the character of the mormon people.

by elder b. h. roberts.

introduction.

in the ancient city of rome, at the time that st. paul went there on an appeal to caesar's judgment seat, about the year 62 a.d., the followers of christ were denominated, "that sect which is everywhere spoken against." and as it was with the christians then, so it is with the "mormons" now. everything that is wicked or damnable was once charged upon the christians. even the just historian tacitus was so far deceived by the wicked misrepresentations of their enemies, as to speak of them as "a set of people who were holden in abhorrence for their crimes, and called by the vulgar 'christians.'" he also says—speaking of them as a body—"they were criminals, and deserving the severest punishment." the same writer calls their religion a "pernicious superstition." indeed, we may say to the opponents of "mormonism," however skilful they may be in the use of calumny or the distortion of facts, it would be difficult for them to charge upon the "mormons" more heinous crimes than were charged upon primitive christians. it was commonly reported of them that in the celebration of the eucharist they were in the habit of slaying a male child, whose flesh they ate, and whose blood they drank in remembrance of the body and blood of the founder of their religion. in short, they were held to be the enemies of mankind, the disturbers of social customs, and a standing menace to all governments; while their religion was looked upon as the sum of villainy and absurdity. in the same light the "mormons" are regarded to-day. but perhaps i shall be pardoned for suggesting that it is just possible that the world is as much mistaken respecting the character and religion of the "mormons" now, as it formerly was respecting the "christians" and their religion.

no prejudice is so cruel as that growing out of religious controversy. at any rate, we know that the most cruel wars {174} have risen through a determination to resist religious innovations, or efforts to reform religious systems. while the acts of inhuman cruelty, which most disgrace our race, have been perpetrated in vain endeavors to suppress what have been considered heresies, and silence their advocates. in short, the most unrelenting hatred, the most lasting prejudices have grown out of differences in religious opinions. the messiah, doubtless, was guided as much by his knowledge of human nature as he was by inspiration when he exclaimed:

"think not that i have come to bring peace upon earth; i came not to send peace, but a sword. for i came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. and a man's foes shall be they of his own household" (matt. x, 34-36).

it is because "mormonism" involves a religious controversy that the prejudices against it are so deep seated, and the misrepresentation of its devotees so persistent.

joseph smith, in his youth, announced a new revelation from god; and as the christian world had been, and are, taught that no more revelation is to be given, that the bible contains all that god ever did, and all that he ever will reveal to man, the proclamation that god had again spoken aroused the ire of the religious teachers of that day, and when, in spite of their efforts to stay its progress, they saw the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints increasing in numbers and influence, these pseudo religious teachers sought to overwhelm with falsehood, misrepresentation and slander what they could not overcome with reason and fairness. and the absurd, childish stories then invented by religious opponents of "mormonism" they still rehashed with variations to suit ever shifting conditions, the mass constantly growing as fast as new falsehoods or distorted facts can be marshalled into service.

on this point i quote the following from the new york world of recent date. the world is one of the leading journals of america, and, in giving an epitome of the history and faith of the "mormons," it said:

"in matters of dogma there was little or nothing in its creed to distinguish it from any other orthodox sect, but its possession of an alleged addition to the bible and the austerity and severity of the code of morals inculcated drew to it immediately a large following. the same spirit of intolerance which in massachusetts slit the ears of quakers and banished baptists under pain of death, blazed forth as fiercely as in the days of athanasius and arius. the pulpit rang with denunciations of the new sect, every calumny that could be invented was {175} invented and believed, and the mormons were driven from place to place, robbed, beaten, imprisoned and murdered, exactly as the founders of every other christian sect were persecuted."

the cause of misrepresentation.

there are two classes of men in utah who are interested in defaming the character of the "mormon" people. these are the religious and political adventurers who have drifted into the territory. the former went there professedly to convert the "mormons" from the error of their way; but not being successful in getting sufficient converts from the "mormon" church to establish congregations that could pay their salaries, they have ever been dependent upon the people of the eastern states for their support and means with which to build churches. they soon discovered that the amount of means they could raise depended upon the strength of the feeling they could incite in the minds of their supporters in the eastern states. the more licentious and blood-thirsty the "mormon" community was represented to be, the greater christian heroes were these ministers considered, and therefore the more readily were "ducats" poured into their laps to carry on this spiritual war, against the supposed man of sin situated in the rocky mountains. granting a few honorable exceptions, these professed ministers of christ have invented and retailed the most abominable falsehoods respecting the latter-day saints, well knowing that the prejudice existing against the "mormon" religion would so blind the eyes and close the ears of the people that it would be next to impossible for their calumnies and misrepresentations to be exposed. and if now and then their base purposes were brought for a moment to the light, and some few of their falsehoods contradicted, the effect could only be momentary, and the exploded sensational reports of "mormon" atrocities would be supplanted by ten thousand others more horrible but equally baseless.

the political adventurers, alluded to in the above, are men who have come into the territory principally by being appointed to the federal offices within the gift of the president of the united states. it must be understood that a territory in the american government occupies much the same relationship to that government that a crown colony does to the imperial government of great britain; and the president appoints the governor, secretary, the district judges, the marshal, commissioners, {176} and indirectly a number of other officers in the territory. it has been the policy of the chief executives of the nation in the past to reward their supporters, or the supporters of their political friends in the respective states with appointments to these positions; and to satisfy popular clamor raised by religious opponents, men with avowed hatred of "mormonism" have usually been sought to fill these federal offices. another fact bearing on the character of these appointees must be taken into consideration; and that is, as a general thing, men who will consent to accept an appointment to positions in the territories are fifth or sixth rate politicians, whose political prospects where they are known have dwindled to a forlorn hope. no man who has an opportunity of succeeding in political or business life in his own state will consent to abandon his prospects and life long associations for a temporary position in a territory where, from the very nature of things, he can never hope for a hearty support of the people among whom he thrusts his unwelcome presence. why? because he is not of them. he is not their choice for the position; he is not responsible to the community for the manner in which he discharges his official duties—a condition of affairs that is absolutely incompatible with the existence of harmony between the administrator of the laws and the community they effect, in a country where the people are educated to the idea that "governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed."

i find these two points relative to political and ecclesiastical adventurers sustained by the testimony of james w. barclay, a member of the british parliament, who visited utah in 1883, and published the results of his observations in the january no., 1884, of the nineteenth century. the century is a monthly magazine published in london. he says:

"i apprehend that the animosity of mormonism is principally due to the efforts of the host of hungry office-seekers who would find lucrative posts in utah were the mormons disfranchised, and by the missionaries from the eastern states who come to turn the mormons from the error of their ways, and whose income depends on the strength of the feelings they can excite in their supporters. utah is still a territory, and, as such, its governor, lieutenant-governor and marshal, and other officials of the federal government, are nominated by the president of the united states, and are of course non-mormons; but the municipal and other local officials are elected by the mormons.

if the mormons could be disfranchised in a body, 500 lucrative posts in utah would be open to gentile office-seekers. according to the legislature which might be adopted, the offices would be filled {177} either by the president of the united states or by the small minority of gentiles in utah."

mormons wronged by a sensational press.

unfortunately the religious and political adventurers in utah can succeed in their designs the more readily because the agents sending out the associate press dispatches to the entire press of the country are in sympathy with these parties or controlled by them; so that all information going out to the country at large from that source is generally distorted to the disparagement of the "mormons."

in addition to this, it will be remembered that the american press is nothing if not sensational. this is true in a general sense, it is doubly so in relation to the "mormon question." ever ready to pander to the prejudice of the populace, and finding the "mormon" people the victims of popular hate and without political influence, the american press has recklessly traduced the character of as noble a community as ever graced god's earth. every sensational rumor derogatory to their character has been seized upon with avidity and published without reserve, while the correction of the mis-statements or the vindication of their character has seldom struggled through the columns of the press to the public eye. the people of america, and other countries, too, have taken everything for granted that has been said against the "mormon" people, no matter how absurd it is, or how unreliable the source from whence it came. very few men have had the fairness to investigate "mormonism" for themselves, or inquire into the character of the "mormon" people.

respecting the misrepresentation of the "mormon" people and the source from whence the public has drawn its views and fed its prejudices, i introduce the testimony of mr. phil. robinson, an english journalist and correspondent of note, and a traveler of world wide experience; and who is at present the editor of the court and society review, published in london. mr. robinson went to utah in 1882, where he remained for three months. he visited nearly every town and village in the territory, and saw the people at their firesides and at work in their fields, as well as in their public meetings—in fact he saw them in all the relations of life—and on the subject of their misrepresentation, he says:

"whence have the public derived their opinions about it [meaning {178} mormonism]? from anti-mormons only. i have ransacked the literature of the subject, yet i really could not tell any one where to go for an impartial book about it later in date than burton's "city of the saints" published in 1862. there is not, to my knowledge, a single gentile work before the public that is not utterly unreliable from its distortion of facts. how can anyone have respect for literature or the men who, without knowing anything of the lives of mormons, stigmatize them as profane, adulterous and drunken? these men write of the squalid poverty of the mormons, of their obscene brutality, of their unceasing treason towards the united states, of their blasphemous repudiation of the bible, without one particle of information on the subject, except such as they gather from the books and writings of men whom they ought to know are utterly unworthy of credit, or from the verbal calumnies of apostates; and what the evidence of apostates is worth history has long ago told us * * * i am now stating facts; and i, who have lived among the mormons and with them, can assure my readers that every day of my residence increased my regret at the misrepresentation these people have suffered" ("sinners and saints," roberts and sons, boston).

testimony of non-mormon witnesses.

i here introduce the testimony of a number of non-"mormon" witnesses to the character of the "mormon" people and their religion.

first, i refer to the article by mr. barclay, m. p., published in the nineteenth century, january, 1884:

"mormon home-steads have a tidier appearance than is usual in the west, and the general air of comfort and prosperity which prevails is the best evidence of the persevering, industrious habits of the people...there is nothing peculiar in the mormon creed to account for the great influence which mormonism exercises among its followers.

"the success of mormonism and its steady progress must therefore be due either to the manner in which mormons carry into practice the religion they profess, or to its organization. in my opinion the results are due to two influences. first, there is no religious caste or class. from the president downwards, the office-bearers of the church are selected by the voice of the mormon community; they require no special qualification, and no one receives any salary or other emolument; the missionaries dispatched to all parts of the world do not receive even traveling expenses. and, in the second place, mormonism interests itself as much in the temporal as in the spiritual concerns of its members: church and state are, in short, identical.

"the mormon community is an enlarged family, bound together by privileges and duties, one principal duty being to care for the helpless and the needy. at the same time, every individual has full freedom of action. there is no compulsion on any mormon beyond the public opinion of his fellows, and none is possible. apostasy {179} even does not appear to be attended with serious consequences to the apostate's material interests. some of the largest merchants in salt lake city have apostatized from the church, and although the population of utah is about nine-tenths mormon, their business seems to prosper as before....

"in morality, as far as shown by statistics, the mormons greatly excel the gentiles in their midst, and the general population of the states. in the winter of 1881, a census was taken of the prisoners in utah, with the following result:—in the city prison were twenty-nine convicts, and in the county prison six convicts, all non-mormons. in the penitentiary, out of fifty-one prisoners only five were mormons, two of whom were for polygamy; and of 125 prisoners in the lock-ups, eleven were mormons, some for polygamy.

"the arrests in salt lake city, from the 1st of january to the 8th of december, 1881, were classified as follows:

mormons: non-mormons:

men and boys 163 men and boys 657

women 6 women 194

total 169 total 851

"of the population of salt lake city, about 75 per cent. is mormon, and 25 per cent. non-mormon. of the suicides in utah, 90 per cent., and of the homicides and infanticides 80 per cent., are committed by the 17 per cent. of non-mormons. . . . .

"the mormons, as a people, are tolerant, temperate, peaceable, and industrious. temperance is in some cases carried to the extreme of abstinence from alcohol of all kinds, tobacco, and tea. before the federal government exercised so much authority as now, drinking saloons and other establishments of vice were prohibited; and, although a few professing mormons keep drinking saloons, they are held in disgrace....

"certain it is that, whatever the causes may be, there is among the latter-day saints a mutual feeling of helpfulness and trust, and whatever the gentiles may say, the sentiments towards the heads of the community are respect, confidence, and i might say affection. i had the pleasure of traveling for some days in the company of a mormon elder, a gentleman of great ability, intelligence and courtesy, and i was much struck by the evident cordiality of his reception by his co-religionists, as well as by his genuine kindness, without any tinge of condescension towards his humbler brethren. there was on both sides an evident feeling of perfect equality combined with respect and affection. it is the same with the president. so far as i observed and could learn, president taylor is regarded with greater respect by the mormons than is the president of the united states by its citizens, and at the same time his office is open to all, and he is prepared to hear what the humblest mormon has to say."

again i turn to the testimony of mr. robinson:

"i have seen and spoken to and lived with mormon men and women of every class, and never in my life, in any christian country, {180} have i come in contact with more consistent piety, sobriety and neighborly charity. i say this deliberately, without a particle of odious sanctimony, these folks are in their words and actions as christian as ever i thought to see men and women . . . the mormons are a peasant people, with many of the faults if peasant life, but with many of the best human virtues as well....the demeanor of the women in utah, as compared with brightan or washington, is modesty itself; and the children are just such healthy, vigorous, pretty children as one sees in the country or by the sea-side in england...... utah-born girls, the offspring of plural wives, have figures that would make paris envious; and they carry themselves with almost oriental dignity. there is nothing, so far as i have seen, in the manners of salt lake city to make me suspect the existence of that licentiousness of which so much has been written, but a great deal on the contrary to convince me of a perfectly exceptional reserve and self-respect. it is only a blockhead that could mistake the natural gayety of the country for any other than it is. i know, too, from medical assurance, that utah has the practical argument of healthy nurseries to oppose to the theories of those who attack its domestic relations on physiological grounds. . .. a healthier and more stalwart community i have never seen; while among the women i saw many refined faces, and remarked that robust health seemed the rule....

"mutual charity is one of the bonds of mormon union. it is published officially that the bishops of every ward are to see there are no persons going hungry.' what a contrast to turn from this text of universal charity to the infinite meanness of those who can write of the whole community of mormons as 'the villainous spawn of polygamy!' . . . instead of the mormons being as a class profane, they are as a class singularly sober in their language, and indeed in this respect resemble the quakers.

"the payment of the tithings is as nearly voluntary as the collection of a revenue necessary for carrying on a government can possibly be allowed to be... it is not true that the church interferes with the domestic relations of the people. when i remember what classes of people their men and women are chiefly drawn from, and the utter poverty in which most of them arrive, i cannot in sincerity do otherwise than admire and respect the system which has fused such unpromising material of so many nationalities into one homogeneous whole."—sinners and saints."

bishop d. s. tuttle, for years an episcopal clergyman in salt lake city, an opponent of "mormonism," but an honorable one, in a lecture on "mormonism," delivered in new york and published in the new york sun, says:

"in salt lake city alone there are 17,000 latter-day saints. now, who are they? i will tell you, and i think, that after i have concluded, you will look on them more favorably than you have been accustomed to do. springing from the centre of your own state (n.y.) in 1830, they drifted slowly westward until they finally rested in the basin of the great salt lake. i know that the people of the east have obtained the most unfavorable opinion of them, and have judged them unjustly. they have many traits that are worthy of admiration, {181} and they believe with fervent faith that their religion is a direct revelation from god. we of the east are accustomed to look upon the mormons as either a licentious arrogant or rebellious mob, bent only on defying the united states government and deriding the faith of the christians. this is not so. i know them to be honest, faithful, prayerful workers, and earnest in their faith that heaven will bless the church of latter-day saints. another strong and admirable feature in the mormon religion is the tenacious and efficient organization. they follow with the greatest care all the forms of the old church."

i next quote from the contribution of the rev. john c. kimball of hartford, connecticut, u. s. a., to the index, published in boston, mass., 1884. after introducing the testimony of a number of writers to the general good character of the "mormon" people, he says:

"still stronger is the evidence derived from official statistics as to their intelligence and virtue. in salt lake city, in 1881, the published reports show that the arrests for crime were fourteen times as many among the gentiles, in proportion to their number, as among the mormons; and taking the territory as a whole, the gentile population furnished forty-six convicts in the penitentiary, where the mormon population, number for number, furnished one! according to the united states census, massachusetts has four times as many convicts to the same population as utah; four and a half times as many idiots and insane, and nine times as many paupers. utah in school attendance, according to the same authority [the united states census for 1880], is ahead of massachusetts; and with all that has been said about the ignorance of its people and its immense foreign immigration, its proportion of people that cannot read and write is put down as less than that of new england. and still more striking, the women there instead of being kept in ignorance and subjection, are educated in the same studies and to the same extent as the boys and men, are equally fitted to earn their own living out in the world and to maintain an independent career."

captain burton, of the british army, published in 1862, a book on the "mormon" people and faith called the city of the saints. he says:

"mormonism is emphatically the faith of the poor. . . i cannot help thinking that morally and spiritually as well as physically its proteges gain by their transfer from europe to utah. . . . in point of more morality, the mormon community is perhaps purer than any other of equal numbers. . . . the penalties against chastity, morality and decency are exceptionally severe. . . . i was much pleased with their religious tolerance. the mormons are certainly the least fanatical of our faiths, owning like the hindus, that every man should walk his own way, while claiming for themselves superiority in belief and practice."

{182} testimony of like character and of equal respectability could be adduced without limit, but we think sufficient is here set down to convince people disposed in the least degree to be fair-minded, however prejudiced they may previously, have been, that the reckless charges of crime and immorality made against the latter-day saints in utah by their enemies, are wickedly false, and have been invented to deceive. i ask you again to cast your eye over the statements presented to you, and consider the character of the men who make them. they are not the statements of the occasional tourist of a day, but the conclusions of men of thought and travel and education, who visited utah for the express purpose of becoming acquainted with the strange faith, and, to the world, the still stranger people.

"polygamy."

i shall be told, however, that the "mormons" believe in and some of them practise a plurality of wives, and therefore they must be a bad people. but not so fast. before such a conclusion is drawn it will be necessary to prove that a plurality of wives as practised by the mormons is in and of itself evil. that principle is as much a part of the religious faith of the women as of the men, and is practised by and with the consent of all parties concerned. it is practised because the people believe that god has commanded it by revelation direct to the church, for the accomplishment of his own wise purposes—the rearing of a purer and better race of people. their faith in that revelation is considerably strengthened by reading in the holy scriptures how god favored and blessed with his approval that form of marriage among the worthy patriarchs of old; nay, how even god himself gave to david, according to his own word (2 sam. xii., 7, 8), a plurality of wives; thus becoming a party to the evil, if evil it was. but that which god sanctions and approbates can never be said to be evil. and that god did sanction the plural wife system of marriage and approve it is evident from the lives of nearly all the patriarchs and prophets spoken of in the bible.

i know it is said by christians that this was in very ancient times, when people lived under the mosaic law, and that the law of carnal commandments was superceded by the new dispensation under christ. very well, then, shifting the controversy to what is known as the christian dispensation, we challenge {183} the whole world to produce a single passage from the new testament directly condemning the plural marriage system of the old patriarchs, or a passage which, by fair interpretation, even by implication condemns it. such a passage cannot be found. and yet the writers of the new testament did not hesitate to condemn in the most direct and positive manner every species of sin;—strange, is it not, that they failed to condemn plural marriage, if it was by them or their master considered sinful? the fact becomes more strange when it is understood that they lived in a country and among a people who practised it. furthermore, abraham, jacob, and the prophets were frequently the theme of conversation and discourse with the writers of the new testament, and if the plural wife system practised by them was sinful, is it not singular that no condemnation of it should creep into the pages of the new testament somewhere?

i apprehend that much of the prejudice existing against the marriage system of the latter-day saints arises from confounding it with the polygamy of the east—with the harems of turkey, or the bigamy occasionally practiced in christian communities; yet we hope to show, so far as may be shown in a few brief sentences, that there is not and cannot be, from the very nature of society in utah, anything that resembles the eastern harem, nor do the evils exist which grow out of the ordinary case of bigamy.

in the first place, women in utah are as free to marry whom they please as they are in any part of the world. mr. phil. robinson says:—

"it is a mistake to suppose there are no educated women in utah: . . . the young ladies appear as free and independent as in other parts of the united states. . . . if the women of utah are slaves, their bonds are loving ones and dearly prized. they are today in the free and unrestricted exercise of more political and social rights than are the women of any other part of the united states."—"saints and sinners."

to this add the testimony of mr. barclay, in the article from the nineteenth century, before quoted:—

"the young ladies appear as free and independent as in other parts of the united states; and, if i might hazard an opinion, the young men of mormondom will find considerable difficulty in persuading them to be content with the share of a husband."

the women of mormondom are as free to bestow or withhold their hands in marriage as they are in england, and {184} there has not been a day since 1862—the year in which the first law of congress was passed against polygamy—but what it has been within the power of the wife or wives of a man to send him to the penitentiary, the united states courts being only too glad to entertain her suit, and break up the polygamous family associations. yet, in all these years, there have not been half-a-dozen such cases. this entire freedom of women among the "mormons" robs their plural marriage system of every feature of resemblance to the polygamy of the east; and what is here set down proves that whatever of plural marriage exists in utah, does so by the mutual consent of all the parties concerned.

in common bigamy the first marriage is studiously concealed by the party contemplating the second marriage. a man represents himself to a lady as a bachelor, and under false pretences and fraud obtains possession of her person. soon she discovers that she has been betrayed, deceived, degraded,—the sense of shame and sorrow following producing indescribable misery. nor has it been less productive of evil to the first wife. her happiness, too, has been wrecked by the perfidy of the wretch she called husband. she has been neglected, abandoned, made an outcast. where she looked for loyalty, she found treason; where she implicitly trusted, she has been deceived, and her misery and shame is as great as the other victim's.

now, none of these evils grow out of the plural marriage system of the mormons. in the first place, a plurality of wives, under certain conditions and restraints, is one of the social institutions of the society of utah, and has been for more than a generation. as before remarked, it is practised because the "mormon" people believe it is commanded of god; it is therefore accepted by both man and woman as part of their religious faith, and is regarded as such by the whole population,—as well by those who do not practise it as by those who do. consequently it breeds no scandal; it brings no reproach. the position of the plural wife is just as honorable, in every sense of the word, as that of the first wife. she is, in fact, a wife, with all the holy associations growing out of that relationship, and is honored everywhere as such. the same ceremony which unites a man to his first wife is employed to unite him to his second or third, and the same authority—the authority of god—performs it.

as with the plural wife, so with the plural wife's children; {185} they are equally honorable with the children of the first wife,—society makes no distinction between them. when a man takes a plural wife no concealment is made of his first marriage, nor is his first family deserted; all is open and honest. there is no deceit, no fraud practiced, nor can there be. the sanction of the first wife, and the sanction of parents must be obtained, together with the sanction and recommendation of the bishop who presides over the branch of the church where the parties live, and who has to be able to state in his recommendation that the parties are members of the church in good standing; that means that they are honest before god and man, virtuous, faithful in discharging every religious and moral duty, and temperate withal. and unless such a recommendation can be given, the relationship cannot be contracted.

such, in brief, is an outline of the conditions hedging about the practice of this principle of plural marriage, against which christians can find no law, either in the old or new testament, which even so much as bears the complexion of condemnation, but very much which will bear witness of god's approval of it, even allowing his only-begotten son, so far as his earthly parentage is concerned, to come through such a lineage, a number of his earthly progenitors being the offspring of plural wives, and themselves practising it. surely our christian friends, who look forward to reclining upon abraham's bosom as one of the highest privileges to be enjoyed in heaven, ought not to criticise too severely the system of marriage which he practised.

the mission of the mormon elders.

much complaint is made by the people of england because the elders from utah, who are traveling in this country as missionaries, do not make any particular effort to explain or urge upon people the doctrine of plural marriage. strangers attend our meetings, and are surprised to hear nothing said upon the subject of plurality of wives, and go away disappointed; as if our elders on every occasion should have something to say upon that subject. i assure my readers that it is not because the elders have any disposition to conceal the fact that the latter-day saints believe in the rightfulness of the doctrine under the conditions herein set down; or through any fear that the word of god can be shown to condemn it. the fact is, the elders from utah are servants of god sent {186} forth with a message to the nations of the earth to the effect that god has spoken from heaven, and restored the gospel of jesus christ, which, in consequence of the wickedness and violence of men a few centuries after christ, was taken from the earth, together with the authority to administer in its ordinances. but this gospel is now restored, together with its ancient powers, gifts, blessings, and authorities, and by the faithful elders of the church of jesus christ is being preached as a witness in all the world. it is the business of the elders from utah to make this important proclamation to the inhabitants of the earth, and call upon them to repent of their sins, and warn them that the hour of god's judgment is here, and his glorious coming at hand. the practice of plural marriage in utah is a very insignificant matter in comparison with the importance of the great message we are here to deliver. we are not here to urge upon people the acceptance of plural marriage, but to declare the message above alluded to; though, of course, at proper times and under proper circumstances, we shrink not from the most rigid inquiry into the various principles of our faith.

conclusion.

in conclusion, i wish to say that i have been reared in utah, have grown up in a mormon community, taught in their schools, instructed in their faith. it has been my good fortune to listen frequently to the public discourses of their leading elders, and to enjoy a personal acquaintance with many of them, and never, either in public or in private have i been taught anything contrary to the strictest interpretation of the principles of morality. i know that the entire people, and especially the young, are taught and always have been to regard virtue as the pearl of great price, while adultery and fornication are considered sins next in degree of enormity to the shedding of innocent blood.

it has fallen to my lot to travel through nearly all the states of america and the greater part of england, which has given me the advantage of comparing the "mormon" community with communities existing under other systems of religion and different social customs. i need only say that that comparison—reviled, scorned, even hated as the "mormons" are—has {187} made me more proud of my people, and my heart swells with gratitude to the giver of all good that it has fallen to my lot to be reared among the "mormons."

appendix.

it is frequently claimed by our enemies, and especially by apostates, that the "mormons" teach one set of doctrines in england as "milk for babes,"—doctrines which are harmless and even commendable, but that quite different doctrines are taught in utah; and that murder, robbery, adultery, and, in fact, every crime known to man is not only winked at, but taught as a duty, as part of the religion of the saints. to support these statements, garbled quotations and mutilated extracts from the utterances of the leading elders of the church are cited from the journal of discourses, followed up by the assertion that these discourses are only preached in utah; when, in fact, the journal of discourses was a semi-monthly periodical published in liverpool, commencing in 1854 and continued up to some two years ago, and widely circulated in england; the church authorities having nothing to fear from a publication of their discourses, where all that they said was presented to the people.

the mountain meadow massacre.

in the summer of 1857, a company of emigrants passed through utah, en route for california. they took what is known as the southern route, and while going through some of the settlements in southern utah, they were both impertinent and abusive. they poisoned several springs, and also the carcass of an ox which had died. several indians drinking the water and eating the carcass died from the effects. the result was that the indians became enraged, and being joined by a few white men—among them john d. lee—who, unfortunately, were mormons, the entire company, excepting a number of children, were cruelly and inhumanly murdered. this horrid crime has been charged upon the mormon church, and especially upon the leading elders. the charge is not true. it is wickedly and maliciously false; was proven to be so by repeated failure of the efforts of his enemies to fasten the crime upon brigham young.

john d. lee had two trials for complicity in the horrid affair. in the first trial the jury disagreed. at the second trial, one james haslam gave the testimony which i here introduce. it is taken from the records of the court. but that the reader may understand its force, i may briefly explain that in 1857, upon the misrepresentations of a united states judge, the united states authorities at washington had rashly ordered armed forces to utah to put down a supposed {188} rebellion of the mormon people, and in consequence of that "army" approaching utah, there was considerable excitement throughout the territory. this fact made the emigrants passing through utah both arrogant and abusive to the people of the "mormon" settlements, and a council of leading men in those settlements was held to determine upon the course to be pursued towards the emigrants, and it was decided to send a messenger to brigham young to learn his views upon it. that messenger was haslam; but before he returned the massacre had taken place—john d. lee having led the indians to the attack. this is the testimony as it appears on the court records:—

"james haslam, of wellsville, cache valley, was sworn. he lived in cedar city in 1857; was ordered by haight to take a message to president young with all speed; knew the contents of the message: left cedar city on monday, september. 7, 1857, between 5 and 6 p.m., and arrived at salt lake on thursday at 11 a. m.; started back at 3 p.m., and reached cedar about 11 a. m. sunday morning, september 13th; delivered the message from president young to haight, who said it was too late. witness testified that when leaving salt lake to return, president young said to him, 'go with all speed, spare no horseflesh. the emigrants must not be meddled with, if it takes all iron county to prevent it. they must go free and unmolested.' witness knew the contents of the answer. he got back with the message the sunday after the massacre, and reported to haight, who said, 'it is too late.'"

in opening the case of the second trial of john d. lee, mr. sumner howard, ex-chief justice of arizona, and the united states prosecuting attorney said:—

"he proposed to prove that john d. lee, without any authority from any council or officer, but in direct opposition to the feelings and wishes of the officers of the mormon church, had gone to the mountain meadows, where the indians were then encamped, accompanied only by one little indian boy, and had assumed command of the indians, whom he had induced, by promises of great booty, to attack these emigrants; that in his attack on the emigrants he was repulsed; that finding he could not get the emigrants out, he sent word to the various settlements of southern utah for men to be sent to him, representing that the men were needed for various purposes, to some saying the indians had attacked the emigrants, and it was necessary to have men sent to draw off the indians, to others that men were necessary to protect the emigrants, and still others that the emigrants were all killed, and that they were required to bury the dead; these men went in good faith to perform a humane act; that he had arranged with the indians to bring the emigrants out from their corral, or fort, by means of a flag of truce; that by this act of perfidy he had induced the emigrants to give up their arms and place themselves under his protection, loading the arms and the wounded with the helpless children into two wagons, which he had ordered for the purpose; that he then started the wagons ahead, following them himself, and the women following next, the men bringing up the rear in single file; that lee, after having traveled from three-quarters of a mile to a mile, gave the order to fire, and the slaughter commenced; that lee shot one woman with his rifle, and {189} brained another woman; then drawing his pistol, shot another, and seizing a man by the collar and drawing him out of the wagon, cut his throat; that he gathered up the property of the emigrants and took it to his own place, using and selling it for his own benefit and use. all these charges against john d. lee, he (district attorney howard) proposed to prove to the jury by competent testimony beyond reasonable doubt, or beyond any doubt, and thought no appeal to the jury would be required to induce them to give a verdict in accordance with the evidence."

at the conclusion of the trial, mr. howard

"repeated again that he had come for the purpose of trying john d. lee, because the evidence led and pointed to him as the main instigator and leader, and he had given the jury unanswerable documentary evidence proving that the authorities of the mormon church knew nothing of the butchery until after it was committed, and that lee, in his letter to president young a few weeks later, had knowingly misrepresented the actual facts relative to the massacre seeking to keep him still in the dark and in ignorance.

"he had received all the assistance any united states official could ask on earth in any case. nothing had been kept back, and he was determined to clear the calender of every indictment against any and every actual guilty participator in the massacre, but he did not intend to prosecute any one that had been lured to the meadows at the time, many of whom were only young boys, and knew nothing of the vile plan which lee originated and carried out for the destruction of the emigrants."

"as stated by mr. howard, lee misrepresented the facts to brigham young respecting the massacre, and kept him in the dark as to the part he had taken in the butchery, always saying it was the indians who had done it, and whom he tried in vain to restrain. nor did the facts in the case come to the knowledge of brigham young until 1870; and as soon as he and the church authorities learned that lee was implicated in the heartless deed, they immediately excommunicated him from the church,—a thing they would not dare to do had they been connected with him in the crime, or in any degree responsible for it.

"numerous efforts have been made to fasten, the responsibility of this awful crime upon the leaders of the mormon church. inducements were held out to john d. lee to implicate brigham young, but all to no purpose. after his death, however, a supposed confession of his is published by the enemies of the mormon people, and on that the world is asked to believe that the mormon church and people are responsible for the bloody tragedy; the thing is too monstrous and absurd for credence. and no people more emphatically condemn that crime than do the latter-day saints. of it the late president john taylor said, in an article he furnished for the press, in 1882:—

"i now come to the investigation of a subject that has been harped upon for the last seventeen years, namely, the mountain meadows massacre. that bloody tragedy has been the chief stock-in-trade for {190} penny-a-liners, and press and pulpit, who have gloated in turns by chorus over the sickening details. 'do you deny it?' no. 'do you excuse it?' no. there is no excuse for such a relentless, diabolical, sanguinary deed. that outrageous infamy is looked upon with as much abhorrence by our people as by any other parties in this nation or in the world, and at its first announcement its loathing recital chilled the marrow and sent a thrill of horror through the breasts of the listeners. it was most certainly a horrible deed, and like many other defenceless tragedies, it is one of those things that cannot be undone. the world is full of deeds of crime and darkness, and the question often arises—who is responsible therefore? it is usual to blame the perpetrators. it does not seem fair to accuse nations, states, and communities for deeds perpetrated by some of their citizens, unless they uphold it."

"it is by no means improbable that some future text book, for the use of generations yet unborn, will contain a question something like this: what historical american of the nineteenth century has exerted the most powerful influence upon the destinies of his countrymen? and it is by no means impossible that the answer to that interrogatory may be thus written: joseph smith, the mormon prophet."

—josiah quincy, 1844.