~;~ ~~~ i MORAIONISM: ITS LEADERS AND DESIGNS. BY JOHN HYDE, JUN., FORMERLY A MORMON ELDER AND RESIDENT OF SALT LAKE CITY. SECOND EDITION. NEW YORK: w. P. FETRIDGE & COMPANY, No. 281 BROADWAY, OPPOSITE STEWAR.T'S. 1857. tl? Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by - W. P. FETRIDGEE & aO., In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. STEREOTYPED BY T HO HAS B. S XHIT H, 82 & 84 Beekman-st., N.Y. PRIXNTED I;Y J. APP,E, I' Y j 82 & 84 Beekman-st~ DEDICATION. TO THE ;IONEIST BELIEVERS IN MORMIONISM. Mv F.I~NDs: I-i writing the following work, I was not actuated iby the base design of helping to malign an unpopular people, nor by the unworthy one of administering to mere idle curiosity. I wrote it neither to feed public prejudice, nor to supply public scandal. I wrote it for you; to you, therefore, I dedicate it. I know your sincerity; I know also your delusion. As sincerely deceived as yourselves, I have preceded you to Salt Lake City. Some things of what I there saw, with the reflections they have suggested, are contained herein. Of the much that ought to be said, I have endeavored to say a little. The subject, however, is by no means exhausted. While it is better to learn by personal experience than ever to remain ignorant, it is far wiser to profit by the experience of others. Although the practices of individuals - DEDICATION. can not determine the principles of communities, yet, when those practices are criminal and those individuals assume to be prophets and apostles, all men ought to hesitate before committing themselves to their jurisdiction, believing their pretensions, or imitating their examples. If the following pages, for which I solicit your serious and candid perusal, accomplish no more, may they at least lead you to a thorough and careful re-investigation of your grounds of faith; while they teach you.to remember that new thoughts are not, therefore, true thoughts; nor new light true light. To industriously declaim against the evils existing in the world, does not render proposed remedies necessarily good; and wise men should deliberate before rushing from evils that we know, To those we know not of." I am your sincere well-wisher, THIE AUTHOR. NEW YORK, July, 18 5 7 iv INTRODUCTION. IT is interesting to learn the peculiarities of a remote nation or an ancient age. It is far more important, however, that we should correctly understand the character and practices of any extraordinary people of our own day. Mormonism and the Mormons are subjects that not only deserve attention or excite interest, but demand the most serious consideration. The meanness of its origin, the singularity of its history, its present anomalous position, its still increasing dissemination, the mysterious influence it exercises on its followers, and its ultimate destiny, should commend its investigation to all persons. As a curious example of successful imposture, and a stern proof of human fanaticism, it must interest the philosopher. As a system of absolute autocracy in the center of a republic, it must attract the attention of politicians. As ensuring human misery, and consummating human degradation, in the cases of thousands of credulous men and women, and thousands more of helpless children, it should be noticed by the philanthropist. As a religious delusion increasing very INTROD UCTION. rapidly, and entailing not only present suffering, but eternal loss on its infatuated adherents, it ought to arouse the divine to thought and action. Mormonism is no longer a myth; and however wise the policy of contemptuous disregard for its mental delusion or its moral contaminations may have previously been, it is wise no longer. It has become a fact, and is every day growing more substantial and consolidated. As such a fact it deserves to be examined, and demands to be met. In so far as it is erroneous, it needs refutation; or wicked, it needs exposure; or criminal, it needs punishment. To be met it must be understood; and to be understood it must be investigated. There is much falsehood circulated about the Mormons. This every one must perceive. IKnowing this, many truthful accusations are successfully denied by their apologists, disbelieved by their followers, and rejected by impartial persons, accustomed to newspaper exaggerations. In such case the testimony of an eye and ear witness, if credible, must be important. As such, the' following work is submitted. The author has endeavored to exhibit the people of Utah as they are; and while he has much "Extenuated, Ha; set down naughlt in malice." Prophetic assumptions must be sustained by prophetic conduct, or they fail The validity of bombastic preten vi INT R OD U C TIO N. sions to superior purity can only be determined by the extent of that purity. While this is inevitably true, still the correctness of principles does not depend on consistency of practice. A theory may be admirable and practicable however much neglected or despised. Many sincere believers in Mormonism, as a system, deplore its exhibitions as a practice. To prove to such that the practices of Mormons are the natural consequents of their theory, is another object of this work. Circumstances throw many persons into controversy with believers of this system, but the press of whose occupations prevents any elaborate and personal investigation of their tenets and history, or of the opposing arguments. In order to supply, to a small extent, such information, and briefly to indicate whence such arguments may be drawn, has been another design of the author. And if the great Source and Ultimatum of all truth will accept and bless this work, to the inducing any mind to shake off the bondage of a miserable delusion the author will feel abundantly repaid. vii CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION,. CHAPTER I. THE AUTHOR. MORMONISM IN ENGLAND AND AMERICA-EMBRACES MORMONISM-IS ORDAINED AND PREACHES-GOES AS A MISSIONARY TO FRANCE-LEAVES ENGLAND FOR AMERICA-VISITS NAUVOO, AND CARTHAGE-THE SMITSIS-ICARIANS-THE PLAINS-THE INDIANS-ARRIVES AT SALT LAKE-IS INITIATED INTO MORMON MYSTERIES-EFFORTS TO LEAVE SALT LAKE CITY-APPOINTED A MISSIONARY TO THE SANDWICH ISLANDS-LEAVES FOR CALIFORNIA-DOUBTS AND DIFFI CULTIES-PACIFIC OCEAN-ARRIVES AT SANDWVICH ISLANDS-RENOUNCES MORMONISM-BRIGHfAM'S CERTIFICATE-MOTIVES FOR ACTING-CONDUCT OF TILE AUTHORITIES TOWARD HIM,...... 13 CHAPTER II. SALT LAKE CITY. 'TIE BIG MOUNTAIN"-EMIGRATION KANYON-THIE BENCHES-GREAT LAKE-THE CITY WALL-THE CITY-THE INHABITANTS-THE HOUSES LEADING MEN NEAR TEMPLE BLOCK-KIMBALL'S CITY PROPERTY-BR LION HOUSE-THE MANSION AND WHITE HOUSE-MORM.N! THEATE DANCING-HALL-PUBLIC BUILDINGS-TITHING OFFICE AND SYSTEM O ING-COMMUNISM AND CONSECRATION-PUBLIC LANDS-TEMPLE I TABERNACLE AND SABBATH SERVICES-ENDOWMENT HOUSE AND TI THE SOIL-CAPACITY TO SUPPORT INCREASED POPULATION-STARV MANUFACTORIES-LIQUOR MAKING AND CONSUMING-IRON AND CO TIlE PACIFIC RAILROAD-MINERALS-WEAPON MANUFACTORIES-THE CENSUS AND LYING-MORMON PROSPERITY AND PURITY,. CHAPTER III. PRACTICAL POLYGAMY. FAMILT ARRANGEMENTS-FAVORITES-DOMESTIC HAPPINESSLEEPING ALONE -MAKING TABERNACLES-MORMON SALVATION-WIFE HUNTING-MOTEERS, 1* 4 0 * PAOX . 2T CONTENTS. PAGE AND DAUGHTERS SEALED TO ONE MAN-HALF-SISTER WIFE-EFFECTS OF POLYGAMY ON FIRST WIVES —WHISKY-TERMAGANTS-ADULTERY-JEALOUSY -BRIGHAM ON CONNUBIALITIES-PROPORTION OF THE SEXES IN UTAHARGUMENTS USED TO INDUCE YOUNG GIRLS TO MARRY POLYGAMISTS IN PREFERENCE TO YOUNG MEN-WHY THEY DO NOT LEAVE-EFFECTS OF POLYGAMY ON THE CHILDREN-MORTALITY-STERILITY OF WOMEN-EARLY MARRIAGE-DIVORCE-MRS. MCLEAN AND PARLEY P. PRATT-MRS. COBB AND BRIGHAM-UTAH MARRIAGES,..... 51 CHAPTER IV. MORMON MYSTERIES. SEALING FOR ETERNITY-WOMEN SEALED TO ONE AND MARRIED TO ANOTHER HUSBAND-SPIRITUAL WIVES-CAUSE OF SMITHS DEATH-SMITHIS WIDOWS "PROXY DOCTRINE"-MARRIAGE AND SEALING FOR THE DEAD-THE ENDOW BMENT-WASHING AND ANOINTING-FIRST DEGREE OF AARONIC PRIESTHOOD -ECOND DEGREE OF AARONIC PRIESTHOOD-FIRST DEGREE OF MELCIISEDEC PRIESTHOOD-SECOND DEGREE OF MELCHISEDEC PRIESTHOOD-" BEHIND THE VAIL'-OBEDIENCE WITH EXAMPLES-SEALINGS AT THE ALTAR-MURDERS INITIATION LECTURES-SEALINGS TO INDIAN SQUAWS-ADOPTION-SELLING DAUGHTERS,.......... 88 CHAPTER V. EDUCATION. PRACTICAL EDUCATION-SCHOOL SYSTEM-BRAGGADOCIO-SCHOOL TEACHERS THREE MONTHS* TERMS AND NINE MONTHS? VACATIONS-EVENING SCHOOLS DANCING SCHOOLS-ORSON PRATT V. BRIGHAM YOUNG-KIMBALL ON EDU CATED MEN-PRATT'S MATHEMATICAL CLASS-GRAMMAR SCHOOLS-CULTIVATED FEMALE SOCIETY-HOME EDUCATION-FEMALE " BAS BLEUS'"-LITERARY IN STITUTIONS-NOVEL-READING-DESERRET ALPHABET-NEWSPAPERS-BOOK OF BORMON-SMITH'S REVELATIONS-NEW TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE-BOOK OF ABRAHAM-KEY TO APOCALYPSE OF ST. JOHN-PROPHECIES OF ENOCIt GOSPEL OF ADAM-WRITTEN LAW V. ORAL LAW-CONTROVERSIAL WORKS, 115 CHAPTER VI. BRIGHAM YOUNG AT HOME. IS BIOGRAPHY-BIRTH AND EDUCATION-EMBRACES MORMONISM-MEETS SMITH THE PROPHET-JOURNEY TO MISSOURI-IS ORDAINED AN APOSTLE PREACHIES-APPOINTED PRESIDENT OF THE APOSTLES-FLIES FOR HIS LIFE RELAYS FOUNDATION OF TEMIPLE IN JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI-MISSION TO ENGLAND-RETURNS TO NAUVOO-BRIGHAM AND SMITH-BRIGHAM AND SID NEY RIGDON-BUILDS UP NAUVOO-CONDUCTS EMIGRATION-MORMON BAT TALION-SALT LAKE CITY-BRIGHAM'S LEADERSHIP-APPOINTED PRESIDENT x C OI TENTS. PAGE OF CHURCH-QUARRELS WITH JUDGES AND EXPELS THEM-COLONEL STEPTOE -m MODUS OPERANDI"-SHOULD HE DIE, FATE OF THE CHURCH-PERSONAL. APPEARANCE-IN COUNCIL AND IN PULPIT-SATELLITES TO THIS.PLANETHIS MANNERS-STYLE OF ORATORY-AS A WRITER-AS A HUSBAND AND FATHER-DOMESTICITIES-HIS WIVES-HIS FAVORITE-WOMEN COURTING THE MEN-OCCUPATIONS AND PROPERTY-UNIVERSAL CONFIDANT AND ADVISERADMINISTRATIVE BLUNDERS-SECRET OF SUCCESS,... 136 CHAPTER VII. BRIGHAM THE PROPHET. LNTENTION OF MORMONISM-SM4ITHI'S PREDICTION AND DESIGN-MORMON PRAYERS-CHRIST COMING IN 1890-WHERE HE SHALL DESCEND-BRIGHAM'S POSITION-BRIGHAM ON HIMSELF-DRAWING THE SWORD OF THE ALMIGHTY -SHEDDING BLOOD-BRIGHAM ON PROSPECTS OF UTAH-FANATICISM-HIS ARMY-HIS INTENTION IF ARRESTED-HIS METHOD OF GOVERNMENT-STEAL ING-BRIBERY-DEBT-PAYING-FRIGHTENING APOSTATES-MORMON MISSIONS AND MISSIONARIES-BRIGHAM'S POLICY-HIS SUCCESSOR-JOSEPH SMITH, JUN. -HEBER C. KIMBALL-O.;YDE-P. PRATT-JOSEPH A YOUNG-BRIGHIAM'S GOD-ADAM THE FATHER OF CHRIST,......172 CHAPTER VIII. CHRONOLOGICAL HIISTORY OF MORMONISM 199 CHAPTER IX. ANALYSIS OF INTERNAL EVIDENCES OF BOOR OF MORMON. o INTRODUCTION-NATURE AND PURPORT OF THE BOOK-CONTRADICTION AS TO PLATES-AS TO URIM AND THUMMIM-AS TO HEBREW LANGUAGE-JEWVISH MATERIALS FOR WRITING-LABAN S PLATES AND THEIR CONTENTS-GENEAL OGlES-COPIES' OF THE LAW-HISTORY OF JEWS-VARIOUS PROPHETS OF BIBLE AND BOOK OF MORMON-CONTRADICTION IN PREDICTION-LEHI S COM PASS OR LIAHONA-NATURAL HISTORY OF BOOK OF MORMON-OF AMERICAN NATURAL HISTORY-IMPORTATIONS OF STOCK-ELEPHANTS IN AMERICA-AS TRONOMICAL ANTICIPATIONS-CONTRADICTIONS BETWEEN TIHE PRETENDED AUTHORS OF THE BOOK OF MORMON-SOLOMON'S TEMPLE IN AMERICA-IFTS OF THE SPIRIT BEFORE CHRIST-JARED'S BARGES, WHAT THEY WERE AND WHAT THEY BROUGHT-PLAGIARISMS FROM THE BIBLE-INCONSISTENCIE PROPHETIC APOLOGIES,......210 CHAPTER X. EXTERNAL EVIDENCES OF BOOK OF MORMON. MORMON STYLE OF ARGUMENT-ATTACKS ON THE BIBLE EXAMINED-LAWS OF EYVIDENCGCONTRADICTIONS BETWEEN STATEMENTS-URIM AND THUMMIM xi CONTENTS. PAGN AFFIDAVITS OF SMITH'S AOQUAINTANCES-CONTRADICTIONS OF PROBABILITIES SMITH7S PREVIOUS CHARACTER-AFFIDAVITS OF ELEVEN CITIZENS-OF FIFTY-ONE-OF DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS-SMITH'S THREE WITNESSES-CONTRADICTIONS-OLIVER COWDERY-MARTIN HARRIS-DAVID WHITMER-OF THE EIGHT WITNESSES-ANALYSIS OF TESTIMONY-FALSE GROUNDS OF THE MORMONS-THEIR PROPHETIC EVIDENCE-SUMMARY,.. 2873 CHAPTER XI. REAL ORIGIN OF THE BOOK OF MORMON. CREDIBILITY OF TESTIMONY-MONEY-DIGGING IN NEW YORK-CHASE'S " PEEP STONE"-SMITH'S MODE OF TRANSLATING-PAGE'S STONE-SMITH'S PLATES WILEY'S PLATES-CUPIDITY OF SMITH'S FAMILY-SMITH'S OBJECT-MARTIN IIARRIS S INDUCEMENT-OLIVER COWDERY'S INDUCEMENT-ORIGIN OF NAME ORIGIN OF MATTER-PALDING'S RELATIONS' TESTIMONYSMITH'S MEANS OF OBTAINING SPALDING'S MSS.-INCIDENTS OF BOOK OF MORMON-RELIGIOUS DECISIONS-RELIGIOUS STYLE-GRAMMATICAL CONSTRUCTION-THE BIBLE,. 262 CHAPTER, XII. THEORETICAL POLYGAMY. POSITION - ANTI-SCRIPTURAL - ADAM - NOAH-LAMECH-ABRAHAM-JACOB DI)AVID-CHRIST-PAUL-CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION-ANTI-NATURA L-PROPOR TIONS OF THE SEXES-NATUTRE A CONFIRMER OF REVELATION-IRRATIONAL WOMAN'S POSITION THE TEST OF PROGRESS-CHILDREN'S DEPENDENCE ON THEIR MOTHERS-WIVES INFLUENCE OVER HUSBANDS-HISTORY AND DESTINY OF RACES-DIFFERENT LAWS OF MARRIAGE-UNMARRIED PROPHETS-INFE RIOR RACES MOST PROLIFIC-" POLYGAMY A PREVENTIVE OF PROSTITUTION EXAIINED —ANTI-MORMON-REVELATIONS-POPULATION OF UTAH.. 284 CHAPTER XIII. THE SUPPRESSION OF MORMONISM. MORMONISM AS A CIVIL POLITY AND Ad A RELIGION-CAUSES OF MORMON PERSECUTIONS AT MISSOURI AND NAUVOO-J. SMITH A CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES-SMITH A MOHAMMED-BRIGHAM SUCCES SOR TO HIS DESIGNS AS WELL AS OFFICE-HIS MANAGEMENT-FAMINE V. AM BITION-THE CAUSES OF HIS FUTURE FALL-MORMON POLITICS-TIIE OBJECTS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED WITH REGARD TO THEM-SUPPRESSION OF POLYGAAMY -DUITY OF THE GOVERNAIENT IN TIlE PREMISES-BENEFPITS OF ANNEXATI(N TO THE MEN AND WOMEN-MAJORITY OF THE MORMlONS FOREIGNERS-TIIE EFFECTS OF MERELY APPOINTING A GOVERNOR AND SENDING TROOPS-MOR MON13M AS A RELIGIOUS EVIL-MEANS OF UPROOTING IT-DUTY OF SECED ERS AND OF CHRISTIANS-ITS FUNDAMENTAL ERRORS AND WEAK POINTS,. 306 LTTIIT ADDRESSED TO BRIGHAM YOUNG,. xii . 831 MORMONISM, iTS TLEADERS AND DESIGNS. CHAPTER I. THE AUTHOR. Mormonism in England and America-Embraces Mormonism-Is ordained and preaches-Goes as a missionary to France-Leaves England for America-Visits Carthage and Nauvoo-The Smiths -Icariens- The plains-Indians-Arrives at Salt Lake-Initiated into the Mormon mysteries-Efforts to leave Salt Lake City Appointed a missionary to the Sandwich Islands-Leaves for Califor nia-Doubts and difficulties-Pacific ocean-Arrives at Sandwich Islands —Renounces Mormonism-Brigham's certificate-Motive for active conduct of the Church toward him. BOOKS require to be instructive and credible. These qualities altogether depend on the opportunities of the author to obtain corrrect information, and the purity of his motives in imparting it. To have been a Mormon, is to be an object of suspicion. To be an apostate, is to be regarded with distrust. To be an apostate Mormon, is to be doubly suspected. As the weight of testimony entirely depends on the credibility of the witness, I therefore commence my evidence with a statement as to myself. Who I am, how I became what I am, and why I write, are questions every one should ask. I endeavor to reply. Mormonism in England and Mormonism in Utah are two very different systems. In England all its objectionable principles were not only ignored, but denied. THE AUTHOR. Its Apostles and Elders not only uttered negative but also positive falsehoods, in order to induce belief. They not only denied many things that were true, but stated many things that were utterly false. As a sample of their falsehoods, I will instance polygamy. This was practiced by Smith in 1838, and the Mormon Apostles knew it. Yet, when the Church was charged with its adoption, Parley P. Pratt, in Manbchester, England, before the general conference of the European churches, and in the Millennial Star of 1846, thus publicly denounced it: "Such a doctrine is not held, known, or practiced as a principle of the Latter-day Saints. It is but another name for whoredom; and is as foreign friom the real principles of the Church, as the devil is from God; or as sectarianism is from Christianity" (Millennial Star, vol. vi., p. 22). And yet this man knew that Smith and others had children living who were the offspring of this very practice! John Taylor, another Mormon Apostle, in a discussion held at Boulogne, France, in July 1850, was charged with the belief of this doctrine, to which accusation he thus replied: " We are accused here of polygamy and actions the most indelicate, obscene and disgusting, such as none but a corrupt heart could have conceived. These things are too outrageous to be believed; therefore I shall content myself with reading our views of chastity and marriage, from a work published by us, containing some of the articles of our faith." lHe read in the Book of Smith's Revelations, p. 330, the marriage covenant: "You both mutually agree to be each other's companion, husband and wife; observing all the legal rights belonging to this condition; that is, keeping yourselves 14 THE AUTHOR. wuzolly for each other, and from all others during your lives!" And on p.331: "Inasmuch as this Church of Jesus Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication and polygamy, we declare that we believe that one man should have one wfe, and one woman but one husband, except in case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again!" And again, on p. 124: "Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shall cleave unto her, and none else; and he that looketh on a woman to lust after her, shall deny the faith, and not have the spirit, and be cast out." "There," exclaimed Elder Taylor, triumphantly, "that is our doctrine on this subject" (Taylor's Discussion at Boulogne, p. 8). And this man had four wives wrangling and quarreling at Utah, and was paying attentions to a girl at Jersey, Channel Islands, at the very moment he uttered these willful, intentional falsehoods! The illustrious examples of such pseudo-inspired Apostles were industriously imitated by similarly inspired Elders. Where the former were content with mere affirmation or denial, the latter blasphemously called on God to attest their veracity; and challenged the Almighty to disprove their statements. Some of them denounced their accusers with bitter curses, and threatened them with all kinds of spiritual horrors. From the lips of such men, and others who had been deceived by such men, did my father and myself first hear of Mormonism. The character of Smith, his many mighty miracles, his profound sagacity, his inspired teachings, the love of the Saints, the purity of their Zion, their frequent tribulations and sufferings, their uncomplaining submission and uncompromising 15 THE AUTHOR. virtue, came forth resplendent from their testimonies. Such statements, repeated constantly, and by different individuals, accompanied by vigorous attacks on the divisions, dissensions, and acrimony exhibited in too many sectaries, spiced by the empty bombast and cant of all pretended moral, political, and religious reformers, apparently sustained by positive practice; added to these incentives, a bewildering method of using, and an extensive acquaintance with passages of Scripture; novel dogmas sincerely believed and enthusiastically taught, for which they claimed special revelation as their origin; all this, heightened by the most barefaced assertions of predictions accomplished, of singular healings certainly performed, of positive promises of conviction following obedience, of the ancient signs, and of the old priesthood-all this uttered by men who hesitated at almost no falsehood "which should convert a soul," could not but arrest our attention. "To doubt is to be damned already," said Paul; and he was right. Into this whirlpool of enthusiasm we, with many others, were insensibly borne. Very little attention was paid to the subject by the conservators of religious truth. Despised, it was neglected; and because neglected, it continued to, grow. With little or no contradiction, and the little that was made, readily silenced by these men, they made themselves believed. All that was known of Mormonism was known from their statements; positively thinking it something holier, purer and truer, it was embraced by hundreds. To fervently embrace a delusion, is to more sincerely believe it. They clothed it in the drapery of warm emotions; and good men, in their desires for something more exalted and God-like, viewed it 16 THE AUTHOR. through the distorted medium of their own wishes; not knowing it as it was, they thought it was what they hoped it to be. When they began to see the difference between their conception and the reality, many were too enmeshed to forsake it. Men always strive to make that appear true which they conceive it their interest to be true; because they like to have for their actions the sanction of their own consciences. Nor is this mental process very difficult; and it easily and satisfactorily accounts for glaring absurdities, and yet actual sincerity. It is thus with many of the Mormons. They were sincere in embracing Mormonism; and when their minds began to doubt, if they ever had sense enough to doubt, the weight of interest crushed down the resistance of conscience; and, although ceasing to be true to themselves, they became true to their system. The dread of being called inconsistent induced sincere consistency to their religion, while sacrificing the only real consistency, that of man with himself. I had an ideal of what religion and the worship of God might be; I imagined that this system, as I then heard it expounded, realized that ideal; and, in the love of that ideal, I embraced it and was accordingly baptized, on the 4th of September, 1848, being then a boy of fifteen years. Since proving that that ideal religion is fallacious, and that the reality of Mormonism is depraving, I have abandoned it. That I was sincere in my faith and conscientious in my conduct, I believe no one will attempt to dispute. In the December of the same year, I was ordained a Priest, and commenced to preach Mormonism as I had received, and then 17 THE AUTHOR. believed it to be. This I continued to do in various places in England till, in June, 1851, I was appointed to join the French mission, as it was called, and then under the direction of Elder John Taylor, who had, in 1850, left Salt Lake, expressly to commence preaching Mormonism in that country. On the 1st of August, 1851, I was ordained, as the following certificate shows, to be "one of the Seventies," an office of equal power but inferior jurisdiction to that of" one of the Twelve." I I f ) $ $ $ $ I Co l11 to blom th I Jpre~e~nt~ squall come' ' S te tifitc {flat JOHN HYDE has been received into the CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS, organized on the SIXTH DAY OF APRIL, 1830, and was ORDAINED into the EIGHTH QUORUM of SEVENTIES, the First day of August, 1851, and by virtue of his OFFICE he is authorized to PREACH THE GOSPEL, and officiate in all the ordinances thereof, in all the world, agreeable to the authority of the HOLY PRIESTHOOD vested in him; we, therefore, in the name, and by the authority of this CHURCH, grant unto this our-BROTHER this LETTER OF COMIMENDATION unto all persons wherever his lot may be cast, as a proof of our esteem, praying for his prosperity in the Redeemer's cause. GIVEN under our hands at Great Salt Lake City, this Fifteenth day of June, 1854. ROBERT CAMPBELL, Clerk. I remained engaged in the French mission till January, I11 I I I II ! $ 18 JOS. YOUNG, President. THE AUTHOR. 1853: a portion of which time I was in the Channel Islands, and a portion I spent at Havre-de-Grace.' On February 5th, 1853, I sailed from Liverpool, in company with nearly four hundred passengers for New Orleans. The passengers were exclusively Mormons, and all bound to the Great Salt Lake Valley; indulging high- hopes of there realizing all that is desirable in holiness, purity, and brotherhood. We were organized in the Mormon fashion, with a President and his two Councilors, one of which I was chosen to be. After an ordinary passage to New Orleans, we ascended the magnificent Mississippi, to Keokuk, Iowa. From Keokuk, I paid a visit to Nauvoo, in company with an estimable and talented gentleman, then a Mormon, but whom a view of Salt Lake doings has since caused to apostatize and return to England. The Temple that the-Mormons had built and completed in 1845, was in ruins, a savage- specimen of modern Vandalism. (See engraving.) I spent several days conversing with J. Smith's mother, wife, and family, and heard many charges against Brigham and his associates for actions in which, according to the Smiths, they had disobeyed the injunctions, contradicted the teachings, and maligned the memory of their late Prophet. From this place I visited the Carthage jail, where J. Smith and his brother, Hiram, were assassinated in cold blood; and the wall against which he was placed, and barbarously shot at, after his death. (See engraving.) The camp was -thronging with life, there being nearly two thousand five hundred Mormons preparing to start for the plains. It presented a very pleasing view, and was delight 19 I t THE AUTHOR. fully situated on a hill overlooking the thriving city of Keokuk on the one side, and the majestic Mississippi on the other. On June 1st, the company with which I traveled left for Council Bluffs City, crossed the river Missouri, on the 12th, saw the last civilized habitations that we were to see for months, and were fairly en route for Salt Lake. The scenery on the road, the incidents of camp life, with stampedes of cattle, toiling along by day, uncomfortable watchings by night, bad roads to mend, bridges to build, the sense of freedom exciting the mind, till the monotony becomes tedious and wearisome; all this has been so ably and so often described, as to be familiar to every one. We met a large party of PawneeLoups, on the Platte. They had just come from a battle with the Sioux; they were decked in all the glory of Indian warpaint, were well mounted and armed, and with their ferociouslydaubed faces, heads shaved bare except the feathered scalplock, their threatening gestures, screaming tones, and insolent conduct, were very formidable fellows. We made them a large present of flour and other edibles for their " hungry papooses," or, strictly speaking, they levied the tax, and we paid it. We arrived at Salt Lake City, in October, just in time for the Fall Conference. I married a young lady to whom I had been engaged in London, and began to teach school. Of course I was not long at Salt Lake before discovering the difference between what I had been taught to expect and what I saw. It may be asked why did I not immediately leave Salt Lake, and forsake Mormonism? Convictions received in Doyhood, and that have been maturing and d,epen 20 THE AUTHOR. ing with one's development, are not to be overturned by one disappointment or by one discovery. Inconsistency and contradiction do much to destroy belief; but these inconsistencies might be imaginary. Every tie that could bind any one to any system, united me to Mormonism. It had been the religion that my youth had loved and preached; it was the faith of my parents; of my wife and her relatives; my mind had been toned with its views, and my life associated with its ministers. I knew little or nothing of any other faith, and I clung with desperate energy to the system, although I repudiated the practices. On Friday, February 10, 1854, I was initiated into the mysteries of the "Mormon endowment." What was the nature of those mysteries, none, before initiation, could have an idea. To understand, it was necessary to receive them. His is a strong mind over whom a mass of ceremonies could have no influence, in which representations of the most august beings are ma-de to move and talk, and which included the most solemn oaths, accompanied by frightful penalties. The obligations of Free-masonry and Odd-fellowship exercise no small influence over the initiated; nor am I surprised that a superstitious terror, in many instances, enchains these endowed Mormons, at Salt Lake, in complete subjection to their Prophet Brigham, and his coadjutors. In the spring of 1854, I determined to leave Salt Lake for California, but had not, neither could I obtain the means to do so. I candidly wrote and stated my views, however, to Orson Pratt, one of the Twelve Apostles, with whom I was in timate, and we frequently conversed on the subject. I had 21 THE AUTHOR. then resolved to leave in 1855, if possible, but was still pre vented by poverty. At the conference held in April, 1856, I was publicly appointed, without any previous intimation, to go on a mission to the Sandwich Isles, and was instructed to leave by the May following. I accepted the appointment. I thought that perhaps, as I was told, I had "grown rusty;" that my waning faith was the result of inaction; that to be actively employed in the ministry might waken up my old confidence; that in the effort to convince others, I might succeed in reconvincing myself. The religion of my youth was still so enwrapped around my habits of thought, that I was desirous rather to prove it true, than demonstrate it to be false. I tried hard to believe it true, endeavored to act as though I did believe it, in the hope of producing conviction. In renouncing it, I have done so in spite of my prejudices. In May, accordingly, I left Salt Lake City for the Sandwich Islands, having been chosen as president over the missionaries destined for that location. None of the missionaries to the Sandwich Islands were allowed to take their wives; this and other reasons compelled me to leave Mrs. Hiyde with her relatives at Salt Lake. Besides this, my mind was at sea, floating in darkness and indecision. Ignorant of my real position, I knew not whither I should go if I were to turn; I therefore went straight on. I had to leave, for to remain was to abjure Mormonism; and I was not fully prepared for final and permanent apostacy. "I had seen Rome, was disgusted with Rome, and still tried to disconnect Romanism from RPome;" and as it was with another, to some extent it was with me, it needed time, it needed thought, it needed collat 22 THE AUTHOR. ing my recollections, that I might feel the force of their sum. The opportunity for this thought and collation could not be obtained at Salt Lake City, nor in the business of crossing the plains. I endeavored to view Mormonism objectively, for theoretically it assumes to be the religion of human progress, apart from Mormonism subjectively, as it was then existing. I tried and failed. On the Pacific ocean, in communion with God and my own soul, the darkness of doubt that had blinded my eyes, and the mists of indecision that had paralyzed my energies, left me, and I resolved not only to renounce Mormonism, but also to tell the world freely, fully, and fearlessly, as well my reasons, as my experience. To this end I have labored in the Sandwich Isles, Califor nia, and elsewhere; and to this object do I determine to devote-myself. If Mormonism as it is be true, the better it is understood the better will it be for the world. If it be false, it is the duty of every man to endeavor to manifest its errors. To deter persons from embracing delusion, and to rescue from complete self-sacrifice any who have already embraced it are my only motives for adopting my course. My opportunities for knowing Mormonism as it is, will not, I think, be disputed by any of its believers. My motives for revealing that knowledge are open to God and the world. Ever since my first connection with the Church, honors and authority have been heaped upon me. Increased and increasing honors were before me when I abandoned it. I could not have been actuated by disappotnted ambition, therefore, because they never gave me any neglect to avenge. Nor could it have been from personal pique, as I know of no 23 THE AUTHOR. antipathy felt toward me. That my secession was entirely voluntary, and my reputation unquestioned, the subjoined document, handed to me immediately previous to leaving Salt Lake, will prove. The tone adopted by the Mormon authorities toward me, subsequent to my secession, may be judged by the following extract from a sermon, preached by II. C. Kimball, at Salt Lake City, January 11, 1 8 5 7: "There is a little matter of business that we want to lay before this congregation in regard to John HIyde, who went to the Sandwich Islands on a mission. There are a couple of letters that the brethren have received; we shall read a little from them, and give you to understand the course he is taking. (The letters were read.) You hear the letters and the testimony of our brethren in regard to John Hiyde. Such matters, many times, have passed along, and we have not noticed them, but have let men deny the faith, speaking against it, and deliver lectures through the world. Many times we have let them run at large, but the time is now passed for such a course of things. By the consent of my brethren, I shall move that John iyde be cut qff from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I will put the motion in full; that is, that he be cut off, root and branch; that means pertaining to himself. When this motion is put, I want you to vote, every one of you, either for or against, for there is no sympathy to be shown unto such a man. Br. Wells.has seconded the motion I have made. All that are in favor that John Hyde be cut off from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that he be delivered over to Satan to be buffeted in the flesh, will raise their right hands. (All hands were raised.) A motion has been put, and unanimously carried, that 24 THE AUTHOR. Co A11 lpersons% l to alum tEli% Ietter Small (rome: cit teritifis that the bearer, Elder JOHN HYDE, Jun., is in full faith and fellowship with the CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS, and by the General Authorities of said Church, has been duly appointed a M3ISSION to SANDWICH ISLES to PREACI-H THE GOSPEL, and administer in all the ordinances thereof pertaining to l]is office. And we invite all men to give heed to his teachings and counsels as a man of GOD, sent to open to them the door of life and salvation-and assist him in his travels, in whatsoever things he may need. And we pray GOD the ETERNAL FATHER to bless Elder HYDE, and all who receive him, and minister to his comfort, with the blessings of heaven and earth, for time and for all eternity, in the name of JESUS CHIRIST. Amen. 5 igieb at 6reat *ait T ake (titi, TERRITORY OF UTAH; April 10th, 1856, in behalf of said Church. FIRST PRESmIDExCy. 2 -------- I -------- I I 11 11 1 i 11 11 11 1 i1 11 1 s I II I II s II 0 1 I 0 II 0I 1 1 I I t I II I I I I I 0 I I II II II 0 1 0 I 0 1 0 0 1 I I 0 0 0 01 1 10 I I I I11 0 0 1 1 I 0 25 MlIML%90 LA d I - I/ -1 THE AUTHOR. John -Ty,de be cut off root and branch; that is, himself, and all the joots and branches that are within him. This has no allusic- to his family. He has taken a course by which he has lo, Elis family, and forfeited his priesthood; he has forfeited hi s membership. The limb is cut off, but the priesthood ties the fruit that was attached to the limb and saves it, if i ~,111 be saved. Do you understand me? His wife is not cll off from this Church, but she is free from him; she is just free from him as though she never had belonged to him. Tiie limb she was connected to is cut off, and she must again be grafted into the tree, if she wishes to be saved; that is! about it."-l)eseret News, January 21st, 1857. Not only was I not influenced by prejudice, pique or disappointcr-cnt in my secession from the Mormon Church; but, in Spi., of all prejudices, at the sacrifice of all friendships, at the-ht!?i:d of breaking every tie that united me to happiness and t Nv world, and at the risk of life itself, I have acted as I h; ec. That I have done right I am convinced. God knows' nave done it in the love of right. To be able, in how s - t degree soever, to expose error and yet to remain silent is to connive at and share the responsibility of that error. While deploring that my best years for improvement have bleen squandered in delusion, it is a duty I owe to others msiiilian.circumstanced, to endeavor to convince them of their t::position. Less than this is less than right. For as the st:?:t is of paramount importance to the world if true, and ( -Ite Mormons themselves if false, so its correct exposure uiist therefore be equally important, and conse quently~ so far obligatory. If i. the succeeding pages I may have been guilty of ex 20 THE AUTHOR. aggeration, I am not aware of it; I certainly do not intend it. Mormonism licenses too much corruption under the name of religion, to need any exaggeration to make it atrocious. The Mormons are guilty of too many crimes to need any addition to them to render them abominable. 27 CHAPTER II. SALT LAKE CITY. "' The big- mountain"-Emigration kanyon-The benches-Great Salt Lake-The city wall-The city-The inhabitants-The houses of the leading men near Temple block-KIimball's city property-Brighlam's Lion house-The Mansion and White House-Mormon theater and dancing hall-Public buildings-Tithing office and system of tithing -Communism and consecration-Public lands-Temple block-Tab ernacle and Sabbath services-Endowment house and Temple-The soil-Capacity to support increased population-Starvation-Manufac tories-Liquor making and consuming-Iron and coal for the Pacific railroad-Minerals-Weapon manufactories-The Mormon census and lying-Mormon prosperity and purity. BETWEEN the western border of the States on the Atlantic side, and the Pacific States of this great continent, there are vast prairies, dreary and treeless, sand-hills, mud flats, rocky mountains, and rapid rivers. Sixteen hundred and sixty-seven miles of travel from St. Louis, Mo., vid Council Bluffs City, brings one to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. A journey through tortuous mountain defiles, crossing creeks with precipitous banks, over roads that terrify even expert Jehus; wearied with a monotony more fatiguing than a sea voyage, any valley would seem lovely, and any respite would be hailed as a paradise. This fact accounts for the joy with which travelers hail the first glimpse of the barren and bare-valleyed home of the Saints. Will the reader make the tour with me? We have just climbed up a steep, rocky hill. Three or SALT LAKE OITY. four teams to each wagon have at last dragged them all safely to the summnit of the "big mountain." The cattle are pinting and puffing and lying down for a rest, while we gaze at a very inmposing scene. We are now standing on an eminence of the Wahsatch mountains, over eight thousand feet above the level of the ocean, surrounded by peaks that rise majestically above our heads, and in the deep nooks of which continually glitters the eternal snow; beneath this, fringed and shaded by dark masses of balsam, fir, and pine. Behind us are receding ranges of hills, streams sparkling like silver threads, the trembling foliage of the quaking aspen, and narrow gorges looming like abysses in the distance. Before us, mountains growing lower, till a strip of valley relieves the sight, in the south-west. This is the first glimpse of the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. Mormons fall on their knees and pray; some shout hosannas and hallelujahs; many weep; husbands kiss their wives, and parents their children, in their paroxysm of joy, and the very faithful declare they feel the Spirit of God pervadiny the very atmosphere, and they en. thusiastically declare that all their toils are repaid, for they have at length come home, where the "wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest." Poor people-poor deluded people! We are not so overcome, and prepare to descend the "big mountain;" glad to remember only 18 miles now separate us from rest and society. We neither break our necks nor our wagon axles, and wind up a very pretty "kanyon"-a mountain defile. We are met by many a team and wagon crawling up toward the big mountain, for fire-wood. We 29 SALT LAKE CITY. cross another mountain ridge, and are in a most delightfully picturesque gorge, "the emigration kanyon." Admiting the beauties of its rocky heights, the slopes covered with shrubbery and painted by the sun in all sorts of rich colors, as though a rainbow had been wrecked on the hill side and had left its beautiful shades on the grass and ferns; forgetting every thing but the scene around us, we suddenly turn an abrupt point, and the valley is stretched before us. To our right and left is the continuous range of hills from which we have just emerged. We are on the rolling brow of a slight decline, and observe that for several hundred feet above our heads, there are long, level lines of ridges, which are deeply and evenly indented on the mountains, as far as our sight can reach. We notice also that there are other such before us till they form a narrow flat surface through which a river flows, and that the ground rises similarly up the mountains before us, 30 miles away. These are called "benches;" they extend throughout the entire range of valleys, are plainly visible, exactly level, and are the ancient shores of the Great Salt Lake. Like a blue tinted mirror reflecting the sunshine, we remark the lake about 35 miles to the north-west. It is now about 70 miles long, from north to south, and 30 miles wide, from east to west. It once filled, and most probably formed the entire "Great Basin," as it is termed, extending 500 miles from north to south, and 350 miles from east to west, hemmed in by the Sierra Madre mountains on the east, and the Goose Creek and Humboldt ranges on the west. Mountains were then jagged islands, ravines the straits, sweeping hollows the gulfs and shores of this vast and silent 30 SALT LAKE CITY. sea. It has shrunk away to its present dimensions, and is the immense reservoir into which all the streams and river, of the "Basin" pour their melted snows. It has no apparent outlet, although gradually dini- inhing apparently more rapidly than can be accounted for y mere evaporation. Many fiats of black mud with an incri':lation of dazzling salt crystals, were covered with water w?}:a the Mormons first went there; and their fiat-boat was Hushed easily over long stretches of now baking and crae u soil. Its bottom is very fiat, however, and a very slight iierease of water would again submerge miles of now exposed surface. The density of the water varies necessarily in different seasons from the quantities of fresh water pouring doal into it. It averages from 1.16 to 1.18 of sp. gr. It is the -;trongest natural brine in the world, holding in solution over 22 per cent. of different salts. Its dark sluggish waves forcibly recall the Deal Sea to the mind of the gazer, and were it not that this is 4,200 feet above, and that lies 1,000 feet below the level of the oc