent husband who has taken half a dozen girls, one after the other, into his house for this purpose ; but not one of them seemed to suit his wife exactly, and he has seemingly given it up in despair. I hope his sweet little wife may never be suited ! CHAPTER XIII. Fears realized — Meeting an old Friend from Switzerland — The Vicissitudes of himself and Family — How he was "counselled" to take another Wife — Brigham sends for me — My young Charge — " Not feeling well" — My Husband seeks a second Wife — A "Pain- ful " Task— Striving to submit — My Attempts at Friendship with his Fiancie — My Heart not quite subdued. Upon our arrival in Utah, I longed to see the con- verts who had preceded us from Switzerland. But it was some time before I had the mingled pleasure and pain that that meeting afforded me. One day a countryman called to see us. It was Mr. I was surprised at the difference in the appearance of this gentleman. I hardly knew him. He was changed from the fine-looking, well-to-do bourgeois to a hard-working, labouring man, poorly clad, sun-burnt, wrinkled, and old. I could have wept over him when I saw the change ; and when I inquired about his family, he told me how they were, and that he had married the young servant-girl who had come with them from Switzerland. I was very much surprised at this, but dared not ask him how it had occurred. I thought I would wait till I could see his wife ; but as they lived about eighty miles from the city, I was not enabled to do so till several months after. He told me of his difficulties and struggles to ob- tain even a bare livelihood. His story was that of .iM«^ ■ o WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 105 many others going to a new country. But he did not complain. When he arrived in Utah, he did not know what to turn his attention to, and, after some hesitation, went to farming. As he was entirely ignorant of agriculture, he could not, of course, suc- ceed. Then the grasshoppers came and destroyed their crops ; and one reverse after another followed, until they were i;pduced to miserable poverty, and utterly broken down. Still, though weak in body, he was firm and robust in his faith in Mormonism. He was a sterling man. As soon as I had opportunity I went to see his wife. She was the lady to whom I had first preached Polygamy in Switzerland. I found her in a little log-cabin of two rooms, and of course no car- pet on the floors. In this abode of poverty lived my two kind friends whom I had known under such dif- ferent circumstances, and with them were their five little children. But this was not all. The other wife was also living there, and she, poor girl, was certainly not to blame ; and under the same roof were also' her two children. What a change was this ! When I first knew them in their own country, this lady (the first wife) was a gay, light-hearted, happy woman. Now she was care-worn, dull, and broken-spirited. I asked her how her husband came to marry. She answered me : — " If you had been here during ' the Reformation,'* you would not need to ask that * 1855-6. — ^A period of great and almost incredible excitement in Utah, when the wildest doctrines were urged by the teachers and elders, producing the most fearful results. I06 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMV. question." Then she added — " You ought to thank God that you were not. The men were all crazy here, and were marrying every woman they could get. The Bishop came to my husband one day and told him that he had not ' kept the commandments,' and that he must get another wife within a week. The teachers also went to the servant-girl and told her that she must get married, and that, if she had no one in view, they would select some one for her. " Those were fearful times. No one dared refuse to listen to ' counsel.' What could we do .■' " My husband talked to me about the matter. He said that he had never before thought of it, and there- fore he did not know whom to ask to be his second wife. We began to consider the whole affair in a practical light. If they made this girl marry and leave us, what should I do with all my family with- out her assistance .' Only one solution of the diffi- culty presented itself, and we came to the conclusion that my husband had better ask her to be his second wife. As she also was ' under counsel,' she accepted him, and it made no' great change in our household. She has been a good girl, and although, of course, I feel all this, I try to bear it, — but I hate the Mor- mons !" No one could see at that time how they could es- cape over these vast, dreary plains, and, therefore, they had to submit to their fate. It is a matter of surprise to many persons that intelligent people can be influenced by the Mormon teachers to this extent. But it must be remembered that, when once the disciples of any faith can be WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I07 brought to believe in present revelation, they think it is wicked to question what they are taught, and they do not allow their own judgments to influence them, in the least. I had been in Salt Lake City about two years, and had been working during that time at millinery in order to assist in supporting my family, when one day Brigham Young sent me word that he wished to see me. I went to him, and he told me that there was a young girl, in whom he took an interest, and he wished me to see her. He said she " was not feeling well," (which I discovered afterwards meant that she was almost ready to apostatize,) and he want- ed me to have her with me every day, and try to make her "feel well." If she wished it, I was to teach her my business ; if not, I was to let her do just what she pleased, so that she was with me every day. Her parents, he stated, were both dead. I listened to all that President Young said, and acepted the trust in good faith, for I was very unsus- pecting at that time. I called upon the young lady and made arrangements with her. She came to my house, and I found her to be a particularly sweet girl, but very unhappy and also very delicate. Several of my friends, who were old residents in Salt Lake City, said to me, " Mrs. Stenhouse, there is some design in all this. Be on your guard." Some women in Salt Lake are always ready with their painful advice. In this instance, however, they were not far from the truth. I did not suspect any thing ; I soon formed, however, an attachment for the young girl, as she did also for me, and I may add — my bus- I08 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. band had also for her ; although I had no suspicion of it then. She remained with me many months, until her health became so poor that she was obliged to stay at home. During this time, ladies would fre- quently tell me that my husband visited her regularly, and that it was supposed he would marry her. * As may be supposed, I was very much shocked at this intelligence, and asked him about it. He told me that there was no truth in what I had heard, and I tried to believe him. However, he spent much less time at home than ■ he used to while she was with me, and although I did not know certainly where he was when absent, I felt sure that he was engaged in something which interested him very much. I may here mention that it is not customary for a Mormon wife to ask her husband where, he is going when he leaves home in the evening after arranging his toilet very carefully. If she feels that she must say something to give vent to her over- wrought feelings, it is simply to ask him when he will be home ; and in many instances to wish in her secret heart that he might say — " Never !" I sometimes am almost inclined to think that the baneful effects of this fearful religion will not only pursue us through life, but will also go with us to our graves. To this day, although every thing is so greatly changed, and my husband is now " all m,y own," I cannot entirely forget the past, and often I feel like a guilty thing if I venture to ask him where he is going, or where he iias been. The reader who knows what the varied experience of life is, will understand what I mean, but which words fail me to tel}, WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. lOg I have lived a separate life so long, hiding my sorrows in my own breast, that now it has become almost impossible to restore that long-lost confidence which constitutes the true pleasure of married life, witheut which no woman is really happy. I cannot forget the past. It was fraught with a perpetual fear which my mind can never entirely shake off — a fear which even now makes me think that the teachings of that religion can never be utterly effaced from our hearts, and which reminds me sadly of the words which the poet has put into the mouth of one of those sympathizing angels who are said to watch over the interests of mankind : — " Poor race of men, said the pitying spirit, Dearly ye pay for your primal fall ; Some traces of Eden ye still inherit, But the trail of the serpent is over them all-" But there was no poetry to soothe my mind in the hour of my trial. There was no music then that could lull the storm which gathered in my breast. The only word which could then depict my feelings was — weariness I — weariness of mind and body, a longing to die, that I might be at rest. If the reader never felt thus, let him not judge me. If he has known troubles such as mine, he will, out of his own experience, sympathize with me. But I return to my story. I began at last to think, as some of my friends had told me, that Brigham Young had some design when he sent the young girl to my house. Possibly he never thought of it. fllO WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. However, I saw no more to trouble me at that time, and as my husband persisted in denying the truth of the rumours which I had heard, I tried to believe that they were false. But at the same time, I was so troubled and agitated by these things that I found it impossible to make up my mind to go and see her: From this time my husband (apparently) began to feel seriously that it was his " duty to take another wife."' Some years later, when I had more experience in the ways of men, I discovered s.everal never-failing signs by which one might know when a' man wished to take another wife. He would suddenly awaken to a sense of .his duties, and would have great fears that " the Lord" Would not pardon him for any neglect. He would become very religious, attend to his " meet- ings" — testimony meetings — singing meetings, and various other meetings! In fact, he would show a great determination to leave nothing undone which ought to be done. My husband, being a good and conscientious Mormon, experienced all these feelings. Of course he did ; and his kind brethren, knowing just how he felt, sympathized,- urged, and even aided him in his noble efforts to carry out the " commands of God." The young lady was at last selected. She was very pretty, and very youthful. The last qualifica- tion is very necessary in a Mormon's wife, for then it is expected that she will have more time to bear chilr drento the glory of the kingdom. It must not be supposed that any other Consideration influences a .WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. Ill Mormon mind. O dear ! no. They are such very pure-minded men. Then commenced the task, the painful task of pay- ing his addresses to her. It is a " painful task" I know, for my husband told me it was, and of course I, as a dutiful wife, believed him. He seemed, however, to bear it remarkably well, and went at it with a zeal that was perfectly ftstonishing to me, who knew, from what he said, how painful it was to him. I had really to restrain him a little for the benefit of his health ; for when the duties of the day were over, and evening. came, he would scarcely take time to eat his supper, so anxious was he to continue this labour of love. ^ But deeply as I sympathized with" my husband in the " painful duty" which he had to perform, there were times when I felt that my real sorrow was greater than his fancied difficulties. I was in fact now truly overwhelmed with trouble. It seemed to me as if affliction was right at my door. I would sometimes almost rave with anger. Then I would pray, then cry. Such were the days and nights that I spent, not once only, but constantly, and without ceasing. I may truly say that I never knew at that time what it was to smile. I never knew in any sense what it was to be happy. I was pale, thin, and ner- vous, and I was often asked by my friends, who only judged from appearance, if I were consumptive. Yes, I might have answered, there is a consuming sorrow at my heart that is gnawing my life away. There was no possibility of evading my trouble. I had to 112 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. face it, and though I felt that I had not courage to endure it, yet I lived ! I knew the very hours that my husband was with her. Mentally I was myself with him, and saw all. the anguish that I felt in those times ! No tongue can describe it, no one is capable of imagining it, but a woman who truly loves her husband and has en- dured the same anguish as that which I then felt. Had my husband been in any sense a bad man, I dare say, like many other women, I would have hardened ray heart and have tried to forget that I ever cared for him. But this was not the case. He was a really good man in every respect. I knew how fondly he had once loved me, and in my heart I believed that he would even now be unchanged but for the influence of his religion, which he sti41 thought was " the way, the truth, and the life." If I had for one moment supposed what he did was from any other than the purest motives, I should have cast his love from me ; but even up to that time 1 feared, and almost believed, that all this might be right ; although I saw so much wrong connected with it. I knew very well that if it was the law of God, as I had been led to believe it was, I must endure it, though it should cost me my life. Besides which, Brigham Young and all the authorities used to say that it was "a cross that we all had got to bear," though I used to think that the heaviest portion of the cross was put on woman's shoulders. They have all told me frequently and positively that there was no salvation or " exaltation in the heavens" without WHAT I. KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. II3 it. The thought of it was, nevertheless, so revolting to me that, had I been left to my own choice, I would rather have gone to some other place than the kind of heaven they spoke of, without it, than have gone to glory with it. But I was a wife, and had to con- sult my husband's interests as well as my own. No matter how weak I was in the faith, if my husband felt condemned by not practising the doctrine of Polygamy, it became my duty to submit, or at least I thought so. With these convictions and feelings, I would some- times nerve myself to the task of enduring ; but if I happened to get a glimpse of the girl that my hus- band was going to marry, all my good resolutions would vanish like chaff before the wind, and I would feel sick and nervous, and entirely unfitted to attend to my duties. I had often heard it said that the Lord gave strength according to our day, but I certainly felt that it was not true in my case. My day had come, but I had very little strength. About this time my husband left the city to go to the Eastern States, and his marriage was put off to some indefinite period on account of the extreme youthfulness of the bride-elect. I felt in a measure relieved ; for now they could not meet, and I thought that it would be a good opportunity for me to try to show her some attention, which I felt it was my duty to do. I thought that I would invite her to my house, now that there was no danger of my husband meeting her, and I did so. She came, and I had one or two other ladies present, for I was not like my husband in 1 14 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLVGAMY. this particular — /could not endure to be alone witb her. I don't think that she enjoyed herself very much, for I could not at this time take to her. I longed for the time to come for her to go home, and when she had gone, I did not feel very satisfied, but thought that I would try it again. I did so, but this time it was an entire failure ; for before she came, I had been brooding over the matter, and so hated the sight of her that I feigned sickness and kindly asked her to go horiie. After that, I gave up my attempt at friend- liness as a bad job, and thought she must take her chances of any attention from me. She was a very nice girl, and under any other circumstances I think I could have liked her very well. During my husband's .absence, the young lady that I mentioned before as having lived with me, had not recovered from her illness, but was growing worse all the time. She had been out of the city, and I had not seen her for some months. She now sent for me, and I went to see her every day ; for I saw that she was failing fast, and I felt assured that she could not live long. She told me that she had left my house because she would not do any thing to make me suffer. She said that my husband had- hinted at marriage to her, and that she liked him, but had avoided him for my sake. This was an instance of such self-denial as I " had never expected to find in Utah, and I looked on her as almost an angel. I told her that my husband had denied it, and she said that he did so to spare my feelings, as it was not likely to result in any thing. WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMV. II g This I did not appreciate at all. I only felt that I had been deceived. But Polygamic Mormonism is full of deceptions. They deceive each other, and are at the same time often themselves the most deceived. I knew well enough that my husband was not happy. It was not in his nature to have deceived me ; but he was compelled to do so from the very circumstances of the case ; and, as I said before, for peace' sake. He knew that there were times when I was perfectly wild with despair, and was reckless of consequences ; and I was prepared to cast aside my hope of salvation, my life, and every thing, rather than endure another day what I then was sufFeriTig. At these times I would say the most bitter things that I ■ could think of, of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and all the leading men of the church. My husband was perfectly awe-stricken at the attacks I would make upon those whom he then believed were the servants of God. I know that there were times when he felt that it was the greatest sin that I could commit to speak thus. In my calmer moments, seeing my husband so terribly in earnest, and having confidence in his superior judgment, I would come back to the old feeling that the wrong was in myself, and I would earnestly pray to the Lord to be forgiven. I do not think that I should ever make a very good saint, for in all this that I have related there was one thing that consoled me — I felt that my husband's intended would some day learn that she was not his first and only love after myself I am almost ashamed to own that this should be any gratification to me, Il6 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. but the young girls at that time frequently got the idea' that the men had never really loved until they met with them. How far the men were to blame for this I do not know ; but it is a fact, and I have little doubt that they had a pretty good share in the de- ception. CHAPTER XIV. The Sacrifice of my Life— I give another Wife to my Husband— The Scene in the " Endowment House" — My Day of Trial — " It was all over now"— Bitter Miseries of Polygamy— Rebellious Thoughts —Retrospect of that*rime— The first Wife not alone unhappy- Watchful Eyes— A Ludicrous Picture— Want of Sympathy— Seek- ing another " Jewel " for his " Crown"— Enlarging the " King- dom"—" Stolen Waters"— Love-Letters read in Secret— Reading the " Revelation'' a Seconii Time. I WAS now expecting soon to be called upon to undergo the most fearful ordeal that any woman can possibly be required to pass through — that of giv- ing my husband another wife. The thought of doing this was even worse than death. It would have been fearful to have followed my husband to his grave ; but to live and see him the husband of another woman seemed to me like exacting more than human nature was capable of enduring. With all my faith in Mormonism, doubts would arise, and in my bitterest moments of anguish I would exclaim, "This is more like the work of cruel man than of God. Why should man have this power over woman, and she so helpless ? Surely, a just and impartial God can have nothing to do with this !" Then, again, I would come to the conclusion, as I had many times before, that " the ways of the Lord are past finding out," and, therefore, I must submit. As the time approached for me to do this, I felt Il8 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. like a condemned felon in his cell, waiting in agony the day of his execution. I knew that my husband suffered also, now that it was so near ; for he neces- sarily saw that it would make a great change in his future life. His freedom was gone. The dreaded day at length arrived. As may well be supposed, I had passed a very wakeful and un- happy night, and I felt very sick and nervous ; for I was soon to become a mother, and it seemed to me that I had not courage to go through that day. How- ever, I nerved myself to the task, and silently made my preparations for going to the " Endowment House." The morning was bright and lovely, and calculated to inspire joyous hopes and happy feel- ings. To me it brought nothing but fear and trem- bling. I could not even trust myself to speak to my children, for I was choking with suppressed emotion ; and they, not knowing how deeply J was suffering, looked at me with wonder in their innocent eyes. " Oh !" I thought, " surely my husband will at last understand the depth of the love I bear him ; for, were it not that he believes the doctrine to be true, I would even now dash this bitter cup from my lips !" There was a darkness before my eyes, and, struggle as I might, I could see no ray of light, no glimmering of hope. I was utterly cast down and broken-hearted, and felt almost as if the Lord had forsaken me. I could not go to my husband for sympathy ; for I felt that his thoughts were with his young bride, and that my sorrows would only worry him at a time when he must desire to be at peace. The time at length arrived for us to go to the WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 19 " Endowment House," and there at the altar the first wife is expected to give proof of her faith in her reli- gion by placing the hand of the new wife in that of her husband. She is asked the question by Brigham Young, " Are you willing to give this woman to your husband, to be his lawful and wedded wife, for time and for all eternity ? If you are, you will manifest it by placing her rigjjit hand within the right hand of your husband." I did so. But what words can de- scribe my feelings > The anguish of a whole lifetime was crowded into that one single moment. When it was done, I felt that I had laid every thing upon the altar, and that there was no more to sacrifice. I had given awdy my husband.' "What more could the Lord require of me that I could not do ? Nothing ! I was bewildered and almost besi'de myself, and yet I had to hide my feelings ; for to whom should I turn for sympathy among those who were around me .-' My husband was there, it is true ; but he was now the husband of another woman, and a newly-made bride- groom. I felt that I stood alone, our union was severed. I had given away my husband, and he no longer be- longed only to me ! The thought was madness. I could not think it possible that there ever could be any copartnership between that other wife and my- self From that day, I began to hide all my sorrows from my husband ; and it was only when I was com- pelled, as I might say, to give vent to my highly- wrought feelings, that I ever uttered a word of dis- content. Then, when I spoke or e;xpressed what I felt, it was in anger ; but never in sorrow, seeking sympathy. I20 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I remember well that when I returned home — that " home" which was now to become hateful to me, for his young wife was to live there — my husband said to me, " You have been very brave ; but it is not so hard to do, after all, is it ?" He had seen me bear it so well, that he even supposed I was indifferent. So much for the penetration of men ! During the remainder of that day, how I watched their looks and noted their every word. To me, their tender tones were like daggers, piercing me to the heart. One moment I yearned for my husband's un- divided love ; the next moment I hated even the very sight of him, and vowed that he never again should have a place in my heart. Then I would feel that there was no justice in heaven, or this great sorrow would not have come upon me. Why did the Lord implant this love in my nature ? If it is wrong. He could have created me without it. Or was it for the pleasure of torturing His daughters that this was done } I could not but feel that the Lord whom I served was partial ; for He allowed His sons to indulge in their love, while His daughters, who by man are considered the weaker vessels, were ex- pected to be strong enough to crush out from their natures all love and all weakness. I felt that day thfit if I could not soon get away by myself, in privacy, and give vent to my overcharged feelings, I should certainly go mad. It was only in the dead of night, in my own cham- ber, that I gave way to the terrible anguish that was consuming me. God and my own soul can alone bear witness to that time of woe. That night was to WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POtyGAMY. 121 me such that even the most God-forsaken might pray never to know ; and morning dawned without my having for a moment closed my eyes. It was all over now. Nothing remained but for me to face the fearful reality day after day and hour after hour. I do indeed believe that a man, if he could have felt as I did then, would have sunk be- neath the trial. Who but a woman could endure such things and yet live .' I had been married then about fifteen years. When I look back to those days, I feel that all ill-feeling, all those manifold causes of sorrow, have fully died away ; for the cause is now removed. I can now afford to think as kindly of the second as well as of the first wife ; for those young women who marry into Polygamy very often — in fact, I may say, gene- rally — do so from a sincere belief that it is their duty ; and I know that they also have their trials. What can they know of happiness — real happiness .' If they are sensitive, intelligent girls, they must feel almost as intruders in the home of another woman, never daring to show their affection for their hus- bands, and knowing as they do that keen eyes are always watching them. , . If their sorrow is even less than that of the first wife,' they certainly can know no joy. And if the husband has the whole of his family in one house, as is often the case, where is his happiness .' One might truly say that then he is nothing but a slave in the midst of his slaves — his own wives. This can be readily understood. His every look and action will be closely watched and -criticised. - If he should £22 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. chance to give a new dress to one, he must also give a dress to the other, no matter whether she needs it or not. Every thing is noticed. Nothing is over- looked. When a woman's heart is anxious, her eye is never weary. This state of affairs, painful as it must be to all who are themselves personally interested in such things, not infrequently presents a ludicrous picture to those who are only lookers-on. In fact, sometimes these things are even grotesque in their results. I have more than once seen sights of this kind which were most laughably ridiculous. Let the reader imagine a very old wife, and a very young one, dressed alike ! Yet this is not infrequently the case. The poor old lady sometimes thinks that if she can only make herself look a little juvenile she will be quite as attractive to her husband as his young wife is. All women would prefer to be young ; but women in Utah have a perfect dread of growing old, for they do not like the idea of being set aside to make room for younger ones, which is very often their fate. In fact, this is so common, that it is seen daily. I had lived in Polygamy for about three years, and nearly one year of that time it was brought home to me most painfully, for it was right before my eyes, under my own roof, day after day. To attempt to de- scribe to the reader the contending feelings that con- tinually and without ceasing tortured my very soul, would be impossible. In my struggles to hide them I thought they would send me mad. I felt that it re- quired more courage to live than to die, but the thought of my little ones restrained me ; and I, WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 123 thought that, although my life seemed so utterly- worthless to me, it was of the utmost value to them, and to them it should be devoted. I would not die. I would live for their sake. All this time my husband was kind to me. What would it have been had he been otherwise ? But this perpetual conflict of feelings unfitted me for my duties. Even the prattle of my children, which had always been as mtisic to my ear, was now almost a discordant sound. Their little questionings, too, were irksome ; for I wanted to be alone. I had no sympathy ; for there was none that knew of all these sorrows and trials, or who could feel with me in my affliction ; no, not one. Besides, whom could I tell them to if not to my husband ; and I certainly could not tell him noTp. Then, too, what good would it do me to tell him of my grief? The thing was done, and I must endure it'; or, as I have heard some men saytto their wives, " You must round up your shoul- ders and bear it ; it is as much your duty as mine." Besides, I thought, how do I know but what he may tell his other wife of my feeli«gs ? and that would be too great a humiliation for me, should she think that I am jealous. I am not naturally a jealous woman. But, I con- tend that where there is no jealousy there is very little love ; and, in the trying situation in which Mor- nton women are placed, they must be more than hu- man not to feel it. Besides, I did not think that what I felt was jealousy. Even if it was so, it was mingled with feelings of indignation and humilia- tion. 124 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I was indeed indignant at seeing another woman under my roof, bearing my husband's name, and treated as his wife. Oh ! this seemed sometimes really more than I could endure. I was ready to say, She is not his wife ! dare to call her by his name ! Then I would feel humiliation at the posi- tion which I occupied, when I fully realized it in all its bearings. If any one had then told my husband that those were my feelings, he wOuld not have believed it ; for when we had assembled in our little parlour of an evening, (men generally spend their evenings at home after taking a new wife, at least for a while,) I would so far have subdued my feelings as at least to be calm, if not entertaining. But how I watched their looks ! how I weighed every word, and often put a meaning to many things where there proba- bly was none. My husband would frequently say to me, " You do not feel bad now, do you .' You have got used to it." I am proud to say, Ijiever got used to it. I had lived in Polygamy about three years when Mr. S. thought it was about time that he should add another jpwel to his crown. I raised no abjection to this ; for I felt that he might just as well have twenty more as the one already too many, particularly as we had been taught to believe, the more wives the more glory. He told me who the favoured damsel was, and I had no objection to her. The only promise I tried to exact from him was that there should be no long courtship. This he did not object to. But I was doomed to be disappointed, although there seemed WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 12$ to be no obstacle in the way this time ; for her mother declared to me soon after that " no man had ever moved her daughter's heart to love" but my hus- band ; " he was her first and only love" — ^pleasant communication to make to a wife ! Her daughter confirmed this ; and I myself had little doubt that she spoke the truth, when I saw letters constantly coming to my house, brought by persons who I knew came from Rer, and I perceived how much care was taken that they should not fall into my hands. It had always been represented to me, as to every woman, that I was a partner in the affair, and I thought that it was nothing but right and just that I should see and understand for myself how the court- ship was progressing. I did not wish to be guilty of any thing that was mean ; but as my partner in the business did not seem inclined to show me those letters, I thought that I would just take a glance at them without leave. Accordingly, while he was sweet- ly and unconsciously slumbering, night after night I extracted those charming epistles from his pocket. When I opened them, I found that one glance at them only gave me a taste for more, and I was not satisfied till I had read them through. I do not wish to justify myself for acting thus. But let the reader remember what cause of provocation I had, and how desperate I felt, before he too hastily judges me or condemns what I did. To my great astonishment, I found from those midnight readings that the affair had progressed far beyond my utmost anticipations, and when I saw the intensity of the love depicted in those letters, I be- 126 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. gan to think that / had before known nothing about that tender sentiment. The young lady became most terribly exacting during fifteen long and dreary months, so fraught with misery to me that it would be impossible to tell truly a thousandth part of what I felt. Even the i^e- collection of those times I wish to banish. What I endured through this love affair was simply what many a woman has had to pass through before me in Utah, but which I then firmly resolved I never would endure again. I had come to the conclusion that if the Lord would not give me " salvation" without that, I would do without it. I had striven hard to do His will ; but I had failed in every single instance to see, in what I was called upon to suffer, any indicaT tion of a God of justice. " How," said I, "could the humiliation, abasement, and misery of thousands of women contribute to the glory of God .'" I now determined that I would satisfy myself con- cerning the true origin of Mormonism, and of that extraordinary " revelation" which first established Polygamy. I had through all these years seen many, many things that, even after making every allowance, and taking them at their best, I knew were wrong. At least they appeared so to me, and, according to my views, the teachings of the church abounded with in- consistencies which considerably weakened my con- fidence in its authority. I procured a copy of " The Revelation on Mar- riage," and read it carefully and calmly. I had not seen it since I had partially read it in Switzerland WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 127 seventeen years before. Then I bad cast it aside in grief, with disgust and indignation. But I now pe- rused it with anxious care, desiring only to learn the truth. I saw plainly from its own wording that if ever it had been given to Joseph Smith, no matter by whom, it was given after he had practiced Polyga- my, or something worse, and to sanction what he had done. I began to make careful inquiry into all these things ; and I found that evidence was not wanting to prove, at least to me, that this doctrine of plural marriages was jiot of divine origin. To doubt one doctrine was to begin to doubt all, and I soon felt that my religion was rapidly crum- bling away before my eyes, and that I was losing con- fidence in every thing and every body. I was like a ship at sea without a compass, not knowing where to go or what to do. At that moment, I believe I would sooner have proved my religion true than false, much as it had caused me to suffer. But the more I tried to prove it true, the more I proved it false ; until in disgust I gave up the idea of solving my difficulties, resolving that I would have nothing more to do with the mat- ter. I had noticed, for some time past, with no small degree of pleasure, that my husband's faith in the di- vine mission of Brigham Young was shaken. He would not confess as much to me ; but the way I dis- covered it was very simple. My ears were opened, and my eyes were ever watchfully bent upon him, and I observed that in his prayers with his family when he would ask that Brigham Young might have the Spirit of God to enable him to judge justly of the 128 WHAT 1 KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. actions of his brethren, and that he might compre- hend the situation of the people, I thought I detected in his peculiar earnestness a foreshadowing of doubt creeping over him, and I rejoiced to think that at last there was a probability that he would yet use his own brains and experience, upon which I placed great reliance, and be no longer a slave to others. o CHAPTER XV. Trouble with the Church — Implicit Obedience demanded — Confidence in the Church Authorities declining — Clinging to Faith — ^Attempts to suppress Doubts-*How Inquiry was suggested— Brigham angry — " A Prophet might be mistaken" — Day dawning at last — " Obey- ing Counsel," and what it cost— An Article on "Progress"— A Scene — We withdraw from the Church — A brutal and scandalous Outrage upon my Husband and myself— Strange Police ! — Without Redress — Popular Anger— Private Sympathy. Mr. Stenhouse had been a member of the church since 1845. He had, to the very best of his ability, lectured, preached, written, and published in Great Britain, and various parts of the Continent, as well as in the United States, in support of the Mormon faith. He was a most earnest advocate of Mormon- ism, laying aside his own interests, and those of his family, all the time. Personally, he was devotedly attached to Brigham Young for many years. While the members of the church have unshaken confidence in the faith of the new revelation, they very naturally acquire a regard for the Prophet, and render him unquestioning obe- dience. When Brigham spoke, he was ready to obey ; and at any time during twenty years he would joyfully have given up his own life to save the life of the Prophet, had it been endangered. Whatever he might have seen or heard of Brigham's disregard of the rights of the working poor, and his ridiculous 130 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY, counsellings and teachings to the brethren on busi- ness aifairs, he was ready to excuse it all, on the plea that " Brigham was the servant of the Lord," and, therefore, knew more than all the rest, and doubtless had inspiration to direct him in all that he did. While he was in this condition of mind, I was al- most without hope that the change I had so long desired would ever come. When I would bring be- fore him things which I frequently heard of Brigham, and his oppression of any one, he would answer me that I could not righteously judge ; for I only par- tially knew the facts, and that if I knew more, I would probably think otherwise. This was his an- swer to every thing ; and probably many women in Utah have had something like this experience with husbands devoted to the Prophet's interests and reputation. He was not, however, so satisfied with every thing as his answers indicated. From the conversations that I listened to between him and influential men in the church,' I clearly saw that many of the most devoted brethren around Brigham did not approve of much that he said and did ; but their observations were always tempered with a fear of " meddling with the servant of the Lord." There is, indeed, a dread in the soul of every good Mormon of entertaining any doubts about their leaders, or criticising in any way whatever they might think proper to do or say. Brigham Young, in one of his sermons, says, " In the days of Joseph, the first thing manifested in the case of apostasy was the idea that Joseph was liable to be mistaken ; and when a man admits that in his WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 131 feelings^ and sets it down as a fact, it ts a step toward apostasy ; and he only needs to take one step more, and he is cut off from the church." It is this kind of teaching that binds every man in Mormonism. I was, fortunately, not a man ; and as women will sometimes persist in thinking for themselves, I kept on thinking and admitting that Joseph Smith was liable to be mistaken, and that Brigham Young even excelled him in this particular. In fact, he was not only " liable," but I knew that he had been mistaken many times. My thinking very often seriously trou- bled Mr. S. The frequent visits we had from strangers passing through Salt Lake City, and Mr. S.'s own frequent travels, in the States, contributed much to undermine his confidence in the teachings of the church. In their isolation, and the infrequency with which the Saints had any intercourse with others than them- selves, it afforded the teachers an opportunity to represent the Gentiles in the worst possible manner ; and in harmony with their faith, they believed the world was corrupt, and fit only to be destroyed. When visitors had retired from our house, the re- mark would frequently be made, " What a pity these persons are not in the church 1" Instinctively there would follow that expression, the suggestion that surely they would not be damned because they did not accept the mission of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. The more we had of that inter- course, the less confidence we had in the Tabernacle faith.- The malignant and abusive language, too, so frequently used in the sermons, was a puzzle that did 132 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY, not tend to confirm confidence. It seemed that the inspiration ,of " the Lord " was continually at war with good sense and experience. The more we knew of Christian institutions, and of persons outside of the Mormon Church, the less we believed in the priesthood's declarations of damnation, and there was a gradual returning to reason. /The Mormon leaders had always counselled the people to avoid intercouse with the rest of the world ; and in that they were right, for there are few persons who have much inter- course and acquaintance with the world, who are strong in the Mormon faith. With a better' know- ledge of mankind, the less they believe in the revela- tions of Joseph Smith, and of the world coming to an end within the next twenty years. If they grow at all, they outgrow the Mormon faith. How I prayed in secret, that Brigham would some day attack Mr, S. !. and how glad was my heart when that time came ! Brigham had been to the country for a few days, and during his absence some contention had arisen among the brethren at an election, which dreadfully annoyed him. On the morning after his return to the city, the police reported to him that the Gentiles wete mingling freely with the Mormon girls, and skating on the same ice, on the Hot Spring Lake, north of the city, He was furious, and was " mad " with every thing and every body, Mr.. S. called upon him, and without perceiving his sweet temper, introduced some newspaper business on the very subject that had made the Prophet an- gry. Brigham accused him of publishing a favoura- WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 33 ble notice in his paper of (to him) a very objectiona- ble Gentile store ; and added to that personal charges about matters that had been published in his paper during Mr. S.'s absence in the Eastern States. Mr. S. angrily replied to him that what was personal to him "was not true ;" and as Brigham was on the eve of leaving, he asked for a conference with him in the evening. " After all these years of labour and devotion," said Mr. S. to me in the afternoon, " for Brigham Young to speak to me and of me with such bitterness, with- out a particle of foundation ! where was his divine inspiration.'" He suddenly checked himself; but the truth was out, and I saw he had reached the con- clusion that indeed " a prophet might be mistaken" in ordinary matters of life. When he returned home in the evening, he told me that Brigham had received him very kindly, and had apologized, in his way, for the morning scene. The reconciliation made no change in my mind ; for I knew that, however frankly Mr. S. would forgive Brigham, there was too much of the Scotchrnan in his nature to allow him ever to forget it. But to get him to avow that Brigham was simply human, was a great step in the direction of future freedom. One circumstance followed another, and I saw growing upon Mr. S. a disposition to listen to and w.eigh what he heard ; and at the same time his confidence in divine inspiration began to dwindle gently away. I was contented, and believed that the day which I had long looked for was dawning at last. The strength of Mormonisnj consists in the " blind 134 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. obedience" of its disciples. Let them once question what they hear from the Prophet, and they are gone ! The quotation I have already given from Brigham's sermon illustrates this. He knew what he spoke. Instead of rebelling against Polygamy, had I only read the revelation carefully, and doubted its divine origin, I would have been saved a life of misery. It was only when I came to the conclusion that Joseph Smith never had this revelation /raw/ G^^^ that I was delivered from my former faith, and became once more happy. When I saw Mr. S. looking upon Brigham Young and his teachings and actions as he looked upon other men, I knew instinctively that he would finally conclude that Brigham was not only fallible, but even very liable to make mistakes. Mr. S. had been so long engaged in the defence of Mormonism, that it was deeply grounded in him. Its teachings and observances seemed to him beyond a doubt, and were strongly riveted in his mind. Its weak and doubtful points fled before his faith. When I heard him with others bringing up some of the questionable teachings of the church, criticising Brigham's " counsellings," and doubting some of his measures, and speaking of him as they would of any other of the brethren, I was satisfied that he could not long remain such as he once had been. Long years of subniission, and the receiving, with- out question, a prophet's teaching as divine inspira- tion, necessarily benumbs the soul and withers its life, till unconsciously the victim becomes an abject slave—^a mere automaton. WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I35 With Mr. S., Mormonisra had been every thing for a score of years and more. It had grown with his years, until it had become a part of himself. A tri- fling incident might possibly awaken doubts, but it required time to effect a perfect change. The measures adopted by Brigham in the spring of 1869, for the purpose of controlling the commerce of Utah, as well as the faith of the people, caused great discontent. * The teachings of the Tabernacle were wild and arrogant; Brigham assuming that it was his right to dictate in every thing, " even to the setting up of a stocking," (so he said,) or " to the ribbons that a woman should wear." What Brigham said, and the fanaticism that it created, aroused many of the people to opposition, and the more he observed the signs of the opposition, the more fierce he be- came in his denunciations, and harsh in his mea- sures. One Sunday evening, which I shall never forget, my husband came home and said to me, " President Young wants me to move the Telegraph" (a daily paper, of which Mr. S. was editor and proprietor,) " to Ogden." With the vividness of lightning, a glimpse of what was in store for us flashed across my mind, and I exclaimed, " What is that you say ?" He repeated, " President Young wants me to, go to Ogden." " With the Telegraph ?" I inquired. "Yes," he replied. , , " Does he mean," I askedj "Jhat you should leave 136 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. all you have accomplished during these past years of labour, and begin again at Ogden ?" " He does," answered Mr. S. " Surely, you must be deceived," I suggested. - " No," he replied, " I am not deceived." " But who has told you this .'" I asked. " One of the Apostles," said he. " But," I questioned, " will you go ?" " What can I do .'" he replied. " Do !" I exclaimed ; " why, I would tell him at orice that I would not go." "Then," said he, "I shall be charged with rebel- lion." "But," I responded, "will you quietly and submis- sively lose the business that you have created by these years of struggle, without telling him what you think r " If I object to go," he replied, " Brigham will charge me with want of faith in the Lord, and I may as .well close up my business and leave the church." " But surely," I questioned, " you will not yield to this despotism .'" " I don't know," he said ; " I do not see very clear- ly yet, but I shall know better after he has spoken to me. That night, little as I then thought it, and little as I then guessed what it would cost us, was the dawn- ing of the day of liberty to me. The following evening, my husband came home very sorrowful. I knew at once that he was unhap- py ; and the more he tried to conceal his trouble, the WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 37 more I observed the depression under which he was labouring. " Have you seen the President ?" I inquired. " Yes, I have," he briefly replied. " And are you going to Ogden ?" I said. " Yes," he answered, " I am going." " You are ! " I exclaimed. " What can I do else ?" he asked. " Do !" said I ; *why, do what your own experience dictates." " You speak," said he, " like a woman." " And I am a woman," I replied, with warmth ; " but if you submit to this, you are only a slave !" " Oh ! be quiet," he said ; " let me at least have a little peace here." In the face of the most certain ruin, and with the urgent remonstrances of his best friends ringing in his ears, Mr. Stenhouse yielded to Brigham's order to " pull up the Telegraph, root and branch, and go to Ogden." As soon as my husband told me that he had been told to " pull up the Telegraph, root and branch, and go," I knew what that meant. It was like going into a desert and giving up all, simply to prove faith and obedience. "But surely, after all, you will not go?" He replied, " I have always obeyed ' counsel,' and I am not prepared now to disobey it. What can I do ? I must go." " Well," I answered, " you must do as you think best ; but if you would take my advice, you would tell Brigham Young plainly that you would not go. 138 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POI^YGAMY. Tell him that, you are. the best judge of your; own affairs, and that you can see clearly how obeying his instructions will bring ruin to your family." I felt that this would certainly be the case. I had always had. a thorough contempt for what was called " asking counsel," although occasionally I had been obliged to submit to it. I really could not understand why people should have brains at all if they were not to use them ; and I am sure I utterly failed to see the superiority of those who set themselves up as " coun- sellors" to the men whom they attempted to " coun- sel." Besides, I had often discovered that the coun- sel thus given was not always for the benefit of the person counselled. My husband carefully thought over the matter. I saw he was much troubled, but he came to the con- clusion that he would unreservedly accept the order, " obey," and go. It was of no use to resist, and so I held my tongue. Very often since, it has occurred to me that probably this was the best thing, after all, that he could do ; for it was, in a measure, the means of bringing him to realize his dependent position upon the will of Brigham Young. He went to visit Ogden, and on his return he said to me, " President Young might as well have sent me into a desert. He may perhaps not know it, for probably he docs not comprehend the expenses of a daily paper ; but it will ruin me." I, of course, did not exult over this unpleasant ful- filment of my anticipations, for I knew too well how greatly it would affect both my family and myself, , WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 39 It had, however, as I hoped, the desired effect of adding to his growing convictions about Brigham and the priesthood, and with this I was satisfied. Sinbe then I have often asked Mr. S. if he had not better have taken my advice, and he has answered me, " There is a period in every man's life in Mor- monism when he must show his obedience ; my time was then. I gave evidence of my obedience, and it brought ruin, as I "Expected. Henceforth I will fol* low the best experience of my life." Much as the trial had cost us, I rejoiced ; for I saw in this a renewal of his own manhood. Shortly after Mr. S. returned to Salt Lake City with the Telegraph, the Utah Magazine began to question Brigham's measures, and the editors assumed to speak to the people of their position. This was at once pronounced rebellion and apostasy. The Tele- graph took no part against the rebels, and that was construed to be " aid and comfort " to the enemy. Mr. S. could not oppose a movement that he felt was destined to shake the unchallenged power of the priesthood. I well remember Mr. S. writing an article upon " Progress," for the Telegraph. He wrote it at home, and read it to me, paragraph by paragraph, as he wrote it. I thought he was " inspired ;" the reason- ing was so just, and the words came so freely front his pen. When it was finished, and he read it to me entire, we looked at each other. I thought his look was asking my opinion, and I quickly replied, "Pub- lish it ; it is true." He said, "It is true, but it will bring troublfe if published." " Never tnind," I added. I40 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. "if it brings us to the door; let us be true to the truth." It was published on the 2d of October, 1869. The semi-annual conference of the church was held that week, and continued in session five days. At the close of the session, on the Sunday afternoon, the Apostle Amasa Lyman, and Mr. William S. Godbe, soon after prominent men in the reform movement, came to dine with us, by previous ap- pointment. Mr. S. had gone to the post-office, but soon joined them in the parlour, carrying a small newspaper open in his hand as he entered. After the usual greetings he said, " Brethren, the ball is open; hear this." In that little paper there was a letter reviewing the article upon " Progress," and with it the correspondent professed to reveal that there was a " movement " on foot in Salt Lake City to attack Brigham's assumptions, and make a strike for " civil and religious liberty ;" and that the arti- cle on "Progress," while it professed to treat of France under Louis Napoleon, , meant Utah under Brigham Young. The article had just only been read a few minutes, and the gentlemen named, Mr, S., and myself, were looking with that vacant, think- ing, meditative stare which showed that each one was fully absorbed with the idea that there was something to conie of it. At that very instant, Mr. Joseph A. Young, President Young's eldest son, entered the parlour. After friendly salutations, Mr. Young excused him- self from joining us at dinner; and as we entered the dining-room, we instinctively turned to each other WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I4I and remarked how singular it was that he should drop in upon us while his father was the subject of conver- sation and meditation. That, however, was all right. On the following Tuesday evening, I made Mr. Jo- seph A. Young acquainted with the feeling in opposi- tion to his father, and avowed that Mr. S. was in the hostile camp. On Saturday, seven elders, of which number Mr. S. was one, were attacked in " the School of the Prophets," jftid summoned to appear on the following Saturday. This was looked for ; but Brigham, in his anger, had gone too far, and " disfellowshipped them, from the church of Jesus Christ, for irregular attendance at the school." Brigham's assumption of the right to disfellowship men from Christ because of irregular attendance at a school, brought, Mr. S. to a conclu- sion. He said to me, " With such an assumption of authority, what will he not do next ? To submit to it is to acknowledge him absolute and me a slave. There is but one choice now — slavery or freedom. Cost me what it may, I shall be free." From that day we never attended a meeting of the Saints. In August of the following year, 1870, Mr. S. sent a re- spectful, kindly letter to the bishop of our Ward, stat- ing that he had not faith in Brigham's claim to an Infallible Priesthood, and that he ought to be cut off from the church. I added a postscript, stating th^t I wished to share his fate, although I little dreamed that in three days after that my request should have such a malignant fulfilment. We were going home on the Saturday night suc- ceeding our withdrawal from the church, a few mi- 142 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. nutes past ten o'clock. The night was very: dark. Our residence is in the suburbs of the city, north of the Temple block, and the road is very quiet. As we went along we suddenly and dimly saw four men come out from under some trees a little distance from us. They separated^ and two - of them came forward and stumbled up against us, and two passed by the side of us. I thought- for a moment that they were intoxicated, but it was soon clear that they were acting from design. As soon as they approached, they, one on each side, seized hold of my husband's arms, and he, al- though by no means deficient in strength, was thus rendered powerless. The men, I should state, were masked so that we could not distinguish their fea- tures. I imagine that they supposed I should be frightened and run away. But in this they had cal- culated wrongly. I still clung to my husband's arm, but with my left hand caught hold of one of the ruf- fians by the collar of his coat ; fot I apprehended the worst, well knowing of what atrocities these men were capable. This considerably impeded their movements. The other two, who were likewise masked, stood a few feet distant, and seemed to hesi- tate for a moment. One of the men who held my husband's arm exclaimed, " Brethren, do your duty !" The voice was in an instant recognized as that of one of the policemen, whom Mr. S. and myself had patted on the head when a child in England. Instantly I saw them raise their arms. It was too dark to distinguish any thing definitely, and I.thought they were abput to kill us. We had both the same WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 43 thought, and this probably ivould have been Mr. Stenhouse's fate had he been alone ; but I think that my presence somewhat disarranged their plans. A much less noble fate was reserved for us. I am ashamed to tell what they did, * * * gygn now I shudder, as I recall the scenes of that night. I was nearly insane with rage and indignation. I felt at the moment that life was nothing to me, and I called to them to*come and kill us. It would have been an honour and even pleasant to have been shot or killed by the assassin's knife, rather than endure such an indignity as this. Although the men who attacked us were masked, there is no question in our minds that they were two of the regular, and two of the special police. I have every reason to believe that their original intention was to kill Mr. S. About ten minutes before, they had seen him alone, and they did not believe that 1 should be with him. Had I run away and left him with them, I believe they would have beaten him to death. Men who would commit such an assault were capable of committing murder. When they had perpetrated this disgusting and brutal outrage, they turned and fled. We ran after them for some little distance ; but we had no arms or any thing to defend ourselves, and as there was another man lurking about a little distance in the direction in which they ran, we thought best not to go any further ; for we knew that they would not shrink from murder, if that would conceal what they had done. I declared in my anger that if there yet remained 144 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. one solitary link which bound me to Mormonism, it should be severed that night. Not that I blame the mass of the Mormon people ; for I know the honest hearts of that community, and that as a body they revolted at the atrocious wrong that was done us ; and although not one of them came openly to express that feeling to me, hundreds of them did so in private. I was sick for three days after, so that it was impos- sible to attend to business. I could not calm my agitated feelings or stifle my indignation. Probably I was wrong in giving way to anger ; but it seemed to me that nothing except revenge upon those horri- ble men could satisfy me. My husband and I felt sure that we knew who they were, but how could we swear to masked men ? Some time after, a wife of one of these men, whom we suspected, came to see me, and told me that she believed her husband had been engaged in the affair. It seems perhaps strange that any wife should do this ; but she had a great respect for me, and none at all for her husband, as he was very brutal to. her. When I had sufficiently recovered to return to business, I went down to the city with my hus- band. In passing the house of D. H. Wells, the' Mayor of the city, we saw him standing at a short distance from us ; but he made no attempt to come forward and express any regret. This I considered it was his place, as mayor of the city, to do ; and as an old friend I fully expected as much from him. No Mormon, as I before intimated, came purposely to sympathize with me ; but the whole of that day my WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I4S store was filled with Gentiles,* and for several days after they kept coming to tell me how disgusted and indignant they were at such an abominable outrage. I received also many letters from different parts of the country, both within the Territory of Utah and outside of it. Mr. Joseph A, Young offered a reward to the chief of police on the night of the attack for the apprehen- sion of the ruffians, and a few " Gentile" friends of- fered a reward of ;^S00 for evidence that would lead to their identification, but there was no response. A Mormon paper, in order to direct attention away from the guilty parties, tried to insinuate that it was caused by some " personal difficulty." This course was not a new one. When Dr. Robinson, a few years before, was murdered in Salt Lake City, the Taberna- cle insinuated that he had met his death in gam- bling. That gentleman was utterly innocent of gam- bling, and was not known to have an enemy. * The Mormons use the term " Gentiles" to designate a// outside of the church, whether Christians, Jews, or any other religion, and in this sense it is used in this volume. When a man forsakes Mormon- ism, he does not^become a "Gentile" again, but an "Apostate," which is a still more odious and opprobrious appellation among the Saints, CHAPTER XVI. Recent Conclusions on Polygamy— Faith in the Doctrine declining — How Women in Utah feel— False Notions and Statements— Sophis- tries about Want of Faith — Opinions of Young Girls — Better Chances now — Changes operating in Utah— Brigham becomes fashionable ; he abandons his own Teachings — How a Man with two Wives cleverly escaped from Polygamy and Utah — DiSficulties of Husbands when they leave the Faith — ^Effects of the Law of 1862 -r-Domestic Sympathies — Evil Effects of Example upon Boys. I HAVE watched the whole system of Polygamy closely, and have tried earnestly to discover wherein it was productive of any good ; but in, not one single instance could I find, after the most, diligent observa- tion, any but the very worst results. On, the con- trary, it was the same story again and again repeated — evil — evil — evil ! That some men have practised Polygamy with honest intentions and a desire to " keep the com- mandments of God," I know well to be true. I re- spect such men even while they do so. They err in blindness, and I believe they suffer while they are willing to make the sacrifice, (for to such men it is a sacrifice ;) but it is only the first step that troubles them. They soon get over it. I know others in whom I had not this confidence — men who seem always, ready and anxious to " live up to their privileges," as they call it, without regard to any sacred obligations. It has been frequently said to me in my travels. WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1(47 both in the Eastern and Western States, that gentle- men from Utah had been asked how the ladies sub- mitted to Polygamy, and that they had made answer, " Oh ! very well : they are perfectly happy, for they look upon its practice as a religious duty, and are satisfied and contented with it." Those women (if there be any .') who prefer this state of things are few and far between, and wher- ever such a woman may be found, I am certain that it will be discovered that the husband is some worth- less fellow, or else so disagreeable in his family .that the wives have no affection for him, and they there- fore seek the companionship of each other. Why gentlemen should make statements so very likely to mislead the public, I do not know. Possi- bly some of them really believe it ; for, as I before stated> where a man has more than one wife his wives are careful to conceal their real feelings from him, for fear of creating a prejudice against them- selves and in favour of the other wife ; for whether a woman loves her husband or not, she does not like it to be said that she has been cast off for another ; and I know from experience that Mormon husbands are the very last to learn of their wives' feelings. Women who tell the world that they are happy and contented, if they would only express themselves freely would tell of their heart-aches, of their sleepless nights, and of their loneliness. Others could tell that, in spite of their husband's kindness to them, their hearts knew no joy or happiness. If a woman in this condition of mind were asked if she did not love her husband as formerly, very probably she would. 148 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. answer, " O dear ! np ; if I did, I could not live. The greatest trouble I had was to withdraw my affections from my husband and fix them on my children. If I had not done this, where would my children be ? — with their mother in the grave." Oh ! how true this is ! I know it — I feel it ! Heaven help these poor women ! If they could only know for themselves that this continued sacri- fice was not necessary, their very hearts would sing for joy. I once said to a lady holding a high position in the church, when she was persuading me to give another wife to my husband, " What good will it do me to give him another wife ? I cannot do it with a good feeling. I know that I should loathe both him and her ; and how could I expect to get any blessing from God by so doing ?" She answered, " If you had a loaf of bread to make, what would it matter how you felt while making it, so long as you did make it.'" That is just what the church authorities have thought : no matter how many women were crushed, or how many were sent to their graves, in the effort to es- tablish Polygamy, if only they could establish it. The young girls in Utah feel about Polygamy much as their mothers do. They like it so little that when one of the city girls marries a man who has already a wife or. wives, it is, generally supposed that she does so because he can keep her better than a younger man could. Until very recently, the young men in Utah were not generally very attractive to any sensible girl. They seemed to be destitute of ambition, but perhaps, after all, they were not so WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I49 much to blame for that. Poor boys ! There was really but little else for them to do but to haul wood for their fathers' different families, and hunt stray cattle. It is now greatly different in Salt Lake City ; as young men can get remunerative employment, and are very willing to engage in useful work ; while a corresponding change is effected in their favour with the girls. /There are very few sensible, educat- ed girls in Salt Lake City, who would to-day prefer Polygamy to monogamy : I doubt whether there is really one. The sermons, newspapers, and songs at one time were full of " the glory of the old man and the maiden going forth in the dance together;" but the rapid change that is coming over the country and people is fast dispelling all this. In a few years more, the anxiety to fulfil ancient Hebrew predictions at the cruel sacrifice of youth, beauty, and honourable maid- enly ambition, will disappear and be looked back upon by the Mormons themselves as follies of the past. When the Mormons lived in log huts and " dug-outs," wore coarse, homespun garments, drank "coffee" made of roasted barley and wheat, and their women and children wore shakers and sun-bonnets in sum- mer, and covered their heads in winter with cravats and shawls, an extra wife, or an extra half-dozen wives, could be very easily provided for. In that condition of poverty and isolation, the women did truly " eat their own bread and wear their own appa- rel." The commercial development of the country has changed every thing and every body ; and in no ISO WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. one has the change been more observed than on Brigham Young himself. Accordingly, Polygamy is becoming unpopular, and a natural desire for a higher condition in life is taking its place. Aware of the marked difference in his own appea- rance, and in the comforts and luxuries with which himself and family are surrounded, Brigham tries to excuse himself for wearing broadcloth by pleading the old-fashioned weakness of Eden, " The woman tempted me" — " My wives insist that I shall wear better clothes." This is the only instance wherein Brigham Young was ever known to be ruled by his wives ! While his family was confined to his first fifteen or sixteen wives, good women of faith and hard labour, he was plain, home-clad " Brother Brigham ;" but with the later additions of vanity and fashion to his house- hold, he found his Delilah. And if he lives long enough, at the rate he has been going on of late years, he will soon rival Solomon in more ways than one. He has apostatized further from his first teach- ings of faith and on Polygamy than any man in Mor- monism. When once a Mormon has entered into that order of marriage, he is no longer a free man ; he is bound and cannot help himself, and this the authorities know. Where could a man go to outside of Utah with more than one wife .' He must remain where he is, or give up his family. That many a man has been counselled to add wives to his first with the intention of binding him to the church and hindering him from, either aposta- WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. IS I tizing or leaving the country, is a commonly under- stood fact ; and many a man has keenly felt the wrong to himself as well as to his wife, when neither of them desired to disturb the peaceful harmony of their family happiness by the experiment of imitating the domestic life of the Jewish Patriarchs. One man only of my acquaintance has been suc- cessful in breaking his polygamic relations and in leaving the country. He was in business as a mer- chant, and apparently tied up, so that he could not leave ; but as his wives were as anxious as he was to break up the relationship, their movements were so well concealed that none of the authorities of the church had the slightest idea of his intended depar- ture. His family had gone a few miles into the country on a visit, and he left his store with his coa;t off, and rode out of the town in a grain-wagon as if he were going to the grist-mill. The overland mail- stage picked him up a few miles from Salt Lake City, and a few miles further, the family were taken into the stage, and they were off to California. The se- cond wife, who had no children, acquiesced in the right of the first wife to remain with the husband. She got a satisfactory portion of his property, became a " Miss" again, and is to-day in California, rejoicing in her deliverance. I know a gentleman in Salt Lake City who was urgently and constantly " counselled" to take a second wife. For years he resisted, but finally gave in to the importunities of counsel, as he saw tha4; he must do so or retel. As he could not do the latter conscien- tiously, lie took a pure and beautiful girl for his second 152. WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGASIY. wife. Now, when he is no longer under the same re- ligious obligations, he realizes that he is bound to protect and support her ; yet he knows that in living with her, he is violating the laws of the land. In obeying " counsel," he felt that he had done right in a religious sense ; but, as a man and citizen, he knows that he is not acting as he should, and that is one of the intended difficulties in leaving the church. It is related of Joseph Smith that when he got Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball to take other wives he was perfectly delighted, because, as he ex- pressed it, he had got them " as much in the mud as he was in the mire." He was liable to indictment for bigamy in Illinois when he took other wives, and they were then in the same predicament. Many men of faith in Utah have become polygamists, not from any personal desire on their part to assume either its obligations or possess its glory, but purely to share in the risks and penalties of violated law with their brethren. Such appeals to the patriotism and devo- tion of men to their religion, accounts for much that has been done. They obeyed in haste, and repented at leisure. Brigham Young's first violation of the law against Polygamy was regarded by the Saints, whether he intended it or not, as an expression of his confidence in God and his defiance of Congress. The faithful and believing brethren could not do less than follow the example of their leader. The law of 1862 against Polygamy has made very many more polygamists in Utah than existed there before. This opposition was pot confined to the men only : the women in many WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 53 instances partook of the same spirit ; and in their moments of enthusiasm have seconded their hus- bands, but have afterwards had bitter cause to re- pent. The greatest enemy to Polygamy is found in al- most every polygamic family. It may be concealed ; but it nevertheless is there, and only requires time to accomplish its overthrow. This enemy is the great dislike or repugnance that many children born in Polygamy have to that system. It can have no foe more powerful than this. If the husband is neglect- ful of his wife, the son comes to the aid and protec- tion of his mother ; while the gentle, loving daughter consoles her with sweet sympathy. Between mother and children there exists a bond of union in which the father has no part. They coun- sel with each other ; and the result of their commun- ings is unfavourable to Polygamy. This is indeed the leaven which will eventually permeate the whole system of Mormonism. It is painful to witness among the rising generation of boys in Utah the contempt which many evince for every thing that a woman says or does, looking upon her as an inferior being. But this is not to be wondered at, when it is remembered what kind of teaching they have had in the Tabernacle, and the example of some of their own fathers. The sermons abound with allusions to woman's dependence upon men. Even her salvation through Jesus Christ has to be obtained through her husband ! How much greater, then, must man be, with his numerous wives, than either of the wives is individually. CHAPTER XVII. An Interesting Courtship — ^Brigham Young seeks another Wife- Martha Brotherton tells her Story of the Wooing — Abstract of her History — "Tricks that are Vain" — "Are you ready to take Coun- sel ?"— Joseph Smith's little Room — " Positively No Admittance" — ^Joseph comes in — He assists Brigham's Courtship — The Prophet a Proxy Lover — "A few Questions" — " Lawful and Right" — The best Man in the World, but me ! — " / will have a kiss, anyhow I" — " Don't you believe in me ?" — " If you accfept Brigham, you shall be blessed" — "If he turns you off, I will take you on" — "Not exactly, sir." As I have written so much of the troubles of the sisters, perhaps it will be as well to give the reader an idea of the trials and difficulties which the breth- ren had to contend with when they first attempted the introduction of Polygamy. To do this, I shall give the correspondence of Miss Martha Brotherton, relating a very interesting courtship between herself and Brigham Young. I would have the reader re- mark that this correspondence distinctly proves that Polygamy was taught by the heads of the Church- before the Prophet received the professed revelation.- This account was published just a year — lacking^ one day — before the revelation on Polygamy was^ given to Joseph Smith. It was published in Boston,- in book form, in 1842. The revelation was given at' NauvoOjOn the 12th of July, 1843. Ido not vouch for the facts stated by Miss Brother- ton ; but those who were acquainted with Elder Heber' WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 55 C. Kimball, and those who know Brigham .Young and the style of address of the Mormon elders when Polygamy first was presented to the Saints, will very readily accept the lady's statements as more than probable. The language is familiar to the Mormons. What a high and exalted idea Joseph Smith must have had of the sacredness of marriage when he told the young lady that " if Brigham turned her off" he "would take het on." And how immaculate was Brigham Young's morality, when he suggested a clandestine marriage there and then, without the knowledge of her parents. The following is the letter referred to : * "St. Louis, Missouri, July 13th, a.d. 1842. # * * # * " Dear Sir : I left Warsaw a short time* since for this city, and having been called upon by you, through the Sangamo yournal, to come out and disclose to the world the facts of the case in relation to certain propositions made to me, at Nauvoo, by some of the Mormon leaders, I now proceed to respond to the call, and discharge what I consider to be a duty de- volving upon me as an innocent, but insulted and abused female. I had been at Nauvoo nearly three weeks, during which time my father's family received frequent visits from Elders Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, two of the Mormon Apostles ; when, early one morning, they both came to my brother-in-law's (John Mcllwrick's) house, at which place I was then on a visit, and particularly re- * flformoniam Exposed, p. 236, 156 WHAT 1 KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. quested me to go and spend a few days with them. I told them I could not at that time, as my brother-in-law was not at home ; however, they urged me to go the next day and spend one day with them. The day being fine, I accordingly went. When I arrived at the foot of the hill, Young and Kimball were standing conversing together. They both came to me, and, after several flattering compli- ments, Kimball wished me to go to his house first. I said it was immaterial to me, and went accordingly. We had not, however, gone many steps when Young suddenly stopped and said he would go to that bro- ther's, (pointing to a little log hut a few yards distant,) and tell him that you (speaking to Kimball) and Bro- ther Glover, or Grover, (I do not remember which,) will value his land. When he had gone, Kimball tiirned to me and said, ' Martha, I want you to say to my wife, when you go to my house, that you want to buy some things at Joseph's store, (Joseph Smith's,) and I will say I am going with you to show you the way. You know you want to see the Prophet, and you will then have an opportunity.' I made no reply. Young again made his appearance, and the subject was dropped. We soon reached Kimball's house, when Young took his leave, saying, ' I shall see you again, Martha.' I remained at Kimball's nearly an hour ; when Kimball, seeing I would not tell the lies he wished me to, told them to his wife himself He then went and whispered in her ear, and asked if that would please her. ' Yes,' said she, ' or I can go along with you and Martha.' ' No,' said he, ' I have some business to do, and I will call for you afterwards tp WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMV. 1 57 go with me to the debate,' meaning the debate be- tween yourself and Joseph. To this she consented. So Kimball and I went to the store together. As we were going along, he said, ' Sister Martha, are you willing to do all that the Prophet requires you to do .' ' I said, I believed I was — thinking, of course, he would require nothing wrong. ' Then,' said he, ' are you ready to take counsel .' ' I answered in the aifir- mative, thinking of the great and glorious blessings that had been pronounced upon my head if I adhered to the counsel of those placed over me in the Lord. ' Well,' said he ' there are many things revealed in these last days that the world would laugh and scoff at ; but unto us is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom.' He further observed, ' Martha, you must learn to hold your tongue, and it will be well with you. You will see Joseph, and very likely will have some conversation with him, and he will tell you what you shall do.' When we reached the building, he led me up some stairs to a small room, the door of which was locked, and on it the following inscription; ' Positively no admittance.' He observed, ' Ah ! Bro- ther Joseph must be sick, for, strange to say, he is not here. Come down into the tithing-office, Martha.' He then left me in the tithing-office, and went out, I know not where. In this office were two men writ- ing, one of whom, William Clayton, I had seen in England ; the other I did not know. Young came in and seated himself before me, and asked where Kimball was. I said he had gone out. He said it was all right. Soon after, Joseph came in and spoke to one of the clerks, and then went up-stairs, followed IS8 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT FOLYGAMY. by Young. Immediately after, Kimball came in, ' Now, Martha,' said he, ' the Prophet has come ; come up-stairs.' I went, and we found Young and the Prophet alone. I was introduced to the Prophet by Young. Joseph offered me his seat, and, to my astonishment, the moment I was seated, Joseph and Kimball walked out of the room, and left me with Young, who arose, locked the door, closed the win- dow, and drew the curtain. He then came and sat before me and said, ' This is our private room, Mar- tha.' ' Indeed, sir,' said I ; ' I must be highly ho- noured to be permitted to enter it.' He smiled, and then proceeded, ' Sister Martha, I want to ask you a few questions ; will you answer them ? ' ' Yes, sir,' said I. ' And will you promise not to mention them to any one ? ' ' If it is your desire, sir,' said I, ' I will not' ' And you will not think any the worse of me for it ; will you, Martha > ' said he. ' No, sir,' I re- plied. ' Well,' said he, ' what are your feelings to- ward me ?' I replied, ' My feelings are just the same toward you that they ever were, sir.' ' But, to come to the point more closely,' said he, ' have not you an affection for me, that, were it lawful and right, you would accept of me for your husband and com- panion .'' My feelings at this moment were inde- scribable. God only knows them. What, thought I, are these men, that I thought almost perfection it- self, deceivers ? and is all my fancied happiness but a dream .' 'Twas even so ; but my next thought was, which is the best way for me to act at this time .' If I say No, they may do as they think proper ; and to say Yes, I never would. So I considered it best to WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 59 ask for time to think and pray about it. I therefore said, ' If it was lawful and right, perhaps I might ; but you know, sir, it is not.' ' Well, but,' said he, ' Bro- ther Joseph has had a revelation from God that it is lawful and right for a man to have two wives ; for, as it was in the days of Abraham, so it shall be in these last days, and whoever i§ the first that is willing to take up the cross will receive the greatest blessings ; and, if you will «ccept of me, I will take you straight to the celestial kingdom ; and, if you will have me in this world, I will have you in that which is to come, and Brother Joseph will marry us here to-day, and you can go home this evening, and your parents will not know any thing about it' ' Sir,' said I, ' I should not like to do any thing of the kind without the per- mission of my parents.' 'Well, but,' said he, 'you are of age, are you not .'' ' No, sir,' said I ; ' I shall not be until the 24th of May.' ' Well,' said he, ' that does not make any difference. You will be of age before they know, and you need not fear. If you will take my counsel, it will be well with you, for I know it to be right before God ; and if there is any sin in it, I will answer for it. But Brother Joseph wishes to have some talk with you on the subject ; he will explain things ; will you hear him .' ' ' I do not mind,' said I. ' Well, but I want you to say something,' said he. ' I want to think about it,' said I. ' Well,' said he, ' I will have a kiss, anyhow,' and then rose, and said he would bring Joseph. He then unlocked the door, and took the key, and locked me up alone. He was absent about ten minutes, and then returned with Joseph. ' Well,' said Young, ' Sister Martha l60 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. would be willing, if she knew it was lawful and right before God.' ' Well, Martha,' said Joseph, ' it is law- ful and right before God — I know it is. Look here, sis ; don't you believe in me.' I did not answer. 'Well, Martha,' said Joseph, 'just go ahead, and do as Brigham wants you to ; he is the best man in the world, except me.' ' Oh ! ' said-Brigham, ' then you are as good.' ' Yes,' said Joseph. ' Well,' said Young, ' we believe Joseph to be a Prophet. I have known him near eight years, and have always found him the same.' ' Yes,' said Joseph, ' and I know that this is lawful and right before God, and if there is any sin in it, I will answer for it before God ; and I have the keys of the kingdom, and whatever I bind on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever I loose on earth is loosed in heaven ; and if you will accept of Brig- ham, you shall be blessed— God shall bless you, and ray blessing shall rest upon you ; and, if you will be led by him, you will do well ; for I know that Brig- ham will do well by you, and if he don't do his duty to you, come to me, and I will make him ; and if you do not like it in a month or two, come to me and I will make you free again ; and if he turns you off, I will take you on.' ' Sir,' said I, rather warmly, ' it will be too late to think in a month or two after. I want time to think first.' ' Well, but,' said he, ' the old proverb is, " Nothing ventured, nothing gained ;" and it would be the greatest blessing that was ever bestowed upon you.' ' Yes,' said Young, ' and you will never have reasbn to repent it — that is, if I do not turn from righteousness, and that, I trust, I never shall ; for I believe God, who has kept me so long, WHAT 1 KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY, l6l will continue to keep me faithful. Did you' ever see me act in any way wrong in England, Martha ? '• ' No, sir,' said I. ' No,' said he ; ' neither can any one else lay any thing to my charge.' ' Well, then,' said Jo- seph, ' what are you afraid of, sis .' Come, let me do the business for you.' ' Sir,' said I, ' do let me have a little time to think about it, and I will promise not to mention it to any one.' ' Well, but look here,' said he ; ' you know a fellow will never be damned for doing the best he knows how.' ' Well, then,' said I, ' the best way I know of is, to go home and think and pray about it' ' Well,' said Young, ' I shall leave it with Brother Joseph, whether it would be best for you to have time or not.' ' Well,' said Joseph, ' I see no harm in her having time to think, if she will not fall into temptation.' ' O sir ! ' said I, ' there is no fear of my falling into temptation.' ' Well, but,' said Brigham, ' you must promise me you will never men- tion it to any one.' ' I do promise it,' said I. ' Well,' said Joseph, 'you must promise me the same.' I promised him the same. ' Upon your honour,' said he, ' you will not tell.' ' No, sir ; I will lose my life first,' said I. ' Well, that will do,' said he ; ' that is the principle we go upon. I think I can trust you, Martha,' said he. ' Yes,' said I, ' I think you ought' Joseph said, ' She looks as if she could keep a secret.' I then rose to go, when Joseph commenced to beg of me again. He said it was. the best opportunity they might have for months, for the room was often en- gaged. I, however, had determined what to do. ' Well,' said Young, ' I will see you to-morrow. I am going to preach at the school-house opposite your 1 62 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. house. I have never preached there yet ; you will be there, I suppose.' ' Yes/ said I. The next day being Sunday, I sat down, instead of going to meet- ing, and wrote the conversation, and gave it to my sister, who was not a Httle surprised ; but she said it would be best to go to meeting in the afternoon. We went, and Young administered the sacrament. After it was over, I was passing out, and Young stopped me, saying, 'Wait, Martha; I am coming.' I said, ' I cannot ; my sister is waiting for me.' He then threw his coat over his shoulders, and followed me out, and whispered, ' Have you made up your mind, Martha ? ' ' Not exactly, sir,' said I ; and we parted. I shall proceed to a justice of the peace, and make oath to the truth of these statements, and you are at liberty to make what use of them you may think best. " Yours respectfully, " Martha A. Brotherton. " Sworn to and subscribed before me, this 13th day of July, A.D. 1842. " Du BOUFFAY FrEMON, " Justice of the Peace for St. Louis County." CHAPTER XVIII. Marriage— The Age for Marrying— Seventy and Seventeen— Women privileged to choose their own Husbands — Some Women make a Choice— Joseph's Widows—" Serving for seven Years"—" Celes- tial Marriages" — Baptism and Marriage for the Dead— Saving one's Ancestors ad infinitum— U&rryvag "for Time and for Eternity"— The Register at Salt Lake City, from which the World shall be judged— Difficulties of "proxy" Marriages — "Proxies" for the Empress Josephine and Napoleon I — "The next best Thing"— Joseph's unproductive Polygamy — Divorce — ^Woman's solitary Pri- vilege — Divorce for ten Dollars! — Re-marrying — "Affinity''-^- Shocking Instance of self-fulfilling a "Revelation" — Perverted Heroism— Brother Hyde's Argument— The Woman with seven Husbands — Statistical Facts. The dominant principle of Mormonism is marriage, and the theory that men and women are not perfect without each other. The man is not perfect with- out the woman, nor is the woman without the man, in the Lord. Every man and every woman must be married some time or other. They cannot otherwise attain to glory, and would be " angels," or servants to the Celestial Saints. The woman ought to be married but once ; the man may be married as often as he pleases, if he can provide for his wives and their families. There is no particular age specified as proper for marriage, but the younger the girl is, the better. It is seldom that there are any girls married under fifteen years of age ; but sixteen is a very sweet age, 164 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. and very desirable for men, themselves ranging in years from forty-five to seventy and over. An un- married girl in Utah is old at twenty, and it is rarely the case that any attractive girl passes out of her teens before she is wedded* The boys seldom marry so early, but if capable of ' supporting themselves, the accumulation of property and experience are neither very necessary to becom- ing a husband. The teachings of the priesthood have generally discountenanced prudential prepara- tions that are common elsewhere. The chief object has been rather to encourage an increase of "the kingdom," than to seek the personal happiness of the married pair. In any other community, it would be remarked if a man of fifty, sixty, or seventy years of age should be paying his addresses to a girl of seventeen. In Utah, there is no attention paid to it ; and not infre- quently, married men with several wives may be seen courting and marrying girls much younger than their own daughters. It is a great wrong to the girls. They are too young to see the consequences of their folly at the outset, and the men who seek them for wives are too selfish to draw their attention to the error. It is vei-y amusing to see a vain, silly old man try- ing to be young again — dyeing his hair, and aping * Since the above was written, the Utah Legislature has entertained a bill as follows : "A bill has been offered and referred to a commit- tee regulating marriage. It provides that males of fifteen years and females of twelve years of age may contract marriage, with the con- sent of parents or guardians." — New-Y&rk Herald, Jan. 2'jth, 1872. WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. l6S the fancies of juvenile courtship. This sight is any thing but rare among the Mormons. I knew a man who objected to his daughter being married, as she was only a few months over sixteen. The married man who was courting the young lady, tersely re- plied to the father, " Yes, she is very young ; > she is six months younger than my sister whom you are courting." The sarcasm of the answer was enough, and in the coursg of time he got the daughter. In the first years of polygamous experience, the elders tried in their teachings to give the institution of the patriarchs as favourable an appearance as pos' sible, and told the sisters who had been neglected, that it was their "privilege" to choose their own husbands. This had some practical results ; but the acknowledgment of it as a principle has never been much dwelt upon in the pulpit, as it has its inconve- niences. After the death of Joseph Smith, something had to be done for his numerous " widows ;" and when the church was travelling across the plains, this " privilege" was extended to them to " choose" their future husbands. Very reluctantly Brigham accepted the preference of one of these " widows," while an- other of them manifested in a similar way her pre- ference for his counsellor — Heber. A lady called one day upon a prominent bishop, north of Salt Lake City, whom I knew very well, and sought his counsel " in the interest " of her daughter. The mother related that a young man wanted to marry the daughter, but she did not love him ; she had a preference for a gentleman already married. What l66 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. was she to do ? That was the subject upon which she wanted the bishop's counsel. With a ready an- swer for every one, the bishop saw no dif5aculty. " Go," said he, " to the married man, and tell him that your daughter loves him, and it is his duty to marry her." The task was soon accomplished ; the kind mother smiled and blushed a Uttle, and then said, " Bishop, thou art the man !" The bishop could do no other than follow his own " counsel." He was in comfortable circumstances, and the young lady shortly after became wife number six or seven of his household. Many such cases of the sisters choosing husbands have occurred, and sometimes with very satisfactory, results. When it is really a case of affection on the lady's part, and the selected husband is a liberally disposed man, the affair goes off as well as any mar- riage of his own choosing ; but when the arrange- ment is not an " affinity" aflfair, the lady receives very little attention, and often lives to repent of her choice. A very excellent Englishwoman is said to have entered Brigham's family as a domestic, and from her devotion to her faith, and affection for the Prophet, it is related that she served, like Jacob in the house of Laban, seven years, to obtain her choice. She is a woman of good sense, and illustrates, in her quiet an^ almost solitary life, the tenacity of affection, even if only coldly returned. With a son that she has added to the Prophet's family, she lives apparently con- tented. Another lady was less fortunate. The Prophet passed through the form of sealing andd-egis- WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POtTGAMY. 1 67 tering her name upon the " Book of Life," but there the marriage ended. She lives in all the loneliness of married spinsterhood. Brigham honoured the law of " privilege," and permitted her to be called by his name. What I have written of marriage hitherto has only been that which appertained to this world. I have now to give the Mormon views of a continuance of this marriage in tlie celestial world. The Mormon priesthood claim that there is no legal and holy marriage outside of their church, and that all the Gentiles are, therefore, in the sight of God, living in sin. If this is true of the present age, it must necessarily be true of all the ages that have intervened, from the days of the fishermen of Galilee, to the advent of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young ; for the latter claim that no true priesth6od has been upon the earth till restored by Peter, James, and John, to Joseph Smith. As all earthly associations are the foundations for eternal institutions', the marital relations naturally claim the highest and first attention of the Saints. The glory of a Saint in the world to come is, there- fore, predicated upon the foundation laid here for that glory. Woman is the glory of man ; children are the glory of woman ; the more wives, the greater glory to the man ; the more children, the greater glory to the woman. Out of this faith comes the novel doctrine that it is not only the duty of men to multiply wives to themselves here, but that it also devolves upon them to see that all their relatives who have died are 1 68 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. placed in a position in the world to come, where they also can have wives and children associated with their names, and thus increase their glory. Believing also in the rejuvenation of the aged beyond the veil, it is not uncommon to learn of some lady of sixty win- ters being " sealed " to a brother of half her age, and bearing his name before the community. With a blooming bride of seventeen on one side, the Mormon elder may occasionally be seen (though not often) at his family table, with a grandmotherly lady at his other side, and both are his wives. The younger one seeks his glory now; the other will| when hereafter she is rejuvenated, seek his glory in the next world. These are matters on which expli- citness is not particularly necessary. It is, however, very creditable to the faith of a young Mormon elder for him to provide for the declining years of the aged spinster or widow. When the old lady has money in her own right,* she can literally say that " she eats her own bread and wears her own apparel ;" and it is seldom that the condition of which I have written is seen without some such consideration. With this explanation, the reader will readily un- derstand the doctrine, not only of Mormon men and women being married themselves for time and eter- nity, but they will also comprehend what is meant by " proxy wives" and " proxy husbands." For illustra- tion : a man and his wife in Salt Lake City are mar- ried by the priesthood ; they are married legally — as "the Lord" wants it. There is nothing that can separate this man and wife in time and in eternity but adultery or "apostasy," unless the priesthood WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 69 find some other reason, which they sometimes have done. A record of Mormon marriages is preserved in the archives of the church, and only out of these records the world will be judged. Jt is therefore necessary that the names of my father and mother, and every other person's father and mother should be recorded on the books in Salt Lake City as man and wife, otherwise they would be as " angels," strolling about in the up- per regions without any particular marital relation- ship. ' Should, however, my husband and myself agree that we shall be married as " proxies" for my father and mother, or for his father and mother, then we go to the "Endowment House" and personate the dead, each according to sex, and that is recorded. By this devotion and care on our part, Mr. and Mrs. Stenhouse, the elder, would then, but not before, be duly entitled to be husband and wife in the other world. As Mr. Stenhouse pire had but one wife, his glory would necessarily be very limited, and it would become the duty of Mr. Stenhouse ^/j to see that he had some extra wives sealed to him for his father. As a dutiful son, the living, - believing Stenhouse should see that his grandfather, great-grandfather, and all their fathers, right back to the first ages of Christianity, or even, possibly, as far back as old /ather Adam, were secured the same privileges; To be consistently careful of his progenitors, and their happiness and glory in the world to come, the same attentions and courtesies should be extended to all my husband's brothers, and to his uncles, as well as to all my brothers, uncles, etc., up to the begin- 170 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. ning of time. The mothers are necessarily cared for in the marriage with fathers ; but all our sisters and aunts have to be provided for in the same way. They must all be married, and the men clothed with the glory of numerous wives, and the women with the glory of many children. As in life all the marriages have not been pleasant, it would be somewhat difficult to determine, among our dead, who wanted to know each other then, and be reunited in eternal marriage as they had been on earth. Besides these, difficulties innumerable and insurmountable spring up. I might be looking out for some maiden aunt or spinster sister who had never had their hearts touched by the tender pas- sion, or perhaps might have set their affections on some particular person, and then to seal them to an- other would be rather awkward. In all this it would be very cruel if some were forgotten, or if others should be united, when perhaps they had waited with anxiety for death to set them free. I am afraid that I am getting lost in the magni- tude and extent of the Mormon obligations for the dead, and I shall, therefore, stop here upon that point. I was much amused at learning, in Salt Lake City, that a French lady of my acquaintance had been baptized as " proxy" for the Empress Josephine, while her son had stood for Napoleon I. How much further the mother and son carried their admiration for the imperial pair, I know not ; but it would be consistent for them to have been proxies for Joseph- ine and Napoleon in marriage, and for the son to have WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I/I recorded in the archives of the " Endowment House" that he had stood proxy for Napoleon to be ordained a Mormon elder. Following that, he could also have had "sealed" to Napoleon any maiden of Utah, or any number of maidens who had an admiration for the prisoner of St. Helena.* Illustrative of the folly, if not profanity, to which some carry this teaching, I was told of a lady who once asked Brigham Young if she could not be " sealed " to Jesus Christ, as one of His wives. Brig- ham replied that he could not go thus far, but he would do the next best thing, and that was to have her "sealed" to Joseph Smith. Had the lady to whom I refer been an ignorant semi-savage of Asia or Africa, or a squaw of the Rocky Mountains, this could readily have been understood ; but when I assure the reader that the lady in question was edu- cated in New-England, and held a respectable social position there before she embraced Mormonism, the terrible extent of her credulity can be imagined.f Consistently with all this complication of mar- * General Washington has also in a similar way been kindly cared for by the Mormons. Judge Adams, of Springfield, was baptized as proxy for him, and he is now a member of the " Church and King- dom" established by Joseph Smith. t The Mormon Apostles insist that Jesus Christ was a polygamist ; that the sisters Martha and Mary were two of his wives, and that the marriage at Cana of Galilee, when the water was turned into wine, was one of Christ's bridal feasts. According to the Mormon faith, the lady alluded to above was, therefore, not so inconsistent in her request as might otherwise be supposed. Yet few persons can hear of such a desire being expressed, without considering it to be simply a bold profanity. Had I not heard the statement from the most reli- able source, I should not have even named it. 172 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. riages, another distinctive feature in Utah Polygamy is the raising up of children to the dead. When one of the prominent Mormons died some years ago, his five or seven wives, with their families and property, passed over to the care of his young nephew — one of the Apostles. The nephew had already two or three wives of his own, but that was a small consideration, and he assumed the extra responsibility. All the offspring of this plural marriage are the children of the deceased, and are to be " claimed " by him in the resurrection. Though the object in instituting Polygamy is said to have been the " raising up of a holy seed," it is not a little surprising that Joseph Smith, throiigh whom the revelation is given, notwithstanding his numerous .wives, had no children born to him in Polygamy. Since his death, however, his brethren have done well for him, and his posterity is nume- rous. One of the finest families of Brigham Young will one day pass away to the account of Joseph, his predecessor. The lady was sealed to Joseph for time and eternity, and she is therefore wholly his. But Joseph died ; and, as the widow was young and hand- some, from respect to the dead, Brigham assumed the responsibility of being a proxy husband to her during her lifetime. Devotion to the deceased, of course, demands that no love beyond that of brother- ly and sisterly affection should spring up between them. All this has, theoretically, a very devotional turn ; but I am afraid humanity has something to say in it, as the lady in question has a very large family to WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 73 Joseph, while another lady of Brigham's household has but one daughter to the dead Prophet, and other wives of Joseph have had a similarly diversified expe- rience. With these numerous classifications of marriage, some from affection and others from necessity, or faith, or obligation, it would be natural to look for a law of divorce almost as large and liberal as that of the marriage itself This is the case. It is easy ^o get married in Utah, and it is quite as easy to get unmarried. But the leading actors are reversed. Men marry the women : the women divorce the men ; and this is about the only rational and just thing there is in connexion with the Mormon marriages. The causes of divorce are as numerous as the ordinary disagreement between individuals ; and the facility, of obtaining a divorce leads often to very strange complications. The first wife among the Mormons is not inten- tionally more privil^ed than the twentieth wife ; but no first wife ever forgets that she is the legal wife of her husband, and that the priesthood cannot interfere with her status. Should the first wife have cause of complaint and seek for a divorce, she applies to the courts of law and obtains protection and alimony.* • I am assured by a leading attorney in Salt Lake City that during the last twelve months, more than one hundred first wives have called upon him to enter suit for divorce and alimony. But he has discoun- tenanced their proposed proceedings, as far as he was concerned, as he regarded it as a very unpleasant business and not unattended with danger. Besides which, he believed that up to the present time the situation of affairs in Utah was not so favourable for such proceedings OS might shortly "be expected. 174 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. All the other wives were married to the husband by the priesthood, and can only be released from him by the priesthood. All law contention is avoided in the Mormon divorce cases, and they are also unattended with expense. A young wife presents herself at Brigham's office and complains of her husband. Brigham listens. If he has any personal interest in the absent husband, he will probably defer his decision, and afford him an opportunity of being heard in his own defence. Should.it be otherwise, and Brigham would rather humble the husband if he can, he readily ac- cepts the woman's statement. The clerk is instruct- ed to " make out the papers." The discontented wife signs them, and her marriage is dissolved. The hus- band is notified that he is "wanted at the office." He goes — it may be without any knowledge of the nature of the business — and is informed that his wife Ignatia had been there, and had related all his " brutality" to her, and his " shocking neglect," his greater preference for some other wife, or that he had stayed two days more in every week with his favourite • — Susannah, than he had with her or with Mary Jane, and she " was not going to stand it." The husband may supplicate, promise better behaviour, or suggest a more just disposition of his hours and affection, and then the signing of the papers is deferred. Other husbands take dissatisfied wives at their word, thank- ful for the opportunity of sundering ties that were irksome to both. He watches the occasion of Brigham's absence from the office, goes round in a great hurry, sees the clerk, asks for the papers and WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMV. 17S signs them. He then hands ten dollars to the clerk, and beats a retreat from the oflfice without giving any opportunity for repentance, and rejoices in the glory of being once more a free man — "a one-wifed bachelor !" This divorce business has about as many ludicrous phases as the marriage is stamped with cruel severity. In the marriage cei;pmony, the husband and wife are "sealed up unto eternal life." Nothing but adultery can unloose those bands. Yet it frequently occurs that a dissatisfied wife " gets a bill " of divorce and marries again another man to whom she is " sealed up" also to " eternal life ;" and cases are known of women being " sealed up" to " eternal life" to three and four different husbands. And after all this pro- fessedly sacred service has been performed, Brigham in some of his comical humours will tell the people in the Tabernacle that " the divorce is not worth the paper it is written upon ; but the people insist upon getting them, and the ten dollars is pin-money for my wives." What a picture to contemplate ! What re- flections arise upon purity ! He first teaches Po- lygamy as the marital relations of the purest and the highest in the heavens : he introduces it with the grandest promises : it becomes intolerable, and for peace' sake he gives divorces and then gets into confusion. The truth is that Brigham now begins to realize that he has more on his hands than he knows what to do with. Women are to be met with in Utah with even a much larger married experience than many of the men. I know a good-natured soul who has laa.d.four 176 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. husbands. I first knew her at ray house as a laun- dress. Ever since that, whenever I chance to meet her, I expect to hear something interesting. She now lives in the country, and only comes into the city about once a year. The last time I saw her she came up smiling good-naturedly, and said — " What do you think, Mrs. Stenhouse .' I have just seen two of my old husbands ! One I knew was here, but I did not expect to see the other." She seemed to look upon this rencontre as a cheerful and amusing incident, and from her manner while speaking of them, I should think that she was on very excellent terms with both. Their divorce had caused no bitterness. When any woman has not been seen for some length of time, a little caution is necessary in ad- dressing her by name. She may have been Mrs. Smith when you last spoke to her : have become Mrs. Jones, or Robinson, and be now Mrs. Smith again! I have generally waited to hear something which might indicate if any change had taken place before I would venture to address her by the name which she had borne when I last saw her. It is not un- common in Utah for a wife to leave her husband^ marry again, be divorced, and go back to her first husband. This changing round from one husband to another is, however, riot altogether the .result of personal caprice alone, and the indelicacy of such " trading " of husbands and wives cannot be charged entirely to the fickleness of the persons interested. Faith, as taught by the priesthood, has been a disturbing element in married life. WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. ' 1 77 Though the word "affinity" is not used by the Mormons, its meaning has, in fact, been often illus- trated among them. Wives in Utah, as well as else- where, .have passed from one husband to another ; but the worst of the matter is, that in Utah a divine revelation is claimed for these proceedings. In con- nection with the " affinity " doctrine elsewhere, the parties satisfy themselves and act on their own re- sponsibility. If they blunder, and are punished for their mistake, they have only themselves to blame ; but when "revelation" is claimed as authority for what is done, one of the parties is generally the inno- cent victim of the other. To avoid wounding the feelings of an innocent and excellent lady, I withhold names ; but I may say that I know of a lady in Salt Lake City who was many years ago married to a man of about her own age. She is a very handsome woman. A certain man officiating at the marriage ceremony in the " Endow- ment House," is said to have remarked to some members of his family that he had that day married to another man a sister who ought to have been his ozvn wife. As every word falling from his lips is looked upon as a divine " revelation," his wives very naturally re- garded what he now said in that light. His state- ment was not long in finding its way to the newly married wife. She, with the usual faith and confi- dence of the Saints in all that is uttered by him, believed what she heard, and looked upon her marriage with the young man as a mistake which would have to be set right some day, and so became very un- 178 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. happy. After having borne two children to her hus- band, and only a few months before the birth of her third child, she became the wife oitke ''great" man I Terrible as the trial must have been to her young husband, he was forced to accept the situation, and remained in fellowship with the church for several years afterwards. He is now amongst the Liberals of Utah. The lady is stiH young and very good looking, but she is made to realize most keenly that she is only one of a number of wives ; while her " priestly'' husband is spending his leisure hours with a more recent favourite. But this is by no means a solitary instance of the kind. One of the " Twelve Apostles" met with his death from the hands of a husband who considered himself outraged in his wife leaving him, adopting the new faith, and marrying the apostle ; and although the Mormons very much regretted his death, the most intelligent and thinking portion of them felt that in the situation of the husband they might have done the same thing. No " Gentile" could interfere with a Mormon wife in Utah to the same extent without being visited by "judgment." Many instances could be given of ladies leaving their husbands under the impression' that they, though good men, were not as able to "exalt" them as other men in the priesthood. Two ladies in Salt Lake, whom I know and have already alluded to, while they were in Nauvoo became the sealed wives of Joseph Smith and yet still maintained their rela- tionship to their own husbands. This is very revolt- ing, and exhibits to what extremes faith will sometimes WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 79 conduct people. These ladies to-day think that that which the world would universally condemn was an act of the noblest heroism. Their names, if printed here, would perfectly astonish many who personally know and respect them. I do not doubt for a mo- ment that they conscientiously thought that they were worthy of the highest honor for believing the " revelation" of " the Lord," through " His servant," and ^accepting the position of handmaids to "the Anointed." Enough has been written already to set the most devoted Saint thinking over the crooked paths of Polygamy. I have not attempted to enter into any argument hitherto, but I think I may venture to con- clude this chapter with a word to Brother Hyde about his statement justifying the practice. " Brother " Orson puts forth perhaps the best argu- ment that has ever been given in its fayour. But let us see what this argument is. He says : " Some man will perhaps marry a wife of his youth. She dies. He loved her as he loves himself, and her memory ever lingers about his heart. He marries another, and she dies, and he loved her equally as well. He marries a third, and so on, and he loved them all. By-and-by he dies, and he dies with de- voted affection and love to them all. Now, in the resurrection, which of these wive^ shall he claim ? There is no difference in his love to any of them ; and they have all, perhaps, borne children to him. He loves the children of one mother as well as the children of another. What say you.' Which shall he have in the resurrection ? Why, let him have l80 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. the whole of them ; to whom are they more nearly allied ? " There is a case opposite to this, where a woman married a husband, and he died, and so on, until she had been married to seven husbands ; and then she also died. The question was asked the Saviour — ' Whose wife will she be in the resurrection, for they all had her >. ' A curious answer was returned^—' In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage ; but are as the angels of God in heaven.' " Brother Hyde appears willing that ^Ae woman with her seven husbands should be " as the angels" — what- ever that condition may be ; but he would rather himself decide the fate of his own sex, and he very generously says of the man with seven wives, " Let him have them all ;"to whom are they ' nearer' allied .'" Be just. Brother Hyde, and allow to the poor woman who has had seven husbands the whole of them : who deserves them better "i She might similarly have loved all her husbands ; and if the argument is good for the man, it is good for the woman. Why should she not be permitted to have them all in the other world, instead of being compelled to become "an angel"? The question arises in my mind — If all these seven brethren are faithful members of the church, and if their only chance of glory and " exaltation in heaven" consists in the number of wives and children which each has, why should the unfortunate six be sentenced to be kept out in the cold — wifeless, and with only a faint taste of the bliss of Paradise .' Why, also, should only one be favoured .' And, then, which ought to be that one ! WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. i8i It is, I think, very evident that Brother Hyde ex- pressed only the desires of his poor, weak, erring nature when he said — " Let him have them all, to be sure !" Brother Hyde has provoked statistics. The women of Utah who have listened to so many sermons in the Tabernacle, about the women so far outnumbering the men in the world, and hence the necessity of Polygamy, so that every woman should have a hus- band, will be interested in the perusal of the follow- ing table, which certainly does not prove the as- sertion. TABLE OF HALE AND FEMALE POPULATION OF THE TERRITORY OF UTAH IN 1870. Counties. Males. Females. Total. I 2 3 4 I 7 8 9 10 II 12 13 14 \l \l 19 20 21 Beaver Box Elder... Cache Davis Iron Juab Kane Millard Morgan Piute Rich Rio Virgin.. Salt Lake . . . San Pete Sevier Summit Tooele , Utah Wahsatch . . . Washington . Weber lOIO 2842 4068 2232 H23 1027 776 1429 99S 69 1020 250 9019 3274 19 1349 "59 6174 642 >S32 4112 997 2013 4161 2227 1 154 1007 737 1324 977 13 93S 200 9318 35 12 1 163 1018 6029 602 1532 3746 2007 48SS 8229 4459 2277 2034 >Si3 2753 1972 82 «95S „4S0. 18,337 6786 J9 2512 , 2177 12,203 1244 3064 7858 Total. 44,121 42,665 86,786 In the above table, for which I am indebted to the Census Bureau at Washington, the reader will perceive that in polygamous Utah there are two thousand and fifty..six more males than females ! CHAPTER XIX. Domestfc Life in Polygamy — Management of Families — Separate Homes — Half a dozen Wives under one Roof — Internal Arrange- ments—The " Odd Day" for the first Wife— "Generosity"— How six Wives are visited — ^The Misery of poor Polygamists — ^The great- er Misery in a wealthy House—" The Kingdom"— The Tale of the Doors and Windows — Fruitless good Intentions — Illustrative In- stance of the Effects of Polygamy and Monogamy — An economicsil Wife, and her Object — Wives in various Places — Utilizing the Ser- vices of Wives — A Husband's Difficulties — Brigham Young — His " Homes " — Mrs. Young : Nineteen of her ! — ^Wives and "proxy" Wives — ^The Bee-Hive House — Th^ Lion House— Six other Houses: — Domestic Relations — Brigham's Favourite — The Prophet in the BaU-Room — His Proscenium Box at the Theatre — Delusion of Utah Women — Can this be from God ? In every conversation upon Polygamy in Utah, the first question usually asked is, " How are the women managed ? do they all live together^ — or how .'" There is no fixed principle regulating men in the management of their families. Every one is at liber- ty to do as he thinks best ; and, with the greatest diversity of judgment and circumstances, there are scarcely two families alike. Where the husband is wealthy, separate homes are generally provided for the wives. Still, some wealthy men have all their families together under the same roof. When this is the case, if the wives number half a dozen or more, the " living" arrangements are ordered with a view to economy. If there is harmony in the household, some deference may be paid to the first wife, and fe-- : -■^^i^^C^ i ^^- WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 83 perhaps she may be excused from part of the do- mestic duties ; but as a general thing, all the wives take week and week about in the management of the house. The work of the kitchen, the laundry, etc., is done by hired " help." In such a house there is a common dining-room, large enough to seat the wives and the eldest and youngest children. Of course the table is often not large enough for all the children, and then there is a second table for the others. In such an establish- ment privacy is unknown. Each lady, however, has her own apartment. In a very large house, with many wives, there is greater safety and peace for the husband than in a small house, with only two wives. When there are only two apartments, the husband is supposed to be in the one or in the other ; and if there is any dispo- sition to be bitter, the occupied room at once fur- nishes the object for the attack from the vacant room. In a large house, there are some advantages. The whereabouts of the husband is not so easily discover- ed, and the unhappy or jealous wife is at a loss to know on whom she should vent her ire. On this account, even men of small means prefer to have three wives instead of two, as the jealousy is then divided, and the wives do not well know which of the two others is her greatest enemy. The husband who provides separate homes for his wives has to divide his time between them. Some men go from house to house, spending a day with one wife and a day with another, and so on until he has visited them all. Then he begins again where 1 84 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. he first set out, and travels over the same road as before. Where the wives are not more than three in num- ber, each wife generally has the society of her lord for two days in each week ; and when the husband desires to show any preference to his first wife, the odd day in the seven is accorded to her, and this is rarely objected to ; but not infrequently the ex- tra day falls to the lot of the youngest and last wife — ^this very pious and impartial man justifying his preference by a kindly word to his wives about their all having had " their day," and that it was nothing but right that the young bride should have " her day" also. To such a delicate appeal to their generosity, and to such an exhibition of his manifest disinterest- edness, and desire to be just,, these loving wives could of course make but little objection 1 A house with two wings is very popular among the men with two wives. The centre door opens into the parlour, which serves for the reception of visitors to both families. Two doors are sure to be seen — one to the right, another to the left, conduct- ing to the family apartments of each wife. The hus- band spends one week on one side of the house, and the following week he goes to the other side of the house ; and in the mean time he keeps trotting from one side to the otlier every day, to preserve peace in his family. I have in my mind a prominent man in Salt Lake City, who is the husband of half a dozen wives ; he divides his time after this fashion : The first week, he stays with the first wife ; the next week he is with WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 85 the second ; then he goes back again to the first wife for another week. He then passes the fourth week with the third wife, and back he goes again to the first wife, and so on forward and backward, until he has blessed them all with his presence. By this arrangement, the first wife has the largest share of her husband's society. The truth, however, requires that I should state^that the last wife in this particu- lar family was a young and very good-looking girl, and she resided with the first wife. Thus while the husband was showing his devotion to his first wife, he was rewarded by the society of his younger one. The other wives only got a week of his society in about every eleven weeks ; they have thus each about five weeks of his society in every year. When abundant wealth can supply all the wants of numerous wives and children, and furnish every accommpdation that a growing family demands, much of the jealousy and ill-feeling so common to Polyga- my can in some degree be avoided. But when poor men have families growing up in some old, dilapidated house, and huddled together, it is a very painful ex- perience. Polygamy with riches is bad enough ; but Polygamy with poverty is terrible. It is said that many men in Utah have entered into polygamic life with two wives under one roof, and with but a very doubtful partition in the bed- room. But even for this those poor people were hardly to be blamed. " Build up the kingdom ! build up the kingdom !" has been drummed into their ears till all good sense and propriety were dHven out of their heads. It is very common, however, to see 1 86 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. families of two or three wives living together in one small house — the women with separate bed-rooms, but with only one kitchen to accommodate them all, and with one room that serves as dining-room and parlour — all for "the Kingdom's " sake* A row of doors and windows may be seen in every settlement in Utah, and even still in Salt Lake City they may be noticed. To each door and window there was a wife, a fire-place, a bedstead, three chairs, and a table. When the family of either wife increased and required more room, a shed would be added be- hind. This was " celestial " marriage in Utah. Yet I have known more misery to exist in a handsome residence, and more ill-feeling between two wives rolling in abundance there, than probably was ever felt in some of those mud-roofed cottages of doors and windows where half a dozen wives resided. Poverty is ill to bear in Polygamy. It is a terrible physical affliction, and develops the lowest feelings in both women and children, who are ever afraid that other wives and their children are getting more than : * I have frequently mentioned in this work the word "Kingdom." To my " Gentile" readers, this expression will probably not be very clear, and it is only right that I should give a word of explanation. The Mormon doctrine is, that in the other world, a man's children and descendants will form his " Kingdom." Hence it is that they are anxious to have numerous families, as the more children a man has, the greater will be his power and glory hereafter, as their patri- arch and monarch. A knowledge of this doctrine will give the reader a better insight into much that has been written, and will explain why it is that Polygamy has taken such hold upon the minds of the. Mormon people, and how natural it is that the idea of a future " king- dom," if once believed, should enter so deeply into their thoughts and language, and so largely influence the practice of their lives. / WHAT 1 KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 87 their share of bread, potatoes, and molasses — the staples of such a home — but in the houses of the rich, with every thing in abundance at hand, it is there that the green-eyed monster — ^jealousy, has the fullest rein. The mind, thus unoccupied with the cares of providing for a home, is the more at liberty to count the hours of a husband's absence, to brood over the remembrance ^f the last kind look which he gave to the other, or to note the more delicate shade of the last silk dress, or the richer shawl, which she did not get. I have seen such women ; I have heard them confidentially tell their woes ; and I have watched them pine away to that physical weakness which makes life a burden. Possibly the other lady was innocent of ever doing any thing intentionally wrong, and quite as likely, too, the lord of the mansion was as careful as man could be to guard his tongue, to control his eyes, and to measure all his acts, and knew not why his wife should pine and always have her headaches and re- tire to her own apartment. With, or without cause, the sensitive woman is afflicted, and not infrequently she it is who suffers most who has the most attention. One kind, insinuating glance of the husband to the other wife obliterates from the afflicted one's memory the ten times greater acts of kindness . that he has shown to her. All is forgotten in an instant ; the waters of Lethe pass over the tablets of her memory, - and the recollections of the pleasantest hours of her life are washed away for ever. The effects of Polygamy are singularly illustrated in the appearance and condition of two sisters (Jwins) 1 88 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. who reside in Salt Lake City. The contrast between the two ladies is very striking, although in many re- spects they resemble each other so strongly that it is almost impossible even for their most intimate friends to distinguish the one from the other when apart. Sometimes even their husbands have ludicrously mistaken them. One of these ladies is the wife of a liberal, kind-hearted man, but he is a Polygamist, and has three other wives besides herself. The other sister is the wife of a monogamist ; and, of course, is the sole mistress of his heart's affections. • When, however, the sisters are together, a marked dissimilarity can be observed between them. The wife of the Polygamist — good-hearted man, as he is —has a touching look of care and sorrow constantly dwelling upon her features, for she has but a share in her husband's love. The wife of the mono- gamist has no such sad expression on her face ; for small as her husband's heart may be, she knows that she alone rules therein — its sole queen and mistress. I knew two wives — very pleasant ladies and natu- rally kind-hearted — ^who tried the Polygamic life in its varied phases. They were unhappy together and they separated, and tried the experiment of living in different parts of the city. That was, however, still worse than before. When the ladies were both living together, either lady could at once see whether her husband's hat and overcoat were in the hall ; but when he had a second home, he was gone entirely, and no trace of him was left behind. When both were in one house, prudence might suggest to the husband the number of the absent hours ; but out of the WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 89 house, he might find a thousand business excuses for a prolonged absence ; none of which the suffering one would believe implicitly. Besides, when all together, in the same house, one table served for both wives, and the husband could not, of course, " get a better dinner .in one house than in the other." Women naturally seek the happiness of their hus- band, even though ^they may be bitter against him and Polygamy. They try to preserve his favour and make their homes as attractive as possible, so that he may always be pleased when he comes to see them. Out of their frequently poor allowances for the main- tenance of their families, and what their own labour may add thereto, some women try to be exceedingly economical while they arc living by themselves, so that when it comes to "their turn" to receive the hus- band, he may be well entertained. I have one lady in view who earned her husband's flattering opinion for economy in this way, and by some unlooked for change in his family, this good opinion has been of some service to her. That is the course adopted by a woman of years and experience. Young and thoughtless wives some- times try the opposite experiment, and when their husbands come to see them they are always poor, suffering — always needy ; they never have enough of any thing. The effort at creating sympathy is not half as successful as the pleasant home and smiling- welcome of more experienced ladies. Many a woman has missed her opportunity from want of a proper knowledge of human nature and good cookery. Some of the leading men have wives in different tgO WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. parts of the Territory; which is, of course, very con- venient when travelling. It is quite common to find a man with one family in the city and another a few miles in the country. The city residence is necessary in the pursuit of business, while the country wife overlooks the farm and dairy. Many of the patriarchs in the country are very judicious in their selection of wives — that is, if they have comfortable homes. I remember many years ago reading a letter in a newspaper from a " brother" in the south of Utah. He had one who was a good housewife, another who was a good weaver, another was a good seamstress ; and all his ambition then was to find another wife who could teach the children. Some men are not quite so fortunate in their patri- archal relations. They do not seem to know how to dispose of themselves and keep peace in their fami- lies. In the language of the teachers, these are " weak men, who fall in love with one wife, and are not smart enough to conceal it from the others." Perhaps something occurs in course of time to break in upon his sweet communion with the favourite, and h^ leaves her and goes to another wife. Then the unfortunate patriarch has the favourite's indignation added to the complaints of the other wives, and his latter condition is worst of all. No amount of "teach- ing" in the world would make such a family happy. Women are argus-eyed, and nothing can escape their notice. No man with weaknesses should ever think of Po- lygamy. Of the privacy of Brigham Young as a man, I shall WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I9I not write — no, not a word. His wives and children are as sacred to me as I would desire my own family to be with the public. But as the head of a system, I have no scruples to speak of him, and of the example of "celestial marriage" which he sets before the world. He cannot consistently object, as he has re- peatedly told the people to follow him as he follows Christ ; and as he.permits no one to question him, the natural conclusion is that his family is the pattern of the patriarchal order. Very extravagant statements have been published of the number of Brigham Young's wives and chil- dren. How many he has had froni the time he courted Miss Martha Brotherton until now, it would be difficult to estimate. Some of his wives are dead ; others have left him, and many probably have been sealed to him who strayed away like those of Brother Heber, and he knew not whither they went. Of Brighara's present family I am personally ac- quainted with nineteen of his wives. Before he was a Mormon, he had a wife and family, but of that lady Iknow nothing. Two of her daughters are in Utah. His Mormon family begins with his first, legal, wife, who is still living — Mrs. Mary Ann Angel Young. She is probably about his own age, but is physically less preserved, and looks much older. She is a most excellent and amiable lady, and. bears traces of having had her full share of earthly troubles. She is the mother of his three prominent sons, Joseph A. ; Brigham, Jr. ; John W., and two daughters — Alice and Luna. Each of the sons has three wives. The first daughter is the third of four wives in a 192 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. polygamic household. The other daughter is the first wife of a young man, and has for a companion wife her father's daughter by another mother. The eldest daughter, Alice, has also her half-sister as an associate wife in her husband's household. The legal wife of Brigham is : I. Mrs. Mary Ann Angel II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. His Polygamic Wives are : Mrs. Clara Decker, I (gigters). Mrs. Lucy Decker, i Mrs. Kmeline Free Mrs. Harriet Cook. Mrs. Twiss Mrs. Eliza Burgess Mrs. Susan Snively. Mrs. Lucy Bigelow Mrs. Harriet Barney Seagers . . Mrs. Martha Bowker Mrs. Margaret Pierce Mrs. Amelia Folsom Mrs. Mary Van Cott Cobb Mrs. Eliza Ann Jay Webb His " Proxy" Wives are : Mrs. Emily Partridge Mrs. Zina D. Huntington Jacobs Miss Eliza R. Snow. [These were formerly " sealed " to Joseph Smith, and are now " Proxy" wives to Brigham.] Also — Mrs. Augusta Cobb [who was " sealed " to Joseph Smith since his death.] Besides these, there may very likely be other ladies XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX. Young, WHAT I KNOW ABOUT- POLYGAMY. I93 " sealed " to Brigham, but I myself know personally no more than the above named. Brigham's first home in Utah was in a little cot- tage called " The White House," which every visitor to Salt Lake will notice on the hill-side, north of " The Eagle Gate." In that house Mrs. Young, the first, is domiciled. She is much loved by her- chil- dren, and with their attention and affection, this good old lady probably long ago became indifferent to the additions that have been made to her husband's do- minions. She is much beloved by the people for her own worth, In the " Bee-Hive House," the official residence of Governor Young, adjoining his office on the east, there is but one lady occupant — Mrs. Lucy Decker Young. There is a privacy about this dwelling that no one invades. It is here that the Prophet has his own private bed-room, and at this house he breakfasts — when he has been at home over night. In the " Lion House" — a very long, narrow build- ing on the west of the business office — the larger num- ber of his wives reside. The basement floor is used for kitchen, dining-room, pantry, and a general re- ceptacle foj the odds and ends of a large family. The first floor has a passage up the centre, where proba- bly half a dozen of the wives with small families have their rooms on the right-hand side. On the left, at the entrance, is the parlour, and the other rooms on that side are occupied by mothers with larger fami- lies, and ladies who have a little more than ordinary attention. The upper floor is divided into twenty square bed^rooms. 194 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. There is no extravagance in the furniture of the homes of these wives, but they are comfortable and kept neat and clean. It is in this " Lion House" where he usually dines at three p.m. Mrs. Twiss Young is housekeeper, and excellently fitted for the duties of that position. At three punctually the bell rings, and the mothers, with their children, move down to the dining-room, and all are seated at a very long table, that has had to be lengthened by turning round at the end of the room. Each mother has her children around her. Brigham sits at the head of the table, with his fa- vourite — when in the house — vis-a-vis, or on his left, and any visitor sits on his right hand. The repast is frugal, but ample. Brigham is a sober and exceed- ingly economical man. This is the first time he sees his family. In the evening, at seven o'clock, the bell again rings, and the mothers and the children fill the sides and ends of the parlour. When they are all seated, the Patriarch enters, takes his seat by the parlour table, and chats quietly with those who may go in with him to prayers. When all the members of the family are assembled, the door is closed ; they kneel, and he prays for all — for Zion, and for the " King- dom." That is the last they see of him, unless they seek him privately. Outside of the wall that surrounds these houses he has wives occupying six other houses. One other wife is far down South, another is at the farm, and one " proxy" wife lives with her son-in-law. The wives of Brigham have all good homes, have WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I95 the necessaries of life, and are eomfortably, respect- ably, and neatly dressed. With the exception of the one who is called his " favourite," and her growing rival, there is no indication of extravagance among them. Up to an addition of late years, the community heard nothing of his family but what was pleasant and creditable Jo them. His wives are kind and faithful mothers, seeking to live the religion they have been taught, and ambitious to increase the glory of their " lord." They are women who would be regarded with respect in the most moral commu- nity of any country ; and are as far from resembling the Sultanas of an Eastern harem as one thing can be diflferent from another. Most of them are women of devout faith. I know them all personally — some of them intimately ; and, while I have heard from some, with heavjr hearts, of their difficulties in bear- ing "the cross'' which all Mormon women have to , carry, they h&ve tried, I know, to be submissive, and I think it is due to them that I should make the pre- sent recognition of their goodness of disposition and purity of soul. With his family he is said to be kind; but it is supposed to be more the awe which his position as Prophet inspires, than the love which they bear him as a man, which renders him successful in managing them. At the same time, that sweet familiarity is destroyed which should exist between husband and wife, father and children. He aims to be looked upon more as a ruler than as the head of a family. With such a number of wives, he cannot possibly 196 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. wait upon them in visiting, frequenting the ball-room, or places of public entertainment. With the excep- tion of his reigning favourite, whoever she may hap- pen for the time to be, no one expects his attentions. At the theatre, which is his own, a full number of seats are reserved, and his wives attend when they please or they remain at home. They sit in the body of the parquette, among the rest of the people ; but one of the two proscenium boxes is reserved for him, and beside him is a chair for the favourite Amelia. When he goes tcj the ball-room, the same special attention is manifest. He dances first with the fa- vourite, and, if half a dozen more of his wives have accompanied them, he will dance with each of them once in the course of the evening ; but with the fa- vourite he dances as frequently as any youth in the ball-room with his first maiden love. The Apostles and leading men of the community, who dance atten- dance upon him and desire his favour, are sure to seek the pleasure of her hand and place her in the same cotillion with Brigham, who is thus able all the evening to enjoy her company. This favouritism is ill-looked upon by the Saints, and, in their estimation, savours more of Turkey than of the " Celestial Kingdom." Were there greater devotion, or greater virtue in her, the people might find some argument for his defence ; but the cir- cumstance, whenever alluded to in society, is gene- rally answered with a smile or a shrug of the shoul- ders. Some Apostles look with pain upon this boyishness of the Prophet, and deplore it. Most of them are WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. I97 attached to their first wives, and have shown to them consideration and attention which has not always pleased Brigham. I have heard more than one of them express the wish that Brother Brigham's devo- tion to the fair sex had more direction toward his first wife. It is but just to the reigning favourite to state that she has not been wanting in kindness and respect to Mrs. Young. ^ Brigham has had his favourites before ; and, if he were to live many years longer, with the privilege hitherto enjoyed by him of doing just what he pleased, he doubtless would lose his fancy for his present toy and seek another. One of his recent wives is a very handsome lady, and his attentions in that direction are already very marked. As I write, the thought comes over me,^ — What in- fatuated beings the women of Utah have been, with all these evidences of human weakness and passion exhibited by the " Priesthood " continually before their eyes, that they should ever believe that there is even a shadow of divinity in Polygamy ! How could they imagine for an instant that it was possible for such a doctrine to emanate from God, or from that Adorable Being who looked upon woman with the sweetest tenderness that humanity could express ! What a terrible infatuation ! It is fearful to con- template ! CHAPTER XX. Gentiles in Utah — Mormon Women not allowed to mingle with them — Restrictions and Prejudices — Women and Men kept apart in the Tabernacle and the Theatre— Keeping a Gentile Boarding- House — Times changed — Mormon Girls marrying Gentile Hus- bands — Why they prefer the Gentiles— Reasons of Jealousy— The Looks of Mormon Women — False Notions^-The Railway working Changes — An Appeal to Congress — The wisest Course to be adopted — To the Women of Utah. For many years there were very few Gentiles in Utah. Most of these were merchants and thieir clerks, and teamsters. There were also two or three Federal officials. Although they were but few, their influence was always dreaded by the Mormon lea- ders ; and the Tabernacle and Meeting-Houses re- sounded with something disparaging to the Gentiles. Some of them doubtless commanded very little re- spect. But it mattered not how much others might be respected elsewhere, how pure and blameless their lives, it was enough that they were Gentiles, and a worse thing still to be a gentlemanly or edu- cated Gentile. The pleasant manners of a cultivated life were set down as the wiles of the Evil One to seduce the simple and trusting maidens of the flock, and rendered the gentleman an object of suspicion and distrust. The rough and uncultivated could be easily guarded against and easily exposed. No young woman could possibly accept any atten- WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 1 99 tions from a Gentile without being disgraced— it was an unpardonable sin, and she was certain to be de- nounced and abused in the Ward meetings. It was a risk of reputation for any woman to be seen talking to a Gentile. It mattered not where they might have met before — at the store, or at a friend's house, or even before they had gone to Utah — to recognize a Gentile in the street was to avow an intimacy which was associated with a suspicion of the vilest conduct. For any family to entertain gentlemen who brought letters of introduction from friends abroad was not impossible, it is true; but the less they had of this kind of thing the better. If these gentlemen were simply passing through Salt Lake City, an invitation to the theatre might be accepted by any member of the family ; but they would be very thankful when it was over, knowing well that all eyes were upon them. But. if this friend hap- pened to prolong his visit, and should chance to give a second invitation for the theatre or a carriage-drive, some falsehood had to be conjured up as an excuse for declining. Some, toleration, was extended in the case of my husband, as he was an editor, and necessarily had many visitors whom he took pleasure in entertain- ing ; but it was considered by many pious friends that we had* more of that kind of association than was beneficial. At the present . time, I have little doubt that our leaving the church is attributed, to this cause. I would not have permitted my daughters, . had they had such a desire, to have accepted any atten- 200 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. tions from a Gentile. Not that I believed it was wrong — Lknew better — ibuti was afraid of the bit- ter tongue of scandal,. which I knew was ready to wag. A very sweet little girl who lived near us, and who had associated with my daughter while growing up, became acquainted with Gentile ladies and visit- ed them at home. There, naturally, she became ac- quainted with Gentile gentlemen.; and as she was very good-looking she received attentions which were to her agreeable, particularly in her. lonely situation. Of course, the acquaintance with my daughter had to be stopped, although I believed this little girl pure and spotless. The scandal against her as she grew up became of the very vilest character, and her of- fence was simply associating with the Gentiles. Had her faith in the Mormon Church been unshaken, she would certainly not have formed such acquaintances ; but the poor girl was disgusted with the wretched phases of Polygamy constantly before her eyes — her mother could have told an awful tale of sorrow. Another very beautiful young Mormon lady, the daughter of a gentleman who, when living, was one of the highest dignitaries of the church, was once chosen for her handsome appearance to represent the goddess of liberty in a Fourth of July proces- sion.. When Brigham heard it, the committee were rebuked and the young lady insulted by their after- wards refusing to accept her, although she had been specially invited — her unfitness being that she kept Gentile society. These young ladies are now married to very re- spectable Gentiles. WHAT 1 KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 201 When the United States army went to Utah in 1858, one half of the old Tabernacle was appropriat- ed to the sisters, and the other half to the brethren. The centre of the new Tabernacle is now devoted ex- clusively to the sisters — no husbapd or brother sits near them. When Brigham built the theatre it was also specially partitioned off. The Mormon families occupied the parquette, and the Gentiles had the first circle. Of course, the poorer classes had no souls to contaminate, were less cared for, and Gen- tiles and Mormons sat together in the second and third circles. At one time, the Saints were not permitted to keep Gentile boarders and retain good standing in the church. Some persons would persist in doing so ; but it was a source of great scandal, and they subjected themselves to attacks in the sermons. It was told them that Gentile society would bring a per- nicious influence into their families. But what a change has come over the affairs of Utah ! One of Brigham Young's own wives, the one who was once the reigning favourite, now keeps Gentile boarders. Not long ago, I made some remarks about the incon- sistency of this to a very good sister, who by-the- by was doing the same thing herself, and was also one of the persons most opposed to our receiving Gentile company. She replied that the times had changed, and that Brigham Young could not be re- sponsible for what his wives did ; they would do as they pleased. This excuse was worse than none ; for every one in Salt Lake City knows that none of Brigham Young's wives would do any such thing 202 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. without his permission. The wife alluded to is as obedient as any he has got, and a very excellent lady with a large family. It enables her probably with her numerous children to procure many things which they might otherwise have to dispense with, and as long as " there is money in it," and his treasury is saved, Brigham will " wink at it," as he says the Lord does at certain things among the Saints. I could mention Mormons who have had a very bad name for years for keeping Gentile boarders. They will doubtless now feel better since it has become respectable and no longer renders them liable to " damnation." Notwithstanding the vigilance of the priesthood, several young ladies of highly respectable families have preferred Gentile husbands, and have left the Territory. These have invariably been traduced, and every rumour of misfortune occurring to them afterwards was a sweet morsel to be retailed with very ill-disguised gratification. For any lady to be spoken of with respect or as holding a good posi- tion after leaving the church is particularly obnoxious to the devoted Mormons, and any evil which may befall such a person is regarded as a judgment from heaven. Kind-hearted and fraternal as the people are, the rulers seem to rejoice in nothing so much as the misery or ill-fortune of any one who has left the church. It is not strange that spirited, proper-feeling girls should find the society of Gentiles acceptable. There need be no mystery about it. The Mormon boys and young men have heard so much of polygamic preach- ing, and have had so much of its practice before their WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. 2O3 eyes, that many of them never can visit the Mormon girls without speaking of it. I have frequently heard sensitive young maidens relate that boys, when visit- ing, were in the habit of speaking of their "privi- leges ;" telling what they would do when they got married ; how they thought that they Avould take two wives at once, to begin with; how they would live with them afteavards, etc, Girls of the slightest feeling and intelligence are naturally shocked at this kind of talk, even though it has no practical effect on them. Polygamy is dis- agreeable enoiig-h in any form, but when made a sub- ject of boasting by silly boys and ignorant men, it is doubly offensive. In Gentile society, the girls are at least spared conversation on such subjects ; and, when they are by themselves, they do not fail to re- mark it to each other. In polygamic Mormonism, woman is a convenience ; in a proper Gentile home, woman is a companion, and this comparison is really more apprehended than any immoral conduct. A polygamous wife, who is one of many, who sees her husband only occasionally, and that generally as a favour, cannot well see a Gentile lady at home with- out comparing situations. It makes them unhappy, and that in a great measure is why the Mormons have been taught to avoid Gentile society. Writers upon Utah have said that the' Mormon women were extremely homely and coarse-looking. This is very unjust, for, doubtless, nowhere is there to be found— taking them as a whole: — a more fresh, happy, and good-looking set of girls than among the Mormons. It is. only after marriage that many of 204 VTHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. them lose their elasticity of step, their joyous, happy looks, and that animation of countenance which makes even a homely face look beautiful at times. On some of their faces may be detected a deep melancholy ; but, if they can be diverted from their sad thoughts for ever so short a time, they become animated, and even, it may be, beautiful. Add to this secret sorrow which casts a gloom upon their countenances, the little opportunity which they have of cultivating their taste for dress, and it will not be wondered at if the Mormon women are not always, very beautiful to a man who is captivated by outward appearances. Many of these women are taught to be satisfied with simple clothing, and it is constantly drummed into their ears that love of dress is a sin in the sight of God. Thus this love of the beautiful, which is a part of woman's nature, has to be crushed out en- tirely, and that, too frequently, by her own husband, whose example is entirely opposed to his teaching ; for a Mormon, if he can afford it, is very scrupulous in his own dress. Those very men who are most severely economical with their wives, and who think that they should be satisfied with homespun and sun- bonnets, are they who are the soonest captivated by an elegantly-dressed . and fashionable woman,, and often become perfectly infatuated about her. This has been a cause of much discontent among the women of Utah ; for they very justly feel that if they had as fine feathers, they might make just as handsome birds. I remember, at one of the parties, a lady was very nicely dressed, and one of the principal authorities of WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY, 20$ the Church said to her, " Sister, don't yoii think that you spend too much time and thought on your dress ?" She answered, " Do you think so ? After all, a person looks a great deal better when they give a little attention to their dress. You, Brother Kim- ball, look a great deal better since you have worn a coat of broadcloth, cut in the fashionable style." He simply answered that it was not his wish to wear other clothes than what he used to, but that his wives insisted upon his doing so. Men in Utah are not guilty of following the advice of their wives, except it be in this one particular ; for Brighara himself has said that "it is a disgrace in the sight of heaven for a man to follow his wife." In Utah, as well as elsewhere, there are certainly women to be found who never had any good looks to lose, or a sensitive nature to contend with ; but it is not true to assert this as a characteristic of the whole community. The women of Utah are like women of their class everywhere. The construction of the Pacific Railroad, the dis- covery of the great wealth in the mountains of Utah; and the free expression of the sentiments of thinking men who have outlived and abandoned Mormonism, have given the death-blow to Polygamy. Were there none but Mormons in the Territory, it might have lived on so long as they were willing to remain in poverty ; but with prosperity^ and the changed cir- cumstances which are ever certain to follow wealth, Polygamy is a doomed institution. Whatever, in the providence of God, may be the 206 WHAT I KNOW ABOUT POLYGAMY. action of Congress, toward Utah, if the word of a feeble woman can be listened to, let me respectfully ask the Honourable Senators and Representatives of the United States that, in the abolition of Polygamy, if such should be the decree of the nation, let no com- promise be made where subtilty can bind the woman now living in Polygamy to remain in that condition. Legalize, if Congress will, the marriages that have been made, and legitimatize' the children born in that wedlock, if such can be done, for the women and chil- dren are innocent ; but let one proviso ever remain, that any wife living in Polygamy, at the time of the passage of that Act of Congress, shall be then and ever afterwards free to abandon that relationship when her conscience shall so dictate, without legal hindrance, and that she and her children shall be provided for as if she had been his first and legal wife whom the courts oi law had separated " for cause." I have now completed my task, and am about to lay down my pen. I shall, I know, be condemned by. those hymn-singing, devotional women, wlio, child- less and husbandless here, dream of the glories of the world to come, while they never knew the duties, the obligations, the sweet and hallowed sympathies of the world in which they live. In their eyes, I have doubtless committed the " unpardonable sin." I have written for the suffering and sorrowing women in Polygamy. They will understand me, and to them I appeal. Before the Great Tribunal I will cheerfully meet their verdict. APPENDIX. The Revelation on Polygamy is a curious document to the unbeliever. To him it bears every mark of imposture. To the Saints if is as sacred a document as the decalogue given to Moses upon Mount Sinai. To a, person who has once believed it from the teachings of the Mormon priest- hood, and who has lived under its threatenings, but who has finally outgrown the whole religion, the Revelation reads like a strained effort, on the part of Joseph Smith, to justify, under the sanction of a commandment, the leadings of his own passions. Whatever its origin, whoever its author, no document was ever given to any community that caused so much misery and accomplished so little good. There is no evidence of God in it. From beginning to end, it is man, and weak man only. In glancing over it, the intelligent reader will be rather astonished to find that it entirely escaped the notice of " the Lord," that the Patriarch Isaac was not a Polygamist. There are also many other statements which no one but a true believer would be apt to receive with implicit faith. But the reader will be able to form his own judgment from the document itself, which I shall now place before him. CELESTIAL MARRIAGE-. A REVKLATION ON THE PATRIARCHAL ORDER OF MATRIMONY, OR PLURALITYiOP WIVES. 'Given to yoseph Stnith^ the Seer^ in Nauvoo^ Ji^iy tztJi^ 1843, I. Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, ray servant Jo- seph, that inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand, to 208 APPENDIX. know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justified my ser- vants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; as also Moses, David, and Solomon, my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines : Be- hold! and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as touching this matter : Therefore, prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you ; for all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same ; for behold ! I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant, and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned ; for no one can reject this covenant, and be permitted to enter into my glory ; for all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as was instituted from before the foundations of the world : and as pertaining to the new and everlasting cove- nant, it was instituted for the fulness of my glory ; and he that receiveth a fulness thereof, must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God. 2. And verily I say unto you, that the conditions of this law are these : All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or ex- pectations, that are not made and entered into, and sealed, by4;he Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity, and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment, through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to hold this power, (and I have appointed unto my servant Joseph to hold this power in the last days, and there is never but one on the earth- at a time, on whom this power and the keys of the priesthood are conferred,) are of no efficacy, virtue, or force, in and after the resurrection from the dead : for all contracts that are not made unto this end, have an end when men are dead. 3. Behold! mine house is a house of brder, saith the Lord God, and- not a house of confusion. Will I accept of an offering, saith the Lord, that is not made in my name! Or, will I receive at your handsj that which I have not ap- pointed I And will I appoint unto you, saith the Lord, e'x- cept it be by lawi even as I and my Father ordained unto you, before the world was ! I am the Lord thy God, and APPENDIX. 209 I give unto you this commandment, that no man shall come unto the Father but by me, or by my word which is my law, saith the Lord ; and every thing that is in the world, whether it be ordained of men, by, thrones, or prin- cipalities, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they may be, that are not by. me, or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God : for whatsoever things remaineth are by me ; and whatsoever things are not by me shall be shaken and destroyed. • 4. Therefore, if a man marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not by me, nor by my word ; and he covenant with her so long as he is in the world, and she with him, their covenant and marriage is not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the world ; there- fore, they are not bound by any law when they are out of the world; therefore, when they are out of the world, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are appointed angels in heaven, which angels are ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more, and an ex- ceeding, and an eternal weight of glory ; for these angels did not abide my law, therefore they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, withdliit exaltation, in Sieir saved condition, to all eternity, and from henceforth are not Cods, but are angels of God for ever and ever. 5. And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife, and make a covenant with her for time, and for alL eternity, if that covenant is not by me, or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of, promise; through him whom I have.anointed and appointe4. unto this power, then it is not valid, neither of force, when they are out of the world, because they are not joined by me, saith the Lord, neither by my word ; when they are out of the world, it cannot be received there, because the angels and the Gods are appointed there, by whom they cannot pass ; they cannot, therefore, inherit my glory, for my house is a house of order, saith the Lord God. 6. And again, verily I "sg-y unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and- it is sealed unto . them by the 2IO APPENDIX. Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power, and the keys of this priest- hood, arid it shall be said unto them, Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection ; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, king- doms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights 'and depths, then shall it be written in the Lamb's Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood ; and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it Shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity, and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the Gods, which are set there, to their exaltation' and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a con- tinuation of the seeds for ever and ever. 7. Then shall they be Gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, be- cause they continue ; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be Gods, because: they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them. 8. Verily, verily I say unto you, except. ye abide rhy law, ye cannot attain to this glory; for strait is the gate, and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there be that -find it, be- cause ye receive me not in the world, neither do ye know me. But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me, and shall receive your exaltation, that where I am, ye shall be also; This is eternal lives, to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. I am He. - Receive ye, therefore, my law. Broad is the gate, and wide the way that leadeth to the death ; and many there are that go in thereat; because they receive me not, neither do they abide in my law. 9. Verily, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife according to my word, and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, according to mine appointment, 'and he or she shall commit any sin or transgression of the new and everlasting covenant whatever, amd'all manner of blasphe. APPENDIX. 211 mies, and if they commit no murder,,wh'erein they, shed in- nocent blood — ^yet they shall come forth iii the first resurrec- tion, and enter irito their exaltation, but they shall be de- stroyed in the flesh, and shall be delivered unto the buffet- ings of Satan, unto the day of redemption, saith the Lord God. ' . 10. The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall not be forgiven in the world, lior out of the world, is in that ye commit murder, wherein ye shed innocent blood, and assent unto ray death, after ye have received my new and everlasting covenant, saith the Lord God; and he that abideth not this law can in nowise enter into my glory, but shall be damned, saith the Lord. 11. I am the Lord thy God, and will give unto thee the law of my Holy Priesthood, as was ordained by me, and my Father, before the world was. Abraham received all Ihings, whatsoever he received, by revelation and command- mentr, by my word, saith the Lord, and hath entered into his exaltation, and sitteth upon his throne. 12. Abraham received promises concerning his seed, and of the fruit of his loins — from whose loins ye are, namely, my servant Joseph — ^which were to continue, so long as they were in the world ; and as touching Abraham and his seed, out of the world, they should continue ; both in the world and out of the world should they continue as innumerable as the stars ; or, if ye were to count the sand upon the sea- shore, ye could not number them. This promise is yours also, because ye are of Abraham, and the promise was made unto Abraham ; and by this law are the continuation of the works of my Father, wherein He glorifieth himself. Go ye, therefore, and do the works of Abraham ; enter ye into my law, and ye shall be saved. . But if ye enter not into my law, ye can not receive the promises of my Father, which He made unto Abraham. 13. God commanded Abraham, and Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham, to wife. And why did she do it ? Because this was the law, and from Hagar sprang many people. This, therefore, was fulfilling, among other things, the pro- mises. Was Abraham, therefore, under condemnation ? Verily, I say imto you, JVay ; for I, the Lord, commanded it. Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac : 212 APPENDIX. nevertheless, it was written, Thou shalt not kill. Abrahati), however, did not refuse, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. 14. Abraham received concubines, and they bare him children, and it was accounted unto him for righteous- ness, because they were given unto him, and he abode in my law : as Isaac also, and Jacob did none other things than that which they were commanded; and be- cause they did none other things than that which they were commanded, they have entered into their exaltation, ac- cording to the promises, and sit upon thrones ; and are not angels, but are Gods. David also received many wives and concubines, as also Solomon, and Moses my servant ; as also many others of my servants, from the beginning of creation until this time ; and in nothing did they sin, save in those things which they received not of me. 15. David's wives and concubines were given unto him, of me, by the hand of Nathan, my servant, and others of the prophets who had the keys of this power ; and in none of these things did he sin against me, save in the case of Uriah and his wife ; and therefore, he hath fallen from his exaltation, and received his portion ; and he shall not inhe^ rit them out of the world ; for I gave them unto another, saith the Lord. -^ 16. I am the Lord thy God, and I gave unto thee, my servant Joseph, an appointment, and restore all things ; ask what ye will, and it shall be given unto you, according to my word ; and as ye have asked concerning adultery, verily, verily I say unto you, if a man receiveth a wife ia the new and everlasting covenant, and if she be with another man, and I have not appointed unto her by the holy anointing, she hath committed adultery, and shall be destroyed. If she be not in the new and everlasting covenant, and she be with another man, she has committed adultery ; and if her husband be with another woman, and he was under a vow, he hath broken his vow, and hath.committed adultery ; and if she hath not committed adultery, but is innocent, and hath not broken her vow, and she knoweth it, and I reveal it unto you, my servant Joseph, then shall you have power, by the power of my Holy Priesthood, to take her, and give her unto him that hath not committed adultery. APPENDIX. 213 but hath been faithful, for he shall be made ruler over manjr ; for I have conferred upon you the keys and power of the priesthood, wherein I restore all things, and make known unto you all things, in due time. 17. And verily, verfly I say unto you, that whatsoever you seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven ; and whatso- ever you bind on earth, in my name, and by my word, saith the Lord, it shall be eternally bound, in the heavens; and whosesoever sins you remit on earth shall be remitted eter- nally in the heavens ; and whosesoever sins you retaip on earth shall be .retained in heaven. 18. And again, verily I say, whomsoever you bless I will bless ; and whomsoever you curse I will curse, saith the Lord; for I, the Lord, am thy God. 19. And again, verily I say unto you, my servant Joseph-, that whatsoever you give on earth, and to whomsoever you give any- one on earth, by my word, and according to my law, it shall be visited with; blessings, and not cursings, and with my power, saith the Lord, and shall be without condemnation on earth, and in heaven ; for I am the Lord thy God, and will be with thee even unto the end of the world, and through all eternity : for verily I. seal upon you your exaltation, and prepare a throne for you in the king* dom of my Father, with Abraham, yonr father. Behold, I have seen your sacrifices, and will -forgive all your sins ; I have seen your sacrifices, in obedience to that which I have told you : go, therefore, and I make a.way for your escape, as I accepted the offering of Abraham, ;of his son Isaac. 20. Verily I say unto you, a commandment I give unto mine handmaid, Emma Smith,. your wife,- whom I have given unto you, that she stay .herself, and partake not of that which I commanded you to offer unto her: for I did it, saith the Lord, to prove you all, as I did Abraham ;- and that I rtvight require anoffering at your hand, by covenant and sacrifice: and let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, re- ceive all those that have been ^iven unto my servant Joseph, and who are virtuous and pure before me ; and those who are not pure, and have said they were pure, shall be de- stroyed, saith the Lord God ! for I am the Lord thy God, and ye shall obey my voice ; and I rgive unto my servant Joseph, that he -shall be^maderulerjover many thingSj £6r he. 214 APPENDIX. hath been faithful over a few things, and from, henceforth I will strengthen him. ■ 21. And I command mine handmaid, Emma Smith, to abide and cleave unto my servant Joseph, and to none else. But if she will not abide this commandment, she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord ; for I am the Lord thy God, and will destroy her if she abide not in my law ; but if she will not abide this commandment, then shall my servant Joseph do all things for her, even as he hath said ; and I will bless him,, and multiply him, and give unto him an hundred fold in this world, of fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, houses and lands, wives and children, and crowns of eternal lives in the eternal worlds. And again, verily . I say, let mine handmaid forgive my servant Joseph his trespasses, and then shall she be forgiven her trespasses, wherein she has trespassed against me ; and I, the Lord thy God, will bless her, and multiply her, and make her heart to rejoice. 22. And again, I say, let not my servant Joseph put his property out of his hands, lest an enemy come and destroy him, for Satan seeketh to destroy ; for I am the Lord thy God, and he is my servant ; and behold ! and lo, I am with him, as I was with Abraham, thy father, even unto his exal- tation and glory. j 23. Now as touching the law of the priesthood, there, are many things pertaining thereunto. Verily, if a man be called of my Father, as was Aaron, by mine own voice, and by the voice of him that sent me, and I have endowed him with the keys of the power of this priesthood, if he do any thing in my name, and according to my law, and by my word, he will not commit sin, and I will justify him. Let no one, therefore, set on my servant Joseph ; for I will jus- tify him ; for he shall do the sacrifice which I require at his hands,' for his transgressions, saith the Lord your God. 24. And again, as pertaining to the law of the priest- hood : If any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent ; and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified ; he cannot commit adul- tery, for they are given unto him ; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him, and to none else; and if he have ten virgins given, unto him by this law, APPENDIX. 215 he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him ; and they are given unto him — therefore is he justified. But if one or either of the ten virgins, after' she is espoused, shall be with another man, she has committed adultery, and shall be destroyed; for they are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfil the promise which was given by my Father be- fore the foundation of the world ; and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men ; for herein is the work of my Father continued, that He may be glorified. 2S> And again, verily, verily I say unto you, if any man have a wife who holds the keys of this power, and he teaches unto her the law of my priesthood, as pertaining to these things ; then shall she believe, and administer unto him, of she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord your God ; for I will destroy her ; for I will magnify my name upon all those who receive and' abide in my law. Therefore, it shall be lawful in me, if she receive not this law, for him to re- ceive all things whatsoever I, the Lord his God, will give unto him, because she did not believe and administer unto him, according to my word ; and she then becomes the transgressor, and he is exempt from the law of Sarah, who administered unto Abraham according'to the law, when I commanded Abraham to take Hagar to wife. And now, as pertaining to this law : Verily, verily I say unto you, I will reveal more unto you, hereafter ; therefore, let this suf- fice for the present. Behold, I am Alpha and Omega. Amen. The three sons of Joseph. Smith,"who, it should be remem- bered, still cling to the original doctrines of Morraonism, have for years valiantly combated the charge of Polygamy made agajnst the Prophet ; but in the face of so much testimony against him, it appears difficult for them to fully satisfy themselves that there was not something wrong in his ideas of marriage. It must be extremely unpleasant for them to inake such an avowal, but it would be the easiest way of getting out of the difficulty. In collating' matter 2l6 APPENDIX. for this appendix, I met the following, from the pen of Alexander H. Smith, the second son of the Prophet : " The stories about that article [the revelation] are so numerous, and so conflicting, that I do not believe that he ever received a revelation from God on the matter. ■ The very fact that so much strong testimony had been pro- duced, and did exist, as we have shown from the Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants, satisfies me that it is folly for any sane man to think that Joseph Smith needed to ask God concerning a matter that His will was so plainly manifest on as the one in hand. There are those who say that the revelation ' was received over afive-gallon keg of whiskey.' There are those who say ' the original was burned ; '* but strange to say, they all say ' that it was burned,' and all seem to agree that one person burned it. It is evident that a supposed copy of the revelation has been palmed off upon the people, by a designing set of men, who have certainly lost the priesthood they once held, and have made money and women their only pleasure, that they might gratify to the fullest extent their lustful desires and wicked purposes." The reader will s^e from the concluding sentence, which is rather more forcible* than polite, the opinion which the sons of the Prophet entertain for their father's successors. Italicizing the word " God " in the above was the work of Mr. Smith, and evidently intended by him as a reluctant admission that his father had possibly something to do with it. The further allusion to the " keg of whiskey" is also a partial admission of alleged occasional habits of the Prophet. But the revelation to Joseph is too shrewdly worded, and looks too much like the results of a battle between him and the " Elect Lady" — his wife, Emma, to have owed its inspiration to the " keg." Besides this, the subtle way in which the priesthood therein entwines its authority around the woman, threatening her at one moment with damna- Mrs. Emma SmitR is understood to have thrown it into the fire. APPENDIX. 217 tion, and the next attracting her with promises of glory, evinces too much system and calculation for such an origin. The true story is the best — ^Joseph had himself entered into practical Polygamy, and a revelation was necessary to appease his wife, Emma, and to satisfy his brother, Hyrum, who had some " conscientious scruples." Mr. Smith, however, continues : " Should we admit the truth of this so-called revelation, there is not a mfe on earth, neither has there been since the death of the martyr, who holds the keys to administer the ordinances of celestial marriage according to the reve- lation itself, for it is stated emphatically that ' there is never but one on the earth at a time on whom this power and the keys of this priesthood are conferred.' So by their own witness they are condemned. For Brigham has time and again said he was not a ' prophet nor the son of a prophet,' and none but a prophet can hold the keys of this priest- hood. I give one more feature of the beautiful document : " 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, if » man marry a wife according to my word, and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise accord- ing to mine appointment, and he or she shall commit any sin or transgression of the new and everlasting Covenant whatever, and all manner of blasphemies, and if they commit no murder whereby they shed innocent blood, yet shall they come forth in the first resurrec- tion and enter into their exaltation.' " Here is licence given to any one who enters this system of things to lie, steal, bear false witness, use the name of God in vain, blaspheme at will, and do all manner of wickedness except the shedding of ' innocent blood,' and by them taught, if a man be a Gentile and unconverted his blood is not innocent, he is a sinner,- consequently there is no crime in killing him ; provided, that you have a wife or two sealed to you by the holy celestial tnot. This clause alone should reveal its origin." In conclusion he adds : " Now may God save this people firom this great plague spot that cankers and corrodes the soul, alienates it from God, and fits it only for Satan's kingdom." — Polygamy : was it an original tenet of the Church i pp. 7, 8, 9. CHOICE EXTRACTS FROM MODERN APOSTLES. FROM THE FIRST SERMON PREACHED ON POLYGAMY IN THE TABERNACLE, SALT LAKE CITY, BY THE APOSTLE ORSON PRATT, August 29TH, 1852. " The Lord ordained marriage between male and female as a law through which spirits should come here and enter into the second state of existence." * * * " Then is it not reasonable and consistent that the Lord should say unto His faithful and chosen servants, that had proved themselves before Him all the day long; that had been ready and willing to do whatsoever His will required them to perform — take unto yourselves more wives, like unto the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of old — ^like those who lived in ancient times, who walked in my footsteps, and kept my commands ?"***** " What will become of those individuals who have this law taught unto them in plainness, if they reject it ? [A voice in the stand, ' They will be damned.'] I will tell you : they will be DAMNED, saith the Lord God Almighty." — journal of Discourses, vol. i. pp. 58, 63, 64. " We are created for the express puqjose of increase." — y. ofD., vol. i. p. 93. " Suppose that I had the privilege of having only one wife, I should have had only three sons, for those are all that my first wife bore; whereas I now have buried five sons, and have thirteen living. It is obvious that I could not have been blessed with such a family if I had been restricted to one wife ; but by the introduction of this law I can be the instrument in preparing tabernacles for those APPENDIX. 219 spirits which have to come in this dispensation."* — Brig- ham Young, y. of D., vol. iii. p. 264. " The fleshly body' of Jesiis required a Mother as well as a Father. Therefore the Father and Mother of Jesus, ac- cording to the flesh, must have been associated together in the capacity of Husband and Wife ; hence the Virgin Mary must have been, for the time being, the lawful wife of God the Father : we use the term lawful Wife, because it would be blasphemous in the highest degree to say that He over- shadowed her or begat the Saviour unlawfully. * * It was also lawful in Him, after having thus dealt with Mary, to give her to Joseph her espoused husband. Whether God the Father gave Mary to Joseph for time only, or for time, and eternity, we are not informed. Inasmuch as God was the first Husband to her, it may be that He only gave her to be the wife of Joseph while in this mortal state, and that he intended after the resurrection to again take her as one of His own wives to raise up immortal spirits in eternity." " One thing is certain, that there were several holy wo- men that greatly loved Jesus — such as Mary, and Martha her sister, and Mary Magdalene. If all the acts of "Jesus were written, we, no doubt, should learn that these beloved women were his wives." — Orson Pratt, Seer, pp. 158-9. " The grand reason of the burst of public sentiment in anathemas upon Christ and his disciples, causing His cruci- fixion, was evidently based upon Polygamy, according to the testimony of the philosophers who rose in that age. A belief in the doctrine of a plurality of wives caused the per- secution of Jesus and His followers. We might almost * It seems never to have occurred to Brigham Young that if all the wives whom he had married eacirhad had a husband to herself, the spirit immigration of which he speaks so much, and in which he professes so deep an interest, would have found ten times more facility for earthly existence. His monopoly, therefore, of from fifty to a hundred wives, instead of carrying out the purpose of " the Lord," Jias only hindered it. He seems to have thought nothing of the women fulfilling the "full measure" of their creation. It has been with him all the time only " I." " When I labour in the king- dom of God, / laboyfor my own dear self, I have only self constantly before me; the object of my pursuit is to benefit my individual person, and this is the case with every person who ever -was or eyer will be exalted." That is exactly Brigham's portrait, drawn by his own hand, August 8th, 187a 220 APPENDIX. think they were • Mormons.' " — Elder Jedediah M. Grant, Counsellor to Brigham Young, y. of D., vol. i. p, 346. " Jesus was the bridegroom at the marriage of Cana of Galilee." " Now there was actually a marriage ; and if Jesus was not the bridegroom on that occasion, please tell who was." " We say it was Jesus Christ who was married, to be brought into the relation whereby he could ' see his seed' before he was crucified." "I shall say here, that be- fore the Saviour died, he looked upon his own natural chil- dren, as we look upon ours; he saw his seed, and immedi- ately after that he was cut off from the earth." — Orson Hyde, President of the Apostles, y. of D., vol. ii. pp. 79, 80, 81, 82. " The woman who marries out of this priesthood marries for hell."— a H. HOW THEY SAID IT WAS. " Instead of a plurality of wives being a cause of sorrow to females, it is one of the greatest blessings of the last dis- pensation ; it gives them the great privilege of being united to a righteous man, and of rearing a family according to the ot'der of heaven ; instead of being compelled to remain single, or marry a wicked man who will ruin her and her offspring, she can enter a family wliere peace atid salvation reign ; where righteousness abounds ; where the head of the family stands forth as a, patriarch, a prince, and a saviour, to his whole household ; where blessings unspeakable and eternal are sealed upon them. and their gea^ations after them; her glory is eternal, 2xA. her joy. is full. Rejoice, then, ye daughters of Zion, that you live in this glorious era!'" HOW IT REALLY WAS. Jedediah M. Grant, in the Salt Lake Bowery, September, 1856, uttered the following: " We have women here who like any thing but the Celes- tial Law of God, and if they could break asunder the cable of the Church of Christ,* there is scarcely a mother in Israel but would do it this day. And they talk it to their husbands, to their daughters, and to their neighbours, and they say they have not seen a week's happiness since they be * Polygamy the cable of the Church of Christ I APPENDIX. 221 came acquainted with that law, or since their husbands took a second wife:' In a sermon published in the Deseret News, October ist, 1856, Brigham Young tells the story. " Men will say — ' My wife, though a most excellent woman, has not seen a happy day since I took my second wife.' ' No, not a happy day for a year,' says one ; and another Has not seen a happy day for five years." " I am going to set every woman at liberty, and say to them, Now go^our way — my women with the rest; go your way. And my wives have got to do one of two things : either round up their shoulders to endure the afflic- tions of this world, and live their religion, or they must leave ; for I will not have them about me. I will go into heaven alone rather than have them scratching and fighting around me. I will set all at liberty. ' What, first wife too ? ' Yes, I will liberate you all. I know that there is no cessa- tion to the everlasting whinings of many of the women in this territory ; I am satisfied that this is the case ; and if the women will turn from the commandments of God, and con- tinue to despise the order of Heaven, [Polygamy,] / wilt pray that the curse of the Almighty maybe close to their heels, and that it may be following them Mf'the day long. And those that enter into it (the celestial law) and are (aithful, I will promise them that th€y shall be queens in heaven and rulers to all eternity." " Now if any of yon will deny the plurality of wives and continue to do so, I promise that you will be damned^ — y^ of D., vol. iii. p. 266. This hardly comports with the Apostle Pratt's picture of a family, " where /^ac^ and salvation reign," and it is not a litde amusing to read of the promises from his pen of " this glorious era," when the women were to " rejoice" because of the high honours and privileges conferred upon them ; " the glorious prospects" which were opening before them, and the "fi:eedom" in the dales of Utah. Polygamy in Utah is the martyrdom of civilized, Christian womanhood, and the enslavement of every noble instinct in man. Wiil be ready shortly ; profusely illustrated. THE MORMON SAINTS. THEIR HISTORY FOR FIFTY YEARS, WITH Their political, social, domestic, and theological relations and influences ; the coloni- zation of the Rocky Mountain region ; the development of Utah Territory, its great mineral wealth ; AND THE FACTS OF POLYGAMY BV T. B. H. STENHOUSE, Formerly a,n Elder and Missionary in the Mormon Church, and Editor and Proprietor of the Salt Lake Daily Teles^aph. ^ ♦ ^ This work, which is now nearly ready for the press, is the result not only of many years^ practical experience of Mormonism, but also of long and patient historical re- search. The author, from the prominent position which he occupied for twentjr-five years^ enjojred unusual advantages and the very best of opportunities for obtaining a true msight'into the inner life and mysteries of V'the Saints," such as no observer, however acute, if not of that faith, could have commanded. Among other noticeable features of this work may be mentioned : I. Its Completeness as a History. Without being tedious or too minute, it gives in graphic language a perfect rdsum^ of Mormon chronology, from the earliest days of Joseph Smith to the present time. Notliing that the student or truth-seeker could desire has been omitted, while all needless digression is studiously avoided.' II. Its Impartiality, The student of history is only too well aware how very rare it is to find a writer who can so far divest his works of self as to make them reliable and without the shadow of party or individual bias. In the present work it will_ be discovered that the author entirely negatives himself and all his preconceived views and opinions, and writes rather as a looker-on than as one who has himself been so earnestly engaged in the contest. III. Its Statistical Value. As a book of information and reference it is invaluable, not only as regards dates, documents, and authorities, but also in respect to the Mining interests of Utah, which are treated of exhaustively. - IVi Its Value as the only true Picture of Mormonism, Past and Pre- sent, EVER Published. It treats of public acts and solemtj revelations, of prophets, apoi^es, and presi- donts, of their lives, doctrines, and vaticinations. All are weighed fairly in the balance. And above all, that which possibly may have most interest with the general public, is its complete exposition of the origin of the doctrine and the practice of polygamy in all its bearings, with its baneful effects upon both men and women in Utah at the present day.