the origin of “the reformation:”—extraordinary doings of the saints.
the popular idea of mormonism is that the peculiar feature which distinguishes it from all other christian sects is polygamy. to a certain extent this is, of course, true; but it is only a partial statement of the truth. if polygamy were to be relinquished, it would still be found that mormonism had really very little in common with other sects, and very much that was completely antagonistic to them.
the confession of faith published by joseph smith during his lifetime would certainly deceive an uninitiated person; and it was in consequence of the ambiguity of that very document that so many unsuspecting persons were from the beginning of mormonism led astray by the teachings of the missionaries. the convert was told that the mormon faith proclaimed the existence of one true god, but he was not told that father adam was that deity, and that he is “like a well-to-do farmer.” he was told that christ was the son of god, but he was not taught that the virgin mary was “the lawful wife of god the father,” and that “he intended after the resurrection to take her again, as one of his own wives, to raise up immortal spirits in eternity. he was told of faith in a saviour, he was not told that men were the only saviours of their wives, and that unless a woman pleased her husband, and was obedient and was saved by him, she could not be saved at all. he was told that the saints believed in the holy ghost, but he was not told that “the holy ghost is a man; he is one of the sons of our father and our god.... you think our father and our god is not a lively, sociable, and cheerful man; he is one of the most lively men that ever lived!”
and yet, although such fearful and shocking blasphemy was, of course, hidden from the convert whom it was desirable to impress with the idea that mormonism was only a development of christianity, it was openly taught in the sermons in[225] the tabernacle before thousands of people, and inculcated in the writings of the highest authorities. the passages which i have just quoted, were preached in public, were taken down in shorthand were revised under the superintendence of brigham young or one of the chief leaders, were then printed and published in salt lake city, and afterwards reprinted in another form.
the verbal repetition of such blasphemy as this would be simply painful and disgusting to any right-minded person. i shall therefore endeavour to give an idea of some of these outrageous doctrines without entering too closely into details. should the reader, however, wish to search and see for him self, i refer him to the journals of discourses, the files of the church papers, and the publications of the mormon writers generally.
one of the first innovations upon the received faith of ordinary christians was the doctrine of polytheism. there can be no doubt that, even in joseph’s time, that doctrine was taught, although, as in the case of polygamy, all knowledge of it was kept from every one but the initiated—the “strong men” who could be entrusted with the inner secrets of the church leaders. that such a doctrine, however, was beginning, even then, to form part of the faith of the saints, may be seen in the following lines upon the occasion of the prophet’s murder:—
“unchanged in death, with a saviour’s love,
he pleads their cause in the courts above.
his home’s in the sky, he dwells with the gods,
far from the furious rage of mobs!
...
he died! he died for those he loved;
he reigns! he reigns in the realms above.”
many other instances, even stronger than this, could easily be given.
the mormon idea of the other world, while in some respects it differed from the teachings of certain modern “spiritualists,” was not altogether dissimilar. the soul was said to be immortal, and it had three stages of existence. the first was purely spiritual—the state of the soul before it came into this world. spirits in that condition were not perfect, they must first take a fleshly body, and pass through the trials of life, before they could attain to the highest state of existence. hence it was a solemn duty, as well as their highest privilege, for men to practise polygamy:—their duty, as by this means,[226] and by this alone, the yet imperfect souls now waiting to come into this world could ever hope to be admitted into the “celestial kingdom;”—and a privilege,—as all the souls whom they thus assisted to emigrate would form their own “kingdoms” in eternity, over which, as kings and priests, they would reign for ever and ever.
the second stage of the soul’s existence is the mortal; with which we all are sadly well acquainted. the third is the condition subsequent to the resurrection, when they believe the flesh and bones will form the raised body, but the blood will not be there; for the blood is the principle of corrupt life, and therefore another spirit supplies its place in heaven. that christ partook of some broiled fish and part of a honeycomb is evident from holy scripture; the mormons therefore teach that heaven will be very much the same as earth, only considerably improved. we shall not marry there or be given in marriage; hence it is necessary for us to marry here, and to marry as much as we can, for then in heaven a man will take the wives whom he married on earth, or who have been sealed to him by proxy; they will be his queens, and their children will be his subjects. we shall eat, and drink, and feast, and spend a happy time generally. we shall henceforth never die; hence we shall ourselves be gods!
it was in the pre-existent state, the mormons teach, that the work of salvation was first planned; but not after the fashion believed by all christians. a grand celestial council was held, at which all the sons of god appeared. michael, the father of all, presided, and stated that he proposed to create a new world, of which he proceeded to give some details. his first begotten then arose, and made a speech, in which he proposed that michael, his father, should go down to the world, when created, with eve, his mother, and do there much after the fashion of what is related of our first parents in the book of genesis; he himself would descend some thousands of years subsequently, and would lead his erring brethren back, and save them from their sins. lucifer, the second son, then stood forth and unfolded his plan. jealous of the popularity of his elder brother, he proposed to save men in their sins.
great discussion ensued, in which the unnumbered family of heaven divided into three parties; one under each of the two elder sons, and the third standing neutral. after a terrible conflict, lucifer, the second son, was defeated, and, with all his followers, was driven out of heaven. they descended[227] into the abyss, where they founded the infernal kingdom, of which lucifer became the chief. he was henceforth known as the devil. adam created his world, and carried out his part of the plan; and in due time the eldest son, who conquered in heaven, took upon him the form of flesh, dwelt among men, and was known as their redeemer. the spirits who stood neutral during the fight subsequently took upon them forms of flesh, entering into the children of ham, and were known as negroes. therefore it is, that although the american indians and all other races are eligible for the mormon priesthood, the negro alone could never attain to that high dignity.
on the 9th of april, 1852, brigham young publicly announced that,—
“when our father adam came into the garden of eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought eve, one of his wives, with him. he helped to make and organize this world. he is michael the archangel, the ancient of days, about whom holy men have written and spoken. he is our ‘father and our god,’ and the only god with whom we have to do.”
this public declaration gave great offence, and led to the apostacy of many. nevertheless, brigham young thinks that just as adam came down to eden and subsequently became a god, in like manner he also himself will attain to the godhead. heber c. kimball, zealous to go a step further, declared that brigham was “god,” and that he, kimball, stood toward him in the same relation as the third person in the blessed trinity does towards the first.
it will hence be seen that subordination is one of the first principles of the mormon faith, and this even in the church organization of the saints has been distinctively shown. for the purposes for which it exists the mormon hierarchy could not be surpassed. of the priesthood there are two orders—the melchisedec and the aaronic; of which the former ranks first and highest. the lowest rank in the church is the “deacon;” he looks after the places of meeting, takes up collections, and attends to other similar duties. next comes the “teacher.” he visits the saints and takes note of their standing, and reports the same: weakness of faith, or backwardness in paying tithing, is never overlooked by him. after him is the “priest,” and above him is the elder whose office it is to preach, baptize, and lay on hands. all these belong to the order of the aaronic—or the levitical priesthood.[228] “bishops” are simply church officers having local jurisdiction.
the lowest grade in the melchisedec priesthood is the “elder.” he administers in all the ordinances of the church. above him there is no higher rank as respects the priesthood, but in respect to office there are various gradations, as, for example, the “high priests,” the “seventies,” and “bishops,” who occupy positions of authority, although both go on missions, and also the apostles. the “apostles” were chosen in imitation of the “twelve” appointed by christ; and in the same way the “seventies,” in imitation of the seventy disciples sent forth to preach and work miracles. they claim rank next to the twelve. the “quorum of the apostles” is presided over by the eldest of their number; the “quorums of seventies” are each composed of seventy elders with a “president” and six “counsellors.” the number of “quorums” is unlimited; and over them all collectively is another president and six counsellors.
the highest authority in the church is the “first presidency;” the three members of which at present are brigham young, george a. smith, and daniel h. wells,—who are said to represent on earth the three persons of the blessed trinity!
as, from “president” young down to the most illiterate “elder,” every one is supposed to be specially inspired, and to be immediately guided by the gift of the holy ghost, education is utterly unnecessary to the members of the mormon priesthood; in fact, it has always been looked upon as an impediment to its possessor. obedience is considered the highest qualification, and it was the strict enforcement of obedience on the part of the ordinary people and the lower grades of the priesthood towards the higher that alone could have made possible that state of affairs which existed during the “reformation.” hence also it is that brigham young and the leaders are rightly held responsible for the deeds of violence and fanaticism which their followers may perpetrate; for it is well known that no mormon, in a matter of grave importance, would dare to act upon his own responsibility, and without he felt sure that what he did would meet with the approbation of those in authority.
there is another class of church officer which i had very nearly forgotten—the patriarchs. the chief of these is called “the presiding patriarch over the church;” the rest are “patriarchs in the church.” the office of these dignitaries is[229] to bless the people and to be paid for their blessings. the price of good blessings is variable. not long ago, when money was scarce and payments were made in produce, two dollars was considered reasonable; and if several were wanted for the same family, a reduction was made. hyrum smith, the original prophet’s eldest brother, was the first patriarch; and to him succeeded “uncle john,” as he was popularly called, the eldest brother of brigham. the present patriarch is the son of hyrum; still a young man, who obtained his office by inheritance—and this, i believe, is about the only office in the church which brother brigham has permitted the smith family to inherit or enjoy.
the idea of reviving the old jewish polity was always uppermost in the minds of the mormons. hence they revived the priesthood and high-priesthood in their various forms; a magnificent temple was built in nauvoo, just as another temple is now being erected at salt lake city; and so far did they go that it was even determined that the ancient sacrifices should eventually be restored.
it is alleged that in nauvoo, among the mormons, a secret body of men had been chosen, who were enrolled, under the most frightful oaths, to avenge every wrong which might be perpetrated against the saints. this band was said to have originated with sidney rigdon and dr. sampson avard, and, as i have somewhere else mentioned, thomas b. marsh and hyde the present chief of the apostles both made affidavit that such was the case, and that the band was sworn to commit the most shocking acts of vengeance,—and surely marsh and hyde ought to know. various names were chosen for this “death society.” first the members were called daughters of zion [from micah iv. 13]. but as it sounded rather ridiculous to speak of bearded ruffians as “daughters,” that name was abandoned, and the title “avenging angels” substituted; and that, with some other names then temporarily used, were subsequently dropped for the name “danites” [from genesis xlix. 17], which has since been retained;—not by the mormons, for they have ever denied the existence of any such band, but by the gentiles.
it matters very little what the name of such a society might be, so long as it existed at all; and that it does, and has, existed in some form cannot reasonably be denied. there probably is not at the present time any formally enrolled society, but it is quite certain that for many years past if “the church” had only dropped a hint that any man’s blood[230] ought to be shed, that man would have had a very short tenure of his life. even brigham himself said publicly:
“if men come here and do not behave themselves, they will not only find the danites, whom they talk so much about, biting the horses’ heels, but the scoundrels will find something biting their heels. in my plain remarks i simply call things by their own names.”
it is beyond a doubt that, notwithstanding all the social changes and improvements of late years, the secret police of salt lake city are in matters of crime, as well as in fact, though not perhaps nominally, the successors of the original “death society;”—many of its members are known to have committed grievous crimes and to have repeatedly dyed their hands in blood. the shocking deeds that every now and then are divulged to the world are all of their doing, and no resident of salt lake city, whether mormon or gentile, although he might prudently decline to state his opinions, would in his mind question the fact that it is fear of consequences, and only because the saints are “on their good behaviour” in the sight of the federal government, that the hands of these wretches are withheld from a continuance of their old enormities.
as might be supposed, the establishment of a secret band of men professedly ready at a moment to steal, to shed blood, or commit any crime at the command of their leaders, created great excitement in the whole state of missouri, and especially in the vicinity of the mormon settlements.
like the ishmaelites of old, the hands of the saints were against every man, and every man’s hand was against them. they were taught that they were “a chosen nation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people”—the “sword of the lord and of gideon” was to be theirs; they were to go forth conquering and to conquer; and the gentiles were to be trodden down beneath their feet.
as might be expected, trouble immediately arose; the people of missouri outraged the mormons, and the mormons in return outraged them. murders, thefts, and the most shameful atrocities were of daily occurrence, and the history of those terrible doings would fill a good-sized volume. suffice it to say, that the excitement continued and increased, reprisals being made on both sides; finally the mob was triumphant, and after committing many fearful excesses it was organized into a militia—the leading men in authority declaring that the mormons must either leave the state or else they must be extirpated by the sword.
[231]
notwithstanding all this, the mormons, at all times an industrious people, were in one sense successful and prosperous; the morality, however, of some of their leading men was to say the least very questionable. it was openly argued that the silver and gold were the lord’s, and so were the cattle on a thousand hills. the scripture says that god has given his people all things richly to enjoy. the saints were the people of god:—he had given them all the wealth and substance of the earth, and therefore it was no sin for them to help themselves; they were but taking their own. to overreach or defraud their enemies was facetiously called by the mormons “milking the gentiles.”
their city called nauvoo—the beautiful,—a name given by the prophet joseph and supposed to be of celestial origin, was well laid out and well built, a costly temple was nearly complete, and the leaders, at least, began to show signs of wealth and prosperity. this however was but a lull before the storm. writs upon various charges against joseph and the leading elders had always been floating about, and the serving of some of the later ones had only been prevented by technical difficulties or the personal fears of the sheriff. to enter nauvoo for the purpose of arresting the prophet was like bearding the lion in his den; for by this time a splendidly equipped and drilled militia regiments under the name of nauvoo legion had been organized, and joseph had been elected lieutenant-general. the regiment consisted solely of well-tried mormons who were devotedly attached to their leader; besides which, the whole of the population of the city was at his call at a moment’s notice.
into the city of the saints, as far as was possible to prevent it, no gentile was allowed to intrude. it was at risk of life and property that any one ventured. one oddly original mode of driving out the devoted stranger is worthy of mention—it was called “whittling a man out of the town!” opposite the victim’s door a number of men and overgrown boys would take up their quarters, each armed with a stout stick of wood and a huge knife. no sooner did the gentile appear than the whole horde gathered in a circle round him. not a word was uttered, but each man grasping firmly his stick in his left hand, pointed its other end to within a few inches of the victim’s face, while with the knife in his right hand he sliced a shaving out of the wood in such a way as to bring the point of the knife almost against the face of the unfortunate man. wherever he turned they attended him, always preserving[232] the strictest silence, and never actually touching him. the intolerable sensation caused by the “whittling” of this strange body-guard, who were in attendance day and night, and the unpleasantness of seeing half a score of sharp knives flashing perpetually within an inch of his nose, generally subdued the strongest-minded gentile;—few could endure it for more than a day or so at the utmost: they were glad to leave—“whittled out of the town!”
the evil day, however, at last came. the prophet, fearing arrest, fled, but was persuaded to return and deliver himself up. the charge against him was one for which reasonable bail could be taken; bail was offered, accepted, and the prisoners discharged. before leaving court, however, the prophet and his brother hyrum, the patriarch, were arrested upon a trumped-up charge of treason, a charge for which it was impossible that bail should be taken; they were therefore committed to custody in carthage jail, under solemn promise from governor ford of illinois that the state should be answerable for their personal protection. the same day, however, a mob of over one hundred men, assisted, it is said, by the militia who were left in charge, burst into the jail and assassinated the prophet and his brother.
as might be supposed, this outrage by no means weakened the mormon cause; their prophet was now a martyr, and his name became more powerful after death than it could possibly have been had he lived. it was, however, clearer than ever that nothing could now reconcile the people of illinois to the mormons, and the latter seriously began to think of leaving that state in a body as they had formerly left missouri.
the terrible doings of those times i have no idea of relating just now; i simply allude to them in order that the reader may understand how, in the excitement produced in that border-warfare, it was possible for such strange events as afterwards transpired in utah to originate. i may simply add, that the temple being completed, and the first “endowments” given there, the people gathered up what little property they could rescue from the mob, and under the guidance of brigham young, and amidst privations, sufferings, and outrages of the most painful character, left the city which they had founded in illinois, and set out for the rocky mountains, where, beside the great salt lake, they founded their modern zion.
free now from the violence of mobs and gentile enmity, it might have been supposed that the hatred which had so long[233] been part of the mormon faith would have died a natural death. the contrary, however, was the case. the mexican war was then raging, and, en route to the rocky mountains, the mormons had received a proposal from the federal government that they should supply a regiment, upon highly advantageous conditions, to join the united states troops which were then operating in california. this suggestion was kindly made, for it was thought that the mormon regiment thus raised would in reality be only marching their own way in going to california, and that the outfits, pay, arms, &c., which were to be theirs, after the year for which they were enrolled had expired, would be of essential service to them. it was like paying men liberally for making a journey for their own benefit.
notwithstanding all this, brigham young and the leaders represented the transaction in quite another light, and the people were taught that an engagement, into which they had entered of their own free will, and from which they had derived substantial advantages, was an act of heartless cruelty and despotic tyranny on the part of the government. this feeling was fostered, until at length the saints as a body regarded themselves as a wronged and outraged people, and considered every gentile, in fact the whole nation, as their natural enemies. this was perhaps all the more singular, since, after the vast tract of country, of which utah forms a part, had, at the end of the war, been wrested from mexico, brigham young had been appointed by president millard fillmore the first governor and indian agent of the territory; he was therefore in federal pay, and bound, as long as he retained office, to support the government, or at the very least not to stir up disaffection.
trouble soon arose between governor young and the mormons on one side and the judges and united states courts and officials on the other. once an armed mob burst into the supreme court, and forced the judge then sitting to adjourn; at another time a bonfire was made of the books and papers of the district courts; then a judge on the bench was threatened with personal outrage; and subsequently a posse summoned by legal(!) process “encamped” for a whole fortnight over against another posse summoned without legal process, the two bodies burning with bitter hatred and breathing out threatenings and slaughter. such a state of affairs could not, of course, last long. on the one side the wildest statements were publicly made against the government;[234] threats which, uttered by a little band of pioneers against a mighty nation, were perfectly ridiculous, stirred up the hearts of the saints. on the other hand it was pretty certain that federal troops would have to be sent out to utah to preserve the peace of the territory. the federal government was nevertheless defied, abused, and derided, and the people, thoroughly blinded by their fanaticism, did not for a moment doubt that, should governor young “declare war,” the united states troops would vanish before the “armies” of the saints like chaff upon the threshing-floor. so absurd does all this appear that i should really hardly venture to repeat it were it not that every one in utah—mormon and gentile—knows that i am really understating facts rather than otherwise. very soon came a crisis in mormon history, for which all the wild sayings and unlawful doings had been so long paving the way:—“the reformation” was destined to be the crowning point of saintly folly and saintly sin.
